Tag Archives: Rice

Middle Eastern’s Style Rice

This Middle Eastern’s style rice dish will jazz things up by adding a festive touch to a celebration dinner. It will grace your table and make the perfect accompaniment to any main dish. The recipe can be divided to feed fewer people.

Difficulty level: easy to intermediate
Serves 6-8 as a side dish

Ingredients:

3 cups long-grain rice or Basmati
6 cups lower-sodium chicken broth*
3 tbs. olive oil (+ more to drizzle (optional)
1/4 lb. angel hair, broken in pieces
Salt to taste
4 ounces of pine nuts, toasted separately
Flat-leaf parsley for garnish

Preparation:

In a large bottom pan with a lid, heat oil over medium-high heat, fry the noodles until golden brown (be careful not to burn them) add the rice. Add the chicken broth and salt. Stir once, bring to a boil, lower to the flame to the lowest setting. Cover and simmer for about 18 minutes. Remove from the burner. Let it sit for 4 minutes covered. While the rice is cooking, toast your pine nuts in a pan on medium heat until golden brown. Remove. Set aside.

Fluff the rice with a fork, place on a platter or tray, garnish with toasted pine nuts, and parsley. Drizzle with olive oil.

Always read the cooking instructions on the rice packages. The ratio for liquid to rice varies depending on the brand and/or variety. This decadent side dish complemented a filet mignon in a cream peppercorn sauce to perfection.

Middle Eastern’s Style Rice

This dish contains nuts!!! Please be aware of allergies. I hope you will try this dish, and when you do, please let me know how much you enjoy it.

Happy New Year from Gina’s Kitchen to Yours!
Gina Martino Zarcadoolas, aka Foodiewinelover
Culinary Personality, Food & Wine Blogger
Author of the cookbook: Cuisines, Corkscrews & Cultures: https://foodiewinelover.com/product/cookbook/
Level-2 Certified world-renowned – “WSET: Wine, Spirit, Education, Trust”
Level-2 Certified Sommelier & Italian Wine Scholar Student (Unit 1 completed)
Winner of 2019 Italian Wines “Salice Salentino USA Bloggers” Award, held in Puglia, Italy
Brand Strategist

Curry Shrimp with Rice, Don’t Forget the Riesling!

A couple of times a week, I cook for a small crowd, and I generally use a one-pot meal because it makes life so much easier. Today, I am making Curry Shrimp with Rice. Grab your apron and follow me in Gina’s Kitchen. This recipe is a Covid-19 edition, using some frozen ingredients and what’s available at the time. I think, all in all, it’s healthy and somewhat affordable.

Curry Shrimp with Rice

Serves: 6-8 – Level of difficulty: Easy to intermediate

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 pinches of garlic powder
2 cups Jasmine rice
1/2 – 3/4 cup mixed frozen veggies: carrots, green beans,
corn, peas and lima beans, thawed
3. 3/4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 pounds small frozen shrimp, already peeled and deveined,
remove the tails, thawed.

Preparation:
1. In a large heavy-bottom pan (with a tight lid) over medium-high heat, heat olive oil. Sauté onions for 1-2 minutes, add curry powder, garlic powder, stir fry for another 2 minutes. Add the rice. Stir a couple of times.
2. Add the veggies, water, salt, pepper. Stir well. Arrange the shrimp on top. Bring to a boil. Lower the flame to the lowest setting. Cover tightly and simmer for about 20-25 minutes.
There may be some rice stuck on the bottom of the pan. It’s perfectly fine and adds crunchiness to the dish. Serve it in the pot. The idea is to make cleaning easier.

Curry Shrimp with Rice Paired with Riesling

Wine pairing suggestion: An off-dry Riesling or any dry white wine of your choice.

This curried shrimp dish is begging for a refreshing wine to pair with it. I choose an aromatic and delicious German Riesling from the Mosel region. Rieslings are food-friendly and pair very well with curry, seafood, spicy, and Thai dishes.

