Join MyOCN Community and Chef Sophia Manatakis as we prepare a Lent-friendly recipe: shrimp, asparagus and mushroom risotto!
We have such a good recipe today I’m going to give it a few minutes until exactly 6 o’clock and I’m just going to make sure that everything’s working going to wait for some people to pop on for okay I had to go check my mom’s phone to
Make sure it worked I had to go find her um bear with me we’re in my mom’s kitchen and I’m so excited let’s just get straight into it I’m going to make a beautiful Lenton recipe with some fresh wild cot shrimp a boreo rice a delicious risoto with fresh
Herbs um let’s get into it so this is a fennel it is so delicious it’s very armatic you can use these delicious fennel fronds we’re going to garnish our dish with but if you’ve never had fennel before it’s kind of a licorish flavoring I’m half Italian half Greek my
Mom is Italian I’m raised Greek Orthodox but we ate a lot of Italian food growing up because we had a family restaurant Greek restaurant in Manhattan and um my dad didn’t really like to eat a lot of Greek food so he like he loved Italian food so this is a
Little nod to my Italian side it’s so good for the gut great to eat raw it has a more stronger licorice flavor if you’re going to consume this raw but when you caramelize it in a pan and cook it down it gives off the most delicious flavor highly recommend most supermarkets have
It I went to Sprouts today so I’m just cutting this very thin as you can see here so good comment what you’re making tonight I hope this recipe can give you some inspiration so we’re going to get all of our me and pl in place that means all of
Your chopped vegetables it’s a French term I learned in the French Culinary Institute in New York City a decade ago so we have a non-stick pan we have our shrimp we’re going to sear these off in a pan I’m going to get it on probably like a high little medium
High heat let that warm up going to sear them and then put them to the side just going to continue to cut my vegetables we have our asparagus here I just cut up very small on an angle however you would like and then I love
Leaks um a little bit more mild than a typical onion you just have to be careful when you’re using them when they start to go dark these are very tough like you don’t want to eat these great for a stock you can put them in your
Freezer but they have a lot of sand inside so there’s the root I’m going to cut off the root again again put it to the side and put it in your stock the sand is hidden between these leaves I’m going to cut straight down the middle and then you’re going to see all
Of these beautiful leaves this is actually a pretty clean leak and you’re going to kind of rinse it kind of one by one under some water to get the sand out you could soak them again nice and thin just like this a Julianne cut however you’d like however you’d
Like to cut your vegetables go right ahead just the smell of all these vegetables on The Cutting Board smells so delicious so Risoto is intimidating to a lot of people but in culinary school they taught us the easiest way and I can’t wait to share with you so we have some avocado oil right in the pan I’m going to put uh this wild caught shrimp and by I cut it in bized pieces
So I took the shrimp cut it lengthwise so it’s a little bit thinner and then I cut it in chunks so there’s a lot of surface area which is great for searing and then we’re going to put it on the side because you don’t want to cook it
In the Roto if they’re going to overcook I’m going to kind of sprinkle these in in the pan I got some jumbo shrimp they were on sale you do not want to get Farm R shrimp um I’m a obviously a culinary snob so I am always going to eat wild caught
Fish so that’s what I got I had to pre- clean them before uh so you guys didn’t have to watch that whole situation I have some sliced mushrooms it makes your life so much easier you can use any kind of mushrooms you have on hand even Frozen just B them out and
Then just put them in like a colander so the water can come out of them um but these are going to be so good we’re going to use a boreo rice and then I have a lemon which I’m going to get set up now we’re going to
Use some of this zest and how I use it I don’t have any fancy things we’re going to use our knife we’re just going to slice along and then we have our peel and then with a nice sharp knife nice thin cups nice and thin and I love lemon
Zest I just chopped it up nice and small going to end up sautéing this right in with the risoto Yum Yum Yum so for nonstick pan you never want to put metal um on a nonstick so you want to use either a wooden spoon or a a
Silicone spatula so I see a lot of people using metal on metal and it just scrapes the pan and it’s going to release a lot of toxins into your food that you don’t want fresh thine it’s going to add so much flavor and then I got some my favorite
