Bubblies should not always be used a the end of dinner for celebration.  There is a wide range of foods that sweet, semi-sweet, and fully dry sparklers can be paired with.  Their high levels of acidity and carbonation lend themselves well to a vast range of food stuffs.  Lets start with the sweet sparklers like Asti Spumante.

The grape used to make Asti is called Moscato.  This grape has naturally high levels of sugar, a low complexity and high aromatics.  These sparklers are great to either start a dinner or to finish.  Their sweetness and low level of alcohol make them a good aperitif.  They generally dont go too well with savory meaty foods but you can find a nice compliment with some salads.  A salad of mixed greens, sliced fruit, crumbled blue cheese and some sort of berry vinaigrette would go perfect.  For dessert, you would have to go on the light side.  An apple or pear tart, fresh fruit salads, and some cakes would work well.  The sweet apple and pare flavors of the wine would accompany the fruits very nicely and the bubbles would do a good job at cleansing your palate.

Next we have dry sparklers like Prosecco.  This sparkling wine is made from the Prosecco grape in the Veneto region of Italy.  They can be fully dry, but some may have a tiny bit of residual swetness.  We’ll stick to the dry ones for now.  These wines are very fresh, crisp, low in alcohol, fruity and sometimes even display a slight mineral character which makse them excellent as aperitifs.  Because of the low alcohol and low level of complexity you want to keep the the foods simple and stay away from red meets.  Prosecco can also go well with fried foods(veggies,squid and other fish) because of the carbonation and high acidity. Food recommendations:

Toasted bread topped with tomatoes

Fish tartar

Smoked  salmon, cream cheese, onions and cucumber on toasted bread

Delicately prepared filets of fish(sole, trout, bass) basically white flaky fish

Pastas with light sauces

sauteed veggies

A variety of light chicken dishes

Now we are going to get into the good stuff: Champagne, Franciacorta, Cava, and Cremant.  These are all sparkling wines made from the Champenois Methods.  These sparklers are fuller in body and more complex due to the aging criteria.  Click here and here to read about these wines and how they are made. One of my favorite Champagne pairings is with sushi.  Aim to buy a Blanc de Blancs because these are made with 100% Chardonnay which means that they are lighter in body and more elegant.  The delicate crispness and bready character pair excellent with the rice and raw fish.  The smoked eel sushi is one of my favorite combinations.  Be careful with the use of soy sauce and wasabi because these flavoring tend to over power the wine AND THE SUSHI.

Some people forget what an actual shrimp looks like...

Creamy risottos prepared with Parmesan cheese  are superb.  Any type of crustacean(shrimp, lobster, crab, etc) are perfect with Champagne.  Mollusk(clams, oysters, scallops, muscles) and crustacean pasta dishes present a wide range of great pairings. Battered and fried oysters with a touch of lemon aiole is great way to start a meal.   Why not pair Champagne with cheese too?  Fresh brie and goat cheeses work well because they are not too strong in flavor.  The carbonation cleans your mouth from the creamy brie and the tangyness of goat cheese matches the sharp acidity in the wine.   most types of chicken dishes work well with these types of sparkling wines as well.  Don’t be afraid to try veal and pork either.  Once again, try to avoid red meats.

As you can see, there is an infinite amount of possibilities when pairing food with sparkling wines.  This is where you want to let your imagination run loose.The point I want to get a across is that bubbly should not only be popped for celebration purposes.  There are so many food pairing opportunities out there that are waiting to be discovered.   The key to enjoying food and wine is to try new wines with new foods.  When you find that perfect combination, I can assure you that you will never forget that moment.

that is where i have been and what i have been doing.  too busy for my laptop, i don’t want to apologize because i don’t think that is a bad thing!  but now that this long weekend is finally coming to an end, i have managed to find the time to post

i also want to let you all know that i have been reading your posts!  i had my reader open yesterday during a football game AND a basketball game (what? two sports games in a day? not like me at all.. gross.) and i LOVED seeing all of your thanksgiving feast recaps!  i just was too lazy to click out of reader and comment.. don’t hate me!  i have actually found i can read a lot more blogs via my reader rather than clicking out to each post.. but on the down side i can’t comment so easily. i sure wish reader had a comment option!

so, what have i been up to?  lots.  i don’t even know where i left off but i just uploaded a slew of photos so i am going to look at them and take it from there, mmmkay?

friday night marshall and i went with my friend lindsay & her boyfriend brandon to the minus the bear show.  but first.. food!

we decided to grab some gourmet burgers at acme burger.. do you guys have these in your town?  we just have this one and this was my second time going there.  it is incredible!  i am such a burger lover so of course their cuisine is right up my ally.  it is really cool how they have a camera on the kitchen and that screen in the upper right of this photo is there so you can watch them prepare your food!

we were surprised to see one of our friends working there and he brought us an appetizer on the house.  it was spinach artichoke dip which was served with pita bread and tortilla chips~

not my favorite.  i had a few nibbles but saved my appetite for my entree…

turkey burger with a sweet potato bun topped with arugula, mushrooms and cranberry mustard~

baller. this was so good.  we also could not resist splitting some sweet potato fries.. my addiction!  these ones were unique because they were covered with a hint of sugar.  sweet and salty all in one!

after our meal we high tailed it to the concert which was epic, as expected.  minus the bear is my favorite band ever and i loved every minute of it! 

unfortunately, they did not play mine & marshall’s “song”.. it is a less popular song and they never play it in concert.  sigh, one day perhaps!

saturday was pretty uneventful now that i am looking back at the photos.. hmm.. not quite sure what i did with all my time.  i know i got up and eventually made my way to the gym for some HIIT!

