"...ich suchte Streichhölzer und zündete das Gas an, die Butter zerfloß auf dem Grunde des Topfes, ich schüttete den Reis darauf, und die Körner sprangen in das zischende Fett. Ich ging hin und her, und manchmal rührte ich um, manchmal auch gab ich einen Schöpflöffel voll Brühe auf den Reis, und dann fuhr eine Wolke von heißem Dampf auf."

Ohne das Wort Risotto einmal nieder zu schreiben, kocht die Dame hier ein italokonformes Risotto.

Tutte le ricette sono per quattro persone:

Fiori di bresaola con caprino aromatizzato all'erba cipollina e pinoli

un etto di bresaola della valtellina

un caprino fresco

un cucchiaio di pinoli

erba cipollina

pepe

Preparazione

Schiacciare in una pirofila il caprino con l'aggiunta dei pinoli tagliati a metà; tagliuzzare molto finemente l'erba cipollina e unirla al composto, mischiare per bene aggiustando di pepe. Con l'aiuto di un cucchiaino, mettere un pò di ripieno al centro di una fetta di bresaola.

Richiudere a caramella e delicatamente stringere con un filo di erba cipollina. Adagiare tutte le caramelle al centro del piatto di portata e proseguire con le altre caramelle:

Fiori di bresaola con  robiola e pecorino sardo doc con mandorle e basilico fresco

un etto di bresaola della valtellina

una robiola piccola

3 cucchiai di pecorino sardo grattugiato per il ripieno

1 cucchiaio di pecorino sardo grattugiato per la finitura

un cucchiaio di mandorle

qualche foglia di basilico fresco

pepe

Preparazione

Schiacciare in una pirofila la robiola, aggiungere il pecorino grattugiato a filetti, aggiungere le mandorle tritate finemente; tagliuzzare il basilico e unirlo al composto, mischiare per bene aggiustando di pepe. Con l'aiuto di un cucchiaino, mettere un pò di ripieno al centro di una fetta di bresaola, richiudere a caramella e delicatamente stringere con un filo di erba cipollina. Adagiare sul bordo del piatto tutte le caramelle intorno a quelle precedentemente preparate. Adagiare tra una caramella e l'altra il pecorino sardo a mazzetti e nel centro del piatto qualche mandorla.

Lardo di Colonnata IGP al miele di Millefiori con pepe bianco accompagnato con miele tartufato

un etto di Lardo di Colonnata

miele di millefiori

pepe nero in grani

pepe nero in polvere

Su un piatto da portata, porre le fette di lardo avvolte, far colare miele di millefiori, il pepe nero in grani e una spolverata di pepe  macinato.

Confettura extra di cipolle rosse con grissini al sesamo, grissini millefoglie e pane al latte

Per accompagnare il lardo, ho servito il miele tartufato e della confettura di cipolle rosse in agrodolce con panini al latte, grissini semplici, al sesamo e millefoglie...

Cocktail di gamberi con insaltina verde

500 grammi di gamberetti piccoli

24 mazzancolle

un ciuffo di insalata verde

un vasetto di salsa cocktail

succo di limone facoltativo

in bicchieri, disporre uno strato di insalatina verde tagliata sottile, uno strato di gamberetti, far cadere a goccia la salsa cocktail, mettere ancora uno strato di gamberetti ed infine ancora un cucchiaione di salsa cocktail a goccia. Per chi ama il limone, servire delle fette da spruzzare appena prima di gustare le coppe.

Risotto allo speck e rosmarino

brodo vegetale con un dado, mezza cipolla, sedano e carota

400 grammi di riso carnaroli

due noci di burro

vino bianco secco

mezza cipolla rossa

grana grattugiato

50 grammi di speck

rametti di rosmarino

Tagliare finemente la cipolla rossa, farla rosolare con il burro per un paio di minuti dopodichè aggiungere il riso rigirandolo di continuo fino a quando diventa trasparente. Sfumare con un buon bicchiere di vino bianco secco, aggiungere il brodo durante i venti minuti di cottura senza farlo asciugare troppo. Tagliare finemente a striscioline lo speck: metà lo aggiungete quando mancano circa 5-10 minuti dalla fine della cottura, insieme al rosmarino tritato finissimo. Mescolate energicamente; nel frattempo lo speck rimasto, lo farete rosolare senza condimento, in una pentola antiaderente con l'aggiunta di una spolverata di grana. Servite il risotto spolverato di grana, con sovrapposto lo speck rosolato, finite guarnendo con un rametto di rismarino fresco.

Biscotti allo zenzero e cioccolato

Ingredienti per circa 25 biscotti:
200 gr. farina 00

100 gr. zucchero

90 gr. burro morbido

1 uovo

1 pizzico di sale

50 gr. di gocce di cioccolato

1 pezzettino piccolo di zenzero.

Preparazione:
Accendete il forno a 170° mentre in una ciotola amalgamate il burro sciolto bagnomaria con lo zucchero, aggiungete l'uovo e continuate a mescolare, incorporate la farina setacciata con il sale, aggiungete le gocce di cioccolato, amalgamate bene il tutto e formate un panetto. Mettete l'impasto in frigo per circa 30 minuti, toglietelo poi dal frigo e con un mattarello fino ad uno spessore di 4 mm circa. Con un taglia biscotti della forma che preferite tagliate i biscotti, impastate di nuovo la pasta che avanza e formate altri biscotti fino ad esaurimento dell'impasto.

Mettete i biscotti su una teglia grande rivestita con carta forno e infornate in forno già caldo per circa 12-15 minuti, controllando la cottura.

