Pumpkin Love and the Experimental Dinner- Cajun Style

It's almost Halloween. I didn't decorate this year. I didn't even look for any of my Dracula collection, or any jack o'lanterns or scary ghosts. I did, however, buy a pumpkin. Yep, I sure did. It's a pretty big one too. The Chef and I made a very rare trip to Walmart last weekend and they had a massive display of pumpkins outside the store entrance. Snagged me. Mouse in the trap, they snagged me. I batted my eyelashes at The Chef and made a pouty face and before I knew it he was loading my big bright pumpkin in the cart.

Since then it has been sitting on the kitchen island. He wants to carve it. I don't want to carve it just yet. I thought about setting it on our front step but I don't want to look outside one day and see my precious pumpkin smashed to smithereens in the street because some punk kids were bored and out prowling. I don't really want our feisty squirrels to start eating it just yet. I want to enjoy it for a while before the inevitable happens- mushy bottom, moldy interior, smelly mess heading for the trash. Of all the seasons, autumn is by far my favorite for a number of reasons. The flavors- spicy, rich, creamy- pumpkin flavored coffees and rich beefy stew, fragrant bowls of soup. The weather- crisp cool days, chilly nights, windy and rainy and drizzly grey skies. The holidays- Halloween of course, with all the ghosts and ghouls and goblins, haunted stories, trick or treating and candy, and Thanksgiving with all the wonderful foods, family, and time for giving thanks. The colors- all the browns and greens and golds and reds of fallen leaves, crops in the fields waiting to be harvested, bright pheasants strutting on the roadsides, and fields of orange pumpkins.

I really cannot explain why I am hanging on to this pumpkin so closely. Maybe I will give in and carve it, maybe I will cook it and eat it, or maybe I'll just sit and enjoy looking at it as long as I can.

On this brisk October night I was home by myself looking for something to inspire me for dinner. I had some odds and ends in the fridge and a package of Cajun chicken sausage I grabbed on impulse at the grocery store. If you haven't tried the different chicken sausages, you need to. I never knew chicken could make such a tasty link. Chicken of course takes to seasonings incredibly well and herbs and spices can create some fantastic sausages. I've tried chicken sausages with apples and warm spices and others seasoned like kielbasa and even Italian links. When I saw the Cajun sausages I figured I better give them a try as well. I always have rice on hand, and other pantry staples like onions, bell peppers, spices. Whipping up a Cajun-inspired dirty rice-style dish was a snap and perfect for a cold evening. An Experimental Dinner was on the table in a flash!

Earlier in the summer I made a Saturday trip to the Amish vegetable farm and snagged a case of tomatoes. Those red beauties found themselves roasting to charred perfection in a hot oven and then canned with the pressure canner for use all winter long. The roasted flavor is perfect in this dish. You can also use canned fire roasted tomatoes, and if you use the juice, adjust the water accordingly. You don't want the rice to cook to a mush.

Experimental Cajun Sausage and Rice

1 package Cajun sausage*

1 chicken breast**

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 large green pepper, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced 

2 cups fire roasted tomatoes, fresh or canned

2 teaspoons dried savory

Cajun seasoning to taste

1 1/2 cups long grain rice

sale and pepper

olive oil

* Use whatever Cajun sausage you like, Andouille, kielbasa, hot or mild. I used a Cajun chicken sausage. Choose a 12-16 oz package

**You can also use leftover cooked chicken- just cube it up and add when adding the water.

Slice the sausage into thin coins. Cut the chicken breast into bite size chunks.

In a large pot heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Add the sausage slices and cook until beginning to caramelize and brown. Add the chicken, Cook and stir for a minute or two. Add the onion and bell pepper. Cook, stirring often, until vegetables begin to soften. Add the garlic. Cook one minute.

Sprinkle the savory and Cajun seasoning over and stir in. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the rice. Add the tomatoes and 2 1/2 cups water. Bring to boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.

Serve in bowls with hot sauce for sprinkling and sour cream if desired.

