spring risotto

I love love love broad beans. They're my absolute favourite vegetable. They have such a short season - maybe I wouldn't love them so much if they were available all year round - so we tend to have them several times a week in spring.

My new delicious turned up yesterday. Ben O'Donoghue's spring risotto starring broad beans and asparagus (my second favourite vegetable) was my obvious pick for dinner last night and it was great. Here's how I made it - I altered the method slightly as I didn't fancy peeling the broad beans raw as the recipe stated.

Risotto Primavera (serves 4-6)

120g unsalted butter

1 white onion, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

2 cups (400g) carnaroli rice (I used arborio)

1 cup (250ml) dry white wine

5 cloves garlic

1/2 cup (80g) frozen peas

1 cup (120g) podded fresh broad beans, cooked and peeled

2L chicken stock, kept at a simmer

1/2 bunch asparagus (I used a whole bunch) thinly sliced at an angle - tips intact

1 cup (80g) grated parmesan

4 T mascarpone ( I omitted this)

1 T finely shredded mint leaves

Cook the broad beans in boiling water for a minute or two, drain, peel when cool enough to handle and set aside. Cook the asparagus slices in the simmering stock for a couple of minutes, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Melt 80g of the butter in a wide pan over med heat. Cook the onion and celery, stirring, for 10 mins or until softened, adding the garlic for the final minute. Add the rice and stir for a further minute to coat the grains. Add the wine and cook, stirring, for 3 mins until absorbed. Add a ladleful of hot stock, stirring until almost all the liquid is absorbed. Continue to add stock, a ladleful at a time, gently stirring and making sure each is absorbed before adding the next, until the rice is al dente. This will take 20-25 minutes (you may not need all the stock). Add the last ladleful of stock, turn off the heat, and gently stir in the remaining butter, parmesan, peas, beans and asparagus. Cover and let stand for 10 mins. Serve topped with mascarpone and mint.

no-stir risotto

I love risotto, and never minded making it on the stove top with all that stirring. But after I discovered this recipe in delicious a couple of years ago I realised I had never really cooked it properly. Mine had always been slightly al dente, whereas with this method the rice is really creamy. Now I always adapt different risotto recipes to use this oven method.

I lashed out and bought this gorgeous Le Creuset pot especially, and it's perfect for risotto-for-two.

This recipe makes a creamy but fairly dry risotto, so if you prefer yours sloppier (and more authentically Italian?) then you'll need to add more liquid.

And there's only one pot and one baking tray to wash up afterwards.

anzac day

I've never liked baking biscuits much. Probably because I don't like eating them nearly as much as I like to eat cake. But Georgie has been asking me to make Anzac biscuits for ages, and even emailed me this recipe link. I loved the sound of toasted macadamias in Anzacs - so Australian - and this being Anzac day I relented.

Disaster! I thought the mixture didn't feel right when I was rolling it into balls. When I tasted one (it disintegrated into crumbs when I lifted it off the baking sheet) I realised I'd left out the sugar. Oh dear, sorry Georgie. I couldn't be bothered starting again. My (feeble) excuse for leaving out a vital ingredient was because I was making this for lunch at the same time...

Yet another recipe from my delicious stash - Thai pumpkin soup with coriander pesto - the best soup ever! It was quite a lot of trouble, probably best saved for a special occasion, but definitely another keeper. The recipe is here. So one hit and one miss today!

fabulous fish

This was dinner last night - Tandoori salmon with cucumber & coconut sambal. It was another recipe from my stash cut out of past issues of food mags (in this case delicious), and it's definitely a keeper. It was quick and easy and tasted fantastic. The recipe is here

I must admit I omitted the saffron from the rice - I thought I had some in the pantry but I didn't - so I added a little turmeric for colour.

lazy sunday afternoon

We had a bit of a walk around St Kilda on this glorious sunny afternoon and stopped for coffee at Il Fornaio . We shared one of their yummy lemon meringue pies so I thought we should be good and have a light dinner. The recipe had to be one I've cut from delicious (and I'm feeling pretty smug as this weekend I've done lots more culling...there's only 12 months' worth left) so I chose a light and healthy Jill Dupleix salad.

I'd guess it's probably from her last book Lighten Up although it doesn't say. It was very good, but no wonder poor old Terry's lost all that weight. The recipe says it serves 4, but when I'd dished up two medium sized bowls for our dinner there was only a bit left over for my lunch tomorrow. Here's the (slightly altered) recipe:

Glass noodles with chicken, lime and mint (serves 4?)

4-5 chicken tenderloins

200g rice vermicelli

10 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/2 small cucumber, thinly sliced

2 spring onions, sliced

1 large red chilli, thinly sliced

100g bean sprouts, rinsed

handful mint, basil and coriander

2 T unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped

Dressing:

2 T lime juice

2 T fish sauce

2 T sweet chilli sauce

1 T olive oil

1 tspn caster sugar

Fry chicken in non-stick pan until cooked through. Slice against the grain. Cook noodles according to packet instructions, drain and snip through once or twice with scissors. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and toss through all ingredients except the peanuts. Divide amongst bowls and scatter with peanuts.

delicious fish

Georgie is staying with us temporarily and I am happy to step aside when she insists on cooking dinner. Last night she made a yummy fish recipe from an old delicious mag. Unlike me who has been stockpiling every issue ever published, she clips the recipes she likes the look of every month and then throws the cut-up mag away. I should do the same...wonder how long it would take to go through five (?) years of them. I'd have to have another lot of LSL. And I'd end up with a big messy pile of loose recipes. Any suggestions welcome.


Fried Fish with Tahini Sauce (serves 4)

3 bunches English spinach, stalks trimmed
1 Tab extra virgin olive oil
1 Tab lemon juice
2 Tabs plain flour
1 tspn dried mint
8 small skinless whiting fillets
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tabs vegetable oil
1 tspn butter
mild paprika to dust
lemon wedges to serve

tahini sauce
1 Tab tahini
1/3 cup low-fat yoghurt
1/2 tspn ground cumin

For the tahini sauce, mix the tahini with 2 Tbs water, then whisk in yoghurt and cumin until smooth.
Wash spinach and cook in a large pan over med heat for 1 -2 mins. until wilted. Drain well. Toss in olive oil and lemon juice and keep warm while cooking the fish. Season flour with mint, salt and pepper. Coat the fish with flour mixture, then in egg. Heat the vegetable oil and butter in a frypan and fry the fish in batches over medium heat for 1-2 mins. each side until golden and cooked through. Arrange spinach on plates, top with fish, drizzle with tahini sauce and dust with paprika. Serve with lemon wedges.