Sfornate i biscotti e lasciateli raffreddare su una gratella.

L'idea di aprire un foodblog me l'hannno fatta venire le mie coinquiline... dicono sempre che sono una maga della cucina, sarà perché sono italiana e nell'immaginario comune noi sappiamo cucinare bene... chissà.

Comunque, ho deciso che terrò traccia delle ricette che preparo per me e qualche volta anche per le mie coinquiline su questo blog, sperando di poter fornire anche al visitatore occasionale uno spunto per qualcosa di veramente buono!

E adesso via: prima ricetta, arancio e agliosa quanto basta per combattere il grigiume tedesco!

Risotto alla zucca e cheddar con contorno di hokkaido al forno.

Ingredienti per 2 porzioni:

1 zucca hokkaido
70 g di riso a chicco corto
1 fetta di formaggio cheddar
Sale, pepe, olio, aglio e rosmarino, brodo vegetale e olio d'oliva (io ho quello buono fatto da mio nonno, voi usate quello che più v'aggrada).

Innanzitutto, pulire la zucca. La Hokkaido in realtà potrebbe anche essere mangiata con la buccia (e in Giappone la cucinano così, è deliziosa), ma noi siamo in Europa, quindi la buccia la togliamo. La mia personale tecnica è: lava la zucca, tagliala a fette, togli semi interni, taglia la fetta a metà e poi sbuccia. Mi sembra che tra i metodi provati fin'ora sia quello più veloce e meno faticoso.

A questo punto servono: una teglia per il forno e una casseruola per il risotto. Sbucciare l'aglio, tagliarlo a fettine sottili e adagiarne un po' sul fondo della teglia. Bagnare con un po' d'olio, adagiarvi sopra le fette di zucca (a occhio un 2/3 del totale), condirle con altre fettine di aglio, sale, pepe e rosmarino e un po' d'olio. Infornare nel forno pre riscaldato a ca. 180° e lasciar cuocere per almeno 30 minuti. Se nel frattempo il tutto dovesse seccarsi troppo, aggiungete acqua bollente. Con parsimonia: non vogliamo fare un purè di zucca al forno, right? 

Tagliare la restante zucca a dadini, metterla in casseruola con uno spicchio d'aglio schiacciato, sale pepe rosmarino e olio e far andare finchè la zucca si ammorbidisce. Togliere l'aglio, aggiungere il riso, far andare per un po', poi aggiungere brodo bollente finché il tutto non sia cotto e cremoso. Spegnere il fuoco, spezzettare nel risotto una fetta di cheddar e mantecare.

GNAM! Buon appetito!

AND NOW: ENGLISH!

Hokkaido pumpkin and cheddar risotto with roasted Hokkaido pumpkin.

Ingredients for 2 servings:
1 Hokkaido pumpkin
70 g of short grained rice
1 slice of delicious cheddar
Salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary, vegetable broth and olive oil (I use my grandpa's homemade olive oil, you can use the one you like most).

First of all, peel the pumpkin. Actually, you could eat it without peeling it (that's how they cook it in Japan, and it's delicious!) but we're not in Japan, so we should peel it. My tecnique: wash the pumpkin, slice it in 2,5 cm slices, take away the seeds, cut it in two halves and then peel it.

Now you need: a baking pan and a saucepan. Peel the garlic, thinly slice it and put some of it in the baking pan. Add a little bit of oil and put 2/3rd of the sliced pumpkin on it. Add the rest of the sliced garlic, salt, pepper and rosemary, some more oil and put it in the pre-heated oven at 180° and let it cook for at least 30 minutes. If it dries up too much, add boiling water. Just a few though, we want a roasted pumpkin, not a butternut puree, don't we? ;)

Chop the rest of the Hokkaido pumpkin, put it in the saucepan with a piece of crashed garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary and oil and let it cook until the butternut is soft. Take away the garlic, add the rice and stir it. Then add hot vegetable broth and let it cook until... it's cooked! Add some vegetable broth if needed. Switch off the heat, add a slice of chopped cheddar and stir.

YUMMI! Enjoy it!

Risotto is a traditional Italian dish. It's made with a short grained rice cooked in stock to produce a creamy rich flavour.

This recipe is made with bacon and apple, but it can easily be modified to use what you have on hand such as wild mushrooms or even pumpkin.

Ingredients:

1 cup arborio rice
3 slices of bacon chopped
1 small onion - diced
1 medium apple - chopped
4 cups beef or chicken broth / stock
cheese

Makes about 3-4 cups of finished rice.

To begin sauté the bacon in a pot. (Make sure the pot is large enough to hold at least 4 cups). While you are doing this bring the stock to a boil in another pot. When the bacon has finished cooking, drain the excess fat. Add the chopped onion and cook until the onion is translucent. (You can add some olive oil if the onion is sticking). After this add the rice to pot and cook for about 1 minute. This will toast the outside of the rice. When the minute is up add two ladles of stock to the pot with the rice. On moderately high heat, stir the rice mixture letting the stock simmer. When most of the stock is gone add another spoonful. Continue this process until the rice is tender and soft. Add the apple about 10 minutes after you added the first spoonful of stock. If you let them cook too long the apple will disintegrate.

At the end the risotto should be creamy and soft with all the stock you have added being absorbed into the rice. Note, you will likely have a small amount of stock left over at the end. This is so you don't run out. Sometimes I use all the stock, other times I don't. It depends on the day. Also keep stirring. In order to cook this dish reasonably fast (20-30 minutes) you will need to use a moderately high heat (7 or 8 out of 10 on my stove). When you do this you need to stir otherwise you will burn the risotto.