HIIT on treadmill~

instead of gradually increasing the incline like i usually do, i decided to gradually increase the amount of speed between each minute of each interval.  for the first set i increased the speed by 0.5, then the next set by 0.6, then by 0.7 and finally by 0.8.  this is how it went (numbers are in MPH):

• 1 min @ 5.0<—warm up
• 1 min @ 5.5<—warm up
• 1 min @ 6.0
• 1 min @ 6.5
• 1 min @ 7.0
• 1 min @ 7.5
• 1 min @ 6.0
• 1 min @ 6.6
• 1 min @ 7.3
• 1 min @ 7.8
• 1 min @ 6.0
• 1 min @ 6.7
• 1 min @ 7.4
• 1 min @ 8.1
• 1 min @ 6.0
• 1 min @ 6.8
• 1 min @ 7.6
• 1 min @ 8.4
• 1 min @ 9.5<—high point
• 1 min @ 2.0<—cool down

this was rad! i can’t tell you the stats since i still can’t find my HRM watch (eek) but my heart was pumpin! and yes, i just typed “pumpkin” and had to backspace and type “pumpin”

i finished my workout off with 7 minutes of ab work because you know i gotta whittle my middle!

i went home and cleaned up and marshall & i went to eat at millcreek cafe & eggworks, one of our favorite places to go for brunch. 

i ordered an egg white omelette with spinach, mushrooms & feta + dry wheat toast~

and coffee, naturally.  marshall got his regular smothered wrap but they put mushrooms in it and he ended up sending it back and getting one that had not been “tainted” with mushrooms~as he put it.  haha.  i LOVE mushrooms! that boy…

we spent saturday afternoon doing some shopping, i got a really cute scarf at urban and spotted another spotted scarf that immediately made me think of my snackface senorita!  i was going to text her about it but did not.. and ironically later in the day she text me about seeing a purple dress that made her think of me! i think we were surfing on the same wavelength saturday. just on opposite sides of the country…

it was a successful trip, i also got the dogs christmas collars (yay!) and a few stocking stuffers for my mom (can’t tell you what though! hi mom!)  and after a few hours at the mall we were done for.  we headed home and basically didn’t do much the rest of the day.. hmm.. nope, sure didn’t.  oh! but i did make some delish dinner!

shepherd’s pie!

so, this meal was super delicious but i realized that shepherd’s pie is really unphotogenic.. hmm..

we did take photos of the dinner-making process though.

first i browned the ground beef with shallots and some s&p and worcestershire sauce (the spelling of that word used to baffle me!) and then i stirred in some tomato sauce, tomato paste and diced tomatoes.. a tomato trifecta if you will.  this was the base layer of the pie~

topped that layer with some french cut green beans~

and then marshall was in charge of mashing the baby red potatoes!  he did a great job..

the potatoes were the third layer of marshall’s side of the pie.  my side’s third layer was mushrooms.. of course! 

and then the potatoes on top of the mushrooms.it is totally normal to wear your boyfriend’s puma ha backwards while making shepherd’s pie. ok? ok.

the last layer was a sprinkling of sharp cheddar~can you tell which side was marshall’s?  yeah, he finished off the bag of cheese.

this went into the oven at 350 degrees [f] for about a half hour.

and, like i said, really not photogenic at all!  but really tasty.. i had not had shepherd’s pie in ages! it was actually really comforting and really healthy.. not two things that usually go hand in hand.

my favorite part about this meal is that marshall and i made it together and it was a lot of fun goofing off in the kitchen while we cooked.  usually, i am the one that cooks and marshall just watches TV until dinner is ready.. or i am just cooking for myself.  it is nice to make an evening of cooking dinner!

marshall and i stayed up until 3 AM watching episodes of dexter season 4.

somewhere during this marathon i had a greek yogurt mess made with oikos 0%+bulgarian PB+shredded spoonfuls.

sunday.. i actually woke up at 9:30 AM which was strange considering my super late bedtime. whatevs!  i wanted to go snowboarding bright and early but none of my friends did~they were thinking more like noon.. so i hit the gym first thing!

after fueling up with some espresso + bowl of cereal i did a make-up-as-you-go upper body workout. so not like me.  i always plan my workouts before i do them.  not today! 

today i wanted to utilize the cables as well as the dumbbells and work my triceps, back, biceps, shoulders & chest while incorporating abs.  that is just what i did.  here is how it went:

triceps

• cable pulldowns : 3 sets x15
• overhead cable extensions: 3 sets x15
• oblique crunches on stability ball: 3 sets x30

back

• standing cable row w/ v rope set high: 3 sets x15
• bent over barbell row: 3 sets x15
• crunches: 3 sets x50

biceps

• cable biceps curl: 3 sets x15
• dumbbell hammer curl: 3 sets x15
• bicycle crunches: 3 sets x30

shoulders

• standing upright cable row: 3 sets x15
• dumbbell front raises: 3 sets x15
• oblique twists on decline bench w/ 10# plate: 3 sets x30

chest

• dumbbell chest press: 3 sets x15
• dumbbell flyes: 3 sets x15
• reverse crunches: 3 setx x15

not too bad for a make up as you go workout, eh?!  loved it. my arms felt like noodles afterward!!

