Mixed Tomato Salad: We Made It

December is upon us. I have neglected my blog even more than my garden for the last couple of weeks, so apologies to any regular readers who thought I had fallen down the proverbial plug hole. Some low level renovations made me briefly computer-less, followed by the usual ups and downs of a household at this time of year, but I am planning to more than make up for lost time this month, so brace yourselves.

A few months ago, I saw a post from Melinda at Melbourne Larder about making good use of food magazines. In one month, she had made more than 10 recipes from a recent Gourmet Traveller. I was impressed because - brace yourselves - my name is Suzie and I am a food porn addict. I don't just enjoy them; I mainline food magazines. As well as filed and orderly collections of magazines I am keeping, there are piles of unsorted magazines hidden in various corners around the house. I have an enormous box of unsorted clippings from magazines that have been sent off to recycling, plus three largish scrapbooks of sorted recipes. Whenever I find myself out and about with some time to kill before collecting the kids, going to an appointment, or meeting a friend, I tend to dive into a newsagency and collect another hit. Which all wouldn't be nearly as wicked if I actually used them a bit more instead of just conjuring up hypothetical meals in my head.

So I dropped a note to Melinda suggesting some sort of monthly challenge, and after an exchange of emails, we have decided to play. Our plan is to pick a different magazine each month, try and cook and review and post as much as possible from it in the month. If anyone else decides to join in, they are more than welcome, just drop a comment in to either Melinda or me. No more rules or pressure than that. This month's choice is Australian Gourmet Traveller, December 2009. And tentatively, this project of ours is called "We Made It". Which, incidentally, is how I feel by the time I get to December.

So first recipe off the rank was a mixed tomato salad with sumac, herbs and flatbread. At this time of year, the available varieties of tomatoes spin out from the usual choices of Italian, vine-ripened or bog standard to a gorgeous palette of shapes and sizes and colours. And the recipe is not prescriptive as to what varieties you pick - take a look at what is available and what will look pretty in a bowl and work from there. Tomato salads are a great addition to any buffet or plate because of the shot of colour they give. They also last longer than your standard leaf salad - I enjoyed the remainders yesterday of a salad prepared the night before - so make sure you don't bin the leftovers. The tomato holds its shape and texture well, and if anything the flavour is enhanced. Incidentally, I prefer to blacken the capsicum skins under the griller than mess around with open flames - no need for yet another cooking scar on my hands!

If you would like to join in the fun of cooking from Gourmet Traveller this month, leave me a comment, and make sure you go and visit Melinda at Melbourne Larder and see what amazing things she is whipping up too.

Mixed tomato salad with sumac and herbs

Australian Gourmet Traveller December 2009
Serves 6

3 red capsicum
1.2 kg assorted tomatoes, such as vine-ripened, green, ox heart, grape, cherry, kumato
80 ml (1/3 cup) extra-virgin olive oil
3 golden shallots, thinly sliced
1 lemon, juice only
2 tsp sumac
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 bunch each coriander, parsley and mint, leaves torn
To serve:
grilled flatbread and crumbled feta (optional)

Grill capsicum over a low open flame until blackened, turning occasionally (20-30 minutes). Transfer to a heatproof bowl, cover with plastic wrap and stand until cooled (1 hour), then peel, coarsely chop and set aside.

Cut large tomatoes into wedges, halve smaller ones and combine in a bowl. Add olive oil, shallot, lemon juice, sumac and garlic, season to taste and toss to combine. Stir through capsicum and herbs and serve with grilled flatbread to the side and crumbled feta, if desired.

Pumpkin Time Part 1 - Caramelized

"There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin ― Linus Van Pelt in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"

This quote landed in my in-box the same day I saw that roasted pumpkin* was one of the bonus recipes for this week, and it has been going round and round in my head for a week now. It has also brought back lots of Snoopy and Charlie Brown memories - surely we are well-overdue on a Snoopy revival? I used to love all the Peanuts characters but especially Snoopy (I had a stuffed Snoopy) and Lucy, who tried so hard to make Linus love her. I was prompted to do a bit of googling down memory lane. Here are a couple of gems I found on the net this morning:

Lucy: You think being average is enough, don't you? Well it isn't! What shape would the world be in today if everyone settled for being average?

Linus: What shape is the world in today?

OR

Lucy: This is our last game of the season. Let's win it!

Charlie Brown: Okay. Get out there and play your best.