Before plating add some grated cheese such as Parmesan or cheddar. Serve in your favourite dish and enjoy.

With the juice:

And here's a peek at today's lunch - not really surprising that it contains leftover risotto, asparagus, and an apple and green tea vanilla yogurt. Oh, and that ever present Diet Coke. Ha!

Hopefully I have an appetite today to eat it. Gotta love Mondays!

I went to the gym, where I did some great cardio - 30 min on the elliptical, and 18 min on the stair climber. Got home, and had an awesome, super hot shower. My stomach felt a bit off when I was done, so I figured some yogurt would settle it. I had a bowl with some of the green tea vanilla yogurt, and a sprinkle of Kashi GoLean Crunch.

Oh, and a dark chocolate covered cashew.

I was still feeling off, I think I'm coming down with something. Not really surprising, since everyone and their dog has been sick at work. Had a bit of a fever even I think this afternoon. Dinner almost didn't even happen, because I wasn't feeling up to cooking. But I didn't want my lovely ingredients to go to waste before I at least got to cook them.

I was inspired by all the great varieties of mushrooms in the stores right now, and totally wanted to make a classic mushroom risotto. So I went to my trusty recipe in The Naked Chef cookbook (Jamie Oliver), and used his recipe for the wild mushroom variation on his basic risotto. I used a combination of cremini, chanterelle, and rehydrated porcini mushrooms. And I use vermouth in my risotto (like Jamie) instead of the usual white wine. And I probably used less olive oil than he does. Here is the masterpiece, with a side of grilled asparagus:

I actually only ate about 2/3 of the risotto on the plate, and had a few more asparagus spears (they just didn't work for photography purposes). Man, I love risotto. But it's soooo rich, what with the butter and parmesan. Hence why I couldn't actually eat the whole plateful.

One look at my kitchen, and I remember why I don't make this risotto that often - it looked like my kitchen had exploded, with all the dishes everywhere. I did manage to clean it all up. Oh, and I used shallots for the first time, and man, those little buggars are potent! I was crying the whole time I was cutting them up, and I NEVER cry when cutting onions. Crazy!

After cleaning up the mess, I dished out a little snack/dessert for myself - a small bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, chocolate chips, and craisins.

With a mug of vanilla red rooiboos tea & splash of milk.

I have no motivation to actually get any studying/homework done this evening. I think I might bust out the wii for a little bit, then head to bed. Hoping whatever I have goes away soon!

Gli ingredienti:

- 160 g riso Carnaroli
- 3 amaretti, sbriciolati con le mani
- brodo di carne
- uno scalogno
- 20 gr di burro e un filo d'olio
. mezzo bicchiere di vino bianco
- due cucchiaiate di panna
- parmigiano grattugiato
- scorza di limone tritata e a listarelle, per la decorazione

La prima parte è quella di ogni risotto:scalogno imbiondito in burro e olio, riso nella padella a tostarsi finchè non è dorato, sfumiamo con il mezzo bicchiere di vino bianco. Il risotto va portato a cottura a fuoco medio, aggiungendo un mestolo di brodo per volta, avendo cura di tenerlo sempre coperto.

Quando il riso è quasi pronto si incorpora la panna, e il trito di limone. A questo punto si spegne la fiamma e si incorporano anche gli amaretti, con il parmigiano reggiano grattugiato.

Dopo due minuti di riposo il risotto va impiattato, usando un pò di amaretto sbriciolato e la scorza di limone a listarelle come descorazione.

Like much of my cooking, I take inspiration from Jamie Oliver; and when it comes to making risotto's, I haven't found a better 'base recipe' yet. The only reservation that I have is that it's probably not that good for you (due to the amounts of butter and cheese involved) - but for a special occasion, it's a great creamy risotto that can be adapted for just about any topping. I have to say it is the best tasting risotto that I've made to date, and I was really happy with the results.

I did take a photograph of this dish, but unfortunately my computer crashed recently and I lost a lot of data, so I will post up a photo as soon as I possibly can!

Ingredients

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 small shallot, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 150g spinach, washed & chopped
• 16 large king prawns
• 150g small prawns/shrimps
• 20 small plum tomatoes
• 70g butter, cut into 1cm cubes
• 1.1 litres of chicken stock
• 2 glasses of dry white wine
• 400g risotto rice (I use arborio)
• Salt & pepper

Before you start cooking, you need to make sure that you have some boiling stock ready. Start by slowly frying the onion, shallot and garlic with a knob of butter (or oil) for around ten minutes until soft but not coloured. Now add in the arborio rice and turn up the heat. You will see that the rice turns translucent (almost see through) and at this stage you want to pour in the wine. Keep stirring until the wine has cooked into the rice - it should smell fantastic!

Now you need to add in your stock, so turn down the heat on the rice and add one ladle at a time, keeping the temperature at a simmer. Wait until the liquid has mainly evaporated, then add in another ladle - make sure that you continue to stir the rice, as this helps the rice absorb the flavour of the stock, and gives it that lovely sticky texture. Continue to add in ladles of hot stock for around 15 minutes, until the rice is almost cooked. Now this is Jamie's base recipe - all you need to complete the 'risotto bianco' is the butter and parmesan cheese, or of course you can add in any ingredients that you like. 