and then it was straight home to change for snowboarding.. finally.  i feel like a slack ass because i hadn’t been up before today.. but honestly, there is NO SNOW and so i haven’t felt like it is really worth it.

i shoved my face with a turkey sandwich while getting changed.. this was made with leftover thanksgiving turkey+whole wheat roll+mustard.. easy peasy.

the dogs were all about trying to get my sandwich. see penny jumping up on me??

once we were at my local resort i picked up my season pass (don’t worry, i smiled big) and we headed up the lift.

ehhh..ok, i realize why i haven’t been up yet this season.  the snow sucked and it was really icy and there were rocks and twigs everywhere.

umm hello? is it not almost december? where is winter?!?!

so, after a cool 3 runs we called it a day and came back down the canyon.  the luxury of living in SLC is you can go snowboarding at noon and take just 3 runs and still have a good chunk of your day left.  it is only 15 miles up the canyon to the resort.

when i got home my roomie cooked me dinner!  mushroom risotto with chicken + salad~

for the record, no.. i am not a big hog, that is a little salad plate

and my lighting still sucks.. gotta figure this whole lighting sitch out soon.

soooo.. now i am typing this and working on my moves page which i will hopefully be done with by the end of the night.

hope you all had a GREAT weekend, i am sad that it is almost over.. but back to the grind tomorrow.  and the last day of november!! how crazy!  christmas will be here before we know it!!

Qs~

1. do you plan your workouts or make them up as you go? i always plan.. i don’t write them down but i have a plan in my head.  this is best for optimal workoutage when at the gym.. but today it was kind of nice just to not plan and go with whatever sounded fun!!

2. who does most of the cooking in your house? aside from yourself, who are you cooking for? do you do it all, do you take turns or do you cook together? like i said, i do most of the cooking most of the time.. it is for just me myself and i 70% of the time though. when marshall is over he usually will offer a hand now and again, which is nice!

xo. janetha b.

Hi guys! I’m in Sydney now blogging from Maccas (free wifi), nearly on our way to Hawaii! Not long to go now. I had a good flight over from Perth on the red-eye and am now getting ready to go meet Merilyn for lunch in the city. Adam is coming this morning and we are meeting at the international airport at about 3 and leaving for Honolulu in the afternoon.

To recap on yesterday though, we spent most of the day packing and cleaning up the house for our housesitter Sam. Sam is looking after our house and Little while we are in Hawaii and Sydney in December.

I finally felt like a snack around 11am. I had some corn thins and cottage cheese and that was about all I could handle. I still felt ick.

I didn’t have a proper lunch but at about 2pm had 2 muesli breads with PB which took the edge off any hunger and was simple enough not to exacerbate my sick feeling.

The yummiest snack! So the headache I had in the morning kicked in badly yesterday. Not sure if it was dehydration or the sun during the race or what. The race left me pretty tired and sluggish all day though. I really think the amount of food I’ve eaten in the last couple of days contributed though to my sluggish feeling and general meh-ness of the race.

In the late afternoon, I had a beer with Adam, it was hot and we’d cleaned all day so we worked for our beer!

I also nibbled on some Sakata wholegrain rice crackers. For dinner we were supposed to meet Adam’s dad and stepmum at JusBurgers for a quick burger before my flight but there was a huge waiting list for a table so we gave that a miss and headed to the Subi Hotel. We ordered the Turkish bread and dips plate to share to start.

The dips were hummus, red capsicum and feta, oil and chives. I had about 1/2 of one of those pieces in the picture with lots of hummus.

Adam ordered the fish special which was gold band snapper, potato puree and Greek inspired salad. He said it was great.

I ordered the lightest thing on the menu pretty much, given I had little appetite and I wasn’t in the mood for meat or seafood.  This was the pumpkin, leek and feta risotto and it was absolutely delicious! I would go back for this again. On top there were bread crumbs and it looked like it had been baked for a short time to crisp up the top and brown off the feta. So good.

I savored every bite of this dish! Jack had a meat pasta dish which looked tasty and Ann had the pork belly and they both said they liked their food a lot.

I packed some cereal to have for breakfast this morning and a few bars to nibble if I get really hungry during the day or on the next flight. Even more exciting is that Mez and I are going to Kobe Jones for a japo lunch . Stay tuned, lots of fun adventures coming up!

More mushroom risotto, the meal that keeps on giving.

Coffee in Columbus Circle.

Skirt steak and chicken

White wine while making cinnamon ice cream

This dish probably falls somewhere between a risotto and a paella, and there’s no doubt it has a strong Spanish flair with its use of fiesty chorizo and seafood; whatever you decide to call it, I think you’ll find it a surprisingly easy and forgiving dish to assemble that lends itself to all kinds of mealtimes, from comforting winter lunchtimes to more demure dinner times.