The best thing about these kinds of dishes is the versatility. You can adjust the heat to your family's taste- use a flavorful kielbasa instead of spicy Andouille and use a mild Cajun spice mix. Kick up the heat to blazing if you're a heat lover. It's an experiment so have fun with your food!

Julia Child's Tian de Courgette au Riz, simplified

This summer was our first summer in the city house- the first summer I did not have a garden. I must say I was ok not having to worry about watering, weeding and pests, but I really missed being able to step out into the backyard to grab some fresh veggies or herbs to create a lovely summer dish. Homegrown Iowa tomatoes- I might have missed them the most, but I really missed the abundance of zucchini that most midwest gardeners find themselves trying to use up or give away. This summer, every time I found a zucchini recipe that I wanted to make, I had to buy them. Silliness.....

Also in the city house I have a little book nook all to myself- a comfy chair near big sunny windows and shelves filled from floor to ceiling with hundreds of cookbooks. I spent a lot of time over the cold and snowy months in that room reacquainting myself with books that had been packed away for the few years we lived at the lake. Cookbooks written by celebrity chefs, local church groups and the classics- The Joy of Cooking, Better Homes and Gardens, and of course, Julia's masterpiece, The Art of French Cooking. Within these beloved books I find loads of memories and an abundance of inspiration, especially with Julia Child's recipes. Don't worry- I am not going to revive the Julie and Julia experience- I'm not THAT crazy nor can I afford to buy many of those ingredients, but I do plan on making some of the recipes that best suit me, my tastes, and my budget.

Which brings me back to the zucchini. When I first came across this recipe I fully expected to have people throwing zucchini at me left and right by the time summer got here. Imagine my disappointment when that was not the case! Being in the city, however, means I have access to some of the best farmers markets in the country, like our Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market, which is legendary, to smaller markets in nearly all of the suburbs, and many awesome HUGE grocery stores with every type of produce imaginable. I had to buy it, but that's ok. I really wanted to make this dish, Tian de Courgette au Riz. In spite of it's pretentious-sounding name, it's actually quite a humble little casserole. Simple ingredients and familiar flavors were something that really appealed to me. Julia's technique, however, was not. It was time to reinvent the wheel for sure. I've been cooking rice for decades, and making all kinds of dishes that start with uncooked rice and transform in the oven to something tender and fluffy- I knew I'd be able to figure this one out as well.

Julia almost certainly stood at her elevated kitchen counter and shredded that zucchini by hand, but I wasn't about to go that route, not with a perfectly good food processor on my counter. Shredding the zucchini took just a few minutes, and the rest of the dish is a snap. We'll go through how I made it, and then we'll look at Julia's original, and very meticulous, version for fun. For example, Julia spent a considerable amount of time prepping the zucchini even after shredding. She shreds, salts, squeezes, tastes, saves the spent juice, sautes, parboils, thicken, folds and finally, bakes. While her technique is masterful and creates this incredibly delicious dish, it's a lot of steps, too many for busy cooks these days. The biggest change is not salting and draining the zucchini. Besides the mess, the juice the zucchini gives off will help cook the rice without adding a lot of extra liquid- it just seems silly to drain off liquid just to add it back, am I right?

The Modern Zucchini and Rice Gratin

Butter
2 lb zucchini
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup half and half
1 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
salt and pepper
1-2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 2 quart casserole dish generously and set aside.

Wash the zucchini and trim the ends. Shred the zucchini into a large bowl and set aside.

In a large skillet (I used a wok- seriously, and it worked fabulously) melt 2 tablespoons butter. When butter is foaming and hot, add the minced onion. Season with salt and pepper and cook over medium low heat until softened and just beginning to brown, stirring occasionally. Add the minced garlic and cook another minute.

Add the rice to the skillet and cook for a minute or two until the grains turn bright white. Remove from heat. Stir in the half and half, the thyme, the zucchini and half the Parmesan cheese. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon mixture into buttered casserole dish. Cover tightly with foil and bake one hour.

Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Remove the foil, drizzle with a couple tablespoons of melted butter and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, until the top is browned and the rice is tender, about 15-20 more minutes.