For this recipe, after around 12 minutes of adding the hot stock, I added in the baby tomatoes, spinach and the shrimps to the rice mixture in order for them to heat through nicely. Personally I prefer to pan fry the king prawns separately so I can really concentrate on the seasoning, but if you wish, you can add them to the rice too, although I would give them a little longer - say 5 minutes. Ensure that if you are pan frying your prawns, you time it to coincide with the rice cooking!

Take the rice off the heat, add in the grated parmesan and butter cubes and give the risotto a good stir. Now leave the rice to stand, covered, for 2 minutes until the butter melts and gives the risotto a real creamy texture. Serve the risotto right away, topping with the pan fried prawns, and salt and black pepper.

1 rice cooker cup of arborio rice
1 1/2 cups of vegetable stock
2 punnets of cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup of fresh basil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of butter
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 whole cloves of garlic peeled
1/2 cup of freshly grated parmasen

Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees. Place the cherry tomatoes in a roasting pan and add a little olive oil (enough to coat), season with salt and cracked pepper and place the peeled garlic cloves in the dish. Cook for 20 minutes until soft. Be careful not to blacken them. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Turn on the rice cooker to cook mode (if you have a quick cook mode I suggest using this to fry the onions) and add the oil and butter and heat until the butter melts before adding the onion and garlic. Cook until onion becomes transparent. Add the arborio rice and cook for a couple of minutes until it becomes semi translucent. Add the stock and turn your rice cooker down to cook mode if you had it on quick cook earlier. Cook until liquid is almost absorbed. Add the roasted tomatoes and stir through, making sure you break the tomatoes in the process to release their juices. Then stir through the parmasen cheese and basil. Season to taste.

Have you ever made pasta in the same manner as a risotto? Well, here's your chance. It's the same concept except you substitute small pasta for the rice. The result is a slow cooked masterpiece and well worth the time it takes to prepare. The sauce was so rich and creamy I actually felt guilty eating it. It tasted as though I would put on 5 pounds once I finished. Mike and I probably should have eaten smaller portions with a salad instead of devouring the entire pan. Next time, oh yes, there will be a next time, I think I will use 1/2 the amount of cheese and add a little more tomato. I'm sure it will turn out just as good and I will have a clear conscience :grin:.

Note: After checking the Chavrie Goat cheese label I see it's not super high in fat but it sure tastes like it is...

Recipe link

Ingredienti (x2)
- 160 grammi riso Carnaroli
- uno scalognetto
- 50 grammi di salmone affumicato
- 1 bicchiere di Vodka
- erba cipollina, una cucchiaiata
- panna, due cucchiai
- 1 lt brodo vegetale
- 20 grammi di burro
- sale
- pepe bianco

Prima di tutto si fa appassire lo scalogno nel burro, a questo punto aggiungiamo il salmone fatto a listarelle che rimarrà ad insaporirsi nel burro per meno di un minuto. A questo punto si aggiunge il riso, e lo si fa tostare nel condimento come in qualsiasi risotto.

Dopo poco si bagna il tutto con la vodka, quando questa sarà evaporata si aggiunge il primo mestolo di brodo. Il risotto va portato a cottura unendo un mestolo di brodo per volta, avendo cura di tenere il fuoco ad una intensità media.

A cottura ultimata si spegne il gas, si unisce l'erba cipollina, si insaporisce con una bella macinata di pepe bianco, infine si manteca con la panna. Prima di impiattare va lasciato riposare qualche minuto, coperto.

Η καλή μου μπλογκο-φίλη Ναταλία μου έχει ζητήσει μια συνταγή με αστακό (και δη μυρτωου πελαγους) και μανιτάρια. Επειδή όμως αστακό δεν βρηκα ουτε τη δευτερη φορά που επισκέφθηκα την κεντρική αγορα αθηνων, αποφάσισα να φτιάξω ένα ωραίο ρισότο με γαριδες και μανιτάρια και να το αφιερώσω στην Ναταλία.

Αρχίζω με τα μανιτάρια. Χρησιμοποίησα τα υπέροχα funghi porcini (boletus edulis) που εφερα το καλοκαιρι απο την ιταλία. 

Τα μανιταράκια είναι ξερά, οπότε προσθέτουμε νερό για να υγρανθούν, προσοχή όμως, δεν κάνουμε σούπα! Το νερό που θα προκύψει το θέλουμε για το ριζότο, οπότε βάζουμε με μέτρο για να έχει γεύση και χρώμα το υγρό που θα μείνει. Αφηνουμε τα μανιταρια στο νερο για μιση ωρα και μετα τα σουρωνουμε κρατωντας το νερο που έχει γίνει βαθυ καφέ και μοσχομυριζει δασος.

Οι γαρίδες που θέλουμε είναι μέτριες προς μεγάλες. Οι πολύ μικρες δεν κανουν. Και βέβαια πρεπει να ειναι φρεσκες. Ο λόγος είναι τα αρώματα του πιατου, που προκύπτουν απο τα μανιτάρια και τα κεφάλια των γαρίδων. Μόνο το φρέσκο κεφάλι βγάζει γεύση, και μάλιστα το πολύ φρέσκο, γιατί από ένα σημείο και μετά το κεφάλι χαλάει εύκολα.

Προσέξτε ότι οι γαρίδες πρέπει να καθαριστούν πριν μαγειρευτούν και να μείνει μόνο η ουρίτσα.

Κανονικά πρέπει να βγάλουμε και το εντερακι που είναι στην "πλατη", αυτό εγω το κάνω μόνο για τις πολύ μεγάλες, σε αυτό το μέγεθος δεν είναι ιδιαίτερα σημαντικό. Αν προλαβαίνετε, καντε το.