I’ve divided the ingredients list into two parts; firstly the bare bones of the dish (which you’ll absolutely need), which are followed by a few extra garnishes which could be left out if your cupboards are a little bare. And so, without any further ado -

Essential Ingredients

- 2 Cloves Garlic

- Salt

- Olive Oil

- 4 Tomatoes

- 2 Medium Red Onions

- 150g Fresh, King Prawns

- 200g Chorizo

- Freshly ground Black Pepper

- 500g Risotto Rice

- 2 Beef Stock Cubes

- 1 litre boiling water

Serves 4 – 6

Optional Ingredients

- Fresh flat leaf Parsley

- A couple of glugs of White Wine

- A few chunks of hard Italian cheese such as Grana Padano, Pecorino Romano or Parmesan

Method

Start by heating a couple of generous glugs of Olive oil in a large sauce pan, adding a dash of salt (to taste) and gently frying the sliced garlic cloves for a couple of minutes. Coarsely chop the Parsley and add this to the pan along with a splash or two of white wine (to taste). Stir well and allow the contents to simmer for a few minutes before adding the tomatoes whole and covering. Simmer until the skins of the tomatoes soften and fall away (about 10 minutes), then stir everything well to break the tomatoes down.

Next, add the prawns and the chorizo; I tend to use ready sliced Chorizo like you might use in sandwiches and tear it into strips, but if you’re feeling extravagant (like I did this time!) you could buy a whole Chorizo sausage and slice it yourself! Toss in a couple of chunks of hard cheese, grind some black pepper over the dish then recover and simmer for 5 minutes.

Now, at this point turn up the heat and add the risotto rice, stirring well to allow the rice to fry for two minutes – being careful not to let anything burn or stick to the pan. In the meantime, prepare your 1 litre of hot beef stock and after the two minutes, add the first quarter of the liquid to quench the rice. Cover and turn the heat down to simmer, watching carefully – once the risotto begins to dry up, add the next quarter and so on, until the rice is well cooked and the risotto has thickened to a creamy consistency. Serve, garnishing with some chopped parsley if desired and enjoy!

Extra Tip: If you’re lucky enough to have the rind of the cheese, cut it into small 1cm chunks and add with the rice; you’ll find the rind softens in the heat and becomes a wonderful cheesy crouton!

Mais uma receita de risoto! Para quem gosta de frutos do mar, é uma boa dica. Fica lindo e saboroso.

Você vai precisar de (para 4 pessoas):

- 5 xícaras de café de arroz arbóreo

- 1 abobrinha italiana cortada em cubos grandes

- 30 tomates cereja cortados ao meio

- Anéis de lula (usei uma bandeja inteira. Vem bastante, mas não me lembro quanto tinha. Acho que 200g)

- 2 tabletes ou pacotinhos de caldo de legumes

- 1/2 cebola picada

- 2 dentes de alho picados

- 3 colheres generosas de azeite extra vigem

- Parmesão em lascas

- Pimenta do reino a gosto

- Salsa e cebolinha a gosto

- 1 cálice de vinho branco

Preparo:

Em uma panela, dilua o caldo de legumes em 60 ml de água fervente. Reserve.

Em outra panela, coloque o azeite e o alho. Quando dourar, acrescente a cebola. Quando estiver transparente, acrescente o arroz e, em seguida, o vinho branco e a pimenta do reino (umas 3 pitadas). Mexa sem parar. O vinho vai soltar um aroma delicioso. Jogue uma concha do caldo de legumes, mexa e depois acrescente os tomates cereja. O segredo do risoto é mexer sem parar. Você pode achar que os tomates partidos ao meio estarão muito grandes, mas eles vão cozinhar, soltar o caldo que vai ajudar a temperar e diminuir de tamanho. Acrescente os cubos de abobrinha e mais uma concha do caldo. Continue mexendo. A abobrinha fica mais firme e dá crocância ao prato. Quando o arroz estiver no ponto, acrescente os anéis de lula e mais uma concha de caldo de legumes. Mexa por mais 5 minutos apenas e eles estarão cozidos. Depois, acrescente o parmesão em lascas, a salsa e a cebolinha. Misture e sirva.

A dica para fazer risotos com frutos do mar é acrescentá-los apenas no final do preparo do prato, porque eles cozinham muito rápido e podem ficar borrachudos. Se forem cozidos rapidamente, ficam perfeitos

L’altro giorno sono finito su questo sito sull’Eurofestival, non chiedetemi perché. OK, ve lo dico: cercavo il testo della pregevole canzone di France Gall dal titolo “Poupée de cire, poupée de son” perché volevo dedurre che volesse dire “son“. La canzone portò il Lussemburgo a vincere nel 1965 il festival e “son” non vuol dire solo “suono” ma anche “segatura“, se “sawdust” vuol dire quello che sembra.

Ad ogni modo, ho dato un’occhiata alle partecipazioni dell’Italia e ho scoperto due cose che mi hanno indignato. Nel 1966 Domenico Modugno partecipa con “Dio, come ti amo” – una delle canzoni più belle di sempre – e arriva ultimo con 0 (zero!) punti, assieme a una tale Téréza Kesovija, monegasca a suo dire. Indecente. E poi lo stesso Modugno arriva terzo con “Nel blu dipinto di blu“, nel ‘58. Ben due canzoni, in quell’anno, sono state ritenute più belle di una delle canzoni più conosciute al mondo. Quali, mi sono chiesto? Prima è arrivata una lagna francese, e ci può pure stare considerando che ai festival vincono le lagne. Ma seconda, signori, Lys Assia, cioè una signora svizzera, del canton Argovia (qui la vedete dopo molte sedute di botox e qui la vedete allora, questo il suo sito dove potete trovare anche il suo numero di cellulare. Vi invito a non utilizzarlo, sporcaccioni) che canta Giorgio. Eccovela:

