Mushroom Risotto on Repeat

There are few dishes I make repeatedly. Sure, I detest boredom of the palette as much as the next foodie, and a shortened attention span runs in my American eighties-baby blood. When something does get repeat play, it is guaranteed to be simple, relatively quick, and full of basic ingredients found in a mid-week kitchen.

Chicken fajitas is one such recipe that's been in the rotation for years. Another is a fennel-orange salad - as a side or a quick brekkie, it's been hitting the spot for quite some time. And ever since I convinced a cute Sicilian to teach me a local dish, a saffrony pasta with sardines has been my cupboard staple favourite. And in the colder months of the year, butternut squash with curried lentils can be found in my bowl.

I realized I've made mushroom risotto a total of three times...in just as many weeks. I had to share.

A good-quality mix of frozen mushrooms makes this all too easy to start a pot going at a moments notice. Having a bottle of Marsala in the kitchen is invaluable, and it really rocks a risotto.

The recipe is fairly flexible allowing for substitutions. Focus on the best quality of everything, a slow stirring of the pot, and a creamy (but still firm) plate of fragrant shroomy rice is sure to develop.

Recipe: Mushroom Risotto

Adapted from "Cook with Jamie"

Serves 3-4
Time 1 hour

Eat with Pinot Noir

1 Tb olive oil

handful of cubed pancetta OR 1 Tb butter

1/2 onion, minced

1 shallot, minced

stalks of 1 fennel (or 2 stalks celery)

1 1/3 cup (300g) arborio rice 

1/2 cup Marsala

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp dried thyme

3 large handfuls mixed mushrooms

3 1/2 cups (850ml) vegetable/chicken broth

1 large handful flat-leaf parsley

juice of 1/2 lemon

ground pepper

good extra virgin olive oil

freshly grated Parmesan

1) Heat up the broth and keep on low.

2) Heat the oil and pancetta (or butter) in a large pot on low heat. Slowly cook the minced onion, shallot, and fennel. After 10 mins, when onions are nearly clear, stir in the rice to coat with oil. Splash in the Marsala and let it steam up for a moment. Add the garlic, thyme, and mushrooms. Stir until liquids have been absorbed.

3) Now, find a glass of wine to sip, and a friend to chat with, so you can slowly stir in the broth one ladle at a time. It should take a good 30 plus minutes. After every ladle (or half-cup) stir until the liquid is absorbed, and then add a bit more.

4) When creamy, try the rice, it should still have it's shape and texture, but not be crunchy and undercooked. If it tastes good to you, it's done. Stir in the parsley, lemon juice, and pepper (more salt if needed).

5) Serve with a splash of olive oil and a good pile of Parmesan.

Enjoy.
- Jo

A (and not The) Minestrone

Names are tricky business. When I think about it, people have known about this for ages. I mean, one of Shakespear's most well-known and time-tested soliloquies is based on this point precisely. So a little cross-cultural discussion on the meaning of food names should really come as no surprise.

Minestrone, in my American Italian-deli-experience, is a soup with assorted veggies, beans, tomatoes, herbs, Parmesan, and pasta. So, when I woke up this Sunday and saw that the contents of my refrigerator were positively begging me to make minestrone, I listened.

 

Asking around, and doing a bit of googlework, only increased my confusion. At this point, I really have no idea what a minestrone ought to include. Pasta, or no pasta, that is the question. But after a handful of conversations, I don't think many Italians know the answer either. And does it matter? Do old men with suspenders holding up their trousers get in arm-flailing discussions when their local trattoria messes with the sanctity of minestrone? My Italian friends assured me they do not. But I will keep an eye out for this...just in case.

The problem with names is that they carry such weight. Another surprise came as I learned Italian woman don't take the surname of their husband. Many women in Rome have assured me that this is quite preferred, and other culture's traditions of abandoning one's name upon marriage are really quite silly.

As I am currently between last names, I can appreciate their point. Why complicate an already complicated balance like marriage and family with the added identity-altering pressure of name conventions? 

Names are loaded. The mere idea of changing one bears all kinds of identity re-configuring implications. But is that really necessary? Just because one does or does not change their name, or the name of something, does it really mean something changes? I don't think it has to.

I've long detested the name of my blog. Cumin in the Cupboard made clear sense to my North American friends, but when mentioning it to non-native English speakers, it needed explaining. And names shouldn't need explaining. So I changed it.

For now, we are just sticking with JosieLee..my first and middle name. Nothing cute, kitsch, or clever, as that would imply an expected transformation of blog identity, which you will not find. This space is still about the food I eat and the ideas connected to it. Maybe it will slowly, organically change in the future, as things often do, but big radical changes just seem a bit too try-hard to me. It is what it is.




My soup recipe here is just A minestrone, not THE minestrone. Maybe it's just a minestra. The name doesn't matter. What matters is that it is really quite tasty (even better the next day), and is full of flexibility on what ingredients can be brought to simmer. I find the anchors of this soup to be the pancetta and the Parmesan rinds. For me, it is the flavours imparted by these two salty basics that form the backbone of a minestrone, pasta or no pasta.

