Grilled Scallops and Baby Octopus With Squid Ink Risotto and Asian Slaw

Check out my latest post for Char-Broil - fancy schmancy. Grilled Scallops and Baby Octopus with Squid Ink Risotto and Asian Slaw - Spring is almost here!

Don't let winter give you the blues - hit back and cook with color

I don't know about the rest of you but most of us are getting a little tired of winter and here in New York its been the snowiest winter in a long, long time.

Time to get yourself out of that funk and get on the grill. There are plenty of bright and colorful vegetables available this time of year and nothing will make you feel better than a colorful plate. I have been saying it forever and I will say it again - I cook with color! This is a big fat grilled pork chop with some winter vegetables. I have a potato mash, a parsnip mash a little cabbage, apple and carrot slaw along with a little red pepper and some squash. It made my eyes dance and my tummy happy. I think you will agree that when you cook with color everybody wins.

Creative Cooking Crew Challenge - RICE

Rice is one of those things that you either make all the time or you don't - I make rice in all its forms all the time.

Forbidden rice pudding - this has coconut milk and toasted peanuts.

Risotto of all kinds all the time - this is a summer risotto with squash blossoms and baby zucchini.

I also just make rice that we have with stir fry - one is my take on General Tso's chicken and the other is a mix of chicken and shrimp.

Indian food is a popular favorite around here and this is my version of Madras chicken. So you can clearly see that rice is my friend. For this months challenge I didn't get too far out of my comfort zone of using rice as a side dish. I made chicken and rice.

I took some seasoned chicken breasts and some seasoned venison and some asparagus tips and I rolled them together with a little transglutaminase and then I vacuum sealed them and let them "rest" in the bags for about 40 minutes to seal everything up nice and tight.

I then took these sealed pouches and immersed them in a hot water bath for about 10 minutes at about 150F to tighten everything up all nice and cozy. While all this was happening I sautéed up some kabocha squash and I sliced up a pear and a beet that I had boiled earlier and let cool. I also made a blackberry gastric because everybody likes a little acidity wouldn't you say. As odd as this might sound I tried to imagine what the venison and the poultry would be consuming in a free range world and tried to match up my flavors based on that.

 

I took the simmered chicken, venison and asparagus rolls and first browned them in a pan whole then I sliced them into medallions and browned the bottoms to add a nice little caramelization to an already tasty dish. All of this went on to a plate with some black Thai sticky rice, and while this rice is usually used for dessert I found its subtle sweet flavor and nuttiness a nice addition with some puffed rice for crunch and here you have it - chicken and rice.

Here is my chicken and rice - for the Creative Cooking Crew Challenge - Rice. Check out all the others HERE - thanks Laz for organizing this!