Mushroom Risotto! Easy!

Home early and I had a craving all day!

This was a meal for me, but it’s usually a wonderful side dish…Risotto!

Some love it with a lot of cheese; I love it without. Want more of the mushroom flavor. Just a little patience and easy.

• Your favorite Mushrooms 🍄 1/2 cup diced
• I shallot , peeled and diced
• 1 cup of white wine 😊..also little more if you like!
• Chives, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups of arborio Italian rice
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 5 cups of chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• Romano cheese (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

Medium heat is the key and keep the stir going with love! Makes 5 servings ❤️ Calories….moving on! 😊

1. Warm chicken broth in a saucepan/pot.
2. In a heated skillet, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add mushrooms and sauté.. leave on the side.
3. Take another heated skillet, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add shallots and sauté.
4. Add arborio Italian rice and stir! Once evaporated, add white wine! Stir, stir, stir until evaporated … start taking a 1/2 cup of broth and add to skillet! Stir, Stir and stir until evaporated!
5. Repeat until all the chicken broth is finished. The rice should be al dente (however more broth can be used if required to be softer).
6. Now add mushrooms and the liquid from the previously set aside skillet. Fold. Add chopped chives , butter and fold.
7. Add Romano cheese (I didn’t use, but you can) pinch of salt and pepper and fold in.

You’re Finished! No more stirring! Plate and pot the remaining wine in a glass! Enjoy!

Stir! Stir!

Letia 😊

I Love Manti! A Delightful Turkish Dumpling Dish!

 Manti!

A wonderful Turkish ravioli or you can say dumpling dish that I’ve fallen ABSOLUTELY in love with… If you love spice, yogurt and pasta….then this is it!  Made for me by one of my dearest friends;  Anna at her home for dinner!  What a treat!  I was so enamoured about how it is made and it’s a lot of work but so good!

If I attempted to do this, I would be in the kitchen for days..DAYS!!!!  I definitely would need help!    Anna’s had a lot of flair to it; I felt so special …it was wonderful!

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a video by Famous Cuisines Channel and their recipe explaining the detail and the artwork.

Ingredients

• 150 g unsalted butter
• 100 g sucuk, diced (see Note)
• 100 g pickled baby onions, peeled and left whole
• 100 g raw peas
• 2 tbsp. biber salçasi (Turkish red capsicum paste)
• 10 mint leaves, torn
Manti dough

• 250 g ‘00’ flour
• 125 ml (½ cup) water
• 1 egg
• pinch of salt
Filling
• 100 g minced Wagyu
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• pinch of red pul biber (Aleppo pepper)

Garlic yoghurt
• 200 g natural yoghurt
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• pinch of salt

Anna minced mint in her yogurt.

Cook’s notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
Instructions

Resting time 30 minutes
To make the manti dough, place all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough hook. Knead on low speed for 3-6 minutes or until a smooth dough is formed. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make the filling, combine all the ingredients and refrigerate until required.

To make the garlic yoghurt, combine all the ingredients and refrigerate until required.

To assemble the manti, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until 2 mm-thick, then cut into 1.5 cm squares. Place a tiny amount of filling in the middle of each square, bring up all 4 edges to make a diamond shape, then pinch the edges to seal them shut. Place on a lightly floured tray. (These can be frozen ahead of time if you want to prep them earlier – just place on a baking paper lined tray in a single layer and freeze, then transfer to zip lock bags and freeze for up to 3 months.

Drop the manti, in batches, into a large saucepan of lightly salted boiling water. Cook for 2-4 minutes or until they float to the surface.

While the manti are cooking, melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat until foamy and just starting to turn a nutty brown. Add the pul biber and sucuk and cook until golden, then add the peas and baby pickled cocktail onions.

Combine the biber salçasi in a separate bowl with 2 tablespoons of the cooking water. Add the mixture back into the pan with the simmering manti to help infuse the flavor into the dumpling. As soon as the manti are ready, remove with a slotted spoon, add to the frying pan with 1 cup of the cooking liquid and simmer over high heat for 2 minutes or until the liquid has reduced slightly.

To serve, spoon the manti into shallow bowls, top with torn mint leaves and a dollop of garlic yoghurt and serve immediately.

Note
• Sucuk, pronounced sujuk, is a cured, heavily spiced Turkish beef sausage. Available from Middle Eastern food shops and select butchers.

Enjoy—afiyet olsun … (Bon A petit).  Yes, I’m going to try it!

