Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Caribbean Pineapple and Coconut and Rum Risotto!



OK... I have tried twice to make a sweet creamery Coconut Milk and Rum Risotto.  Much controversy.  Meaning one of us liked it a lot and one of us would just rather have "plane" risotto.

Here's what i did...

We will call the first batch ... BATCH A...

Batch A was made with...

1 cup Arborio Rice (Just Jackie and I, an experiment, so I didn't want left overs... just in case)
3 slices of pineapple, diced
1/2 cup Coconut Milk
1/2 cup Pineapple Rum
!/2 cup Pineapple Juice

Make the rice in the usual way... simmer, add liquids slowly and stir stir stir...

I added the pineapple at the very end so it would contrast warm rice and cool pineapple.

The verdict...

Well, it was paired poorly.  It was paired with the garlic salmon.  It is sweet, with the pineapple and the coconut milk.  The salmon had no HOT spice (just garlic), so the mix was not what I was after... But close.

So, we move to Batch B...

The rice in batch B had the same ingredients... 1/2 cup each coconut milk, pineapple Rum and Pineapple Juice.  I left off the whole pineapple (overkill), and added some savory items... Spinach and mushrooms.  I put these in towards the end of the cook, so they would still have a bite to them and not over cooked.

I served this with the Spicy JERK/PINEAPPLE Chicken wings I blogged about yesterday.  The pairing was exactly what I wanted... a bite of spicy wings, a bite of sweet coconut risotto.  This worked very well.  A nice contrast to each other.

The combination meal was exactly right...

Where we have controversy is the question of making this again.  One of us liked the dish (without the chunks of pineapple, that was just a bit too much).  One of us thought that the only time to make this dish was when we were eating something a little too spicy.  Too spicy meat, paired with too sweet risotto.

So, as a stand alone risotto, it is still a work in process.  As a compliment to a spicy dish, it works exactly right!

14 comments:

  1. I love pairing sweet with spicy, so I would be all over this!

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  2. I'm thinking it would be great with some pork in it (pork with a nice spicy rub on it perhaps?) since that is so often paired with sweet, tropical flavors. And goes great with coconut. What do you think?

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  3. The jerk chicken/sweet coconut risotto combo is a dish I would easily order at a restaurant. (Mouth duly watering.) I think Joanne's idea is a great one (comment above mine) about the pork with spicy rub. (I can't help but think hot and spicy spare ribs.)

    ~Cleo

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  4. I have to agree with Cleo, I would definitely order that. Looks great and I am a HUGE fan of sweet/spicy pairings.

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  5. I love the sound of it, you could even convert it into a dessert.

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  6. I too love the sweet/spicy combo - hubs? Not so much!

    Risotto is just one dish I don't attempt - I've tried several times, have watched my MIL do it to perfection, but it always turns out "meh" for me.

    I feel guilty grilling while you cannot! :D

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  7. what a life you live, this recipe sounds awesome!
    www.anniebakes.blogspot.com

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  8. what a great way to prepare risotto! i love the experimenting.

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  9. You are killing me with all of this rum infused food! Great job. The sweet with the spicy sounds perfect.

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  10. Love sweet and spicy! This risotto looks soooo delicious, and the Spicy Jerk/Pineapple Chicken Wings are "to die for", cher!. Wish I was there!

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  11. You have sold me on this one. I love the risotto. An island delight...

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  12. It sounds pretty sweet - even without the pineapple in it... I think it would be really good paired with a spicy food!

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  13. Asparagus! My absolute favorite veg on the planet! I could eat asparagus made into just about any dish and it would be bliss. This sounds wonderful. BTW-How about we all chip in and at least send you a hibachi grill and some charcoal to make you a slight bit more comfortable without your grill? :D I am starting to feel guilty if I think about posting anything on the grill. We feel for you...

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  14. Yum! We have never made risotto, but I love it. Pineapple and rum mixed in just sounds delicious.

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