Lucy: You always have to say something sarcastic, don't you?

So onto pumpkin. I don't get enough pumpkin, because I have sadly found myself to be living in a pumpkin unfriendly family. Largely thanks to my otherwise reasonable husband, the rest of the family treats its appearance at dinner as if it was the ebola virus, capable of contaminating everything else on the table. So I was thrilled to make it this week, and cunningly chose a night that darling husband would be MIA to serve it. Clever. I can now report that if you are trying to introduce unwilling / uninterested daughters to pumpkin, this recipe is a cracker. It gives the pumpkin a meltingly soft texture, and brings out its sweetness, which is surely a kid eatability criteria. Both conceded that it was pretty good. Husband's response? "Good luck to you all." Clearly I still have some work to do on that front.

PS: If you come back tomorrow, I'll show you how the leftovers work in a Nigella Autumn salad.

(NB to US readers, what you can butternut squash, we call butternut pumpkin)

Caramelized Butternut Squash

from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten

2 medium butternut squash (abt 2 kgs total)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut off and discard the ends of each butternut pumpkin. Peel the pumpkin, cut them in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds. Cut into 4cm to 5cm cubes and place them on a baking sheet. Add the melted butter, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. With clean hands, toss all the ingredients together and spread in a single layer on the baking sheet. Roast for 45 to 55 minutes, until the pumpkin is tender and the glaze begins to caramelize. While roasting, turn the pumpkin a few times with a spatula, to be sure it browns evenly. Taste for seasonings and serve hot.

Potato and Leek Soup, plus Really Good French Beans

This week is a super-dooper bonus week for the Barefoot Bloggers with a five recipe challenge, all to be posted before the weekend. All except one recipe were things I wanted to try, so I will be making up for the comparative abscence of recent posts with an excess this week. Famine to feast, to say the least.

We are kicking off with the Roasted Potato and Leek Soup. I whipped this up last week when the weather turned a little cold, and a soup seemed to be comforting and restorative. I love potato and leek as a combination and I really love vichyssoise, so I was ready to be blown away by this soup, but unfortunately I wasn't. In truth, it was probably my own fault: the recipe called for 3/4 cup of cream plus 250g of creme fraiche, which is a lot of calories, especially for a mid-week dinner. So I subbed in 250g of plain yoghurt in place of the creme fraiche, and left out the cream altogether. The resulting soup was OK but was certainly not the creamy indulgent fabulousness that some of the other bloggers enjoyed. Next time I will stick with my vichyssoise.

But then came a recipe that I did really love: French String Beans. I always try to include at least one green vegetable with dinner every night, mostly just steamed. This is undeniably fabulously healthy, but it is also a little (OK a lot) dull, and most nights I find myself harrassing the kids to finish their greens. So, a new tastier way with beans is very welcome. This recipe calls for chopping up capsicum and spanish onion into big chunks, then roasting them on high for 15 mins. Meanwhile you top, tail and blanch your beans. Toss both lots of vegetables together and voila, a really good bean dish, which happens to be three vegies now instead of one. Usually, my family isn't mad about capsicum, but they are happy to eat it roasted, because the flavour is mellower and sweeter, just like the onion. This can be served hot or at room temperature, so it also works for the warmer weather ahead. Perfect!

You can find both recipes below. Click here if you want to see what the other Barefoot Bloggers thought or if you are interested in launching yourself into fortnightly indulgences thanks to Ina Garten.

Roasted Potato and Leek Soup

from "Back to Basics" by Ina Garten

1kg bintje potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm chunks

4 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts, cleaned of all sand (4 leeks)

1/4 cup good olive oil

3 cups baby rocket, lightly packed

1/2 cup dry white wine, plus extra for serving

6 to 7 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade

3/4 cup pouring cream

250g creme fraiche

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish

Preheat the oven to 200C. Combine the potatoes and leeks on a sheet pan in a single layer. Add the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss to coat the vegetables evenly. Roast for 40 to 45 minutes, turning them with a spatula a few times during cooking, until very tender. Add the rocket and toss to combine. Roast for 4 to 5 more minutes, until the rocket is wilted.

