Exotic mushroom, sage and brown rice risotto

I love a risotto. But it is a lot of work sometimes and in addition to that there is the perception that it is therefore also rather difficult to make.


To a certain degree this is right because if you are not careful, a risotto can easily turn stodgy. The trick of a risotto is to make sure that it is creamy.

What I thought might be nice is to take you  through the risotto step by step with pictures.

 Ingredients:

1 celery stick with leaves
1 small bunch of sage
Olive oil
80g butter (halved)
2 shallots
1 clove garlic
Salt and pepper
Punnet of exotic mushrooms : Portobello and Portobellini Shiitake, Shimeji, enoki  etc- chopped
1 1/2 cups brown rice
150ml vermouth - imparts a fantastic herbiness and sweetness to the dish
250 ml white wine (Chardonnay or a Chardonnay blend - I used a Chardonnay-Viognier from Woolies; I won't wax lyrical about the choice of wine and what it imparts)
1l chicken stock

1. Finely chop up the celery, sage, shallots and garlic. Gently melt half the butter with the olive oil in a pan over a low heat. Add the chopped celery etc and allow them to sauté until the onion and celery is translucent and the garlic and herbs become aromatic. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.

2. Add the chopped mushrooms and turn up the heat a little bit. Sauté until cooked.

3.  Remove and put onto a plate

4. Add the butter to the pan and once it is melted, add the rice and coat in the butter. Then add the vermouth and stir for all you're worth. Sorry, I shouldn't exaggerate, the stirring for all you're worth comes later... just stir.

5. Once the vermouth has evapourated, add a quarter of the chicken stock and stir on a high heat until the liquid has evapourated. Then add half the wine. Stir until the liquid has evapourated. Repeat twice more.

6. Add the mushrooms etc back to the rice and end with the third quarter of chicken stock. These stages give your risotto it's creaminess and YES! it is a lot of stirring. Expect this to take about 30-40 mins on a high heat.

7. But here's the nice thing, brown rice is rather more forgiving than arborio rice and won't get as stodgy so this is where you can cheat. Add the last quarter of chicken stock and allow the rice to cook through. It may be just slightly al dente and that is preferable to entirely soft rice. But only slightly al dente, too much and it will seem undercooked.

All that's left then is for you to serve and enjoy with a lightly dressed green salad.

- bon appetit

The Franschhoek Cap Classique Festival 2012

Sunday saw me at the Franschhoek Cap Classique Festival. Always bound to be a sparkling affair, most patrons showed up in high style.

As Cap Classique suggests, these are a compilation of traditionally French style produced sparkling wines that mimic Champagne in all but nomenclature. Combinations of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay abounded, with the odd addition of Pinot Mineur. I only tasted one sparkling wine that was made with Semillion.

However, as one learns by tasting, that there is something more intrinsic about  the taste that you are left with than the mere combination of base wines that make up the bubbly.  And there seemed to be two sides of the camps. Those that were more "French" tasting and those that were perhaps a bit more familiar to our palates.

 But champagne tasting is more of an experience than it is a mechanism and the style of champagne more a testimony to the fact that Cap Classique is method more than it is a result. And so while the resulting style of wine may seem to be something specific it is no more universal than two people are the same. 

Take the guys at GH and Ahrens, for example who in two years have completely reversed their blend of base wines. Their 2009 is a blend of 78% Pinot Noir and 22% Chardonnay, a complete reverse of their 2008 vintage, which if I remember correctly was something like 71% Chardonnay and 29% Pinot Noir. Now, I never actually tasted the 2008 vintage but I do believe the charming ex-lawyer in the beret (see pic below) when he said that it is not so much about the base wines as it is about the mousse and the finish that the sparkly produces. And I dare say that as much as there is a science to wine, like a work of art or a piece of music it is also a sensation. 

La Motte, whose Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc I particularly enjoy, I was pleased to see, was also present with their MCC. And I often feel that if a house spends more time on making one very good cuveé that that is preferable to having several options that are not as well attended to.

However, one must allow for differences in taste and taking the market into account. And of course, there are some farms that cross a spectrum well: Labourie and Graham Beck being two such farms. Graham Beck's bubbly I know from reviewing their bubbly bar at Steenberg called, Gorgeous where you can also have a tasting of their variously tiered wines. The Cuveé Clive is worth a mention here.

One of the pities about the festival is that when you taste credits are taken off per glass rather than for tasting across a range of a few from a farm to compare. But let's be honest here, there was no spitoon in sight, so it is probably just as well.

Constantia Uitsig and Plesir de Merle are other such farms that only had one vintage present on the "French" side of the tent.


Simon Back, from Backsberg very kindly answered our somewhat demanding questions after a long day at the festival - but one can never talk too much of MCC.