Βάζουμε τα κεφάλια σε αρκετό νερό για να πάρουν μερικές βράσεις, με δυο τρια φυλλαράκια δάφνης και λίγο αλάτι.

Βάζουμε σε ενα βαθυ τηγανι λίγο ελαιόλαδο και σε μετρια φωτιά αφήνουμε ενα ή δυο ψιλοκομμενα κρεμμυδια να ιδρωσουν. Προσθέτουμε μετα το ρύζι (arborio) το ανακατευουμε με τα κρεμμυδια και αφου κανει μαι δυο βολτες, αρχιζουμε να προσθετουμε λίγο ζωμό απο τα κεφάλια και λίγο απο τα μανιτάρια. Η θερμοκρασία πρεπει να ειναι τετοια που να βγαινουν μικρες φουσκαλες απο το μιγμα, ουτε ατμοι εντονου βρασμού ουτε ακινησία.

Πρεπει να ανακατευουμε συνεχεια, αλλιως το ρυζι θα κολλησει και καταστραφηκαμε! Ολη η ομορφια του ριζοτο ειναι τα τροφαντα ολοκληρα  σπυρια απο ρυζι που εχουν απορροφησει τα χρωματα και αρωματα! 

Συνεχίζουμε έτσι για 20 περίπου λεπτά και στο τέλος προσθετουμε τα μανιτάρια που στο μεταξύ εχουμε σουρωσει και λίγο κροκο κοζανης για να παρει κι αλλο χρωματακι το ριζοτο. Βγαζουμε απο τη φωτια και αφηνουμε να ξεκουραστεί. Το πετυχημενο ριζοτο ειναι μελωμενο και απο το ρυζι και απο τα κρεμμυδια και απο τις ουσιες που το περιέχυσαν.

Η τελευταια πραξη είναι το σωταρισμα των γαριδων. Προσθετουμε λίγο πιπερόριζα και σκόρδο μαζί με χυμό απο ενα λεμόνι στις καθαρισμένες γαρίδες, ανακατευόυμε καλά και τούμπα σε ένα τηγανι με ελαιόλαδοι και υψηλή φωτια. Σωτάρουμε για δυο λεπτά και βγαζουμε αμεσως απο τη φωτια για να μην γινουν λαστιχο. 

 Σερβιρουμε τις γαριδες σε ενα μαξιλαρι απο ριζοτο και βαζουμε και λιγο μαιντανο γυρω γυρω.

Απολαυστε με ενα σωβινιον μπλαν!

So to take advantage of the abundance of mushrooms that's around at the moment, I threw together a mushroom and bacon risotto last night that worked an absolute treat. As with all my recipes, this one is variable in terms of the ingredients (I always stay true to the fundamentals of a recipe, but will adjust according to what's in the fridge / cupboard / seasonal). The one constant in this recipe is the amount of liquid to the amount of arborio rice used.

My ingredients last night were:

• 3 large cloves of garlic, very finely chopped
• 1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
• 3 rashers of smoked bacon, sliced finely
• 4 large Portabello mushrooms, sliced into bite-sized pieces
• 1 handful of chestnut (brown) mushrooms, sliced
• 1 handful of white button mushrooms, sliced
• 10gm dried Porchini mushrooms, re-hydrated in hot water
• freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 mushroom stock cubes
• c. 3 cups hot water
• 1 cup arborio rice
• finely grated Parmesan cheese
• butter & olive oil

I always find it amazing to see a list of ingredients written down - it always looks like far more on paper than it seems to be when I'm preparing everything in the kitchen!

So, to start combine the stock cubes, the hot water and the wine in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a simmer over a low heat. This will serve to gently boil off the alcohol in the wine, as well as give you a piping hot liquid to add to the risotto while you're cooking it.

In a large, heavy based pan heat the olive oil and a knob of butter over a medium heat. Once the butter is melted and the pan hot, add the garlic and stir. Once the garlic in fragrant, add the onion and some freshly cracked pepper and stir once again. Allow the onion and garlic to sweat until the onion starts to soften, than add in the bacon and the rice and stir to combine.

As the rice grains start to cook and release their starches they will start to become clear - when you see this, start to ladle the hot stock and wine liquid over the rice. The trick here is to be patient, and to only add two (or at the most, three) ladles of liquid to the rice at any one time. This will allow the risotto to cook at an even pace, and will allow you to control the amount of liquid you have in your final dish (remember that you can always add more liquid, but you can't take any out!).

Once the rice grains are starting to soften slightly (test one or two grains to check), add the mushrooms to the risotto, and continue to cook as before - adding liquid to the risotto a ladle at a time, and stirring to combine. Allow the risotto to simmer throughout  - the heat allows the rice & the mushrooms to absorb the liquid, with the excess vapourising.

When the rice and the mushrooms are cooked and softened, your risotto's done! Add a couple of handfuls of Parmesan cheese and stir through (this will help to 'thicken' the risotto), some more cracked pepper to season to your taste and another knob of butter to add a gorgeous glossy sheen to the finished dish.

Serves - 4 as a main meal, 6 as an entrée

Cooking time - approx. 20mins

To see the recipe and full post, please visit our relocated blog at http://chocolateshavings.ca/?p=269

BLUE CHEESE AND PISTACHIO RISOTTO

2 C Arborio rice
4 Tbsp of butter
3 C chicken stock + 3 C water (or more if needed)
1 medium onion, finely diced (optional)
1 C dry white wine
Salt and pepper
1/8 tsp of grated nutmeg
1/2 C grated Parmesan
1/2 C crumbled blue cheese (use Gorgonzola or another blue you like)
1/2 C toasted pistachios, roughly chopped

Bring the broth and water up to a boil then lower the heat to the lowest setting to keep the broth warm.