This dish is a lovely summer side dish and is perfect for a light vegetarian lunch option. It has all the richness of Julia's classic recipe with a lot fewer steps. Just for fun, let's take a look at the original recipe from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of  French Cooking, Volume II.

Tian de Courgette au Riz

2 1/2 lb zucchini

1/2 cup plain, raw, untreated white rice

1 cup minced onions

3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, mashed or finely minced

2 tablespoons flour

about 2 1/2 cups warm liquid- zucchini juices plus milk, heated in a pan (watch closely so this doesn't curdle)

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (reserve 2 tb for later)

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

heavily buttered 6 to 8 cup flameproof baking and serving dish, about 1 1/2 inches deep

Shave the stem and tip off each zucchini, scrub the vegetable thoroughly but not harshly with a brush under cold running water to remove any clinging sand or dirt. If vegetables are large, halve or quarter them.If seeds are large and at all tough, and surrounding flesh is coarse rather than moist and crisp, which is more often the case with yellow squashes and striped green cocozelles than with zucchini, cut out and discard the cores.

Rub the squash against the coarse side of a grater, and place grated flesh in a colander set over a bowl. For each pound (2 cups) of grated squash, toss with 1 teaspoon of salt, mixing thoroughly. Let the squash drain 3 or 4 minutes, or until you are ready to proceed.

Just before cooking, squeeze a handful dry and taste. If by chance the squash is too salty, rinse in a large bowl of cold water, taste again; rinse and drain again if necessary. Then squeeze gently by handfuls, letting juices run back into bowl. Dry on paper towels. Zucchini will not be fluffy; it is still dampish, but the excess liquid is out. The pale green, slightly saline juice drained and squeezed out of the zucchini has a certain faint flavor that can find its uses in vegetable soups, canned soups, or vegetable sauces.

White the shredded zucchini is draining, drop the rice into boiling salted water, bring rapidly back to the boil, and boil exactly 5 minutes; drain and set aside.

In a large frying pan, cook the onions slowly in the oil for 8 to 10 minutes until tender and translucent. Raise heat slightly and stir several minutes until very lightly browned. Stir in the grated zucchini and garlic. Toss and turn for 5 to 6 minutes until zucchini is almost tender.

Sprinkle in the flour, stir over moderate heat for two minutes and remove from heat. Gradually stir in the 2 1/2 cups warm liquid. Make sure the flour is well blended and smooth. Return over moderately high heat and bring to the simmer, stirring. Remove from heat again, stir in the blanched rice and all but 2 tablespoons of the cheese. Taste very carefully for seasoning. Turn into buttered baking dish. Strew remaining cheese on top, and dribble the olive oil over the cheese.

About a half hour before serving, bring to simmer on top of stove (you can skip this step if your baking dish isn't flameproof), then set in the upper third of a preheated 425 degree oven until tian is bubbling and top has browned nicely. The rice should absorb all the liquid.

Shew!! I am TIRED just reading all that, not to mention the lengthy and repetitive cooking and heating. In my version, the hour in the oven, covered, is all it takes to cook the zucchini to the perfect tenderness without being mushy. The rice absorbs the liquid the squash will give off during baking, without the hassle of squeezing it out, heating and adding it back. Half and half along with the butter gives it that signature Julia Child richness and the slightly larger amount of Parmesan makes it hearty. The heavier sprinkle of cheese on top of the dish also gives the dish a beautiful crusty, salty crust. Serve this with roast chicken or pork and get ready for rave reviews.

Eat The World- Paella

Living back in the city definitely has its benefits, like great big grocery stores with everything I could possibly want to cook, for one thing. Book stores, because there is always room for more cookbooks, right? Gourmet shops and spice stores with literally hundreds of spices. All this access to ingredients and inspiration is really helping to drive my Eat The World theme and getting me to cook, and eat, foods from cuisines I have never tried before, like Spanish cuisine. Sure, I have had tapas before, who hasn't? I really wanted to get into something traditional and paella is widely regarded as the national dish of Spain. Rice has been a staple food in Spain since the 15th century, and with beautiful coastal regions, it's just natural that the Spanish combined rice with seafood and other meats in this delicious one-pan dish that gets its name from the vessel it's cooked in.

