Chorizo pilaf in cute dishes is a winner - FACT!

Fact: Putting food in small, cute dishes makes mundane food look irresistible

Fact: Calling an everyday dish something different will make it seem more exotic

Fact: Putting the word ‘FACT’ before a statement makes it more believable. FACT!
 

First, let’s look at this ‘pilaf’. Now, I’ve made many rice and chorizo dishes in my time – click here and here – and they’ve been called many things, including paella and ‘Spanish rice’. This dish is called pilaf because it uses long-grain basmati rice instead or paella rice or short-grain Calasparra. In any case, I was looking for a quick after-work recipe and ‘pilaf’ attracted me (fact number 2 in action). The pilaf is redolent with the fragrance of cumin and paprika and together with the spicy, oily chorizo, it makes a wonderfully exotic dish.


Now, onto the presentation. How delectable are these dishes? Fact: They are incredibly cute! The mini chef pans are from Luke Nguyen’s new range. The local chef has a range of cooking utensils, woks and frypans, mortar and pestle and serving dishes out (see details here) and they are bound to produce cries of ‘ooh, I must try some of that’ when you wheel them out at your next party. I bought these ones at Myer, and will keep my eye out for other designs. Cuteness overload!

Chorizo Pilaf

serves 2-3

Ingredients

1 tblsp olive oil

2 chorizo sausages, sliced

1 brown onion, halved, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tblsp ground cumin

8 small mushrooms, sliced

1 cup basmati rice

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 tblsp parsley leaves, chopped

lemon wedges, to serve

Method
1. Heat 1oil in a large non-stick frypan over medium heat. Cook chorizo for 2 to 3 minutes each side or until golden. Drain on paper towels.
2. Add onions to the pan. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
3. Add garlic, chilli, paprika and cumin. Cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring, or until soft.
4. Stir in rice and mushrooms. Add stock and chorizo. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir through parsley, and salt and pepper. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over.

recipe adapted from taste.com.au

Ingredients, including cumin and paprika, crushed garlic, mushrooms, chorizo, onion and lemon

Simmering in the pan.

Note: I cheated a bit and used pre-cooked microwave basmati rice from a pouch - I don't often use basmati rice and didn't want to buy a 1kg bag, and the microwave stuff takes less time to cook in the pan anyway.

The lemon here is for display purposes, to show the scale of the tasting plates.

I wouldn't normally serve the evening meal in these little plates but they'd be great for your next party.

One serve is enough for each guest. Only problem is, you'd have to get more than one set of plates if you wanted to invite more than 4 guests!

Yes, the plates are worth it for the delightfulness factor.

The chorizo pilaf was very good, too.