Remove the pan from the oven and place over 2 burners. Stir in the wine and 1 cup of the chicken stock and cook over low heat, scraping up any crispy roasted bits sticking to the pan. In batches, transfer the roasted vegetables to a food processor fitted with the steel blade, adding the pan liquid and about 5 cups of the chicken stock to make a puree. Pour the puree into a large pot or Dutch oven. Continue to puree the vegetables in batches until they're all done and combined in the large pot. Add enough of the remaining 1 to 2 cups of stock to make a thick soup. Add the cream, creme fraiche, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and check the seasonings. When ready to serve, reheat the soup gently and whisk in 2 tablespoons white wine and 1/4 cup of Parmesan. Serve hot with an extra grating of Parmesan.

French String Beans

from Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten

500g French string beans, both ends removed
1 red onion, large- diced
1/2 red capsicum, large diced
1/2 yellow capsicum, large diced
Good olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 210C. Blanch the string beans in a large pot of boiling salted water for just 4 minutes. Drain immediately and immerse in a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. When they are cool, drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl toss the onion and capsicumtogether with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for about 15 minutes, tossing with a spatula from time to time to be sure the vegetables roast evenly.

Just before serving, reheat the string beans in a large saute pan drizzled with a little olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and arrange on a platter. Spoon the roasted vegetables over the string beans and serve hot or at room temperature.

Daring Dosas - Delicious Indian Stuffed Pancakes

This month's challenge for the Daring Kitchen was vegan Indian dosas. For those of you who have never tried dosas before, they are basically stuffed pancakes. At Indian restaurants, the pancakes are often incredibly fine and crisp and they usually come stuffed with potato, or possibly lamb. This month's host Debyi from http://www.healthyvegankitchen.com/ wanted us to make a vegan version, and her suggested filling was a tasty chickpea mix with a lovely coconut curry sauce over the top.

None of this was hard to make. The chickpea mixture and the sauce both took a little bit of simmering time, but if you are tight for time, they can be done in advance. Because chickpeas can be a bit dry, I saved some of the chickpea cooking liquid and mixed it back in to moisten everything up. The sauce was lovely and would be great over rice, possibly with a bit of leftover chicken tossed through it. But for me, the star of the show was the pancakes themselves, although not as thin and crisp as those in restaurants. The batter was quick and fast and tasty, and I will definitely use it again, possibly to make little blini sized pancakes that could be topped with a spicy dip.

Indian Dosas

This recipe comes in 3 parts, the dosas, the filling and the sauce. It does take awhile to make, but the filling and sauce can be made ahead and frozen if need be. You can serve them as a main course with rice and veggies, or as an appetizer. This does take a little planning ahead, so make sure you read the recipe through before starting.

Serves 4

Dosa Pancakes

1 cup spelt flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp curry powder

½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)

¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water

cooking spray, if needed

Dosa Filling

1 batch Curried Garbanzo Filling (see below), heated

Dosa Toppings

1 batch Coconut Curry Sauce (see below), heated

¼ cup (125gm) grated coconut

¼ cucumber, sliced

Dosa Pancakes

1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.

2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.

3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.

Curried Garbanzo Filling

This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don't be afraid to make a full batch.
5 cloves garlic

1 onion, peeled and finely diced

1 carrot, peeled and finely diced

1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)

2 medium hot banana chilies, minced

2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground

1 TBSP (8gm) oregano

1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)

1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric

4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)

½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste

1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.

2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.

Coconut Curry Sauce

This makes a great sauce to just pour over rice as well. This does freeze well, but the texture will be a little different. The flavor is still the same though.

1 onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic

½ tsp cumin, ground

¾ tsp sea salt (coarse)

3 TBSP curry powder

3 TBSP spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)

3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth

2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk

3 large tomatoes, diced

1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.

2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.

3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.

4.Let it simmer for half an hour.Happy eating!

Asparagus Hollandaise for A Taste of Yellow

When I first discovered the world of food blogs, one of the first that I started reading was Barbara at winosandfoodies.com. Barbara always has food that inspires, but it is her photos that I really love, particularly the photo essays she posts from time to time. Barbara was first diagnosed with cancer in 2004 and has had several rounds of treatment since then. To support the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Barbara holds an annual "Taste of Yellow" cooking event, challenging fellow bloggers to cook and post a yellow themed dish. (Yellow is of course the colour of Lance Armstrong's LIVESTRONG campaign).