I highly recommend slicing your leeks lengthwise and then

rinsing under running water to remove all the grit. They can

be quite sandy and gross inside.

Back in the 18th century a typical paella might consist of rice, chicken, snails, duck, rabbit, beans, tomatoes, artichokes, fresh herbs and of course, saffron. In coastal regions there was usually more seafood and less meat in the dish. Modern paella is usually made with chicken, shellfish, and often a sausage such as chorizo. Regardless of region, there is one constant in all paella- good olive oil. 

A mezzaluna makes quick work of mincing herbs and it's
a fun little gadget to have around.

When I finally decided to go with paella, I started researching recipes. Paella can easily be a hundred dollar dinner, if not more. Imported rices, imported olive oils, and pricier seafood can drive the price up in a flash. I wanted to find ingredients that fit not only into my budget, but into the average family's budget as well. I also thought that the techniques and equipment needed to prepare the dish should not be too "cheffy" and should be so that the home cook can easily prepare this dish. Substituting chicken for more pricier fish options was a no brainer, especially since many Spanish cooks also use chicken. Choosing shrimp was a fairly reasonably priced option for seafood and using kielbasa instead of chorizo kept some of the flavors familiar but not too far from the original. As for the traditional paella pan, from which the dish gets its name, I don't own one, but I do own a wok-like pan from IKEA that will work perfectly. The lid has been broken but I've used a pizza pan many times for bigger skillets, and it did the trick again this time as well. I also did not need to stock up on exotic spices. Most cooks have paprika on hand, right? Saffron was the only spice that not everyone has on hand, but small bottles are relatively affordable. I've had a bottle of saffron on the shelf for a while, waiting to find the right dish. This version of paella is quite modern and I FINALLY get to use that saffron I have been hanging on to. 

Looks like a "big pinch" to me! Saffron has a very unique
fragrance and brings a gorgeous color to your recipe.

Easy Paella

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 pound medium shrimp, cleaned

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 3 thighs, cut into chunks

salt and pepper

8 oz kielbasa, sliced
2 leeks, cleaned and sliced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 1/2 cups rice 

2 tablespoons butter

generous pinch of saffron

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

small bunch scallions, sliced

handful chopped fresh Italian parsley

lime wedges

In a large skillet heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium high heat. Cook the shrimp until pink and cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add more oil to the skillet if necessary. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to skillet, cooking until browned on all sides. Remove from skillet. 

Add the sliced kielbasa. Cook and stir until browned. Add the leeks and cook for one minute. Add the garlic and paprika and return the chicken to the pan.

Take the skillet off the heat and add the wine; return to high heat and boil until almost evaporated. 

Add the rice, butter, saffron and chicken stock. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook about 30 minutes until the rice has absorbed the liquid. Stir the shrimp, peas and sliced scallions into the rice; sprinkle with parsley and serve with lime wedges and crusty bread.

Now that I have one paella under my belt, I plan to try several versions. Many of the recipes I've seen had ingredients such as lobster, claims, snails, duck, legumes such as butter beans and other similar beans and vegetables of all kinds. Maybe a vegetarian version? Marinated and seared tofu as a protein? Scallops? This is going to be fun!

Autumn Mushroom Season- Risotto with Forest Mushrooms

I was watching a rerun of the Food Network show Chopped the other day and this particular episode featured teen chefs. One of the teen chefs made a sorta-risotto that to me sounded like a pretty decent dish for an adult chef put in the hot seat, let alone a 16 year old. Risotto is not an easy dish to prepare well, especially under the pressure of a clock looming overhead and three competitors at your side. While this teen chef did a pretty good job and had what I consider a very successful dish, obviously it wasn't a true risotto. You have to invest the time and attention to have a well prepared dish, and you have to have the right kind of rice. Any old rice will not do.