Sage fresh sage just going to add we’re just trying to pack in as much flavor as possible so we can feel satiated and the more veggies the better I’ve been fasting so like the more vegetables the better for me it’s a nice sear on me and I have my bowl on the
Side I’m going to take them out and then we’re going to get our leaks straight into the pan and you want to use the same kind of pot so you can continue having all these flavors cook inside that shrimp leaving behind all that flavor put the fennel in there and the
Leaks I have some some fresh garlic I don’t like the pre I don’t know how they call it like peeled garlic in the bag I don’t it doesn’t even taste like real garlic to me I find them to be like too strong when they’re like that it has so
Much more of like an earthiness fresh garlic will make your food taste so much better so I used about three cloves but you don’t have to use garlic but I’m just trying to pack in as much flavor as possible it really smells so good I’m so excited okay we got our mushrooms
Here which we’re going to put in towards the end so I wanted to talk to you guys about this this is mushroom broth you can buy it in the broth section I didn’t want to use vegetable broth this has so much more flavor to me
It’s so good even just warmed up with um some crispy onions just like in a mug so delicious organic think yep it just says organic mushroom sea salt and garlic yum M I’m going to throw in some fresh thyme right in on the stand it’s fine right in
The pot to sauté with the vegetables and Sage is very strong ons we’re just going to use one leaf feel free to freeze your fresh herbs um they’re good for anything whatever you’re making just use them throughout the week you’re going to realize that they make your food taste
Delish a nice sauté of these vegetables I love caramelizing things uh a lot of recipes say to sweat things out and the proper way to make risotto of course is to sweat things out but I’m a caramelization girl so we’re going to put the lemon zest right in there too so yummy just
Perfuming all the deliciousness so before that gets too caramelized we want to caramelize our boreo rice so what you’re looking for is to make risoto is a boreo rice put it right in the pot and you’re going to add a little bit more oil to have avocado oil down
Here and we’re going to toast each each granule we’re going to watch it we’re going to make sure each little piece of rice turns a light brown color so this is going to just take about like two minutes I probably should have asked if I can read any comments here they
Are okay you caramelized so what are you guys making tonight I would love to hear even for Easter what is everyone preparing um what kind of celebrations do you have coming up I’m going to put in the asparagus now and I’m doing that so it doesn’t overcook want a nice little
Snap and then I’m going to put just a handful of mushrooms so good I’m going to take you guys into the pot right now so the fennel the delicious garlic the lemon zest the sage the th mushrooms leaks absolutely delicious I upped the heat a little bit
So we can get a nice Char on these little pieces of rice so most of the time you want to keep your broth in a hot pot on the side but that’s totally unnecessary keep it easy we’re going to watch it and go through each of the stages together um no stress
If you run out of broth you can use water so here we go see it’s starting need to get brown absolutely delicious so at this stage you would typically want to deglaze the pan with white wine but with all the flavor that I’ve added you are not going to need that that’s for
Sure absolutely delicious we’re going to go in with our broth delicious mushroom Groth we’re just going to cover it leave the rest of the bra on the side that was about almost half of the container you’re going to hear it and you’re going to want it to start to
Simmer we’re going to keep an eye on everything I’m going to close it and just leave it oh wow so someone says that they’re making empanadas what are you putting inside yum absolutely delicious I’m trying to see I know I’m live on Facebook Instagram and YouTube
But I think I can only see these comments so we’re g to keep that going Al a little bit about me my father was from the island of cre CTI I go every summer um it’s such a magical place for me that brings me so many memories I
Love to I love and I’m so proud of being Greek I’m also part of the helenic professional women if any of you are in New Jersey we are having an event May 15 in New Jersey for any entrepreneur um women that would love to come I’m catering the event we’re gonna have
Speakers there’s G to be jewelry there’s gonna be music and dancing so please check that out you can follow me on Facebook well where I’ll have the link you can private message me and Instagram too so towards the end we have organic delicious green peas right straight out of the freezer
