Jamie Oliver Inspired dinner for two!
For Christmas, one of my students gave me the book
Cook With Jamie: My guide to making you a better cook. It's a great book because, beyond recipes, it really elaborates on overall concepts that you can apply to cooking on your own. I really look forward to using the book more as I have more time to cook in the coming months...
I had some leftover bacon in the refrigerator and went to the market to get fresh leeks, an assortment of mushrooms, a white onion, some celery and spinach...
I preheated the oven to about 200 degrees Celsius and washed/chopped up the leeks, adding some salt, pepper and olive oil. I added a lug of red wine for good measure, though Jamie recommended white (Not a bit white wine drinker, I don't usually have white wine at home!). I let the chicken breasts get covered in some of this marinade, and put everything in a small tray. I wrapped the chicken breasts in the slices of bacon, and set them on top of the leeks.
Jamie recommends 3 slices of bacon for each breast; I used just 1 so they weren't completely covered in the bacon. It was enough for a lot of flavor (and grease!) so I was happy with my choice. Popped this in the hot oven for about 25min but the very centers weren't done yet, so I popped them back in for another 10 or so min.
Meanwhile...
I got working on the risotto! My husband was helping out so the onion, celery and mushrooms were already chopped up when I began ;)
The celery and onion need to be really fine. I sauteed them in some butter/olive oil, adding a bit of minced garlic too. When they were really soft, I added the mushrooms and raw rice to saute for a bit too, along with some salt and pepper. Finally, I added a glug of red wine (again, Jamie said white). When it had all been absorbed, I started adding some chicken stock I had simmering in a separate pot, about 1 cup at a time.
While I made the risotto, Jiahui was helpful and stirfried the spinach in a bit of olive oil/garlic, so everything was ready!
A few things about risotto...
I love making it with either leftover rice (much quicker!) OR using
brown rice. I thought brown rice was my secret until I read a NYTimes piece about
making risotto with brown rice and found out it is not so secret anymore... but the reasons they give (healthier, etc.) are not the only reasons I use it! I have found that using brown rice is a bit easier because it is harder to overcook and get mush. Also, if you are having guests over, brown rice is much more forgiving of having to be reheated due to mistiming/latecomers and I even took risotto to a potluck once, because the brown rice allows it!
Another trick I've learned is
using the ricecooker! It makes it really fool-proof since it stays at the perfect temperature for cooking rice, and you never burn the bottom. You are also not risking such a low cooking temp. that the rice turns out all mushy. The trick for me is to turn the rice cooker on and be patient in waiting for it to warm up a bit before starting, since it takes a bit longer than a pot would on the burner.
Notes on the Dish:
I have rarely experienced such flavorful chicken breast! It was tender and really picked up the flavor of the leeks and bacon. I would have added more salt to the chicken; I was cautious because of how salty bacon is, but we definitely needed to add some salt to our dishes at the table.
The risotto was pretty delicious, and I happily ate the leftovers for lunch the next day.
The chicken and leeks actually became more flavorful after a day or so in the fridge! For brunch on Sunday, I made delicious sandwiches with the chicken and leeks, some cheese, and sun dried tomatoes in a pita pocket! YUM!