So if you can't use regular rice, what do you use? Arborio rice. This Italian short grain rice is perfect for the long, slow cooking with constant stirring. It's high starch content keeps the grains firm, holds their shape perfectly and combines with the broth during cooking to make a creamy consistency. In the package it seems to be covered in a fine starchy dust. Other types of rice, such as long grain rice, could never hold up in this kind of cooking. The grains are too brittle and crumbly and your risotto would be more like Cream of Wheat.

Risotto is so much more than just rice though. Often times you will see recipes that include vegetables like leeks or asparagus, squash and even some greens. Mushrooms make a regular appearance in all kinds of risotto recipes and is a very unique way to use wild mushrooms, fresh or dehydrated. Every once in a while if my timing is just right I stop at the store in the city at the same time they have a huge selection of mushrooms. Today was my lucky day! They had all kinds of mushrooms I had never heard of, and one that many people forage for. 

The first mushroom I noticed was the Trumpet Royale. The price tag caught my eye as well, but I figured I was only going to need a couple....... This interesting mushroom is pleurotus eryngii, and is also known as a king trumpet, French horn mushroom, and a handful of other names. A native of the Mediterranean region this big boy is the largest of the oyster mushroom family. It has a thick stem, and a meaty texture. 

Another awesome score was a nice clump of grifola frondosa, known to mushroom hunters as Hen of The Woods. I remember my dad bringing these frilly delicate mushrooms home when I was a kid. In Japan this is one of the most widely used mushrooms, known there as maitake, and has many medicinal properties as well as being delicious. It's a clump of delicate petal-like mushrooms that cooks in a flash. If you ever see this one, you really should give it a try, it's a gorgeous mushroom.

Now I had never heard of Forest Nameko mushrooms before (philiota nameka) but I was definitely intrigued. They were teeny tiny and long like enoki mushrooms but had a more pronounced brown cap. I had to come home and do a little research to figure out exactly how to use these guys to their full advantage. If I ever decide to make miso soup, I'll be looking for these mushrooms. They are also great in stir fries.

Also on the shelf- brown clamshell mushrooms. Lyophyllum shimeji is native to the Asian region and is a mushroom that needs to be cooked thoroughly to remove the bitter taste it has in its raw state. It works great in stir fries and any dish with wild game. Agrocybe aegerita, or velvet pioppini mushrooms, are very similar and were also available at the store today, as well as the more common oyster mushrooms, cremini, and shiitake. 

I chose the trumpet royale, maitake and oyster mushrooms for my risotto and bagged up my mushrooms. While the trumpets were quite pricey, and the maitake not much cheaper, I figured it was worth the splurge since I didn't need a huge pile of each, and the maitake clump weighs just about nothing. A quick spin around the store and I finished up my shopping- a bag or arborio rice, a nice crisp white wine, and a carton of chicken broth along with something easy for dinner tonight, and I was on my way, with a recipe building in my mind. The resulting risotto is the perfect dish for a light dinner- just grab a glass of nice white wine. It also serves well as a side dish for grilled seafood, filet mignon, or grilled marinated chicken.

A couple bacon wrapped steaks seared in a hot cast iron
skillet make a great accompaniment to risotto.

Risotto with Forest Mushrooms

1 1/2 cups chopped fresh wild mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large leeks, sliced, white and light green parts
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
2 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
handful or two frozen peas, thawed
chopped fresh parsley

Clean the mushrooms and chop into evenly sized pieces. Thoroughly clean the leeks of any sand or grit and slice; mince the garlic; set aside. 

Heat the chicken stock in a saucepan and hold, covered.

In a large skillet, melt the butter with the olive oil. Add the mushrooms and cook until they start to soften. Add the leeks and saute until softened but not browned. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two. Add the rice to the skillet and stir to coat the rice with the butter. Add the wine to the skillet. Cook and stir until the wine has evaporated.

Begin adding the chicken stock a cup or two at a time. 

Stir while cooking. When the broth is absorbed, add more and continue until all the broth is incorporated and the rice is tender and creamy. Remove from heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese and peas. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve.

I have been seeing a number of "easy" risotto recipes making their way around the blogoshpere lately, even a baked version that promises to be no-stir risotto, but really, if you want the best dish, you need to invest the time to do it the right way, the real way, the Italian way. You will not regret it.

