Mango Curry Shrimp Risotto with Broccoli & Tomato Slaw

Sometimes running out of something turns out to be good, especially when you're not expecting it. I'll get to this later. G&G were coming over for dinner (a.k.a. Gramma and Grampa, or Mom and Dad), and SO had come up with a great idea - risotto with shrimp. Browsed around for a recipe I liked, but as usual they were all not what I was looking for.  I didn't want mushroom risotto this time, the Martha Stewart one called for a pressure cooker, the Food & Wine version seemed overly fussy with butter and I didn't feel like saffron, Giada de Laurentiis' version sounded good but I didn't have fennel or arugula, and I wasn't going for lemony.  And on and on. Actually another thing I didn't like about virtually all the shrimp risotto dishes, they all called for throwing in the shrimp at the last minute and stirring until just cooked through. As my friend would say, BORING.

But then I thought, making risotto isn't rocket science.  Well as they say, it is easy to make a crappy risotto, very hard to make a perfect one. I'm not sure if "they" really say that, but that seems to be the general consensus. Judging by the number of risotto dishes that Mr. Angry Chef Ramsey throws in the trash, it could be true. That's tv though.  I'll just wing it.  There isn't a fixed amount of anything you need anyway, you just keep ladling broth a bit at a time until it is done. I'll fix the one thing I don't like though, I'll bake the shrimp.  One recipe tossed the shrimp in paprika. But.....I ran out of paprika! Who runs out of paprika anyway.

We have a friend who has been pawning every manner of Epicure product on us lately. I generally like their products, but I like making things from scratch. However, the little jar of "Mango Curry Dip" spice powder just sang to me when I opened the cupboard door. So I rinsed the raw shrimp, patted dry, and then tossed in a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and some of this mango curry spice. Put it on a baking dish, and it was ready to pop into the oven.

As for the rest, it's just risotto. Start with onion and garlic in butter, toss the rice in it, then ladle a scoup of broth at a time for 15 to 20 minutes until done. Luckily I still had plenty of home made turkey broth in the freezer, that'll do perfectly. So worth the effort! I also added a bit of wine early on, and an extra bit of the mango curry. Near the end, popped the shrimp in the oven with convection on to crisp it up a bit, and voila.  Near perfection anyway.

Mango Curry Shrimp Risotto

Seems almost like an afterthought, but we needed something fresh to go with the slightly rich and slightly spicy shrimp risotto.  I'm not a big broccoli fan, but chop it up finely in a slaw and suddenly it transforms.  Not sure why, it just does.  SO thinks I'm crazy on this topic (and likely many others) but I won't apologize, it is simply true. So it goes like this. Wash and finely chop some broccoli, finely dice some fresh tomato, and maybe some fine dice of English cuke as well. Add a little bit of your favourite salad dressing, and you're done. Very fresh, a bit crunchy, and a good counter point to the curry.

Broccoli slaw with tomato and cuke

Finally, I had to say something about the appetizer I put out. On our trip to the east coast this past summer, we picked up some awesome smoked herring, both pickled and dried at this place called Fumoir d'Anton in Les Isles de la Madeleine. Really tasty, and interesting part of the islands' history. Threw on some olives for SSO, in case you're wondering.

Herring from Le Fumoir d'Anton,
Havre-aux-Maisons, Îles-de-la-Madeleine 

Next Time: Hmmm. Maybe would add in some fresh Cilantro or even Mint leaves

Me: 9/10

SO: 9/10

SSO: 5/10

Spicy daal with potato

Came home late and tired, smelled something wonderful as I walked in the door.  It was curry I smelled, and all was good. We were talking about eating more protein.  I had read somewhere that eating protein will make you feel more full, and really we eat way too much cheese. Nothing wrong with cheese, but there is a limit. Or there should be. Anyway, branching out from meat, cheese, and eggs meant legumes, beans and nuts. So let's try lentils. Turns out they are 3rd highest protein by weight, after only soy beans and hemp. Oh boy.

Lentil daal w/potato and naan

The recipe (from finecooking.com; isn't the one I used, but is almost identical) turned out to be fairly spicy, which I like. Not so good for the SSO, but this night he ate dinner at Gramma and Grampa's so no big whoop. My own curry recipes often turn out spicy but lack depth, but this time was different. SO had used my fav new kitchen gadget (spice grinder) to grind up some fresh cumin - I'm convinced that made the difference. Fresh herbs and spices are just awesome. Paired the daal with some naan bread from the local asian super store (a minute in the toaster got it tasting more or less authentic), and some yogurt for SO to tame the heat a bit. Great for left-overs.

Next time: a bit less heat, and less thick

Me: 8/10
SO: 7/10
SSO: n/a, but would be 1/10 if we made him try it (although he would like the naan)