One of my favorite websites for recipes is Food 52, the brainchild of two New York food writers, Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs. The recipes are from home cooks across the country, and selected recipes will wind up in a published cookbook. Since I never create my own recipes, I don’t contribute any recipes to the site (I’m more of a recipe follower, and I’m evolving into a recipe-modifier, learning to add my own flair). But, I am often inspired by the recipes that others post there.

Misoyaki roast chicken with shoyu onion sauce, posted by timWuNotWoo caught my eye with it’s unique flavors. It generated a lot of attention, too. One of my favorite food bloggers, Jenn of Last Night’s Dinner, posted about it here. So of course I had to make it.

My first hurdle was finding red miso paste. At two grocery stores in my town, including the local Fresh Market, I was handed miso soup when I asked about miso paste. With some diligence, and a trip across town when I got off work early one day, I managed to find it at the Chinese grocery. Turns out they have a lot of neat things there, including the miso paste.

Instead of a whole chicken, I used bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. I let the chicken sit in the marinade for about six hours, and I wiped off the bulk of the marinade prior to putting the chicken in the oven. According to the recipe, the miso will burn if it’s not scraped off. Turns out that’s true.

The chicken was moist, with great flavor. The onion sauce was delicious over the roast chicken breast and the jasmine rice that I served it with. Umami all the way.

For the recipe, please visit Food 52 yourself. It’s a great site to check out. The recipe is here.

Sometimes beautiful things just catch my eye, and it really doesn’t matter how much they cost. In fact, the less they cost, the better. My little town is fairly isolated — about two hours from any decent shopping — so when I travel, I like to shop.

During a work trip to San Francisco a year and a half ago, I went in a CB2 with some friends who were shopping for appetizer plates. I had no intention of purchasing anything, but these tumblers caught my eye. The glasses are technically double old-fashioned glasses, but they are just the right size for wine. And, of course, at about $2 per glass, it doesn’t matter much if one breaks.

I usually use them for red wines. Sometimes I drink a white in it, but only if it’s a white wine that can tolerate a bit of warming up since hands tend to warm up the glass.

And in this glass? A 2008 Mollydooker Two Left Feet, a shiraz blended with a bit of merlot and cabernet sauvignon.

You can find the wine here, and the glasses here.

My life is crazy. Let me just put that out there. Since I finished medical school almost ten years ago, I have worked full time (and sometimes way more than full time). Almost 6-1/2 years ago, my daughter was born. And then three years after that, my son was born. And I still work full time, because I love what I do. My husband works a lot, too, because he loves what he does. My daughter is in kindergarten, and my son is in preschool. Both kids just started swim practice – this week, in fact – and that activity now takes up a good hour in the evening twice a week.

So, my point? It’s really hard to make time to cook. Really, really hard. I have found some tools that help me survive these crazy work weeks. One of them is my husband, who shares in all the household and parenting responsibilities equally — but you can’t have him. A couple of other tools that I rely on are my slow cooker – an ancient appliance that was a hand-me-down from my mother-in-law and looks like it might be straight out of the 1960s – and my electric pressure cooker, a Cuisinart.

Earlier this week, during one of those usual crazy days, I decided to utilize my pressure cooker to make a risotto. It’s so simple and straightforward, and I can have a risotto prepped in no time. Thankfully, I like risotto. The pressure cooker is good for other things too, but the fact that I could make risotto in the pressure cooker was a bit of a surprise for me. Hence, this post.

As I mentioned in my last post, we have this great little fish market in my neighborhood. I stopped by on the way home from work and picked up some fresh St. Augustine shrimp. Everything else I had on hand. Turned out to be a perfect – and quick – weeknight meal, with plenty of leftovers for the next night.

For the wine for this meal (both for cooking and for drinking), I opened a 2005 Franciscan Chardonnay from Napa. This chardonnay is a lighter, crisper style than one might think of in a traditional chardonnay. It worked well with this dish, but I probably would have preferred a sauvignon blanc or a riesling given the hint of spiciness in the shrimp from the crushed red pepper.

Shrimp Risotto with Peas

These directions are for using an electric pressure cooker. You can always use your traditional risotto recipe if you don't have a pressure cooker.

Ingredients:

Ingredients for Shrimp

2 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
3/4 pound shrimp
1/2 cup dry white wine

Ingredients for Risotto

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 to 3/4 cup finely chopped onion or shallot
2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon kosher salt
5 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 cup frozen peas

Directions:

In a skillet over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add garlic and crushed red pepper. Add shrimp and saute for 2-3 minutes or until shrimp begin to turn pink. Add 1/2 cup white wine and simmer until shrimp are done, another 2-3 minutes. Remove shrimp with slotted spoon and set aside. Pour cooking liquid into bowl and reserve.

In the pressure cooker, place 1 tablespoon oil, 1 tablespoon butter and the chopped onion or shallot, and saute for 2 or 3 minutes until the onion/shallot is translucent. Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Add in the arborio rice and cook, stirring frequently, until the rice is opaque (about 3-4 minutes). Add the wine and salt and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed. Add 4-1/2 cups chicken stock, stir, and set the pressure cooker to high pressure and cook for 6 minutes. When the 6 minutes is up, use the quick release to release the steam in the pressure cooker. Open the lid carefully.

To risotto, add in 1/4 cup of reserved shrimp cooking liquid and the last 1/2 cup of the chicken stock. Stir until absorbed. Add in the shrimp and peas. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Bon Appetit

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