I personally like a blanc de blanc cap classique with something that has been left on the lease for a long time (more than three years).

 But I'd have to say that I tasted several very excellent vintages and sometimes it is a pleasure to compare something that is crisp and apple-y to something that is buttery - and something that is pink and dry to something that is pink and sweet to something. Each has it's charm. And with unlimited combinations  - more than I got to taste - I think that I can comfortably say that in South Africa we produce a range of bubbles for every taste and occasion.

Cooking Demo Evening: Warm Leek and Zucchini salad with Sauce Vierge

It was my pleasure to host a cooking demonstration on this tuesday evening. The idea came about when a friend of mine asked if I had any “official” training and if I could point her in the direction of a course to take.

Unfortunately I could not help her there. All the food that I made has been as a result of simply diving in and getting my hands dirty in the kitchen. And finding that since I had been doing this for as long as I can could stand on a chair and reach the stove (it still boggles my mind that my somewhat astute and protective mother gave me free reign in the kitchen – she must have trusted me!) that I probably had accumulated a bit of experience. So the thought crossed my mind, that I should share this with others.

Since I was lucky enough to have an open-plan kitchen in my flat, with the stove in the counter I could demonstrate how to make some of the dishes that make a really delicious dinner, but which people are often too worried to make.

Then it came to me that what I would do is three dishes, as if we were having a dinner party.

I spoke a bit about how to put dishes and food together; I expounded my core notions that there should be balance in all dishes and across the courses. That there should be a combination of textures and tastes and that, most of all it should be made with love.

For the main meal I chose to demonstrate my tomato risotto, since risotto seems to hold an air of the formidable about it to those who have never tried it before. And indeed, it is a labour of love, but it is easy enough to do and to get the perfect texture when you have seen how! The recipe for the risotto is already up and you can find it here: http://gourmandays.blogspot.com/2010/03/tomato-risotto-finally-rrecipe.html

We ended with mishugina profiteroles, but that is a funny story for another post. 

To balance the meal, and since we have been experiencing the cooler weather that announces winter is on its way, I decided on a warm leak and zucchini (or baby marrow) salad with a sauce vierge as the starter. This salad is delicious with the leeks becoming sweet and the zucchini still crispy. The sauce vierge adds the spice, with capers for salt, finely chopped basil serving for a peppery flavour and a well ripened tomato for warmth and a finely chopped shallot to add a dash of zest. Serve over warm chiabbatta crostini and you have yourself a delicious starter.

It is also fairly easy to make and soon, with everyone having contributed to the slicing of the zucchini and a quick chat about wines and their flavours, we sat down with our warm salads accompanied by a glass of Sauvingnon blanc which adds a nicely fresh counterparts to the dish.

A lightly oaked chardonnay would work just as well though. Especially in the cooler climes as it adds something of a robustness.

Below is the recipe for the Leek and Zuccini salad

Use 1 leek per person

Use about 1.5 zucchini per person

1 slice of bread per person – thickly cut

Salt 

Black pepper

For the sauce vierge (enough dressing for four portions):

Half a largish shallot: finely cut or minced

1 ripe tomato – roughly cut into cubes

1 generous teaspoon capers

A handful of basil- finely chopped

¼ cup of your finest extra virgin olive oil

¼ lemon

Clean the leeks and cut them lengthways. Pop them in a heavy bottomed pan with a little bit of cooking olive oil. Allow them to sweat over a low heat until they look wilted and glossy. Remove. 

While the leeks are sweetly sweating, cut the zucchini lengthways about 5mm thick. Fry lightly in olive oil and add salt an pepper to taste.

In a seperate dish, put the tomato, shallot, capers and basil. Toss with a spoon. Add the olive oil and mix gently. 

Cut the ciabatta into cubes, and layer the leeks and zucchini on top, sharing them between the number of servings. 

Spoon over the sauce vierge. 

Because of the colour of the sauce vierge, this looks especially nice plated up on white plates.

Tomato Risotto - The food that should be reserved for lovers!

This weekend saw me making one of my favourite Italian dishes, the Risotto. Hmm, how do I describe the risotto? It is one of those dishes that when you taste it, it is heaven in your mouth and so completely satisfying and infused with such delectable flavour that it makes you immediately well disposed to all those around you. It is a moment to savour, it is a moment you could fall in love! No wonder the Italians are such a passionate people!

Being  at my happiest when I’m cooking for others  I have often wanted to implement a tactical turn to my dinner parties. That is that each person that I invite must also invite someone that I don’t know. Preferably with the view of meeting ‘the one’.  Yes, I could be cooking and sharing with someone I don’t turn out to like, but on the other hand I could be cooking for someone I do, and what’s more, I’d be in my element as the gracious host and elegant chef. Ok, sometimes I’m not gracious nor elegant (throwing out, along with a teeny tiny temper tantrum, lumpy cheese sauce for a fondu, because it wasn’t perfect, springs to mind. A friend insisted on saving the sauce and it actually wasn’t all that bad in the end! ) Either way it guarantees an evening of entertainment!

