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Tracy Griffith's Peek-a-Boo Sushi
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DIY's popping the cork on Food Network with a special one-hour preview from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. (EST) on Saturday, June 28, 2003. Join DIY's Tracy Griffith as she hosts a special Food Network preview featuring episodes from Weekend Entertaining and Celebrity Hobbies. First, learn how to create a tropical dinner party from lavish decorations to delectable delights on Weekend Entertaining with Jeanne Benedict. Then, join our DIY celebrities, rocker Sammy Hagar and jazz saxophonist Dave Koz, in the kitchen as they show how to make some of their favorite recipes. Sammy makes lobster tacos and Dave makes cheese blintzes with his mother in an episode of Celebrity Hobbies. Check your local listings for the channel. For a look at our online content for Weekend Entertaining, episode 111 on throwing a Caribbean Island Hopping party , click here , and to see episode 101 of Celebrity Hobbies on ethnic cooking, click here.
Here, as an added bonus, is the recipe -- by Tracy Griffith -- that will be featured during the preview. For more delicious recipes from Griffith (and Jamie Gwen) -- the hosts of DIY Cooking, click here .
Note: The following copyrighted recipe comes from Griffith's new book, Sushi American Style, which will be released in May or June of 2004 by Clarkson-Potter, a Random House company. The cookbook is an easy-to-follow guide to making sushi with American-style ingredients and using simple sushi techniques with modern flair.
Note: These beautiful rolls are wrapped up in dried rice stick wrappers softened in tinted water to give them their tender pastel colors. The sweet rice recipe is a bit different--flavored with pineapple Jello and crushed pineapple instead of pudding. First, you'll need to make the sushi rice: Sushi Rice Materials and Ingredients: 4-6 cup rice cooker with "warmer" setting
3 cups short-grain white rice
3-1/4 cups water (more or less) Rinsing and Drying Pour measured rice into a free-standing wire-mesh sieve. Under cold tap water, swish rice around with your fingers until water runs almost clear. About a minute is enough. Don't over rinse as this may break the grains and lose too much starch. To dry, fan rice up and around sides of colander exposing maximum surface area. Let rice sit for about 30 minutes until completely dry. Cooking Place rice and water in the cooker and click to the "cook" setting. In about 20 minutes, it will click off. Don't open the lid; let rice rest untouched for about 15 minutes. This is the steaming time and essential to the rice's success. Stovetop Cooking For stovetop rice cooking, use a heavy-bottomed saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. The proper size is important. For 3 cups of raw rice use a 3 or 3-1/2 quart pot. Put washed and dried or soaked rice in pot with water. Over high heat bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Foam should bubble up around the lid but be careful not to let rice boil over. Reduce to medium heat and simmer for 3 more minutes. Reduce to low heat and boil for 12-15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand uncovered and undisturbed for 15 minutes. This is the steaming portion of cooking. Rice is now ready to be dressed. Rice Dressing (sushi-zu) The sweet vinegar dressing used on sushi rice is called sushi-zu ("zu" means vinegar) and is the secret to glossy sushi rice with body and sticking power. This delicate dressing can be made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator for weeks. The taste only improves with age. About 1 tablespoon of dressing to 1 cup of cooked rice is a good guideline. Equipment: Large shallow wooden bowl (make sure it doesn't have any salad dressing residue) or a large glass baking dish
Rice paddle Ingredients: 6 Tbs. of rice wine vinegar
2 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt In a small saucepan, stir all ingredients over low heat until sugar and salt dissolve. Don't let mixture boil. Set aside. Or microwave for 60 seconds on high. Stir to dissolve. With rice paddle, scoop the rice from the cooker insert to a large wooden bowl or baking dish. Set cooking insert aside. You'll be putting the rice back into it after dressing. Spread out hot rice with the edge of the paddle evenly over the bottom of the bowl in an angled slashing motion. Holding the paddle perpendicularly over the rice, drizzle the dressing over the back and distribute evenly over rice surface. Continue to slice and fold dressing through rice until grains are coated and glossy. After a little practice, you'll find your own dressing rhythm. Place dressed sushi rice back into the cooker and cover with a clean, damp, kitchen towel to keep in moisture. Click cooker button onto the "warmer" setting. Sushi rice is easier to handle when it's warm and it tastes better, too. It doesn't have to be warm when you serve it, just when you are preparing it.
Peek-a-Boo Sushi Ingredients: 3 cups undressed sushi rice
1 small pkg. pineapple Jello
1/2 can crushed pineapple (with juice)
4 oz. marscapone or cream cheese softened at room temperature and cut into bits
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups freshly whipped heavy cream (or Cool Whip)
3 Tbs. Sugar
1 pkg. rice wrappers (6" rounds or squares)
1/4 small cantaloupe melon (cut into 4" x 1/8" sticks)
1/4 small honeydew melon (cut into 4" x 1/8" sticks)
1/4 small pineapple (cut into 4" x 1/8" sticks)
3 Tbs. honey (liquefied in microwave for 10 seconds)
1 bunch mint Drain a 1/2 can of crushed pineapple, reserving all of the juice. Prepare one small package of Jello according to package directions using reserved pineapple juice as part of the 2 cups water. Remove the Jello from heat. Add 4 ounces of marscapone or cream cheese cut into bits. Mix until smooth. Whip cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar and add vanilla extract. Add Jello mixture to whipped cream. Fold in sushi rice to Jello mixture. Stir in crushed pineapple. Do NOT refrigerate. Have sweet rice standing by cutting board. Cover cutting board with sheet of wax or parchment paper. Cut fruits on paper to collect juices and reserve in a small bowl. Place fruit sticks in individual dishes. Mix honey with reserved fruit juices and set aside. In a dish bigger than the rice wrappers, pour in 1 cup of hot water. Choose a food coloring color such as green, blue, yellow or red. Add four or five drops of coloring and mix well. Take a sheet of rice wrapper and immerse in water for about 20 seconds or when edges begin to curl up. Carefully remove from water and (the rice wrappers are very delicate) place flat on a large cutting board. Spread about 1/2 cup sweet rice on each wrapper 1/4" thick leaving a 1" border on the bottom and sides -- and a 2" border at the top. Place end-to-end, two pairs each of fruit sticks across the lower quarter of rice. Place a sprig of mint on either end of roll. Carefully roll the wrapper up and around fruit sticks and rice. Set roll aside, laying on the seam to set. Continue this process with the remaining five rolls. (Rolls can be covered with barely damp paper towels and plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 30 minutes.) Cut rolls -- like regular sushi rolls -- into six even pieces. Garnish the plate with mint leaves and serve with honey dipping sauce. Variations: Try other flavored Jello such as lemon, apricot, strawberry or raspberry. The pineapple accent in the rice works well with all of these.
Don't forget, the preview will air on our sister Food Network, Saturday, June 28, 2003 , from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. (EST).
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