Life and a Really Good Risotto

Hello my readers, I hope you're all still there.

It's been more than three months since I last blogged and I can hardly believe it myself.

The reason, you ask? Well I am now living in England pursing a Master's degree in the beautiful North-East.

I've been here a little over two months and love everything about the place. Before I came here, I was definitely excited and not sure what to expect but it is amazing how quickly I have come to feel completely at home here.

There are a lot of differences between Durham and Dubai, most obviously the weather. I marvel at how- at the height of a Dubai summer- I secretly wish for the icy winter I am currently experiencing....and vice versa...

There's also a big difference in lifestyle and society...perhaps that's just because it is a university and student town, though...

Before I got here, I promised myself I wouldn't slide into the student routine of pasta and cereal. I thought I'd be able to recreate all the stuff I make back home, I thought that I'd be resourceful and great and amazing by cooking a four course dinner for twelve people in a kitchen I share with five others with a limited number of utensils to exploit.

I'm happy to say that I haven't completely turned into the pasta and cereal person, but there are days where I just couldn't be bothered. There are days when the type of food you eat is surprisingly at the bottom of your list of current mental preoccupations... Although, me being me, I tend to compensate by every once in a while going off on a culinary tangent and whipping up something really weird.

Just today I chucked the entire contents of my fridge into a stew which was....interesting.... to say the least, but hey, at least I got to answer a long-standing curiosity of mine which was: what do mushrooms taste like boiled? And let me tell you, they don't taste bad at all.

But the recipe that I am going to share with you today is one I made last week which I have quite creatively called "roasted pepper, tomato, feta, and olive risotto".

There I was, reading about the benefits of a combined effort of Track I and Track II diplomacy, and how community-based peacebuilding can really positively impact conflict transformation when all of a sudden my mind wandered.......and wandered....and wandered... until it got to a place it had never really been before. And that place was plain-risotto-land. Yes. Why didn't I EVER think of making a COMPLETELY plain risotto and adding on whatever I wanted to at the very end since they would be ingredients that didn't really need to be cooked. Genius? Genius.

And so I walked the five and a half steps to my airy little kitchen and chopped up some onions and garlic, heated some oil in a pot and got cooking. And what I came up with was what you see below.

So here's the recipe, I do hope you get to try it someday, or maybe you've already tried something similar. What's your favorite risotto that you've invented?

Recipe
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup arborio rice
6 cups vegetable stock
2 tbsp pitted black olives
20g crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
30g roasted red peppers (bottled), chopped

Procedure
Heat the oil in a large pot and add the onion and garlic. Stir for five minutes until fragrant and soft.
Add the rice and stir for one minute to coat in the oil mixture.
Add two ladlefuls of stock and stir until absorbed. Repeat process for about 20 minutes or until rice is creamy and cooked through.
Season to taste then add the olives, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, and red peppers.
Remov from heat, add two tablespoons of stock, cover, and allow to rest for five minutes before serving.

Classic Lasagna with a Side of Roasted Vegetables

I think this is perfect for an indulgent and filling weeknight meal. For me, indulgent weeknight meals are those which COOK ON THEIR OWN! Where you have to let something simmer for 45 minutes, let it bake for an hour... roast it for two.. That way you've cooked, you have a good meal, and you have time to do other things while it cooks on its own.

The following is a classic lasagna served with roasted potatoes and carrots a la herb (yeah I invented that last bit).

I love the messy, splattered effect you get when you bake something big like this. Such a homey feel.

Classic Lasagna


Ingredients
2 tablespoons oil
30g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
500g lamb mince
2 tablespoons tomato paste
400g can diced tomatoes
250ml cranberry juice
2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped
One packet instant lasagna sheets
60g butter
40g plain flour
560ml milk
100g grated Parmesan cheese


Procedure
-Heat the oil and butter in a heavy based pan and cook the onion, carrot, and celery over medium heat until softened, stirring constantly. Increase the heat, add the mince and brown well, breaking up any lumps of fat. Add the tomato paste, can tomatoes, juice, and parsley and season to taste. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
- To make the bechamel sauce, melt the butter in a medium pan over low heat. Add the flour and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually stir in the milk. Return to heat and stir constantly until the sauce boils and thickens. Simmer for another minute. Add the nutmeg and salt and pepper, to taste. Place a piece of plastic wrap on surface of sauce.
-Preheat the oven to 180C.
-Take a large, ovenproof dish and place a thin layer of the meat mixture over the base, top with bechamel sauce and layer the lasagna sheets over that. Repeat the process until all the ingredients have been used up and the final layer is bechamel.
-Spread the grated Parmesan cheese on top and bake in the oven for around 30 minutes until top is golden and cheese has melted.