Obviously cancer is a disease that impacts all of us directly or indirectly, sooner or later. I wanted to participate in this event firstly to thank Barbara for inspiring me to start blogging, and secondly to remember the people around me who have battled cancer. Some are now officially cancer-free, others have passed away. And for the rest of us, I see hope ahead. There is a constant trickle of scientific developments that promise to slowly crack the code of cancer. Vaccines against some forms of the disease are now available, and treatments are improving. I would love to think that in my daughters' lifetimes a cure is discovered. Donate if you can.

For my Taste of Yellow dish, I chose Asparagus Hollandaise. The new season asparagus seems to me a very hopeful vegetable. I was able to buy tiny spears that were incredibly tender to serve with a gorgeous hollandaise from my encyclopedic Stephanie Alexander. The recipe was easy and the emulsion seemed to hold without problem (unlike many other recipes). Perfect nibbles with drinks, or as a light entree.

Hollandaise Sauce

from "The Cook's Companion" by Stephanie Alexander

200g unsalted butter

3 tbsp white wine vinegar or verjuice

pinch of coarsely ground white pepper

2 tbsp water

3 egg yolks

juice of 1/2 lemon

Melt butter gently and allow to cool a little. Place vinegar, pepper and water in a small saucepan and reduce to 1 tablespoon liquid. Transfer liquid to a small bowl that fits comfortably over a stable small saucepan half-filled with hot water. Add egg yolks and whisk well over moderate heat until thick and foamy. Make sure that they do not get so hot as to become scrambled eggs! Whisk in butter a little at a time, still over heat. When all butter is incorporated you should have a bowl of thick creamy sauce. Add lemon juice to taste. Herbs can be added too , if you like.

Fagotino di Zucchini or Glamourous Stuffed Zucchini

Let's all admit upfront that zucchini is not the most glamourous of vegetables. If you want something fancy, you look to asparagus, or maybe miniature leeks, baby dutch carrots or even the zucchini flower, but never the plain old garden variety zucchini. In fact, it is only in the last few months that I have started a clandestine affair with the zucchini, kicked off by a gorgeous Donna Hay salad. And now this concoction of sauteed zucchini stuffed with a teaspoon of ham and mozzarella and then baked with a little parmesan on top has me swooning.

I found this recipe in "The Saucier's Apprentice" by Bob Spitz, one of the many "mid-life crisis averted by some combination of love and cooking" books that I seem to have been reading lately. Bob is an unhappy New Yorker and seems to be searching for a solution when he decides to take a cooking school tour of Europe. I can only imagine having the leisure (and the finances!) to set off for three months of cooking. Some of the schools have a lot to learn, others have a lot to teach. Bob emerges with a fistful of recipes and some new techniques (although perhaps not as many as he was expecting) and he includes a smattering of these throughout the text. I enjoyed the book, although Bob's Euro-centric approach to the high arts of cooking seems a little strange from this corner of the world, where Asian influences on both ingredients and technique are commonplace.

One recipe that jumped out at me was the fagotino di zucchini, which Bob claims to make regularly for friends who all refuse to leave without the recipe. I love these sort of endorsements so I made it for myself for lunch recently. I was feeling in need of a little extra TLC (to the extent of plating this for myself as if I was a guest). It was really lovely and made a great lunch, although I suspect the next time I make it will be as an entree for a dinner party.

Fagotino di Zucchini
from "The Saucier's Apprentice" by Bob Spitz

For each serving:
1 zucchini sliced lengthwise into four pieces
olive oil for sauteeing
1 tsp mozzarella
1 tsp diced ham
a small cube of butter and grated parmesan to top

Preheat oven to 175C. Sautee the zucchini slices in olive oil over high heat until they look golden but not crispy. Drain on paper towels. On a chopping board, arrange the four slices over each other in a star (lay 2 in a cross and the other two on each diagonal, so it looks like an asterisk made out of zucchini, if that makes any sense). In the middle of the star, put some mozzarella and some ham, and push down a little.

Fold up the flaps of zucchini and pin everything together with a toothpick. Dot with butter, sprinkle with parmesan, then bake for 10 mins. Serve hot from the oven.

Crashed Potatoes Crashed Potatoes

Do you have days when you should quit while you are behind? So far today, two batches of what should have been perfect pink macarons have failed on me. I have gone to the shops but forgotten to buy half of what I needed. I am trying to work out how to tie a sari on my daughter for a Bollywood party. She also wants to make a life size model of an emperor penguin for school, that incidentally will be taller than her. Red socks bled in the wash. Plus I have a BIG PILE of stuff to do like taxes, that make me want to beat myself with a garden fork because that would be more fun.