Section nice and easy we’re going to put these in towards the end so they can stay nice and plump and sweet once again this is not my kitchen so we’re kind of just waiting electric is a little funky sometimes so we’re just starting to come to a boil you’re going to want to
Keep kind of mixing and checking on it it really doesn’t take very long I’m going to add some salt I like to use pink Himalayan sea salt right here and a little black pepper delicious at my house I have all my sea salt from haa that I come home
With I don’t have that today here’s our delicious shrimp on the side waiting to finish cooking inside and it kind of releases some of its juices which is going to add so much flavor see check out that little boil we have going on musaka delicious um so I’m also a private Chef
I am making musak off for about 10 guests tomorrow and while I’m there I’m going to end up making one for Easter so I’m going to freeze it which is going to be like killing two birds with one stone so I’m excited for that uh I have
A recipe where I once made Musa musaka with uh apples on the bottom which added like a little sweetness oh it was so like sweet and salty and then I put cinnamon and the bamal but I still used the ground lamb and the eggplant try that and I’ve also seen
Someone use sweet potatoes that’s probably good too but I love just like apples cuz they cook down so nicely let’s try to see so where is everyone watching from please comment please comment would love to hear from you if anyone has any ideas for our next
Live I would love to love to hear that I’m always looking for inspiration and you know I want to connect with you guys so I would love that let’s see what this is I don’t want to go out of here in case I lose you guys so we got a good boil going
On I’m going to taste and make sure that there’s enough salt if you could smell this the mushroom broth is whoa that fennel it’s very mushroomy going to actually hit it with a little bit of acid so I’m going to use a little bit of lemon juice right
Inside just going to wake all those flavors up I’ll take you guys to the pot again first time watching you’re enjoying thank you unbelievable there’s so many variations of this dish you can put all of your favorite vegetables I was actually thinking about putting in some corn um but I picked peas last
Minute it’s so so so delicious look at those leaks so good just test again so this would be good with a little bit of fresh dill as like a finisher you can put fresh basil in here a little roasted butternut squash and risoto would be delicious with a cinnamon
Stick and some caramelized onions and garlic so good you could see the broth trying to evaporate I kept the heat on the top just to kind of get it going but when you’re cooking risoto you shouldn’t have the lid on cuz we want to start evaporating and you could see that the
Bubbles are getting more PR that means that the gluten in the aboro rice is coming out into the broth and that’s like a natural kind of like thickener so we want it to be nice and thick and when things start to kind of pop up and you’ve tasted your each rice
Granule and you know it needs to cook more you’re going to just add a little bit more off so this is something fun to cook with with a partner with your kids kind of just it’s a labor of love right unbelievable I can’t tell you how good
It smells in here just of mushrooms oh Los Angeles nice so great what are you having for dinner do you have any plans I know it’s 3 hours before so delicious does anyone have any food questions for me or anything I would love to answer any questions You’ have unbelievable I would say
Another Let’s test one more time 10 minutes maybe yeah I would say that not quite sure yet well coming from a foodie I’m eating a meal thinking about the next I’ve always been like that even since a kid I probably should have done a recipe for you guys that you would see from
Start to finish but I don’t want to have you guys wait forever I am going to post the final reveal can you close that if I could hear that yeah my mom just walked in what happened questions yeah she’s reading in the other room yeah they
Weren’t what do you feel about tofu tofu I love to sear tofu in a pan with sesame oil and make something like Asian with maybe some like broccoli and some white rice um a little like onion and garlic cook down I love to go to the Asian
Market and kind of get like look at all those sauces like hoison sauce and some like black bean paste and you kind of just make your own sauce on the side and taste as you go if it’s too salty you could add a little honey and like
Vinegar and it just creates the best sauce love tofu and I love it in soups too like a miso soup what’s another question how do you make your delicious lamb chops lamb chops well I have an extra virgin olive oil line from Laconia grease I actually have
It here inside this olive oil is cold pressed extra virgin olive oil but it is flavored naturally with lemon garlic and oregano all from Grease so I put that over each of the lamb chops chopped fresh garlic fresh thyme fresh Rosemary and Greek oregano and I have it