Assolutamente pregevole: le commistioni linguistiche che neppure tieffemme, il weekend pronunciato alla tedesca vik-ent e la pronuncia sciolta dell’italiano, la cavalcata da valchiria su polentapolentapolenta… Devo dire che la canzone ha imposto una reimpostazione del mio studio sull’Italia nella canzone: non solo francese ma europea. Niente, sole, pizza o mandolino ma polenta, risotto e Lago Maggiore. La cosa è abbastanza prevedibile: l’idea d’Italia che gli svizzeri (o i tedeschi) avevano a questa altezza cronologica era frutto dell’osservazione diretta vacanziera (quindi i laghi, l’Adria See, la Italienische Riviera und so weiter…) e non dei racconti degli italoamericani o delle locali comunità dei nostri emigranti.

Ora mi faccio due uova strapazzate, ma prima voglio sottolineare il meraviglioso dialogo tra Lys Assia e il cameriere:

Un ristorante alla piazza
“Cameriere!”
“Signore, Signorina, per favore, un espresso?”
“No – viiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiino!”

Vi invito, soprattutto, a vedere la faccia da alcolista che ha Lys nel chiedere Chianti, Chianti, Chianti, Chianti, Chianti.
Ok, ora che sapete posso andare a mangiare.

When Nick went to the butcher on Thursday to pick up our Thanksgiving turkey, he was met with an unpleasant surprise.  The 4-kilo turkey I had ordered was actually 5.4 kilos!  After some debate and bargaining with the butcher, it came out that that was the smallest bird they had received that day, and they had indeed reserved it for me.  A three-pound difference might not sound like a big deal, but when the bird costs 6 euros 50 a kilo, and we were already unsure if a whole turkey would fit into our tiny oven, and it was already 3pm on Thanksgiving Day, it felt disastrous.

After some oven reconfiguration, we managed to get the turkey in without it touching the heating element, and it roasted up beautifully – since turkey isn’t the commodity in France that it is in the US, the ones you get here are never frozen or wrapped in plastic.  The air-dried skin browns and crisps like no other turkey I’ve made, and the flavor, like that of French chickens, is somehow just more.  The menu went off just as planned, except in lieu of the brittle I served the potimarron pie with bourbon-maple whipped cream.

We were joined by five friends, and actually have very few leftovers (one scoop of mashed potatoes, one spoonful of Brussels sprouts, one sliver of pie…) except for the turkey, of which about two and a half pounds remain.  Having spent 35 euros – that’s right, upwards of 50 bucks – we don’t want to let a single scrap go to waste.  Yesterday afternoon I made stock from the carcass, after Nick had cleaned it of meat.  Meanwhile, he simmered a piece of kombu in a pot of water in preparation for a very welcome light lunch: turkey miso soup.

If you’ve never made miso soup before, you’re missing out on one of the simplest, fastest, and tastiest soups around.  It’s as easy as whisking a couple of spoonfuls of miso into a pot of hot dashi (the Japanese staple broth made with water, kombu seaweed, and bonito tuna flakes – which we have as yet been unable to find in Paris, so we did without – steeped for about five minutes) and garnishing with a few little pieces of whatever.  It should be brothy.  In this case, we used a bit of shredded turkey and some snipped chives, leftover from the mashed potatoes.  It made a fantastic day-after-Thanksgiving lunch.

But there’s plenty more turkey to be eaten.  As soon as I’m done writing, I plan on heading down to the kitchen and mixing up a big batch of herbed turkey salad: mayo, sage, chives, parsley, maybe a bit of crème fraîche and shallot.  I’ll eat it for lunch on top of some lettuce with a dollop of cranberry sauce, and hopefully there will be enough left to make a couple of weekday sandwiches.

Tonight or tomorrow I’ll put that fresh turkey stock to use in a turkey risotto.  Garnishes will include the rest of the fresh sage, chopped turkey (duh) and grated aged provolone.

So what are you doing with your turkey leftovers?

Originally published on Croque-Camille.

Risotto, it’s the one dish that every chef on every cooking show makes. It’s a dish that symbolizes excellence, if cooked correctly that is. I’ve always wanted to make risotto, but never knew how. So when I found a recipe for Risotto with Brown Rice I was no less than ecstatic!

There are two types of rice for risotto: Arborio and Carnaroli. I’ve heard that carnaroli is the best rice to use for risotto, but as my local grocer had nought but arborio, I had to settle. The recipe consists of minced onions, carnaroli or arborio rice, chicken or vegetable broth, Sauvignon Blanc, butter, whipped heavy cream, and browned butter.

I ended up executing the dish wonderfully and I have the pictures to prove it. The hardest part of cooking risotto is: not burning the rice and cooking it until ts perfectly al dente. After I cooked the rice in the wine and broth, I stirred in the butter and whipped cream and topped it with a drizzle of brown butter.

Excuse me for this tangent but I love brown butter. Brown butter is just butter that is melted and simmered over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes or until it has a tea-like color. Browning butter gives it a nutty taste and aroma that is simply marvelous. My favorite thing to use brown butter is for madeleines. I like to clarify the butter first then brown it. That’ll be a future post.

All in all I will definitely be making risotto many times more. Now, I just have to get my hands on some white truffles…

Il cavolo cappuccio, Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata, è davvero qualcosa di fantastico. E’ buono crudo, tagliato sottilissimo. E’ fantastico cotto, stufato, involtinato.