So here is a recipe for one of those days. I found it via some combination of Ree at The Pioneer Woman referencing Trish at Light Sweet Crude referencing Jill Dupleix. (How polite these blogging cooks are with everyone appropriately attributing recipes to each other.) But back to the potatoes: now that I think of it, this recipe is small and easy enough to be a haiku poem, which must be some sort of test for simple cooking.

Boil your spuds softish
Squash them flat, drizzle with oil
Hot oven roast then eat

I am happy now - what a concept: haiku recipes!

Crash Hot Potatoes
adapted from Jill Dupleix

16 small, round potatoes ( in an ideal world - mine were normal sized because that is what was in the vegie drawer, but little ones would look cuter)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven to 230 or 250C . Boil unpeeled potatoes in a pot of salted water, for around 15 minutes or until they are just slightly undercooked (ie soft enough to pierce with a knife tip but not mushy).

Drain, and arrange on a lightly oiled baking tray or sheet. Use a potato masher to squash each potato flat, until it is twice its original diameter. Brush the tops with olive oil, and scatter with sea salt, pepper, and any herbs or spices that flick your switch. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until crisp and golden. Serve hot.

Sensational Italian Mushroom Ragout

I grew up with a grandmother who believed that you should "never let anyone be as wise as yourself". In other words, never tell others everything that you know. But today I am disregarding that advice completely and giving you one of my favourite cooking secrets. This is a recipe that is as good and nearly as easy as the amazing Tetsuya avocado soup. Brace yourself for one of those recipes that is so unbelievably simple that it needs to be tasted to be believed. One that you will use again and again (unless your cardiologist is coming for dinner...). In my opinion it is a bit like a warm embrace, and this has been a week for warm embraces. But back to the mushrooms...

"Secret" may not be quite the right word for this mushroom ragout, since this recipe is on the ABC website, the Lifestyle Food website, and on various other sites. It comes from Kylie Kwong's book "Heart and Soul", and she attributes it to the Manfredi clan of Sydney restaurant fame. Kylie Kwong describes it as symbolic of the Manfredis : "down-to-earth, full of substance, elegant, vibrant and comforting". Kylie suggests serving with crusty bread, or as a side dish to accompany roasted poultry or meat. I also think it is beautiful tossed through pasta. And if you can't get all the varieties of mushrooms, feel free to experiment a little. Part of the joy of this recipe is the mixture.

I really like Kylie Kwong's "Heart and Soul" cookbook, and have very happily tried a lot of the recipes it contains. Unfortunately Kylie Kwong gets a hard time on some of the local blogs for not being "Asian" enough (and it really disgusts me that a whole lot of those commenting don't have the grace or the courage to post anything other than anonymous vitriol.) Lucky Kylie: she might not be Asian enough for some, but she is clearly Australian enough to be given a double serving of tall poppy syndrome. In my opinion, if the food tastes good, which these mushrooms undoubtedly do, then that should be enough.


Italian Mushroom Ragout
from "Heart and Soul" by Kylie Kwong

8 Garlic Cloves crushed
4 Onions trimmed & finely sliced
1 tablespoon sea salt
200 g fresh button mushrooms
100 g fresh oyster mushrooms
150 g shiitake mushrooms stems discarded
100 g swiss Mushrooms Brown
100 g fresh Mushrooms Enoki
100 g fresh black cloud ear fungus
125 g unsalted butter roughly chopped
½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
cracked White pepper
½ cup Dry White Wine
½ cup roughly chopped Flat-leaf parsley

Place garlic, onions and salt in a heavy-based pan.

Cover with all the mushrooms except enoki and cloud ear fungus. Top with butter, olive oil and pepper and place over high heat for 5 minutes, without stirring, to allow the flavours of the onions and garlic to penetrate the mushrooms.

Add wine and remaining mushrooms, stirring to combine. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, or until mushrooms are just tender.

Stir in parsley and serve.
Serve as part of a banquet for 4–6

Really Gorgeous Green Pea Risotto

Provided both are cooked well, where does the line lie between restaurant food and home food? I am talking about taste, not presentation, as obviously restaurants have the edge in presentation. If you were going to consider it as an equation, where D=Dinner, C=Cooking and P=Presentation, a meal at home is pretty much D = C, whereas in a restaurant, D = C + P. I have no problems with this - when I am cooking at home, I rarely have the time or inclination to make food look like it is athletically springing out of the plate (but a restaurant that didn't bother would irritate me).