Melt 3 Tbsp of butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat and add the onions and some salt, pepper, and the nutmeg. Cook until the onions are soft and translucent, about 9 minutes. Add the rice and toast it in the butter until the edges turn translucent, about 4 minutes.

Add all of the wine and cook until the wine is completely absorbed by the rice stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Then add 2 C of the chicken stock while stirring frequently. After the initial addition of chicken stock has been absorbed, add water in 1/2 C intervals, waiting for each addition to be absorbed by the rice before adding the next. Add the liquid and stir/fold the rice gently and cook this until the rice is fully cooked but retains a little bite, al dente. You may not use all of the liquid, but if you find you need more, quickly heat some water in the microwave, so it is warm when you add it to the risotto.

Remove from heat and stir in the last tablespoon of butter and the cheeses. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pistachios can be toasted in a 350ºF oven for 2 - 3 minutes, cooled then roughly chopped. Keep an eye on the pistachios because they can burn rather quickly. Sprinkle the toasted pistachios over the risotto and serve immediately.

Recipe from Nook & Pantry.

But, back to my updates. Last night, I went to the Cooking Masterclass held in the Atrium by Lee Nutter, Atrium Co-Ordinator. The idea was to give us ideas for good recipes and show us how easy it is to make them.

I have to say the menu was fantastic; Mussels with Chizoro sausage and a Tomatoe sauce, Wild Mushroom Risotto, Peppercorn sauce with Steak or Salmon and to finish, Chocolate Fondants!!! Delicious to say the least!

Unfortunately, Lee had to do a lot of cooking on sort of camping stove so it did take a while to cook, which was absolute torture considering I hadn't had tea because I didn't want to be full for this, but he showed us how best to go about making each dish and explained how to prepare things such as the mussels, though due to time he had already done most of the work.

He let us into some tips of the trade. For instance, to tell when your steak is done, if you put your thumb and forefinger together, the fleshy part below your thumb will be resemble a rare steak, if you do the same but with your middle finger instead it is like a medium rare, your wedding finger is medium and your thumb and little finger is well done.

Lee also demonstarted how to tell if a mussel is still alive. Most of the time they will be slightly open, so if you tap them and they close, it shows there is a sign of life.

Although it took a while to cook, I was suprised at how easy it was to make the meals and it was definately worth the wait because it was absolutely gorgeous!!! Most of the food I'd never tried before either, so it was great to experiment and try something new and I have a new found love of risotto and chizoro sausage, which I think may because a new staple meal in my student lifestyle as it's cheap, quick and easy to make!

But, I have to say the best part of the night for me was the chocolate fondants, which were amazing! Lee told us how difficult it to cook them, because to get the cake effect on the outside and the gooey, chocolate centre really depends on how long you cook them for; too little and they are too gooey (I know, as if that could possibly be a bad thing!), too much and they turn out like little chocolate cakes (again, not bad at all in my eyes!). 

Nevertheless, I see his point because to eat what looks like a little chocolate cake and then discovering a gorgeous gooey chocolate centre is a real treat and so I will definately be making them some time in the future, though whether my house mates get any or I eat them all is another thing!

Keep an eye out for an interview with Lee and pics of him cooking, they should be going up wither tonight or tomorrow.

I'm off to the Journalism Masterclass now, so I'll be back in just over an hour with an update of that!

Tata. x

Breakfast

WAFFLE TOWER!!! Definitely not as good without my thick and creamy greek yogurt, but it was delicious nonetheless. 

Lunch

My wonderful family was nice enough to send me a care package with CINNAMON RAISIN SWIRL PB!!! This is pretty much my favorite thing ever and I couldn't find it at my grocery store here. I tried holding off and finishing the jar of PB that I already have opened, but today I just couldn't wait any longer. I had some with a (golden) delicious apple on the side and it was the perfect lunch ever. Oh, how I've missed you...

Snack

I had to go straight from yoga into work for a few hours so I packed a Kashi bar for my afternoon snack. Chocolate + Peanut = Yum.

Dinner

I hate being so dependent on frozen meals and canned soups, I much prefer REAL food. So tonight I decided that I haven't had enough real food lately, so I took the time to make a delicious dinner. This was so easy and came together quickly and tasted phenomenal. I need to cook more! I just wish the kitchen was nicer/cleaner/bigger/etc. etc. etc. 

Anyway, tonight for dinner I made risotto with shrimp and broccoli. So easy. I just combined 1/4 c dry arborio rice, 1.5 c chicken stock and let that simmer for ~15-20 minutes. In the meantime I sautéed up some garlic, shrimp, and broccoli. I combined that with the rice for the last few minutes of the rice cooking and it turned out fabulously. I love arborio rice because it just soaks up all the chicken stock, and gets to creamy and thick. I know it's not a whole grain, but every once in a while it makes a nice splurge meal. This would have been even better with some parmesan cheese, but unfortunately I didn't have any. It was such a warm, comforting, tasty meal. Oh, I love food!

This was pretty salty with the chicken broth and all, so right when I finished I needed something sweet to balance it out. I tried a new flavor of Late July Cookie: vanilla bean. I think this was even better than the dark chocolate! It's delicious---even better than an oreo in my opinion, and much better for you too!