The mineral character in this wine exhibits a great depth of flavor and is a perfect complement to this meal. This Riesling is off-dry and showing a touch of sweetness with crisp acidity; it intertwines perfectly with the intoxicating flavors of the curry.

I hope you will try this delectable and easy dish and share your experience with me.

Happy cooking and happy sipping!

Gina Martino Zarcadoolas, aka Foodiewinelover
Culinary Personality, Food & Wine Blogger
Author of the cookbook: Cuisines, Corkscrews & Cultures
Level-2 Certified world-renowned – “WSET: Wine, Spirit, Education, Trust”
Level-2 Certified Sommelier
Winner of 2019 “Salice Salentino USA Bloggers” Award
Exclusive photos by Gina Martino Zarcadoolas
All rights reserved.

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Back To My Roots, A Delicious Greek Cookbook

Krystina Kalapothakos is a chef with a Greek soul, as she puts it. She blogs over at Kouzounas Kitchen. Kouzouna is her grandmother’s maiden name, and not to be confused with Kouzina, which means kitchen in Greek. I met her online a little over a year ago, via a Twitter friend. She is the founder of a wonderful group on Facebook called: Foodify. We follow each other on social media, and share each other’s recipes with our audience. Krystina is inspired by her yiayia, (grandma in Greek), who left her legacy, along with some traditional Greek recipes. That’s where Krystina gets her passion for cooking, and baking. She has some delectable recipes on her blog, but recently decided to put together her first cookbook. Although, it’s been a lifelong dream of hers, it took her a little less than 3 months to put it together. I admire her commitment, determination, and love for Greek cuisine. I got a copy of her cookbook, and was pleased with the heartwarming story she shares with us, along with some delightful, and authentic dishes. It didn’t take me long to try her Spanakorizo, Rice with Spinach. I made it in my kitchen, and it was an instant hit with my family. Today, I will share with you, this delicious Greek dish from her newly published cookbook, Back To My Roots, Sharing Recipes From The Villages Of Greece.

Spanakorizo (Spinach & Rice)

Ingredients:

1 pound of fresh spinach (If you are using swiss chard, you can do half swiss chard & half spinach)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup chopped fresh onion
1 leek finely chopped
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 lemon (reserve juice and zest)
1/4 cup fresh chopped dill
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
1/4 cup fresh chopped mint
1.5 teaspoon dried Greek oregano
1 cup Basmati rice
3 cups water
1.5 tsp sea salt
1 Pinch ground cumin
1 pinch black pepper
Balsamic Vinegar (Reserve for the finish plate)

Method:

Heat olive oil in large pan over medium heat.

2) Saute onions and leeks until they become translucent. (About 5 minutes.)

3) Add garlic, and sauté for 1 minute.

4) Add lemon zest, dill, basil, mint, oregano, cumin, swiss chard, and spinach. Cook until the spinach has wilted down.

5) Stir in the rice, and water. Bring to a boil.

6) Reduce the heat, and place the lid over the pan. Let the rice cook for approximately 20 minutes.

7) When the mixture has cooled, stir in the lemon juice and balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy with some fresh Feta over the top.

I highly recommend this cookbook, and Krystina is in the process of getting it on Amazon. In the meanwhile, if you are interested in owning one, please email her, at kouzounaslive@gmail.com, write “cookbook” under subject, and she will get back to you. This would make a lovely Christmas, Hanukkah, or birthday gift.

Krystina Kalapothakos

Meet Krystina Kalapothakos, the name behind the lovely blog, Kouzounas Kitchen.

Follow her on Twitter: —–> KouzounasKitchen
Follow her on Facebook: —>KouzounasKitchen

I want to thank her for her generous contribution to the culinary world, and for featuring my shrimp Saganaki in her cookbook. I hope you will try this recipe, and get her book.

Update: 3/11/2016 – Since this blog post, Krystina has published her book on Amazon and you can obtain a copy by clicking on this link: http://www.amazon.com/Back-My-Roots-Krystina-Kalapothakos/dp/0692638679/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456905437&sr=8-1&keywords=krystina+kalapothakos