So, looking purely at taste, where does the gap lie between home food and restaurant food? The scientific conclusion I have come to on the basis of this risotto is the number of ingredients and processes. The resulting dish was really good in a "oh my god, this tastes like something you would eat at Machiavelli" kind of way (or maybe at Fifteen if you are in Melbourne?). But you do need to devote a bit of love to it. There are spices to toast, then pound in a mortar and pestle, then make the risotto, stirring, stirring, stirring, then peas to cook and pound, before it all gets mixed together. Is it worth the effort? Absolutely, and it will definitely get served again at a winter dinner party. If I was serving it to the kids again, I would probably leave out the fennel seeds - they give a lovely background flavour but the kids found it a bit much. For a weeknight, however, I would still go to the Bill Granger oven-baked risotto, which does not have the finesse of this one, but is a lot less labour intensive.

Pea Risotto

adapted from Italian Local by Tobie Puttock

1 litre chicken stock (or vegetable stock)

2 tbl olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

2 sticks celery finely chopped

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 small dried red chilli

large pinch of white pepper

200g arborio rice

100ml white wine

50g butter

1 cup freshly podded peas (I cheated and used frozen peas)

1/4 cup parmesan

2 stalks mint

2 stalks continental parsley

8 slices crisped prosciutto (to serve if desired)

1/2 cup goats curd (to serve if desired)

Bring the stock to the boil in a small saucepan, then drop the heat and keep it at a low simmer. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over low heat. Add onion, celery and garlic, and saute until soft but not browned (about 10 mins). Pound the fennel seeds, chilli and pepper to a fine powder with a mortar and pestle, then add to the saucepan, and continue to saute for another 5 mins.

Add the rice and saute for 10 mins more, or until the grains are translucent. Once they are translucent, increase the heat to medium and add a glass of wine. Stir the rice until all the wine has been absorbed, then add the stock, one ladle at a time. Stir constantly and await for all the liquid to be absorbed before adding the next ladle. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to the boil, and blanch the peas for 2 mins, then drain.

When all the stock has been added and the risotto is looking creamy, add the butter, remove from the heat and cover with a lid. Let the rice sit for 5 mins.

Pound the peas with a mortar and pestle until smooth. Stir the parmesan into the rice and season to taste. Stir in the crushed peas, mint and parsley, and spoon onto plates. Top with prosciutto or goats cheese if using.

Savoury Avocado Jellies

Time for a guilty confession.... I love Masterchef. No surprises really - I got hooked on reality TV when the first Survivor hit our screens. And while my interest in the subsequent endless variations on the reality theme has been somewhat eroded, a good concept well executed can still hook me in. Which brings me back to the joy of Masterchef. The casting in this series is fantastic, with a wide range of ages and stages, and a mostly sympathetic group of people all cooking against each other to become Australia's first Masterchef. Some are looking for a career, some are looking for a new life, some are just looking for a bit of positive reinforcement, yet they all have enough talent to make them deserving of a spot on the box. The food is generally well cooked and well presented and interesting. The challenges and tasks are cleverly designed, and the celebrity chefs have all brought a bit of additional tension in. Tonight, Alex Herbert of Bird Cow Fish proved herself a very generous mentor and a complete delight when her recipe for Gnocchi with Prawns and Sage Butter was the episode's focus. The generous splash of verjuice in her sauce reminded me of this recipe that got put to one side during the renovation hiatus. And it definitely does not deserve to be ignored....

These verjuice jellies are a very elegant and easy starter for entertaining. The recipe comes from "Maggie's Kitchen" by Maggie Beer, and Maggie describes this as one of her core recipes because she varies it regularly to incorporate every imaginable seafood or vegetable ingredient. I was completely charmed by the jellies because they look so pretty, in a slightly old world way, and they get prepared well in advance. Next time, I will throw in some prawns as well - I think the pink and green would look even prettier.