Recipe: Minestrone with Borlotti Beans and Chard

Serves: 4 - 6

Eat with: Chianti Classico or Pinot Noir

4.5 oz (125g) pancetta
1 onion, minced

stems of 1 fennel (or celery)

olive oil

4 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole

1 large potato, scrubbed and diced

1 large bunch chard

2 16-oz. cans stewed tomatoes

1 1/4 cup dried borlotti beans

6-7 cups chicken broth

1 large Parmesan rind

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp dried thyme

1 cup dried tempestine pasta (or use another small pasta shape, or rice/semolina grains/couscous)

Parmesan

The dried beans should be soaked and pre-cooked first. Either soak overnight and then cook in boiling water for 20 minutes while starting the soup. Or do a fast-soak: boil for 30 mins and then let sit in that warm water 1-2 hours. Or just use 2 cans of beans.

1) Finely cube the pancetta, and dice the onion and fennel stems/celery. Peel the garlic cloves, but leave whole. In a large pot with a smidge of olive over low heat, gently cook all for 15 mins, until fragrant and soft.

2) Add in the potato and chard. Cook 5 minutes until the volume of the greens is reduced. Add in the tomatoes, pre-cooked beans, broth, Parmesan rind, and herbs. Bring to boil, reduce, and simmer 45 mins.

3) During the last 10 mins, add in the pasta (or if it's a larger shaped pasta, pre-cook and add in...but tempestine is basically semolina grains...so that can just be added in.)

4) Serve with freshly grated Parmesan over top.

Enjoy!
- Jo

Sunday Soup {Lentil and Smoked Ham}

Lentils so simple,
and easy on my wallet,
tasty in autumn. 
- lentil haiku

As much as all of my American foodie friends are spending every spare moment right now planning and shopping for this coming Thursday, we can't all wait until then to eat. A hearty lentil and ham soup can be lazily thrown together on a Sunday, and eaten leisurely by the cupful as hunger comes and goes whilst pouring over those cookbooks (or web pages).

Mine was a bit thick, so I've written up the recipe with a bit more broth. But if you like it thick, then just add 1 liter of broth, rather than the 1 1/2 suggested.

I also decided to make the broth and root veg creamy,  à la immersion blender, before adding the lentils and ham. But this isn't necessary if one is looking for a more soup-like consistency.


Now let's get that Thanksgiving menu finished!

And yes, you read correctly, I did just start a post with a lentil haiku. It's that kind of a Sunday.

 Continue to Recipe...

Eating 'alla Romana' {Carciofi, Fettuccine, & Saltimbocca}

As promised, the second stop of the mother-n-daughter holiday has arrived: Rome. After eating our way through the Naschmarkt in Vienna, we headed south to check out what Italy had on offer.

A total of three days were spent in Rome (pictures are here). That's just enough time to take in the major sights and get a feel for the pulse of the city, which author Fred Plotkin describes as an "erotic charge in the air...It could almost be called a romantic imperative." And after those three days (or more specifically, the nights) I can confirm that he just may have it pegged correctly.

Antipasti
My mum's guidebook promised us the best artichokes are to be found in Rome. Wading through one tourist restaurant menu after another, we sampled many dishes. One place (I wish I'd jotted down their name) had the artichokes we were after. Fresh Italian carciofi with hints of lemon, garlic, mint, and parsley, are gently simmered in white wine and served with soft bread for sopping up the juices.

To recreate these Carciofi alla Romana at home, the herbs are easily procured, but the artichokes are not. In the recipe given below, canned artichoke hearts are used, which in no way compare, but do prove to be a quick an easy starter for any meal...and are just nice enough to serve to guests as well.

Towards the end of our stay, my mum and I ended up in a bookstore (or two...hardly surprising to anyone who knows us.) I picked up a great foodie find: Italy for the Gourmet Traveller by Fred Plotkin. Published just last year, this guide covers nearly every aspect of food in each Italian region. Not only are traditional dishes of each region described, but it also lists practical places - food shops, food bookstores, food festivals, and on and on. A recipe or two is given for each region, but I find the real value to be in the stories behind the dishes the author recounts from his experience (he gives are pretty good version of the Est! Est! Est! wine name origin.)

Primi
One of the dishes listed in my new foodie book, although not one we sampled, sounded pretty good to me this week. Fettuccine alla Romana: pasta with prosciutto, tomatoes, Marsala, and porcini mushrooms. It's traditionally made with chicken giblets (detest!), which I simply omitted and didn't find the resulting dish lacking in flavour whatsoever.

Secondi
I've been eating a lot of quick dinners of pan-fried chicken breast topped with prosciutto lately, so when I came across Saltimbocca alla Romana for the first time it instantly appealed. Pork cutlets topped with sage and prosciutto. Simple, yet succulent. Even those with a stated aversion towards pork (and I know there are many of you) will find this style of preparing it to be pleasing, what with the added juiciness given by the prosciutto. And any excuse to enjoy fresh sage in the autumn is welcome by me!


These dishes were easily made together for a Sunday lunch in just over an hour. The flavours really balance well together, as all are 'alla Romana'.

Buon apetito!

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