Roasted Potatoes and Carrots with Fresh and Dried Herbs


Ingredients
2tbsp olive oil
Two medium potatoes, roughly chopped
Two medium carrots, cut into chunks
30g butter
Salt and pepper
1tbsp mixed dried herbs such as basil and chives.
2tbsp fresh coriander, finely chopped

Procedure
Grease an overproof dish with half the olive oil.
Arrange the cut potato and carrot chunks onto the dish and drizzle with remaining olive oil.
Cut the butter into chunks and scatter around the dish.
Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with dried herbs.
Bake in an 180C oven for one hour or until vegetables have softened and cooked through.
Before serving, scatter coriander over dish.

Mushroom, Leek, Basil, and Pine Nut Risotto

Lately, I've been going to the vegetable aisle in supermarkets to stare at it for inspiration. I did that yesterday at Waitrose and came up with this. It's really light and summery. Before that, I came up with a corn, asparagus, and capsicum risotto recipe but I can't exactly remember what else went into it.

I haven't used carnaroli rice much- only about twice before and twice now- and I find that it takes much longer to cook than arborio.


Ingredients
4 cups chicken stock + 2 cups water
2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 medium sized leek, sliced thinly

1 cup carnaroli rice
0.5 cup button mushrooms, quartered
Freshly grated zest and juice of one lemon
3 tablespoons fresh basil
2 tablespoons pine nuts
30g parmigiano reggiano

Procedure
Put the stock and water to simmer on low heat.
In another pot, heat the butter until melted. Add onion, garlic, and leeks, stirring until translucent. Add the carnaroli rice and stir for 1 minute to lightly "toast" the rice. Add 1 cup of stock/water mixture and stir constantly until absorbed.
Add the mushrooms and one more cup of water and stir. Keep on stirring until almost all the water gets absorbed. Once water is absorbed, add another cup of water.
Check the rice once in a while to make sure it's cooked. If the rice is still not fully cooked and the water has run out, add some boiling water from the kettle and stir. Repeat the process until rice is fully cooked.
Remove from heat, stir in lemon zest and juice, basil, and pine nuts. Garnish with parmigiano reggiano.

Forever Nigella: Ciao Italia

Nigella's shows are extremely fun to watch. And up until today, I didn't know how extremely fun it would be to make her recipes..

I'm taking part in Maison Cupcake's Monthy Blog Challenge called "Forever Nigella". The theme for this month was "Ciao Italia" - to make anything Italianish from Nigella's recipes.

I found this love one called "Italian Chicken and Pasta" at Nigella.com and decided to use that. Partly because apparently the it had all the colours of the Italian flag. And since, Italy's 150th birthday was a few days ago, why not celebrate one's patriotism. (No I'm not Italian no matter how much I'd like to be). It also reminded me of a triple layer sandwich that we make at home.. which reminds me of the Italian flag.

I changed some things around from the original recipe. Here's my version:

Boil 150g of pasta.

Fry half a red capsicum, and half a green capsicum in olive oil.

Add tomato pasta sauce (as much as you'd like!) and stir well. Allow for the mixture to boil.

Toss in some whole black olives.

Add the pasta and stir well with a handful (yes!) of chilli flakes.

Garnish with chopped coriander and mozzarella cheese and serve!

I didn't use any chicken because I thought I had some boiled chicken leftover from lunch.. which I didn't.. And instead of bechamel sauce I used tomato pasta sauce because I'm trying to be healthier.

It tasted really good and was very, very light.

Asparagus and Puff Pastry

Perfect for a light supper or as individual starters, these puff pastries are super easy to make.

Just roll out your puff pastry and cut the sheet into as many pieces as you want (based on how big you want each portion to be). Using a knife, make a thin border around the edges of the puff pastry, but make sure you don't cut all the way through. Then, cut the asparagus to a size that fits within the portion and brush with 2 beaten eggs. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

A variation to this that I made a while back was that I brushed the individual puff pastry squares with beaten egg, I then spread the squares with tomato pesto, chopped up some olives and capsicum and placed them on the puff pastry. Then, I cut up some feta cheese and shredded some fresh basil leaves and tossed them on the squares. Amazing dinner!