Marinate for a few hours or overnight then I grill them and then I make this recipe when I was little I named it Moon Juice right Mom and it was it’s just a typical fresh lemon juice fresh parsley oregano salt and pepper so goes over sometimes I’ll put it in the blender and
It becomes more green and like more cohesive um absolutely Del delicious so olive oil lemon juice fresh parsley salt pepper oregano when they’re finished life-changing lamp chops probably making those tomorrow um those are like my that’s like my highest requested dish that I make when I’m catering can you show the olive oil
Again yes yes yes one of my friends made the label it’s called f and my name is Sophia you can follow me on Facebook Sophia manatus or Chef s on Instagram I have have the link on Instagram you can message me we can talk and I can help guide you another
Question yes another question you serving for Easter for Easter I’m having like 45 people at my house in Florida uh my first time entertaining thought it would be most special to do something on Easter I’m making uh Musa I’m making Spano spinach and rice lemon roasted potatoes lamb chops I’m doing a roasted
Leg of lamb on the spit what else am I making yeah I’m going to make beef steaky for people that don’t eat lamb so like Feta cheese onions Dill dried mint um then I’m going to do chicken suaki for also people that don’t eat lamb and I’m going to do a giant shuder
Board with like fresh Floral and um we’re going to have music we’re going to have yiki Peter bread like absolutely everything and if you’re in the area come on by I have some people inviting themselves over but it’s fine I love it I love to cook and I’m so excited to
Entertain somebody has to come somebody asked to Come wish you a happy birthday thank you wishing me happy birthday yes yes yesterday was my birthday my mom wanted me to tell you guys I’m going to taste the one more time I think I’m going to start to evaporate this I think we’re at a
Good a good place so which is perfect because I am completely out of broth and if I uh needed more broth I probably put it would would put water in here s push it around and just get it in here so now’s the kind of time where you
Got to watch it you want your heat to go all the way up because we’re going to start to evaporate and mix so we’re going to mix all of the gluten together and it’s going to come I think my mom saved me reading reading all those messages cu I was I
Didn’t want to keep you guys waiting I’m on Facebook are you on Facebook I’m going to drop the shrimp because we probably have only two minutes to cook these through so good look at all that juice if you don’t like shrimp you can use scallops yummy um crab meat when I was leaving
The supermarket I really thought about cra happy that would be so good look how good that is look at this Roto what kind of rice again yes a boreo a boreo rice let me show you again where is it oh right here a boreo rice and it’s a chubbier like little
Chubby and there’s a lot of gluten in it well starch I think I kept saying gluten right so yummy just packed with vegetables now we’re going to put some chopped fennel frons inside and on top I’m going to get them ready for you guys how does it smell in here Mom I
Know I said before and I’m here with you and it sounds delicious she was in her room with the dogs it must have been seeping through under under the door all right Mom Mom can you hang up no but you were like loud any other questions before I serve this up
Unbelievable I chopped some up really fine inside Theo that’s how they say it in Italy right I love that love their accents I had some of the best Roto in Italy okay going to Plate this up yummy yummy yummy yummy we’re going to cut the
Heat pull it off the heat so it doesn’t overcook and I’m going to put it right in here what is asking what’s your favorite food to eat and make my favorite food to eat and make I love a prime rib big prime rib fan I like to encrust it with
Porini mushrooms like the dried ones and I put them in the blender before making like an herb of butter so good look at that with the shrimp delicious check this out look how gorgeous put a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice just to wake it all up got our delicious shrimp the
Leaks unbelievable mushrooms cheers goric are you ready to taste this mom I’m so excited for her a little hot she doesn’t want to be on camera so you’ll just hear her how good is that delicious so good well we’re going to sit down we’re going to enjoy this together I hope you
Have enjoyed watching me I love doing these videos I absolutely love the Orthodox Christian Network I love everyone who runs it even behind the scenes everyone is has always been so nice to me and I hope to continue to do these for you guys for a really long time happy Easter
And I will see you guys very soon we’re going to do another one very very soon I love you all good night