Broad Bean Risotto

The Olympic Food Challenge has come to an end.  The summer of discovering new recipes and ingredients is over but I am still learning.  My latest revelation is the fact that I do not like following recipes.  That I have come to this conclusion at the end of following so many recipes shouldn't be so surprising.  But if I'm honest, I have never been a fan of slavishly following quantities and timings, preferring to add my own slant on a "borrowed" idea.

My dislike of recipes has been magnified recently with most of the OFC recipes being web-based.  I am not going to bite the hand that feeds me* but there are many food sites and blogs around and, sadly, they do not all pass muster.  The number of times that I found recipes with missing steps, or mystery ingredients that were not used during cooking, drove me potty.

Now that I am free of the shakkles of poorly written recipes I am once more the master of my own destiny.  I can also cook what I want, without hoping that it comes from a country that I have never heard of.  To get the ball rolling I decided to cook risotto.  Possibly my favourite meal and definitely one that I have missed while discovering new dishes.

Tonight's star ingredient in the risotto was broad beans.  We missed the early broad beans this year so tonight's were of the large, starchy variety.  That said, once they had been blanched and podded they were still delicious in the creamy risotto.  I'm looking forward to embracing my recipe freedom now that I have it back.  I'll still read the odd cookery book for inspiration and new ideas, but you won't find me tied to a book any time soon.

*not that I'm getting paid for any of this blogging nonsense.

Pumpkin Risotto

Last week we had one of the worst meals that we have ever cooked.  Pumpkin risotto is one of our favourites so when we had a really disappointing one that came in a package, celebrating national vegetarian week, I knew I would have to set things right by making one from scratch.  That is exactly what I did today.  I wouldn't normally go into as much detail as I am going to but the simplicity of a good risotto needs explaining.

I started by roasting half a butternut squash with a little olive oil, marjoram, salt and pepper for around forty minutes.  I also put some peeled garlic cloves in a puddle of olive oil in the squash's seed cavity.  Once cooked, the flesh was scooped out of the skin and roughly chopped.  The garlic infused olive oil was poured into my favourite risotto pan* and a finely chopped onion was added to soften.

After a couple of minutes of gently frying the onion I added some arborio rice and cooked that until all of the grains had been coated in the olive oil and had started to become translucent around the edges.  Next I added a glass of white wine and let that boil until it had reduced by half, before adding the first ladle of stock.  I happened to have some chicken stock in the freezer but you can use whatever stock you have to hand, for this risotto I'd go with either chicken or vegetable. 

Once the first ladle of stock had been absorbed by the rice I added the cooked flesh from the butternut squash and more stock.  I then kept adding the stock, one ladle at a time, stirring all the time and waiting until the last lot of liquid had been absorbed by the rice before adding the next ladle full.  Whilst cooking the risotto, the squash broke down so that the flavour was through the entire dish.  During the cooking process I also added lemon thyme, the garlic that had been roasted with the squash and salt and pepper.

Once all of the stock had been added and the rice was cooked, I added a couple of knobs of butter and a handful of parmesan cheese, turned off the heat, put the lid on the pan and left it alone for five minutes.  This last step has turned into a ritual.  After standing at the hob stirring constantly for twenty minutes or so it can feel like your arm is going to fall off.  The rest is really for the butter and cheese to mingle with the rest of the risotto but it's also a good chance for a welcome glass of wine and a brief sit down.  That five minutes was the same amount of time that it took to cook the packet risotto that left me feeling so cheated.  I took the opportunity to toast some pumpkin seeds and lay the table before serving.

This was as far from the last risotto as it could have been.  The rice, while cooked through, still had bite.  The sauce was creamy and oozing.  The seasoning was perfect and the individual flavours of the butternut squash, lemon thyme and garlic all shone.  The addition of pumpkin oil gave an additional background nuttiness, while toasted pumpkin seeds gave an extra texture.

I had already boycotted restaurant risottos after too many disappointing offerings.  I'll now be extending that boycott to include shop bought risottos too.  Especially when, with not much effort, meals as fantastic as tonight's pumpkin risotto can be made.

*we all have a favourite risotto pan right?

Pumpkin Risotto

For all of my supermarket bashing, I really should cut at least one of them some slack.  Z has the pleasure of working for one of the big four in Space Planning, which means that the supermarket in question gives us the money to spend on food.  In an attempt to keep money flowing around the country I try not to give it back to her employers.  I know we also get staff discounts but we need to drive past three other supermarkets to get to our nearest store.  It's not worth the petrol.

