Easy Saffron Shrimp Risotto

Normally, I wouldn’t use cooked shrimp in this recipe. The purist in me wants everything done from scratch, and raw shrimp should be thrown in at the last minute to contribute their flavor to the risotto. But, what I have is frozen pre-cooked shrimp. And since I’m poor, that’s what I’m bloody well using, and it still tastes very good. --AnglophileLV

Ingredients
28 ounces chicken stock
1 tablespoon grapeseed or vegetable oil
1/2 a small white onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup arborio rice
1 cup white wine
Large pinch of saffron, small pinch powdered ginger
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Squeeze of lemon
20 cooked shrimp (5 per person)

Bring stock to a low simmer in a medium pot. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat for 1 minute. Cook garlic and onion until the onion is translucent.. Add rice and a pinch of salt. Sauté until rice is slightly tanned. Add wine; bring to a simmer, stirring, until rice has absorbed most of wine. Add 2 ladles of stock to rice; simmer, stirring, until rice has absorbed most of stock. At this point, add the pinch of Saffron. Continue adding stock, allowing rice to absorb it before adding the next ladleful until the stock is gone. Stir in butter. Turn off heat. Stir in grated cheese, then add shrimp until they are hot. Cover and let sit 2 minutes. Divide among 4 bowls and squeeze fresh lemon over each. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

*I added some finely chopped green onions for some color, since I had some on hand that needed to be used.

Moroccan Lamb Tagine

I found the recipe for the spice mix on AllRecipes.com - and since that *makes* this tagine, credit must go there. However, I have experimented with the other vegetables and found what works best: mini-zuchini! Tagine is supposed to be made in a Tagine (food and pot are named the same thing), but I find that a large sauce pot works very well. You can make extra spice mix and store it for next time since that is the part that takes the longest. --AnglophileLV

Moroccan Lamb Tagine
Serves 4


The spice mix:
2 teaspoons paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 pinch saffron
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander

Other ingredients:
2 pounds lamb meat, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, cut into fourths
10 Baby squash or zucchini thrown in whole or large squash cubed
10 Fingerling potatoes
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 lemon, zested
1 (14.5 ounce) can low-sodium canned broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste (or 1-2 fresh tomatoes)
1 tablespoon honey
10 Dried apricots or prunes
1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional)
1 tablespoon water (optional)

DIRECTIONS
1. Place diced lamb in a large pot with olive oil, toss with half of the spice mix. Brown well.
2. Add onions, garlic, and ginger. Let cook for 3 minutes. Add carrots, potatoes and squash/zucchini.
3. Stir in the lemon zest, chicken broth, tomato paste or tomatoes, and honey. Add in the other half of the spice mix.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the meat is tender.
5. Add the dried apricots or prunes a few minutes before serving.

***Taste test and add more spice mix if the tagine is too bland. If it is bland, it’s not this recipe’s fault—YOU just added too many vegetables. Hey, I’ve done it myself. Just add more spice mix and you’ll be fine.

If the consistency of the tagine is too thin, thicken it with a mixture of cornstarch and water during the last 5 minutes.

Serve with couscous and crusty bread. The Moroccans use the crusty bread to pick up the chunks of meat and vegetables with their fingers. I highly recommend doing the same.

Saffron Chicken with Couscous

This is my new favorite recipe. It’s easy, low fat, exotic enough to impress your guests and familiar enough to sneak past picky partners and most children. What more could a girl ask for? Hmmm… dessert…
--AnglophileLV

Saffron Chicken with Couscous

Serves 4

3 cups water
1 can chickpeas
Uncooked chicken pieces (legs, thighs, wings, whatever you like – I used 6 drumsticks)
1 stick celery, chopped
½ tsp cinnamon
½ onion chopped
¼ heaping tsp turmeric
1 good pinch saffron threads (world market has them, but they are hard to find in the chain groceries)
¼ cup raisins
Salt and pepper to taste

¾ cup plain fast-cooking couscous (the kind you add to boiling water and leave for 5 minutes)
1 cup broth from above recipe

Pour the water into a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the celery, onion and cinnamon, then the turmeric and saffron. Add the chicken. Let boil around 30 minutes, then add the raisins last. Add salt and pepper to taste.

When you have five minutes left on the chicken, ladle 1 cup of the chicken broth into a small pot and bring to a boil. Add the ¾ cup couscous (check the measurements on the box, this serves 2, but the box serves six) to the boiling broth, turn off the heat, cover and wait five minutes. I like to put some raisins in this also, which I add with the hot water so they re-hydrate a little.

I plated this on a long oval dish and made a kind of nest out of the couscous with all the chicken and chickpeas in the middle.