The Indian Experiment Part 2

Some time ago I decided to make it a point to try my hand at Indian cooking. So far, that has included only one dish, tandoori chicken. I'm nowhere near done yet- still tons to learn about and master. So many spices and flavors to discover and new ways to prepare things. So here I am, finding myself researching recipes and trying to find ways to best use the ingredients I have on hand. Since I stocked up on almost everything in the spice category, it's pretty safe to say I'm prepared for just about any recipe. No bugs though. And no monkey brains. I always say no to bugs and monkey brains. I may have an adventurous palate but I am nooooo Indiana Jones at a time like this.

Butter chicken, also known as murg makhani, will be my next experiment. Probably one of the most popular dishes, this comes from the Punjab region and can be as mild or as hot as the cook decides.  Mine will not be the burn-your-face-off searing heat many Indian dishes are known for, but a pretty intense blend of flavors, and aromas. The spices cooked briefly in the melted butter is just enough to make the whole house smell wonderful. Poor planning on my part landed Indian night on a weeknight, so I won't have time to play with dough and make pita or naan this time either, darnit. I bet it would have been great for sopping up the creamy, spicy sauce. This dish is often served with lentils, but I think I am going to stick with rice.

The more I get to reading and researching these new foods, the more I find I want to make. In a perfect world I would spend all day cooking and playing with food. If only I had all the time I wanted and an endless supply of ingredients...... a girl can dream though, right?

***Please note, I did not "invent" this recipe, but based it on Food.com's version. I did make a few changes based on ingredients I had on hand, but the result was fantastic. So let's get cooking.

What you need:

2 tb oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
3 tb butter
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp sweet paprika
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tb fresh grated ginger
several dashes chili powder
1 cinnamon stick
6 cardamom pods, slightly bruised
1 can tomato puree
1 tb sugar
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tb lemon juice

The method:

Heat oil in large wok or skillet. Add chicken and cook until nicely browned. You may need to do it two batches using 1 tb oil per batch. Remove to bowl and set aside. Reduce heat and add butter to wok. Add all spices to butter and cook until fragrant, stirring constantly, about a minute.  Return chicken to wok and stir to coat with spices. Add tomatoes and sugar, simmer for 15 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for a few more minutes until thickened. Serve over rice. (Make sure to fish out the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods- you don't want to eat those)

I'm so in love with fresh summer squash stir fried with Indian seasonings that again I went with that as a side. I have only made one other Indian dish so it can't technically be called a "rut" just yet. I like the mildness of the squash compared to the bold flavor of the entree- I don't have a plate full of competing flavors, which is more important to me. Concentrate on ONE dish and do it really well, and try a new side later, maybe when I have a couple extra hours for bread-making as well. 

Anyway, this dish really did come together very quickly, which is perfect for a weeknight when you don't want to spend the whole evening in the kitchen. It's basically a one-pot entree as well. If you are one of those super organized cooks, you can pre-prep just about everything- cut up the chicken, vegetables, mix the spices ahead of time. Then it's just a matter of heat, dump, saute and simmer. Done! Convenience food that's actually GOOD for you! I think we might be on to something here!

The Great Sushi Experiment

The time has come for The Chef and I to take the plunge and learn how to make sushi. We LOVE sushi, but living at the Little Lake House out on the country means very few opportunities for sushi unless we drive into Des Moines. Take into account both of our love for cooking and learning new cuisines and a longtime desire to find a sushi class and you've got an adventure in the making.

You might remember a few weeks back we were so surprised to find nori and a sushi making kit at a very small town market in a nearby town. Since them we have assembled some ingredients to make an as yet unnamed roll all our own creation but it's going to have shrimp, avocado, cucumber, cream cheese and maybe some slightly steamed julienned carrot for color. Might even try tempura frying this roll. I've investigated how to make spicy mayo. We have plenty of soy sauce, pickled ginger and wasabi.