The other advantage of Z working for a Leeds based supermarket, other than keeping a roof over our heads, are the occasional samples from a producer who is about to get their stock on the shelves, or launch a new range.  Tonight's meal comes courtesy of one of these product test events.

If you have learned one thing about me since I started writing this blog, I hope it is the fact that I love risotto.  I love risotto so much that I have stopped ordering it it restaurants.  The quality can vary from awful to alright and seldom gets close to perfect so to avoid dissapointment I just stopped.  With this in mind I was dubious about trying the packet of dried risotto that Z brought home.  In the spirit of hating food waste and trying to save some time at night we decided to give the risotto a go this evening.

My doubts about the packet were strengthened when I read the cooking instructions "simmer for five minutes from boiling and serve."  No risotto should take so little time to cook.  It was clear why when we both took our first fork full.  Rather than arborio rice it seamed to be made of small grains of pudding rice, which even after only five minutes were overcooked and pulpy.  There was no real flavour to the dish either, if I had ordered this in a restaurant I would have sent it back.

We had had a feeling that the meal was going to be disappointing so we roasted some butternut squash and made some garlic bread to eat alongside the risotto and it was a good job we did.  I have now resolved to make a proper pumpkin risotto in the not too distant future.

Asparagus Risotto

It has been a long day and meal times have largely been ignored.  My alarm was set for 5am, which for a Saturday is stupidly early.  I had volunteered to help set up Planet Leeds on Briggate and Kirkgate Market and the meeting time was 6am outside Debenhams.  A quick coffee and a brisk walk into town saw me on site, with minutes to spare.  We relocated to Millennium square and gained access to the council's secret storage depot to pick up the staging equipment that we needed.

Back at the outdoor market, the organisers of Planet Leeds were engaged in low level turf warfare with the regular stall holders about where they were meant to set up.  If ever a UN peace envoy was needed it was yesterday morning.  People were quibbling over inches of ground but we eventually got the stage erected.  I had to leave the rest of the volunteers at this point as I had a prior engagement of baby-sitting so that Z could go to a toddler anger management course*.

While she was out I made R his lunch of cheese, tomato and spring onion quesadilla, which he devoured in seconds flat.  I held out for Z's return before eating, but with nothing in the house we finally decided to go out for lunch.  We ended up in The Adelphi where Z had fish and chips and I had a full English breakfast, at 3pm.  It was like travelling back in time to my Uni days when I would often go to the Swan and Rushes in Leicester for a slap-up breakfast and a couple of pints of Guinness after lectures.  There is no chance of doing anything after a few beers and a full English, all you can do is sit back and try not to nod off.

After such a late and large intake of protein, I wasn't sure that I would want an evening meal.  We checked the stores and decided to cook a light asparagus risotto.  I made a plain risotto base of softened onions, rice, white wine and stock, then cooked it until it was almost ready to serve, before adding the asparagus.  I didn't want to overcook the star ingredient and I was happy that the flavour would be strong enough to get through the rice, even when it was being added so late on.  I then stirred in some of the remaining cheese from our cheese tasting night and let the whole thing rest for five minutes.

The risotto was perfect**.  Creamy and soft with the flavour of the asparagus and the sharpness of the Caerphilly cheese.  If we had been hungrier, all I would have added would have been some bread and possibly a side salad but I wouldn't have changed anything to the dish itself.  After such a long day today, I am very glad for a leisurely day tomorrow.  I think I might enjoy not doing much at all.

*Neither Z or the boy suffer form uncontrollable rage but Z thought it was a good idea to see what the experts have to say on the matter before we have to deal with any future situations.
**Even if I do say so myself, which I do.

Chicken Risotto

Another week of late finishes is stretching out in front of me.  It's not too bad, apart from listening to the Zumba class two times a week.  Z is taking the real impact.  Her evenings include; rushing our of the office, picking R up from nursery, getting him home, fed, washed and in bed.  All before starting to sort out our evening meals.  Tonight she excelled herself.  Not only did she cook Tonight's Menu but she also made a huge in-road into tomorrow's.

Tonight, using some of the leftovers from yesterdays roast chicken, she knocked up a great risotto.  Bacon, onions, celery and white wine at its base.  The rice was then slowly cooked as stock was added, ladle at a time, before the risotto was finished with butter and parmesan cheese.  With all of that cooking* and the start of tomorrows meal** Z really had her chef's head on.  She even fried some sage leaves to garnish the plates.