E’ un ortaggio tipicamente invernale, che fa bene a TUTTO: previene, cura e allevia molte malattie perché è ricco di minerali quali il selenio, fibre, vitamina C. Un antiossidante naturale, dotato della proprietà di poter prevenire il cancro al colon.

Il cavolo puzza? Beh sì, non si può sostenere il contrario. Ma dobbiamo essere forti, perché sopportando un po’ di odore si ottiengono piatti eccezionali!

Ecco una piccola selezione di ricette col cavolo:

Cavolo cappuccio cotto con pancetta (come lo mangio io) – da Bioexpress.it

Si taglia grossolanamente un cavolo cappuccio, si mette in un tegame olio, pancetta tagliata a dadi e si fa un soffritto. Poi si unisce il cavolo con un po’ di sale e pepe. Si rimesta di tanto in tanto con un mestolo di legno aggiungendo acqua per la cottura che durerà circa un’ora. [anche meno, secondo i miei gusti 40 minuti possono bastare]

Risotto al cavolo cappuccio – da Cucinaericette.it

per 4 persone:
2 pugni di riso Carnaroli per persona
350 g di cavolo cappuccio
200 g di macinato magro di manzo
carota, cipolla e sedano per il battuto
brodo
sale
100 g di lardo
parmigiano reggiano

vedi tutta la ricetta

Ditali con cavolo cappuccio e zucca – da Mammachebuono

200 g di ditali
un cavolo cappuccio da 300 g
100 g di zucca pulita
1 l di brodo vegetale
una cipolla bianca
una carota
un gambo di sedano
burro
olio extravergine d’oliva
sale e pepe
peperoncino

Fate rosolare in olio e burro la cipolla, il sedano e la carota mondati e tritati. Unite il cavolo cappuccio tagliato a cubetti, aggiungere un goccio di brodo e incorporare la zucca tagliata a cubetti. Unite il rimanente brodo e cuocere per venti minuti circa, aggiustando di sale e di pepe. Fate cuocere i Ditali Lisci nella zuppa, eventualmente diluire con altro brodo, quindi servire, aggiungendo un pizzico di peperoncino.

Queste ricette a conferma del fatto che il cavolo cappuccio è davvero buono così com’è, cucinato con piatti semplici e tradizionali..gnam! Ho davvero un debole per lui..

I had a great wine and food match last week…..or should that be a food and wine match…..not sure….

I made a Risotto consisting of chicken, the odd asparagus spear, a few peas, a squeeze of lemon and some herbs (fresh, not dried Patrick).  I would share the recipe, but, well, I dont use recipes too often, and I even less frequently measure ingredients, so I’m not much use to you there.  Besides, I am not qualified to post recipes on this site, and am happy to leave that to the experts that frequent the ‘Good Food’ section.

One thing I think I am qualified to blog about however is Sauvignon Blanc.  And as luck would have it, a good example of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc from Seresin Winery (available in Vintages), made a pretty good match to my Risotto.   When serving a wine with food it obviously helps your pairing efforts if your serve the same wine you cooked with alongside dinner.  And if  the flavours from the wine match the ingredients you are cooking with, you can’t go wrong!  Not only did my ‘Savvy’ have flavours of herbs, citrus, asparagus and peas, but the acidity also did a nice job of cutting through the creaminess of the risotto – I like cheese, as you may recall from a previous post.

Sauvignon Blanc is a great wine to match with food and gives you a lot of options – especially for the seafood lover.  Mussels, oysters, and even the humble fish and chips can all be enhanced by a glass of Savvy.  Anywhere you would think about squeezing a lemon, try a glass of Sauvignon Blanc as well.  It’s not a bad salad wine either – especially if there is a good goat cheese involved!  There are some good Niagara examples available – both the Southbrook Triomphe Sauvignon Blanc and the Creekside Winery 2007 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc are well worth the drive to their respective wineries.

Cheers.

To celebrate Cook Japan’s little sister getting a new job, I thought I’d invite her round for one of her favourites dishes…Risotto alla Milanese…

This is a famous Milanese version of risotto cooked with saffron.  The think is, I’ve never cooked risotto before in my life…so given that I also invited my risotto-cooking cousin as well it was a real gamble hoping that I could pull this meal off…

…but before I even started worrying about risotto I’d also decided to make a raft of antipasti dishes to get the dinner started.

So along with some olives, artichokes, sun dried tomatoes and Italian meats from the shops, I also opted to make a variety of toppings for some crostini.  First up was grilled vegetables (easy), followed by a cannellini bean and garlic puree that was then topped with rosemary infused olive oil…

We also tucked into some porcini mushrooms grilled with herbs and mozzarella…

…and some lemons stuffed with mozzarella, basil, anchovy fillets and sun dried tomatoes which were really yummy!

So with all that taken care, it was down to the pièce de résistance…my first time at the hands of a pot of risotto, but this was not any old risotto, it was a double first as it was cooked in my trusty Cook Japan rice cooker!

First up, chopped shallots were braised in butter and olive oil then in went the Arborio rice which was cooked until translucent along with the wine…

…all that was left was to add the saffron infused stock and the remaining stock, switch the rice cooker to “porridge” mode and tuck into the rest of the food while we waited.

