Saffron Quinotto

In Lima I heard a lot about quinotto, quinoa cooked like risotto. Many of my Italian blogger friends also  make it, and I though of trying, starting with a classic saffron style 'quinotto'.

I chopped one onion and cooked it with a little olive oil (I wanted to make a vegan dish, but remember that butter is traditionally used for saffron risotto), then I added 450 g of quinoa. Once the quinoa was 'toasted' and 'greasy' with oil, I added one glass of white wine, and then, ladle by ladle, slowly slowly, and stirring often, one litre of vegetable stock. I added the saffron just at the end, when the quinotto was cooked.

How was it? Well, I liked it very much, my son liked it too, but my husband and daughter weren't so sure... they ate it, but are they are not going to beg me to make it again, they prefer risotto with rice :-).

And did you ever try to make quinotto?

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Shrikhand cupcakes, or Shrikhand muffins? And what is the difference between a cupcake and a muffin?

Back from yesterday's post, where I made Shrikhand, and I told you that I had this saffron/cardamom/yogurt/honey juice left over (yes, it tasted like all of these things!) and I could not discard it. So why not use it for some cupcakes??? 

I used the basic Vanilla Cupcakes' recipe form Party Food for Girls, like in this recipe, but I didn't need to use any vanilla, nor lemon zest as I had my bright yellow saffrony/cardamomy juice (and of course I didn't add the Pinoli, although they would be good too)!!! I soaked a good handful of sultana in it and made the cupcakes batter. Another variation was that instead of milk I used natural yogurt. I added the sultana and Shrikhand juice at the very end. I managed to fill up 12 medium and 12 tiny cupcake cases, choosing yellow, orange and just a few lime green paper cases, to keep my cupcakes/muffins "solar looking". To husband and kids these tasted even better than the Shrikhand :-). They are very soft and fragrant and perfect for breakfast!

Now, the original recipe is for cupcakes, but I wonder if these, being totally undecorated, should be called muffins instead. What is the difference between a muffin and a cupcake, in your opinion?

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Shrikhand

I got the idea from Zero in Cucina, recipe here, so thank you Chiarina-ina :-). 

Chiarina's version called for some yogurt, mushed cardamom seeds and saffron (I used a sachet of Italian saffron) and she adds a little icing sugar just before serving. I did it a bit differently, I added a tbsp of bush honey to mine. I use Cyclop yogurt, thick and creamy. Put everything in a gauze or fine cotton cloth and let it drip for a night (I did it for a bit more). It tastes delicious and quite... citrusy!! In fact it is difficult to guess the ingredients, everybody said lemon!! I liked it like it was, but the rest of the family added some maple syrup to it (I guess that it was a bit too... sour for their taste).

After straining the yogurt I had all this saffron 'juice' left. OK, it is not that much, but still, not something that I would want to discard! So tomorrow I will show you what I did with it!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©