Arancini Rice Balls

I recently made this at a dinner party as a side dish for a pasta dish and it seemed to add just enough of a crunch to both contrast and compliment the pasta dish at the same time. 

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic

2 Cups Arborio Rice

1 Qt chicken broth

1/2 cup dry white wine (Chardonnay)

1/2 lb shredded fontina cheese

3 Tbsp light butter

Vegetable / Canola oil for deep frying

* Olive Oil

* Salt

* Black pepper

Stuffing Mix

3 parts - Progresso Italian Style breadcrumbs

1 part - Parmesan Cheese

Fresh Oregano - minced

Fresh Parsley - minced
Garlic Powder

Olive Oil (amount will vary based on quantity, we are looking for a specific texture)

Rice ball coating mix

Progresso Italian Style Breadcrumbs

4C seasoned panko breadcrumbs

1 Pint Eggbeaters (original)

Tools:

Instant Pot

6 - 8 qt stock pot

Wire basket

Preparation: 

Rice Filling: 

Set the Instant pot to saute for 7 minutes with some olive oil and the minced garlic cloves with salt and pepper until fragrant. After about 5 minutes, add the wine and mix up the bits of garlic. Add the arborio rice, butter, and the chicken broth. Close up the instant pot and pressure cook on high for 6 minutes. Quick release when done and immediately mix in Fontina cheese. Set aside and allow to cool. 

Stuffing Mix:

In a bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs, cheese, oregano, parsley and garlic powder. Stir in olive oil until the mixture has the consistency of wet beach sand (should hold its shape when formed)

Coating Mix:

In a 1 qt chinese food soup container (or equivalent) mix together the italian style and panko breadcrumbs. Cover and shake to incorporate together. 

Rice Balls:

In a bowl mix the cooked rice, stuffing, and some egg beater mix to incorporate it well. It does not have to match the rice 1:1 but it should be enough that its visible throughout. Using a teaspoon, scoop off some of the mixture and roll like a meatball into a ball anywhere between 1.25 and 2" in diameter. Place into the breadcrumb container and shake until coated thoroughly. 

Cooking:

Heat enough oil in a large stock pot to 370 - 380 degrees and drop in rice balls for between 30 - 60 seconds until each is golden brown. Set aside on a cooling rack to drip dry of any extra oil.  

Roasted Garlic, Shallot and Mushroom Risotto

This is  variant of the butternut squash risotto I've made for years. I made it using the cooking liquid from a venison pot roast but it is equally as tasty when using chicken or vegetable stock.

Ingredients:

4 cloves garlic

5 Shallots

1 lb small cremini mushrooms

2 Cups Arborio Rice

1 Qt Homemade Low Salt Vegetable Broth

3/4 cup dry white wine (Chardonnay)

1/2 lb Gruyere Cheese

4 Tbsp light butter

* Olive Oil

* Salt

* Black pepper

Tools:

Oven Safe baking dish

6 - 8 qt stock pot with lid

2 qt saucepan 

Preparation: 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

Rough chop shallots into 3/4" chunks and crush/peel garlic. In a baking dish, add a drizzle of olive oil, garlic, shallots, salt and pepper. Put in the oven and roast until it has started to brown. (approx 15 minutes). Feel free to use the broiler at the end for 2 - 3 minutes to finish. 

In a 2 qt saucepan bring vegetable broth with salt to a boil. 

In the stock pot, melt butter and add rice mixing well. Season the rice with salt and pepper and stir until well incorporated.  Spread rice around the edges and add wine again mixing well. Using a small ladle (4oz) add 2 ladles of boiling broth to the rice mixture. 

Repeat this process once the liquid has mixed in and boiled down until half of the stock has been added.  Rough chop the cremini mushrooms into quarters or halves depending on size and add to the pot with the roasted shallots and garlic (chop if necessary) mixing well.  Continue to add broth in the same increments until all broth has been mixed in with the rice. 

Using a fine blade food processor, grind up Gruyere cheese until it is almost a powder and mix in with the risotto. 

At this point, the mixture needs to simply cook until the rice is no longer crunchy being stirred frequently to ensure that all of the cooking liquid has been incorporated in. 

Serving

This serves 6 with roughly 1 cup of cooked per serving. 

For an added kick, dice up bacon or prosciutto and fry until crispy topping risotto with some crunch. 

Pine Nut and Garlic Couscous

This dish is a great side to a hearty meat such as pork or beef. 

Ingredients:
1/4 Cup of Pine Nuts
1 Tsp Olive Oil
3 Cloves of Garlic
1/2 Cup of pearl couscous
1 Can of chicken broth
1/4 cup of grated or crumbled Parmesan cheese

Preparation:
In a stainless 2qt saucepan, bring 1 can of chicken broth to a boil.  Mince up garlic and place in small skillet with oil and pine nuts over low heat. When garlic begins to brown, remove from heat and set aside. 

Add couscous to boiling broth and allow it to come back up to a boil. Once it has begun to boil again, reduce heat to low and add in garlic pine nut mix and Parmesan cheese. Let simmer for 8 - 12 minutes. If there is any remaining broth, strain through a strainer. 

Serving: 

Serve along side beef or pork. In order to scale up, add 1/2 cup of couscous per serving and for 4 add 1 additional can of water to the broth mix.