No need to constantly stir the risotto and pay attention to the stove, instead after 20-minutes it switched to “keep warm” so in went some more butter then just before serving a pile of grated parmesan to finish the dish off….

…of course I’m biased, but I thought it was really nice and more importantly my sister who lived for a few years in Milan, where she got her love for the dish, though it was great. 

So next time you want to make risotto do it in the rice cooker!

Apprendo da questo sito che questo blog oggi vale la bellezza di euri 45.139,59.

Che lezione imparo da tutto ciò. Che dovrei aprire tipo un blog a settimana, reclamizzarlo appalla, venderlo e poi riaprirne uno nuovo. Un fottuto capitalista della blogosfera.

Il dubbio, però, è sempre lo stesso che mi venne anni fa leggendo che Technorati valutava Roundhouse Kicks circa un milione di dollari: chi li paga, sti soldi? C’è un facoltoso signore con la barba che un giorno ti bussa alla porta e ti dice “salve, da oggi Pardemazio Scatenone voglio essere io, ecco i suoi soldi, ora si scansi“?

E soprattutto, chi glielo dice a sto ricco tizio che i duecentomilionididollari che voleva sganciare per Mininova oggi come oggi sono buttati via?

Riposi in pace nel cimitero dei siti fighi, in mezzo ad Audiogalaxy, Oink e bruzzi.com

E stasera risotto.

La paella in questione parte da lontano, nel nostro viaggio in Andalusia, Mario ha avuto l’idea di regalare a Gianni una traversa con scritte in spagnolo che definivano re della cucina chi l’avrebbe indossata. Un re della cucina spagnolo deve tassativamente esibirsi in una paella di classe. Così nasce l’appuntamento in cui abbiamo gustato questo ricchissimo piatto, che come ben sapete, al riso aggiunge un ben dosato mix di pesce, carne e verdure. Il segreto sta nel mantenere divisi i sapori e farli coesistere. Il piatto  richiede un gran lavoro preparatorio che ha impegnato Chiara, la padrona di casa, per tutto un pomeriggio senza conteggiare il tempo dedicato agli acquisti delle materie prime. Il risultato è stato comunque notevole, io ho fatto il bis, ed il vino con le bollicine ha inaffiato degnamente il tutto.

paella

Here’s a new recipe that I tried tonight from Giuliano Hazan’s book “Every Night Italian.” If you are familiar with the Hazan name, it’s probably because you remember his mother, Marcella Hazan.

The risotto turned out amazing with minimal fuss. If you are new to making risotto, I’ve learned two things that make a huge difference in how it turns out. It will only turn out as good as the stock that you use, and you can’t leave it to cook on its own. It’s very important to constantly stir the rice while it is absorbing the liquid.

I have made many risottos, and this one has all of the essential ingredients with very few extras. The ingredients are as follows.

1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
3 tablespoons butter
3 cups diced butternut squash
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
5 cups homemade meat/poultry stock
1/2 cups risotto rice (Arborio or Carnaroli)
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

First you want to melt down 2 tablespoons of the butter and saute the onions until they are golden brown in color.

After peeling the squash, removing the seeds and cutting it up you want to add it to the pot with the onions. Add about 1/2 a cup of water, season the squash with salt and pepper and let the squash cook until fork tender and the water is evaporated.

When the squash is done, add the rice and stir until it is well coated. Add a couple ladles of the broth and stir with a wooden spoon. Continue stirring and adding the broth gradually as the rice absorbs the liquid. Be careful not to add to much broth at once. You want to add just enough broth to produce the consistency of a thick soup. It’s important to wait until all the liquid is absorbed each time before adding more broth. Continue cooking until the rice is not still crunchy or chalky in the center.

Remove the risotto from the heat and stir in the parsley, Parmigiano-Reggiano and the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Taste test for salt and pepper and you are done!

I served it with some basil pesto chicken sausages from Trader Joe’s that paired really nicely with the risotto.

'Long Blonde', 2009

My best friend, B, recently had her 2nd child- a gorgeous (if a bit colic-y and temperamental) boy, The Prince. He’s already showing signs of ruling the roost in a house full of crazy women! His big sister, The Princess, adores him and is incredibly doting. The three of them make me happier than anything.

Florence and the Machine, Lungs, is on repeat on my iPod right now, I’m hearing it in my dreams! Great to hear some tunes that make me laugh on a packed tube- especially Bird Song.

My dogs make me happy- Tinker and Stinker. Tinker is a little black terrorist who loves to chase pheasants and almost gets shot by farmers on a regular basis. Stinker is a beast of a spaniel- built like a brick shit house, he has the mentality of Lennie Small (Of Mice and Men). Together, a force to be reckoned with!

New shoes! I invested (against my better judgement, and the bank man’s) in a pair of ‘Terror’ Boots from Dune, I’m in love! who said shopping doesn’t make you happy? I have no money now to buy anything to wear with them, but you know what? They’d look awesome with nothing at all!

Learning new stuff is the key to fulfillment for me right now (I’m in a state of dire unemployment, and unemployability having just graduated with no work experience except waitressing). The Web Guru has been teaching me the wonders of Dreamweaver and Flash- watch this space for some projects as soon as I’ve got my grubby paws on the CS4 Suite. Whilst training with the Guru, his wife, Nigella Awesome has been serving up culinary delights: Prawn and Fennel Risotto, Exploding Apples, Curried Veg Soup… My brain and belly are full of wisdom!