Sang Choi Bow

One thing I love making and eating is Sang Choi Bow. It's a wrap made out of LETTUCE and is full of flavours. I don't know how versatile the classic sang choi bow really is.. but I tend to experiment a lot with it.. I add tofu instead of mince and vary the spices and sauces. Here's one I made yesterday with capsicums, bok choy, corn, green beans, and a sauce made of oyster, soy, and sweet chili.

Creamy Leek, Mushroom, and Pea Pies

I was looking for something light to make today and came across this recipe from Australian Women's Weekly. It's light, healthy, and vegetarian. Only 200 calories per serving which is perfect for dinner!

I've made slight modifications to the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic

1 large leek, sliced thinly

250g mushrooms, thickly sliced

2 tbsps plain flour

150ml vegetable stock

125ml low-fat milk

120g frozen peas

2 tbsps chopped fresh chives

1 tbsp mustard

3 slices wholemeal bread

cooking oil spray

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 200C.

2. Heat oil in large saucepan; cook garlic and leek, stirring until leek softens. Add mushrooms; cook; stirring, about 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender.

3. Add flour; cook, stirring, 1 minute. Gradually stir in milk and stock; cook, stirring, until mixture boils and thickens slightly. Stir in peas, chives, and mustard; cook 2 minutes or until peas are tender.

4. Place mixture into Pyrex dish, top with chopped pieces of bread, spray bread lightly with oil. Cook, uncovered, about 10 minutes or until bread is browned lightly.

Pumpkin and Cinnamon Pasta with Capsicum, Onion, and Egg Wraps

I made these for dinner today. I didn't really like the recipe for the pumpkin pasta though and I'm thinking to make it again but omit the cream that was used and instead puree some pumpkin.. and so use double or triple the quantity of pumpkin used in this recipe. I'd also add lots more cinnamon. And perhaps some cumin, too..

The wraps were heavenly. I used tortillas, heated them up, spread them with a little of sour cream and sweet chilli sauce. Then, I fried some capsicum and onion and added some balsamic vinegar. I heaped a spoonful of the capsicum mixture on the tortilla and then topped it with some scrambled egg. The hardest part was wrapping the thing!

Sid's spicy and warm winter vegetable invention

So there I was in class at 1PM this afternoon, hungry as anything. Naturally, I started to daydream...about food. Almost immediately, I got an idea of chopping up some winter vegetables and throwing them into a pot with tons of spices and letting the whole thing cook for ages.

Here's the recipe.. you can tweak it to your preferences.

Ingredients

2 tomatoes, roughly chopped into big pieces

2 parsnips, roughly chopped into big pieces

2 potatoes, roughly chopped into big pieces

2 carrots, roughly chopped into big, round pieces

2 sweet potatoes roughly chopped into big pieces

4 baby eggplants, sliced into quarters

2 onions, roughly chopped into big pieces

4 cloves garlic, each cut in half

2 teaspoons chopped fresh fennel

Add butternut pumpkin if you wish

Rocket leaves

Tomato pasta sauce, 3 tbsp

Balsamic vinegar

Spices, herbs, and seasoning (to taste)

Ground coriander, ground garlic, ground cinnamon, ground cumin, paprika, a pinch of dried lavender (yes!), peppercorns, mixed spice, fennel seeds, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, sea salt, chilli flakes, curry powder, ground turmeric.

Procedure

Heat up 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil on high heat, add ALL the vegetables, then add all the spices, herbs, and seasoning (I added 2-3 teaspoons of each... except for the peppercorns, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, lavender, and sea salt, turmeric). Mix very well together and let cook for two minutes. Place the lid on the pot, reduce the heat to low and let it cook slowly for around one hour.

After the hour, taste the vegetables and check whether they're cooked. If they are, add some tomato pasta sauce and mix well.

Place rocket leaves on a plate and then spoon the vegetable mixture on top of it. Splash a quick dash of balsamic vinegar for some tanginess. This really improves it.

Enjoy!

Pasta

Bottled pasta sauce, boiled pasta, fresh carrots uncooked, bottled olives, dried chives, salt, and pepper.. GOURMET!

Tofu Satay Pad Thai

So here are some pictures from a stirfry that I made today... the recipe is originally from AWW's Vegetarian Stirfries but I played around with it and changed the noodles from hokkien to pad thai.. also added more spices, and changed some vegetables around.

I feel that with stirfry you can NEVER go wrong with a sauce combination of oyster sauce, soy sauce, and a little bit of sweet chilli sauce! A good squeeze of lemon juice and some chopped birdseye red chillies works amazingly too!