 One of my regular flavours is a mushroom risotto. I’d heard horror stories about risotto, hours of stirring and well nothing but a(nother) lumpy mass resulting. But this is a dish which, luckily I have perfected and therefore like to indulge my guests, and...well none of them have been gracious enough to bring a nice looking man, as yet unknown to me, to dinner.

But back to the mushroom risotto- a delicious dish that is diffused with delicate morels.  But if you are pedantic about having the diverse woody and nutty tastes that various mushroom types can bring to the dish, then being out-of-pocket is not one of the times that you can make this dish in its entirety. Also, I like to use a fairly good oak barrel –rested chardonnay. While it need not be a wildly expensive one, which would just be sacrilege to throw into the pot, rather than enjoy direct from the glass, a goodish one is still important since the flavours of the wine ultimately add to the flavour of the dish.

It was Saturday evening and not having had anything particular planned, but longing for a bit of company, I decided to invite some friends around for dinner.  But what to make?

It being Autumn, that awkward, but also very exciting time of year when the days are hot, but the evenings cool, I decided on something for dinner that would pay homage to the two seasons that it lies between and settled on a tomato risotto. This Risotto I also make with a less heavy wine, one that has a little more zest to it and is a little more refreshing with a slight summer sweetness (tropical fruit) to it. This along with the tomato and a light side salad of a variety of lettuce greens, tossed lightly in raspberry vinegar and olive oil (don’t forget a pinch of salt and black pepper), is testament to the summer. The cream, which I’m sure the Italians would feel is a culinary profanity in the summer, and also because a risotto has a naturally creamy texture, is a taste and preparation of the winter to come.  You can also serve this with a few slices of prosciutto (or black forest ham) on the side to complete the dish.

Freshly layered Broccoli and Stilton Lasagne

So it's Friday and if all you want to do is settle down comfortably on the couch with a glass of red and something delicious and just a little bit indulgent, then this is the dish. Fresh layered lasagne is all the rage at the moment. No more of long prep only to be followed by an hour of cooking time in the oven. This lasagne is so easy it can be made in one pot before you plate it up - another plus for a Friday night, who after all wants to have a pile of dishes to do after a hard week of work and your plan is to lull off to sleep watching a DVD?

Oh, and who said that broccoli has to be boring? This is a flavoursome and morish vegetarian lasagne. If you wrinkle up your nose at (what I think is a particularly diverse, not to mention vitamin and mineral-packed vegetable) this recipe should change your mind. Many people discard broccoli stems, but this is my favourite part- cut it into centimetre-thick disks so that it gets tender when you cook it. But this is not a lesson in there virtues of broccoli; it’s a post about lazy Friday nights. But I will say this: Broccoli olive oil, origanum (oregano, as it’s known in some places) and crushed garlic is a combination made in culinary heaven. Add shavings of parmesan, or a sprinkle of feta, stilton, blue cheese, goats milk cheese and you have a most delicious side-dish which I could gobble just on it’s own! But for a more filling and satisfying meal, then just add pasta as I have here. Adjust accordingly, but here I have given the quantities for four people.

Fresh layered broccoli, stilton and olive vegetarian lasagne

300g Broccoli (divided into florets and the stem thinly cut)
30 pipped Calamata olives
3 good lugs of olive oil
1 clove crushed garlic
1 small red chili
A pinch of salt
Fresh black pepper
Origanum
40g Stilton cheese

6 pieces of lasagne pasta, broken in half

Parmesan cheese for serving



Bring a large pot of water to the boil with a good pinch of salt. Place the pasta into the water. In a steel colander, place the broccoli and place this on top of the pasta and cover with a lid.

After three minutes remove the florets. If the pasta is al dente, then remove that into a bowl and cover with some of the pasta liquid.

In the pot, heat up the oil, garlic, chilli, salt and pepper and origanum. Toss in the broccoli and the olives. Take off the heat and sprinkle over half the cheese. Toss again and add a little of the pasta water so that you get a little bit of a creamy sauce.

Place a layer of pasta (one per person) and cover with broccoli and sauce. Add another layer of pasta and some more broccoli. Distribute the left-over stilton between the portions and the layer. On top put a final layer of pasta and then grate on a sprinkling of Parmesan, a crack of black-pepper and another lug of olive oil. If you want, you can pop this under the grill for a minute or two, but if you have worked quickly, it should still be warm, so serve immediately.

Drink with a wooded Chardonnay (if you want to be fancy) but the stilton will happily accommodate the tannins of your favourite red blend.