Quick and Delicious Dinner - Fennel Risotto and Arak Scallops

Before I cooked my first risotto, I always thought of it as a very complicated and time-consuming dish - for no particular reason there seemed to be some magic in turning simple grains of rice into creamy delicious goodness. I've had many different risottos in various restaurants - truffle, seafood, veggie, etc, and all were absolutely delightful. Of course, as is usually the case with me, my admiration for risotto and my excessive curiosity (you know, the one that made me make sushi with raw fish at home one day, and foie gras pate - the next) eventually pushed me to investigate the magic behind it. Ends up, it is actually very easy! It is certainly an involved process as you have to be at the stove all the time while cooking it, but in no way is cooking a risotto complicated. Today I decided to make fennel risotto, and to go with it I decide to cook scallops, and as a finishing touch and to extend the anise flavor of fennel, scallops will be flambeed with Arak. Let's begin!

Quick And Delicious Vegetarian Dinner

Dressing down Foie Gras con Tacu Tacu de Lentejas

Last night's dinner was delicious...Just looking back at the photo of that plate makes my mouth water. Tonight's dinner will be a simpler version of that, as I still have all the ingredients ready, why not use them. Stripping foie gras out of the dish makes it vegetarian too.

Haute Peruvian Cuisine

And this Sunday's dinner I went for something new and special: a recipe from a restaurant in Peru - Foie Gras con Tacu Tacu de Lentejas. Description from the book reads:

"This is one of Coque's wonderful 'nouvelle cuisine peruvienne' dishes served at 'Le Bistrot de mes Fils'. The pairing of lentils with foie gras and fruit works particularly well. The result is a spectacularly innovative way to serve traditional Peruvian tacu tacu."

Exciting, isn't it?

My Take on Chiles Rellenos

Happy Friday, everyone!

It has been a long week and I really want to take it easy on Friday night, so nothing fancy tonight, simple chiles rellenos and that's it. I have used most of the foods that I had already prepared for tonight's dinner. The only thing I had to invest my time in is getting ancho/poblano chiles ready. That involves scorching the skins under broiler until they blister and after few more manipulations with steam and ice bath, removing the outer skin and then cleaning out the seeds and pith. This step can be done some time ahead. I prepped the chiles right after I got home from work and then went off to gym.