Dessert

A few hours later, while watching the debate I had some dessert.

One of my housemates reminded me of a great dessert idea that I used to do all the time back in High School but have since completely forgotten about: Frozen Yogurt. Like, literally, putting yogurt in the freezer. It's so simple and SO. GOOD. It makes for sort of an italian ice consistency at first, and then as it melts it becomes more and more like typical frozen yogurt. I'm official re-addicted. I had some frozen berries with it as well.

Now I'm freezing! And also sort of not feeling too well. My throat has been hurting all day and now my nose is started to get stuffed up. NOOOOOOO. Pretty much the entire campus is sick right now, so it was bound to happen, but I just wanted to have an amazing weekend with my mom and really, really, really don't want to get sick right now. I'm currently sipping some tea and plan to get to bed on the early-ish side so hopefully that will stop this sickness before it really hits.

Have a great rest of the night and FRIDAY is tomorrow!!!!

Ingredienti che occorrono:

- riso pronto in busta
- lenticchie piccole
- olive snocciolate
- sugo di pomodoro
- olio di oliva
- aceto balsamico

Strumenti che occorrono:

- padella
- fornelli

Preparazione:

- versare il riso, le lenticchie e le olive in una padella
- aggiungere il sugo di pomodoro, l'olio e l'aceto balsamico
- riscaldare in padella per 2/3 minuti

Il piatto è pronto.

Recipe for Champagne Risotto

This recipe sounded too good not to try. What a scrumptious dish. I only made minor modifications. Enjoy!

Vegetable paella

3 tablespoons olive oil + 1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 cup arborio rice

1/2 cup long grain rice

1 bay leaf

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced + 1 clove garlic crushed

1 medium carrot, halved and sliced

1 cup green beans, cut into 1" length

1 medium zucchini, halved and sliced

1 red or orange pepper, cut into 1" slices

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup spinach, chopped (use frozen spinach)

1 3/4 cup vegetable broth

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon saffron

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

freshly ground pepper

Use a large pan with a lid.

Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in pan, toss in garlic. Then add rice and saute until the rice becomes slightly translucent (about 8 minutes). Pour out the rice into a bowl and set aside.

Using the same pan, add 3 tablespoons olive oil and saute the onions, garlic, bay leaf and carrot until they are soft. Add the zucchini, peppers, and green beans and saute another 2 minutes. 

Add the rice into the vegetable mixture, as well as the spices. Stir until all is well combined. Add the tomatoes and combine.

Now add the broth and let the pan come to a slight simmer. Cover with lid and cook under medium heat for 10 minutes. Quickly toss in the frozen spinach, turn off the heat, and let the pan sit for another 15-20 minutes. Do NOT open the lid! This makes sure that all the moisture and flavor is completely absorbed into the rice. After 15-20 minutes, fluff the rice and serve hot. Makes 3 servings.

Well, I have only recently discovered that you can pick up a small jar of truffle salsa for around 40 bucks at quality delis, and trust me, it could last you a while. And seeing that I'm the type of guy who likes fool proof recipes - this is definitely one of my favourites for a hearty meal to impress. Again, like the ice-cream recipe posted earlier (courtesy of chef-extraordinaire & friend Beck), when the ingredients you use are all decadent and delicious in itself, you really can't go wrong so long as you don't burn it. Or drop it on the floor. Actually that is not true - truffles in itself is an acquired taste already (some question if is it really gourmet or just gross?), so you can definitely spoil the risotto by adding TOO MUCH black truffle salsa - it's strong stuff!! In which case, wash it down with a glass/bottle of Moet...

Chicken, leek & mushroom risotto with black truffles
serves 2-3

Ingredients

• 3 chicken breasts, diced & marinated for at least 30 minutes
• 1/2 brown onion, sliced
• 1 leek, only use white part, thinly sliced
• 250g brown swiss mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
• 3 cups Arborio rice
• 2 cups of white wine
• 1.5L warm chicken stock
• 2 & 1/2 cups baby spinach
• 2 & 1/2 tsp of black truffle salsa, or to taste
• Unsalted butter as needed
• Shaved parmesan cheese to fold through, and to serve
• Cracked black pepper to season

Chicken marinade - 2 tbsb dark soy, 2 tsp corn flour; mix well

Method

Cook chicken through with equal parts butter and olive oil, then set aside. In the same pan on medium heat, sweat onion & leek with a good amount of olive oil until fragrant & soft. Add rice and stir well, allowing rice to absorp the pan juices. Add 1.5 cups of the white wine and stir until all absorbed. Add garlic. Add warm chicken stock, 1-2 ladles at a time to rice, stir well while allowing all the liquid to be absorbed, before the next lot. Do so for approx 30 minutes or until rice is soft and of a risotto texture. Stir in mushrooms and allow to soften. Return chicken to the rice, stir in baby spinach, and turn the heat to low and stir through. Add 1/2 cup remaining wine, stir in 2-4 small cubes of butter, and truffle salsa. Take off heat, stir in desired amount of shaved parmesan. Season with pepper, garnish with shaved parmesan.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1/3 cup chopped shallots
• 1 cup sliced wild mushrooms, such as shiitaki, cremini or oyster mushrooms
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage or 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup dry sherry
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• pinch of salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup Arborio rice

Directions:

Heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat in a pot. Add the shallots and cook until it turns translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until they begin to soften.

Add the garlic and sage and cook 2 minutes more.

Add the rice to the onion mixture, stir and turn the heat to low. Add the white wine and cook until the wine has reduced by half.

