Quinoto, the greatest invention since risotto…
July 20th, 2009During our missions in Peru for the Tika papa project, for the biodiversity of potato in its’ country of origin, one good alternativ to potato from time to time in our plates, as well as for agriculture, is the quinoa.
QUINOA : a great cereal from the Andes Cordillera. Its grains have proteins close to animal proteins. It is therefore very nourishing and has no gluten like in wheat and so does not make you fat…
But here in Peru tquinoa was always served like a side dish, dull, needing a dip sauce like a couscous. Always the same thing. So some 5 years ago we decided that a new standard dish was needed in the young “nueva cocina andina”, the nouvelle cuisine from the Andes, of which the chef Gaston is the Pope.
The QUINOTTO :
The principle is simple : cook the quinoa al dente in water and finish it in a concentrated broth; because quinoa cant cook in the broth directly and does not swell enough to be creamy as a risotto.
So here is to start with this new series of unpublished recipies : the “Eat All Sprout Quinotto”.
rinse and boil your grains of quinoa. You will rinse it to get rid of the slight saponines it has just like you do with a starched rice. Cook until al dente . The easiest way is t use a autocoocker, the classic chinese rice coocker. Same amount of water than grains, if you have a lot of calcar put half an inch more.
Meanwhile friepan your green peas, flat beans, celery, with Mexican Ancho chile, Fu Quock pepper, ginger, salt, garlic chives…
Reduce the chicken or veggy broth. mix it and drye it with the al dente quinoa. Use only organic veggies so you can use the peals to make your broth. Mix with the veggies. Make it reduce without overcooking the veggies, to get a creamy quinotto with crispy veggies.
How to treat yourself sanely by eating good stuff : to bring the final touch of freshness and slight bitter mustardy fizzy surprise; just before serving add some sprouts of mustard, red cabbage and broccoli. These sprouts are a concentrate of vital elements and antioxydants. Excellent for your health and recommanded to fight against cancer.
