I found a website, http://www.vit-shop.co.uk, which has the best selection of macrobiotic/japanese foods I have found on the web for the uk. The range is extensive and the prices most reasonable. The site also has a full range of health foods, beauty products and all of that. The name doesn't lend itself to being a place to get macrobiotic foods and I found it by putting in clearspring to see where I could get their products. I live in West Wales and it is not easy to find the items I want. I can order a lot of them from my health food store, but not all. I do travel to London once a year perhaps to source new foods from Planet Organic or WholeFoods, but this vit-shop site does have a brilliant selection...
So now back to the brown risotto - I found it on the vit shop site where I put in Biona and brought up all their products. I do love risotto and figured that brown must be better than white so bought a pack and have just now used it for the first time. I have used Pru Leith's Cookery Bible for making my risotto for years and basically do 8 oz of risotto to 1 1/2 pt (30 oz) of stock. Well today I had made hummous (the best ever) and used the water that I had pressure cooked the chick peas in for 45 mins. To this I also added the water that I had soaked the Maitake Mushrooms (Grifola frondosa) in. I had read about these in Japanese Foods that Heal and found them on the vit shop site. I used olive oil and sauteed 3 smallish organic brown onions that I had sliced into thin half moons. When they softened, I added 4 chopped sun dried tomatoes (yes, I know, a solanoid) and the mushrooms that had soaked all day. Meanwhile, I got a small dish and added saffron to some soya milk and put it in the microwave (yes, i know about this too) for about 30 seconds to bring to the boil so that the colour would bleed into the milk (this turned out to be a waste as the brown rice did not absorb the saffron colour). When the onions, etc were well sauteed, I added a big slug of marsala wine and the brown risotto and cooked over medium heat until all was absorbed. I then started to add the stock a small portion at a time and cooked till absorbed. I added the saffron milk to the stock, but you can also add directly to the rice mixture. Well, 45 mins later I was still adding and stirring and had run out of stock so made up some quick marigold stock and was adding this and the rice was still very al dente, not teeth breaking, but not as it should be. I continued on and finally when it got close, I added about an ounce of grated organic parmesan cheese (yes, cheese, I know) and put the lid on in hopes that it would absorb and soften. I had in the interim, briefly steamed some purple sprouting brocoli (not organic, havent seen it organic) and then added a bit of organic balsamic vinegar and olive oil (not organic, but will get some next time I hope).
The risotto was very nice and the chewiness was close to just right and the brocoli went along well with it. Now you might not think this is exactly macrobiotic by the book, but the weather has changed here in the UK during the past week and has been very warm and I have been craving Mediterranean food. The challenge of the Solanaceae family will definitely be a subject of internal debate this summer as I take on board the reasons that they are eschewed by hard liners, but find that I like them in my food during the summer. I will just have to pay very close attention to my body, back health and all that to see if they affect me adversely....
n.b.I just read the back of the risotto pack and it recommends 70 mins and more stock - perhaps I should have read that first.... that would be long time to be tied to the stove stirring and adding so I will have to ensure that I have other dishes on the go at the same time so as to maximise productivity...
I shall have to write about my hummous later...
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