Ingredienti:

• Cipolla
• Dado da cucina delicato
• Funghi porcini secchi
• Olio di semi
• Pancetta affumicata
• Pepe bianco
• Radicchio
• Riso parboiled
• Sale

Preparazione:

Mettete i funghi secchi in ammollo per circa 40 minuti, quindi scolateli e teneteli da parte.

In un pentolino con acqua bollente, fate sciogliere il dado da cucina vegetale e fate sobbollire.

Pulite la pancetta dalla cotenna e dalla parte superiore, rimuovete l’osso e tagliatela a metà per la lunghezza. Tagliate quindi ogni metà per l’altezza a fettine sottili.

Fate scaldare molto bene una padella inaderente quindi unite poco olio di semi e la pancetta. Fate saltare a fiamma vivace nel frattempo che tritate molto finemente la cipolla.

Quando la pancetta darà ben dorata unite la cipolla e proseguite la cottura.

Aggiungete il riso quando la cipolla sarà trasparente e fate insaporire.

Aggiungete il brodo poco per volta, fino a circa ¾ di cottura. Unite quindi i funghi e proseguite la cottura.

Quando il riso sarà pronto, regolate di sale e pepe a piacere quindi fatelo riposare per qualche minuto prima di servirlo su una base di radicchio tagliato molto finemente.

Provate anche:

Risotto all’americana

Risotto al limone

Risotto al radicchio

Risotto alla pescatora

Risotto con funghi porcini

Risotto con verdure

Rich, creamy, and flavorful. To the basic risotto this dish adds earthy shiitake mushrooms, slightly pungent Fontina cheese, and crisp, sparkling white wine.

Making risotto is easy, just stir it fairly constantly, so the starchy rice doesn’t stick hard to the pan. If you use the right rice and a good vegetable or chicken stock, you will have perfect risotto.

If you enjoy risotto, the easiest way to make it often is to prepare a large batch of vegetable stock (as much as will fit in your biggest pot with a bunch of vegetables), and freeze it in quart-size freezer bags. Then you’ll always have a savory base on-hand for delicious risotto.

The recipe is from Biba’s Italy: Favorite Recipes from the Splendid Cities, by Biba Caggiano:

7 cups vegetable broth or canned low-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 small yellow onion, minced (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 pound chanterelle or shiitake mushrooms, wiped clean and diced
2 cups Arborio, Carnaroli, or Vialone Nano rice
1 cup sparkling wine or dry white wine
1/4 pound Fontina cheese, finely diced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Heat the broth in a medium saucepan and keep warm over low heat.

Melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it is pale yellow and soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and stir until lightly golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the rice and cook until it is coated with the savory base and begins to whiten, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the wine and stir until most of it has evaporated. Add about 1 cup of the hot broth, or just enough to barely cover the rice. Cook, stirring, until the broth has been almost completely absorbed. Continue cooking and stirring the rice in this manner, adding broth 1 cup or so at a time, until the rice is tender but still a bit firm to the bite, about 17 minutes.

When most of the last addition of broth is incorporated, add the Fontina. Stir quickly until the cheese is completely melted and the rice has a thick, creamy consistency, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the parsley, taste, adjust the seasoning, and serve.

The flavor base

The rice is added, and tossed with the savory base

Simmering in the wine

The rice grows big & fluffy as it absorbs the stock

The Fontina melts into the risotto and brings it all together

It’s no secret how much I love risotto. But sometimes I want to indulge without feeling like I, well, overindulged. Sunday night I set out to make a more perfect risotto, or at least one I can eat and feel relatively guilt-free.

After a request from a fellow BC9-er for a butternut squash recipe (Thanks, Courtney!) I was inspired to create a vegan-friendly risotto, too. Surely there has to be a way to savor the creamy goodness without heavy cream and excess amounts of cheese, I thought.

Here’s what I came up with. The short grain brown rice takes a little more time and liquid than white Arborio rice, but the end result is definitely worth the effort. If you just can’t bear the thought of a cheese-less risotto, go ahead and add some parmesan at the end (confession: I did). You’ll still respect yourself in the morning, I promise.

Brown Rice Risotto with Roasted Butternut Squash

1 1-1/2 lb. butternut squash
preferred seasoning for squash
1 large onion
4 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 cup white wine
2 quarts mushroom (or whatever stock you prefer) plus 1 quart water
1 cup short grain brown rice
olive oil
½ c parmesan (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

For the squash:
Cut the squash into inch-sized cubes and toss with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast on a rimmed baking sheet at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. After they come out, you can add seasoning of your choice. I used Caribbean Jerk seasoning with thyme, sugar, and red pepper, but you could use chile powder, brown sugar, or nutmeg—or just leave them plain.

For the risotto:
Sauté the onion in olive oil until translucent. While the onion is cooking, add the stock and water to a stockpot and bring to a low simmer. Add pepper and minced garlic and cook for another minute. Add the rice and allow it to toast for 2-3 minutes. Add the wine to the skillet and stir, allow the rice to soak it up a bit. Then begin adding the stock to the rice, 1-2 cups at a time. Make sure to stir regularly to help give the risotto its creamy consistency. When most of the stock is absorbed, add 1-2 more cups, repeating until you’ve used all the stock and the rice is tender.

Season with salt and pepper, stir in parmesan cheese, if desired, plate risotto and top with roasted squash.