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Quick cooking: Risotto with tuna, Grilled marmalade bacon, and curried apple pilaf

Posted on Wed, Nov. 30, 2005

ASSOCIATED PRESS

"T he Simpler The Better" is a great slogan to work with in the kitchen. Chef and food writer Leslie Revsin has given the theme its most practical dimension by making it the title of a series of cookbooks packed with mouthwatering easy recipes.

"Sensational Italian Meals" (Wiley, 2005, $17.95 paperback), written with Rick Rodgers, aims to help the cook get all the flavor and depth of Italian cooking, cooking from scratch with common ingredients - without having to spend hours and hours to get a great dish on the table.

Here's an example to try, a quick cooking about risotto made with arborio rice. It's based on a recipe from her friend and cookbook author Lora Brody, Revsin says, and does not include cheese, respecting the Italian rule of not serving cheese with fish.

"But since arborio rice has a lot more starch than regular long-grain rice," she says, "the risotto's 'sauce' will still have the creamy body that is the hallmark of risotto, in this case helped by the addition of rich olive oil.

"The secret to this dish is tuna packed in olive oil, not vegetable oil or water."

Quick cooking about Risotto with Tuna and Tomatoes

1 large ripe tomato

1 large garlic clove

6-ounce can solid light tuna in olive oil

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup Italian arborio rice

2 cups bottled clam juice

(Start to finish about 30 minutes.)

Cut tomato in half and squeeze out and discard seeds. Cut into ½-inch dice. Chop garlic. Drain tuna, reserving oil. Flake tuna with a fork and set aside. Heat oil from tuna with extra-virgin olive oil in a 3- to3½-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, stirring frequently, about 1 minute.

Add rice and cook, stirring frequently, until it starts to look white, 2 to 3 minutes. Increase heat to high and gradually stir in clam juice and 1½ cups water. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally so rice doesn't stick to bottom of pot. Reduce heat to low and cover.

Cook until barely al dente, about 11 minutes. Stir in tuna and tomato and cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until they heat through, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve hot with grinds of pepper over top.

Makes 4 to 5 servings as a first course.

Variation: White wine is often used in risottos for some of the liquid. If you like, substitute ½ cup dry white wine for ½ cup broth.

Grilled marmalade bacon, and curried apple pilaf

California native Eric Gower recently returned after a decade or so in Japan exploring aspects of Japanese cooking ¡ª using shiso, ginger, sake and tofu, and fresh produce, fish and meats.

Now he's put the results of his own experiments in fusion cooking into a book, "The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen: Inspired New

Tastes" (Kodansha, 2003, $27), full of easy recipes for American home cooks to try.

Most of them take very little time to prepare ¡ª including the two sampled here.

With the "bacon" recipe, Gower says, the idea is to slice the lean pork very thinly so it doesn't need much cooking; the sugars in the marmalade brown very quickly under a hot broiler. The "bacon" is good with rice, some pickles, and perhaps a salad or other vegetable side dish.

Another thought: This would be great with poached eggs and a mimosa on a Sunday morning.

GRILLED MARMALADE 'BACON' WITH LEMON AND GINGER

(Preparation and cooking time about 10 minutes)

1/2 pound very lean pork (sukiyaki-cut), sliced thinly

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 tablespoon orange marmalade

Zest of 1 Meyer lemon (see note)

Juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon

Coarse salt

Fresh coarsely ground black pepper

Place the pork slices on a broiling rack and spoon (or, even better, spray) the olive oil over them to coat. Mix the ginger, marmalade, lemon zest and juice in a cup, and spoon the mixture on the pork. Dust with salt and pepper and broil over high heat for a few minutes on both sides, until nicely browned. Transfer to a warmed plate. Taste for salt.

Makes two servings.

Note: Meyer lemons are rounder in shape, have a smoother skin than regular lemons, and their aromatic juice is sweeter and less acidic. They are in season November through May. Use regular lemons if Meyer lemons are not available.

This rice dish fills the house with its aromatic intensity as it cooks, Gower says. It makes a fine meal on its own, or a special accompaniment to an entree.

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