Letia!

 

NGAM, Thai Food Happiness in NYC!

Authentic? Yes!  Delicious?  Yes!  Addictive?  Definitely a YES!

I call it my 2014 summer love, a beautiful relationship!  When I’m in the city or asked for a suggestion to meet up and have lunch…NGAM NYC is the place to go!

Located near Union Square NYC, it’s between 12th and 13th Streets on 3rd Avenue! 

As you walk in, you see the skilled sous chefs busy at work – handling orders and smiling!

You then proceed to walk to the rear for seating and without knowing it you become completely relaxed!  Such a great atmosphere!

The staff is awesome and I always find myself asking them for suggestions; for the lunch and dinner menus are different (this is how I know I LOVE this place).

Hong Thaimee, Chef & Owner of Ngam

The food at NGAM is no way finicky, just comforting.

If you love spicy food, they have it!  If not into spicy, there is a dish definitely for you!  And there are items which are Gluten Free! I had the pleasure of meeting the Chef and owner of NGAM, the beautiful Hong Thaimee.

It was on one of my visits, where a photo shoot was in progress where Hong was rolling out many Thai dishes for her upcoming cook book!  A delightful and remarkable woman who took a moment to speak with my friend Lisa and I on her love of cooking.

If you are a foodie like me, you have seen her many times on Food Network’s Iron Chef of America.  Just last week when dining with my niece, her staff said she is currently in Thailand; which I know must be amazing – it’s on my bucket list to visit <smiling, yes again>!

Be sure to view NGAM’s website (below) to see Hong’s achievements and all the amazing things she’s doing now!

Now here are my NGAM favorites!

#1  “Chiang Mai Fries” which are made of Kabocha pumpkin and sweet potato! They are fried to perfection; served with a homemade red curry mayo and a sweet and sour peanut relish!  Warning!! They are addictive! Tip: please keep the sweet and sour relish on the side for a special addition to your noodles – if ordered (that is if you have any left!).

 

#2 “Kale Fried Rice”, where you have a choice of a rice to choose from, I always pick jasmine sautéed with love! Farm fresh kale, carrots, heirloom tomatoes, sweet onion, scallions and crunchy kale chips.

#3 “Peek Gai Tod/Brother Chai’s Chicken Wings” which are these spicy chicken wings served with a tamarind chili sauce and sliced granny smith apples!

and……

#4  My choice of Mah Mah noodles with chicken that is served with lovely Thai basil, pepper, young peppercorn, carrots, broccoli, kale and cauliflower!  The dish is called “Pad Kee Mao” Spicy Drunken Noodle”

For drinks, I will include either or both – but no doubt a fabulous “Honey Lychee Martini“ (Tito’s vodka, lychee juice and honey) and a refreshing “Thai Iced Tea”!

Now NGAM also serves brunch, where a friend of mine dined (without ME, I might add!) and had their “Wings & Waffles”.  He raved repeatedly over the dish and told me secretly with such excitement that he ordered it 2x; after the first order! He said what got him happily hooked was the coconut taste in the waffle, it was delicious – a homemade coconut waffle, with marmalade glazed chicken wings and coconut cream!  Here is a picture taken from NGAM’s website, because no picture was provided for it was not even a thought during the duration of happiness which repeated 3x! 🙂

Wings & Waffles!

Now NGAM is also known for a wonderful after-work place to go, for the evening side is also fun and adds to what New York City is all about!

I am planning to have a small gathering with a group of friends at NGAM soon, either partaking in a Thai cooking class, Thai Crab Feast or just dinner; it’s such a challenge with everyone’s schedules; but I am up for it!

If you love Thai food, like a place where you can relax and even in the middle of the day enjoy a Honey Lychee Martini, I recommend NGAM!  You will have a wonderful time!

Food has power—it speaks to your soul. If I can cook the kind of food that will touch people’s souls, well, that’s my goal.+

Hong…Thank You!!!!

 Letia 🙂

Ngam is located at 99 3rd Avenue  (btw 12th & 13th Streets)  New York, NY 10003 (212) 777-8424. 

To learn more about Chef Hong Thaimee and NGAM – Modern Thai Comfort Food restaurant, go to http://www.ngamnyc.com . Photos by NGAM’s website and Letia Mitchell LifeStyle & Design LLC.  

+ Quote take from Gotham Magazine article,  2013 New York Faces, Hong Thaimee.