Arroz

After a crushing victory by four votes, against the two for the Crispy Chicken (irony mode on), today we bring you a delicious recipe we’ve been making for a long time and that we’ve been in love with ever since we first tried it.

What do we need?

• One chicken breast

• One cup of rice

• Half an onion

• 200 ml (3/4 cup) heavy cream

• Curry powder to taste

• Salt

• 2 garlic cloves

How do we make it?

• Pour a bit of oil into a small pot. Chop a garlic clove and add it. When the garlic is slightly golden, add the rice.

• Stir-fry the rice for a moment and add twice as much water as rice. Add salt.

• When it starts to boil, lower the heat to medium-low and cover. It’ll be ready in 15-20 minutes.

• While the rice cooks, slice the onion into thin strips.

• Place a frying pan with a splash of oil over the heat and add the onion.

• Cut the chicken into strips and toss it into the pan.

• When the chicken is partly cooked, add a couple of tablespoons of curry powder.

• Let everything cook together for a bit and stir in the cream.

• Bring to a boil and add more curry and salt to taste. You’ll have to keep tasting as you go.

Tips:

• If you want a nice presentation, you can fill half a glass with the cooked rice. Press it down a bit with a spoon so it packs together. Flip it onto the plate and you’ll have a little rice tower.

• The first time Pastelera tried it, it was served with grilled peaches in syrup. Give it a try.

[English version] CURRY CHICKEN WITH RICE* *Ingredients:

• 1 chicken breast

• 1 cup of rice

• 1/2 onion

• 200 ml cream

• *Curry *

• Salt

• 2 garlic cloves

• *First prepare the rice. In a cooking pot, pour a bit of olive. Peel and chop the garlic cloves and stir fry. When it’s slightly golden brown, add the rice. *

• *Stir fry the rice and add 2 cups of water. Add some salt. *

• When the water boils, turn the heat down and cover with the lid. It will be ready in 15-20 minutes.

• *Now, slice the onion. *

• *Pour some olive into a frying pan and add the onion. *

• *Cut chicken breast into strips and add to the frying pan. *

• *After a few minutes, add a couple of tsp of curry. *

• Stir fry again and add the cream.

• *Simmer for a while and add more curry and salt if needed. *

Tips:

- You can have an easy and nice presentation just using a cup to create a rice tower. Fill a cup with cooked rice, press with a spoon and turn the cup upside down over the dish.

- You can serve it with some canned peaches. Just grill them a bit and serve them as a garnish.

It’s been a while since I made my first risotto. I think I learned it from Arguiñano, back when my mom and I used to watch him at lunchtime. I have a feeling I also followed the recipe from some Wii video game once. Anyway, I’ve been tweaking, adapting and improvising on top of the fundamental rule for a good risotto: never stop stirring.

What do we need?

(serves two)

•   1 ½ cups short-grain rice
  

•   Warm water
  

•   2 cloves of garlic
  

•   A quarter of a large onion
  

•   Wild mushrooms / button mushrooms
  

•   100 g (3.5 oz) blue cheese
  

•   Salt
  

How do we make it?

• Add a splash of olive oil to a saucepan.

• Dice the blue cheese into small cubes. Finely chop the garlic and onion.

• Add the garlic and onion to the pan and turn the heat down a bit so they don’t burn. Once they’ve softened a little, add the mushrooms cut into medium-sized pieces.

• Let everything cook together for a few minutes and add a pinch of salt.

• Once the sofrito is ready, add the rice and stir well so the rice soaks up the flavor.

• Now, the usual thing would be to add twice as much water as rice and let it cook. We’re going to add just a bit of water — about half a cup (120 ml / 4 fl oz) if we used a cup and a half of rice.

• While stirring, add salt and a bit of blue cheese. Once everything is well mixed and the water has reduced, lower the heat a little.

• Without stopping stirring, keep adding more water (as much as your risotto asks for) and blue cheese.

• When you see the rice is cooked, turn off the heat, cover, and let it rest for as long as it takes you to slice some thin strips of blue cheese to decorate the plate.

Tips:

• We used blue cheese, but you can use any other kind. If you don’t like strong cheese, an aged cheese will thicken it more and barely taste of cheese.
• For decoration you can also add hazelnuts, walnuts or almonds.
• If you don’t have wild mushrooms, you can swap them for button mushrooms.

[English version] RISOTTO MY WAY **Ingredients:- 1 ½ medium-grain rice

• 3 cups warm water

• 2 cloves of onion

• ¼ large onion

• Mushrooms

• 100 g blue cheese

• Salt

• Add a splash of olive oil in a sauce pan.

• Dice blue cheese and chop garlic and onion.

• Add garlic and onion to the sauce pan and fry slowly to avoid burning. When they have softened, add the mushrooms (if they are too big, you can cut them into medium-size pieces).

• Cook slowly for some minutes and add a pinch of salt.

• When ready, add the rice and keep stirring while everything is cooking and flavors are melting.

• Usually we add 2 parts of water to 1 part of rice. For risotto recipe we will be adding all the water needed progressively.

• While stirring, add some salt and part of blue cheese. Stir well and turn down the heat to a simmer.

• Keep stirring and adding the water and blue cheese, allowing each ladle to be absorbed before adding the next.

• When rice is cooked and soft, place a lid on the pan and allow to sit. Slice some blue cheese for decoration.

  Tips:- You can use any kind of cheese. Blue cheese has quite a strong flavour but you can substitute it by any other softer.

• For decoration, you can add some walnuts, almonds or nuts.

• You can use mushrooms (champignons) or any other wild mushrooms.