*you never really leave the pan when cooking risotto.
**no spoilers

Risotto

If you have been paying attention you will have noticed that we eat risotto quite often.  In fact, I'm surprised that this is only the 5th time that I've cooked risotto since November.  To me it is one of the greatest comfort foods around.  It's the oozy creaminess that gets me every time.  That and the fact that you can put anything into a risotto, the only limitations are your imagination.

I didn't have to use too much imagination as the ingredients suggested themselves.  We had half a cob of sweet corn and the end of our mange tout mountain in the fridge, both of which were in danger of not being eaten.  These were added towards the end of the cooking time.  I also fried off some smoked, streaky bacon to add a salty crunch to the dish*.


*not all garnishes are herbs.

Guinea Fowl Risotto

It's a tradition, or an old charter or something, that there are leftovers from your Sunday Lunch.  What you do with them is the interesting bit.  I love slices of roast beef reheated in gravy and served with mash.  I adore roast chicken, stuffing and salad sandwiches, with butter not margarine! 

The leftovers from this weeks Sunday lunch were destined to be a risotto.  There is something about risotto that manages to centre me.  I've cooked so many of them that I can relax into the process and, without much thought, turn out a great dish.

Because the star of tonight's risotto was a real star, roast guinea fowl, I kept the rest of the dish quite simple.  Onions and celery formed the base of the risotto with a glass of white wine and plenty of stock.  To add a bit of colour and freshness I also added frozen peas.  Z had lunch at Dock Street Market today and, luckily for me, brought home one of the Riverside Sourdough Bakeries loaves.  The bread and a glass of wine really made the dish a meal.

Pumpkin Risotto

Tonight's challenge was to use the final foodie spoil from this weekends Cornucopia, Pumpkin Oil.  I knew that there would be a pumpkin oil vendor at the event from the pre-show media but I wasn't ready for how good it is.  I was expecting something on the lines of Rape Seed Oil. 

We all know rape seed oil is sustainable, good for you and locally produced.  But it is pricey and it doesn't really taste as inspiring as such an expensive product should.  I was right on a few of these points.  Pumpkin oil is sustainable, although it is imported from Slovenia, so if you're on a local food diet it's not for you.  It is good for you, high in those important Omega oils that we don't eat enough of.  It is pricey.  £4.50 for 100ml is more than I would normally pay for any oil.  Yet I still bought a bottle and it was well worth the cash.

I bought a bottle due to the incredible nutty favour.  If you have ever put roasted pumpkin seeds into a salad then you will have tasted something similar, but nowhere near as intense.  It is almost like liquid toast with peanut butter.  Forget the fact that it manages to be both red and green at the same time, that's just witchcraft.

When trying a new ingredient it's often easiest to use it in something that you can cook with your eyes closed, for me that means risotto.  I tried to keep the flavour of the risotto simple. I used a light vegetable stock, an onion and half a small butternut squash so that the sweetness of the pumpkin was through the dish.  I used the oil as a dressing along with some pumpkin seeds.  I am not exaggerating when I say a little goes a long way.  The nutty flavour really shone and the risotto was the best I had cooked for a long time.

Mushroom Risotto

It turns out that mushroom risotto was the fourth menu I posted here on Tonight's Menu way back on the 21st November 2011.  Those were innocent times, I hadn't started labelling the posts so if you click on "mushroom" below you simply won't find it.  I've decided not to go back and label the early posts and to leave them as they are.

I have also realised that I am cooking mushroom risotto tonight for the same reason as I cooked it two months ago.  It's that "what are we going to do with..." scenario.  I suppose I should broaden my mushroom horizons and cook something else, but that's not who I am.  This blog is not meant to be a test of my ingenuity when it comes to cooking.  It doesn't even contain recipes*.

The bottom line is I really, really like risotto.  So I'm surprised that this hasn't happened sooner and amazed that two months have passed since I last had mushroom risotto.  If you choose to go back and peek at the previous risotto you'll get a glimpse into my risottophilia.  I have it bad.

Along with mushrooms, tonight's risotto has leeks substituting for onions and a fair amount of thyme.  Everything else is standard risotto fare.  Arborio rice, wine, stock and patience.  Finished with butter and parmesan cheese.  I wonder how long it will be until the next risotto comes along.

*sometimes it contains recipes.