#6
   ...
Okay.

Now that I've FINALLY been able to get the main ingredient, here's the dish I've been promising to make and review which could be an interesting appetiser (although, here, I made bigger portions for a meal):

[Image: 0ff7.jpg]

BUFFALO-CHICKEN ARANCINI!

Yes, one of the things that this new supermarket had (which has been out of stock for months at the other supermarkets) is Arborio rice! Thus, as I suggested in the original thread, I made the Buffalo-Chicken Risotto, rolled it into balls filled with blue-cheese crumbles and dressing, breaded them and deep fried them.

Before I get to the specifics of the arancini, themselves, let me mention a few things about the risotto. The first time I made this (as reported earlier), it tasted good, but didn't have that "Buffalo-Wing" flavour, but then I noticed that the ratio of hot sauce to butter was WAY off of the standard 1:1 ratio. In addition, Jean and others mentioned toning down the hot sauce a bit. With all that in mind (and especially since my hot sauce of choice for Buffalo Wings is Sriracha), I made two changes to the original Cuisine recipe: 1/2 cup of hot sauce, instead of 3/4 cup, and a whole stick of butter, instead of just 2 tablespoons. Since a stick of butter also happens to be 1/2 cup, that restores the recipe to the 50/50 mixture normally used for the wings. Other than that, I left the rest of the recipe exactly the same.

My original rating for the risotto was seven out of ten. With the decrease in hot sauce and increase of butter, however, I'd give it an EASY TEN (or, as in that one commercial, "infinity TIMES infinity")!

It didn't hurt that, for blue-cheese dressing, I chose to make Jean's Mom's Roquefort Dressing. I used regular blue, rather than Roquefort, and since the buttermilk that I CAN get here is okay for cooking, but probably not for something like a dressing (i.e. not pasteurised), I used a 50/50 mix of milk and plain yogurt.

Now for the arancini (Italian, rice-ball croquettes, if you will), here's what I did, written out in recipe format:

Buffalo-Chicken Arancini

Ingredients:
  • 1 Batch Buffalo-Chicken Risotto
  • 2 Eggs, beaten (divided)
  • 1 Batch Jean's Mom's Roquefort Dressing made with blue cheese
  • 4 Ounces Blue cheese crumbles
  • Italian breadcrumbs, as needed for breading
  • Oil, as needed for frying
Instructions:
  1. Add the blue cheese crumbles to the blue cheese dressing.
  2. Add one of the beaten eggs to the risotto until mixed in well.
  3. Wet your hands with cold water to avoid having the rice stick to them too much.
  4. Cup a handful of the rice mixture into your left hand.
  5. Make an indentation in the rice to hold the filling.
  6. Put about a tablespoon of the blue cheese mixture (more of the cheese than the liquid) into the indentation.
  7. Re-wet your right hand.
  8. Cup a smaller amount of the rice mixture into your right hand/
  9. Make a small indentation in that rice (since your left hand is already full, use the BACK of your left hand).
  10. Squeeze your hands together so that the filling is now sealed into the rice.
  11. Roll the rice into a round, tennis-ball-sized ball.
  12. Repeat with remaining rice and cheese.
  13. Refrigerate the arancini for 30 minutes.
  14. Dip the arancini in the other beaten egg.
  15. Coat the arancini with Italian breadcrumbs.
  16. Heat some oil in a fryer or a Dutch oven on medium heat until a single grain of white rice will bubble and float to the top looking like a Rice Krispy, instead of just sinking and staying at the bottom of the pot).
  17. Fry the arancini until golden and crispy (about 4 -5 minutes).
  18. Drain the arancini on some paper towels.
  19. Serve with a little more of the dressing on the side.
All in all, they came out well and were WONDERFUL, but were a bit hard to keep together. Maybe THAT's why the recipes upon which I based this part of the recipe mixed egg AND Parmesan in with the rice. I left out the Parmesan so as not to conflict with the blue cheese. Maybe some breadcrumbs could help. Since I didn't use up all of the leftover risotto, I'll try that adjustment tomorrow. May also need to use a slightly lower oil temperature (actually measured, although the grain-of-rice trick works well for me with other things) so they don't get over-brown - just golden - on the outside.

I'll deinitely do this again, once I get all the adjustments down.
If blueberry muffins have blueberries in them, what do vegan muffins have?
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#7
  Buffalo-Chicken Arancini labradors Okay.[br][br]Now tha...
I do love Arancini, so certainly will be trying this. Sounds so good Labs.


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Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
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#8
  Re: Buffalo-Chicken Arancini cjs I do love Arancini, ...
That looks and sounds delicious!
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#9
  Re: Buffalo-Chicken Arancini Trixxee That looks and sound...
Very interesting... Sounds really good! I love Jean's Mom's Bleu Cheese Dressing.
"Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."
Laura
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Buffalo-Chicken Arancini


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