Add about 1 cup of the hot stock heated in microwave to the rice mixture, and stir slowly until the stock is absorbed. Continue to add the stock 1 cup at a time, stirring slowly, letting the rice absorb the stock before adding more.

The risotto is cooked when it is creamy on the outside and slightly firm (al dente) in the center, about 20 to 25 minutes in all.

Stir in half of the Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If the risotto is too thick, add a little more stock until it becomes creamy.

Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

But after about 985 hours of whining, I summoned the energy to get out of bed and make oatmeal, and I've been going ever since. I got groceries, went to the library, went to the gym, came home and worked on my self-evaluation for work, and made some barley risotto. I realize that only one of those things is relevant here, but HA! I snuck the rest in.

I was planning to make this soup, but we've had a very sunny and warm few days here, so I didn't feel like turning on the oven. I also wanted something labor-intensive, as I find cooking very therapeutic, and there are few things I find more stressful than writing up my accomplishments of the past year for my boss to read. It's like one of those nightmares where you have all of your lines memorized for the high school play you're in, but suddenly you're in front of 1,000 (okay, 100) people and you can't remember any of them? Except in this case, it's that I know I've done 8 million things since last December, but I can only remember, say, five at a time.

Basically, it's taking forever.

Also, that actually happened to me, the forgetting my lines thing. Although, instead of being silent, I just started reciting someone else's. And then I started crying. But it was The Diary of Anne Frank, so the crying just made me look more authentic in my role as Mrs. Frank.

Anyway, here's the risotto:

It was from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking, which is awesome and pretty and full of recipes that take a long time - perfect for taking a break from my self-evaluation. My love for whole grain risottos is well-established, but this one was extra fun because it had oranges in it. The recipe also called for creme fraiche. Yeah, I don't really keep that around. I added some extra cheese and voila. It's basically my ideal meal: a whole grain, fruit, greens, and cheese. All in one pot. Oh, and I took Heidi's advice and garnished with walnuts. Lovely.

"adium webcam 1.3" - Because if anyone knows about whether Adium 1.3 has webcam support, it'll be me. For what it's worth, it doesn't, which is a good thing; it must be hard enough to put up with my drunken bitching over MSN without having to watch something that looks like Peter Gabriel crossed with Babe the sheep pig swigging JD and cokes before pausing to sing Godley and Creme's "Cry" totally off key.

"cunty bollocks" - Yes, someone searched Google for the phrase "cunty bollocks", which until now I felt was fairly self explanatory. You're going to search for it yourself now, aren't you? Yes you are. Well, I'll save you the trouble; this place is listed on page two. So basically, someone tried to find cunty bollocks on the Internet, saw an entire page of results and thought that none of them were satisfactory, so they plumped for my website. The fucking freak.

"burger king, banking" - Fried food and finance, a combination previously seen only in Scotland, now here on Elias Q. Funtybunt's Pisspoor Pseudonym.

"adium is a piece of shit" - Now that's just a lie. Adium's damn good for what it is. It's not iChat, but then what else is? The alternatives, for me, are Microsoft Messenger for Mac, a failed abortion of an app that should either be totally rewritten or put to sleep, or aMSN, where "they" live just outside the Mayak nuclear waste dump, didn't even bother to try the abortion so that it could be failed, and were instead left with a horrifically deformed fuckup of an app that had to be handed over to its weeping parents in a jar of formaldehyde. Then there's Mercury, which is basically aMSN yet somehow worse. Adium could cause a large, metal boot to pop out from my computer desk and hoof me in the nads every time I got a new message, and I'd still be grateful that I didn't have to use any of those clients.

"Cocksit" - A new genre of porn is born! Sadly, it was born here, where people came looking for it. Sorry to disappoint anyone who came to a WordPress.com blog looking for people sitting on cocks, but they tend to frown on hardcore fuckbanging here.

""pete burns"" - The undead fuck? If you came here for the latest happenings of everyone's favourite once-suicidal gaypop frogman, you're shit out of luck. Shame, since he's one of the few people in the universe who could stand next to me and make me look attractive. They could stab me, nail a dead baby to my face, strip me naked, make me jiggle non-stop for four hours and make me read out the lyrics to every Anal Cunt song ever in an excited tone of voice and I'd still be marginally sexier than Pete fucking Burns, I swear. Or not.

"greenbee telecoms review" - See, here's something I can help with! My review is basically that the speed's good, the customer service is OK-ish, the prices are sadly insane and a 5GB download cap, even if you're like me and don't download lots of stuff, is quite restrictive. No complaints with the phone service so far though, and the online billing is good.

"if one bleeds while shaving pubi hair" - What the FUCK?

"waitrose take cheque" - Not from November, according to my contact at Waitrose Chesham (one Stevey Wevey Woo). I actually just paid with a cheque for the first time in ages, simply because I've just got a cheque guarantee card and wanted to get some use out of it.

"gay sailors fucking" - Sorry, but you won't find any fucking here, let alone gay sailors. I think Google might have seen my reference to a "gay little sailor hat" and mashed it up a bit to produce a truly horrifying search term.

"what microwave meals do waitrose sell?" - There's the As Good As Going Out range for posh cunts, the Black and White range for fat cunts, the Indian range for Indian cunts, the Chinese range for Chinese cunts, the Deliciously Different range for snooty cunts and some frozen ones, for cunts that own freezers. My personal recommendation is the pancetta, parmesan and spinach risotto on the Good As Going Out range.

Well, there you go. Now you know the depraved routes people take to get here. Christ knows why.