Finding rice was a bit of a challenge. I searched online, asked friends- got a lot of yes you can, no you can't, and you must always use...... Of course, no small town stores carried even short grain rice, so back to Des Moines we headed. Armed with a recommended brand to buy we quickly found what we were looking for. Rice and rice wine vinegar now complete our ingredient list. It's time to play with our food!

Since we are making our own rolls, and I am not a huge fan of nori, I have to decide if I want to leave it in or just skip it. I tend to lean towards skipping it BUT I'm not so sure my roll will turn out like I want it too. I guess I'll just leave it in and be a big girl. I have found that the flavor is less pronounced in a freshly made roll as opposed to a sushi "platter" that is premade in the deli of the grocery store. I love the other ingredients we're using so I'm sure it will be fine.

Before we get started though, let's get through some common misunderstandings about sushi. Sushi itself does not mean "raw" and in fact the vast majority of sushi I have tried contained nothing raw except vegetables. The word sushi describes the rice- the vinegar seasoned sushi rice that is sticky and holds the rolls together. Sashimi, on the other hand, IS raw fish- thinly sliced raw fish and seafood. Now there ARE types of sushi made with raw fish but it doesn't have to be raw. Some of the BEST sushi I have ever had contained tempura fried shrimp and mango, or a roll with tempura fried sweet potato- it was so delicious and sweet it was like dessert sushi. And not all sushi are rolls either- nigiri are small mounds of rice with a strip of fish or other topping laid on the top. Shrimp are commonly used for nigiri and you might be more likely to find the raw ingredients presented this way. The Chef and I always fight over the shrimp nigiri- it's both of our favorite!

Anyway....back to our sushi. We are going to start by prepping all our roll ingredients- cutting the veggies and shrimp into julienne strips, softening the cream cheese (not all rolls have cream cheese but I do like those that do). Once that is done we can start on our rice. I am following the cooking directions on the package for the water and rice amounts. While the rice is cooking you want to get your seasoning made. I am using the method of cooking my rice and seasoning from Alton Brown's  recipe on FoodNetwork.com so if you want to follow along, just click and it will take you right there. Let's get started!

For the rice you will need:

2 cups sushi or short grain rice (I am using the Calrose brand-recommended to me)
2 cups water plus extra for rinsing rice
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt

Now for the method:

Place the rice into a mixing bowl and cover with cool water. Swirl the rice in the water, pour off and repeat 2 or 3 times until the water is clear.

Place the rice and 2 cups of water into a medium saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, uncovered. Once boiling, reduce heat to lowest setting, cover, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered for ten minutes.

Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl and heat in microwave for 30-45 seconds. Transfer rice to large non-metal bowl and add vinegar mixture. Fold thoroughly to combine and coat each grain with the seasoning mixture. Allow to cool to room temperature before using.

***Remember- these sushi rice instructions are property of Food Network and Alton Brown.

Now, we're ready to make our rolls. We are using:

Nori sheets
Sushi rice
Cooked shrimp cut into dice
Cucumber, cut into thin strips
Avocado, cut in thin strips
Cream cheese, very cold and cut into strips

Place a sheet of nori on bamboo rolling mat. Spread rice that has cooled over nori. 

Now, if you want the nori on the outside of the roll, place the shrimp and vegetables along the long end of the rice. 

Lift the mat and begin to roll, pressing tightly. When completely rolled, trim edges, slice roll and enjoy!

I prefer to have my rice on the outside so in order to do that, you still place the nori on the mat first and spread the rice like before, but you flip the sheet so the rice is outside. I recommend making the mat a little wet to help prevent sticking. Place fillings on nori side and roll up in the same fashion. 

With the rice on the outside you can do different garnishes, like black sesame seeds or toasted sesame seeds, tobiko, finely shredded carrots, all sorts of beautiful sauces.  I love eel sauce, spicy mayo, sometimes just a wee touch of wasabi.

I made a small batch of spicy mayo by combining mayonnaise and sriracha. Drizzled over the top of my roll, I thought it looked pretty good for an amateur. Now that we have the rice down (and let me just say, Alton Brown's method is KILLER delicious and easy) we just have our imaginations to combine all sorts of yummy combinations!