Avocado Jellies

from "Maggie's Kitchen" by Maggie Beer

1 1/2 cups verjuice

1 tbl caster sugar

1/2 bunch chervil

2 1/2 x 2g gelatine leaves (NB because of the differing strengths of gelatine, make sure you refer to your gelatine's packaging to find out how much you will need to set 1 1/2 cups of liquid)

1 1/2 avocados chopped to a 2cm dice (about 300g avocado)

verjuice or lemon juice for drizzling

extra virgin olive oil to serve

mache or rocket

Bring verjuice and sugar to a boil then immediately remove from heat. Transfer to a bowl, add chervil and set aside to infuse. Soak gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 mins or until softened, then squeze out moisture. Strain the warm verjuice, then add gelatine leaves and stir until it melts. Allow verjuice gelatine mixture to cool completely.

Chop avocado and drizzle with verjuice to stop it browning. Place a few chervil leaves in the bottom of 6 100ml ramekins. Top with chopped avocado then pour the verjuice over each. Cover with cling wrap, pressing it down onto the surface of each jelly, then refrigerate at least 2 hours.

To serve, stand ramekins in a bowl of boiling water for 25 seconds to loosen, then invert onto serving plates. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve with mache or rocket.

Chickpea, Beetroot and Nut Salad - Cooking to Combat Cancer

You don't need to look very far around here to find people impacted by cancer. And it is hard to know what to say about such a catastrophic topic in a post like this. Some of my close people have won their fight, others lost, some are currently fighting the battle. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to who develops it - just a horrible random lottery. I am comforted by President Obama's pledge to find a cure in our time, and hope that philanthropic dollars continue to make their way to researchers despite the GFC. And a cure is coming. In a great recent development, my daughters will be immunised against cervical cancer thanks to the pioneering work of Dr Ian Frazer. More power to him and all the other scientists and doctors on the frontlines.

Chris at Mele Cotte is hosting her third annual Cooking to Combat Cancer, challenging bloggers to post recipes that feature ingredients believed to be anti-cancer. This salad strikes me as a great choice for the challenge. Filled with beetroot and carrot (both high in anti-oxidants), chickpeas (high in fibre), nuts and seeds (including brazil nuts and flax seeds linked to anti-cancer benefits), flavoured with turmeric, ginger and chilli (also linked to possible anti-cancer benefits), it is very good for you. Even better, it tastes sensational, and it keeps for several days as the tastes develop more and more. It comes from NZ's Cuisine magazine which I currently love, love, love! I found it in the pages at the back where they collect recipes requested by readers from helpful chefs. The reader after this recipe said it was so good she had to order a second serving. I can only agree.....

Chickpea, Beetroot & Nut Salad
Courtesy of Vilagrad Vineyard - Chef Kristian Nooyen

For the salad mix
¾ cup dried chickpeas, soaked then cooked until tender with 1/2 tsp turmeric
1 medium beetroot, cut into matchsticks, rinsed and set aside to dry off
1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks
4 spring onions, sliced
2 sticks celery, diced
1 thumb fresh ginger, very thinly sliced
½ cup coarsely chopped parsley
1 cup coriander leaves

For the nut mix
2 cups mixture of peanuts, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds
2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon each salt, cumin and coriander powder
¼ teaspoon chilli powder
25g chilled butter

For the dressing and to serve
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
½ teaspoon brown sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup olive oil

For the salad mix

Toss together all the ingredients, setting aside half the coriander leaves for garnish.

For the nut mix

Bake the nuts and seeds for 5 minutes at 180°C then sprinkle with a mixture of the sugar, salt and spices. Grate the butter over. Bake for 10 minutes more, stirring often. Set aside to cool.

For the dressing and to serve

Mix all the ingredients together well. Toss the vinaigrette and 2⁄3 of the nut mixture with the salad mix. Garnish with the remaining nuts

Broccoli Soup With Grilled Haloumi

A week of feasting lies ahead with the brief trip home of my US-based brother, and the birthday of my ten year old. Between the two, I can count off at least five meals that I know could well be a little bit indulgent. Quite possibly a lot indulgent. So today's abstemious choice will start the week with restraint even if it does not finish that way. Broccoli is always my first pick as a vegetable when I want a solid dose of nutrition with next to no wickedness.

I found this recipe in an old Donna Hay magazine (Issue 14, Autumn). I subscribed to the magazine from launch, and now have a shelf groaning under the weight of Donna. Until a couple of years ago, it was worth hanging on to all the old copies because an index to each year's recipes was published. This made it easy to do a quick search for whatever I was looking for, and lay my hands on any recipe I needed. Infuriatingly, Donna doesn't publish indexes any more which apart from making me very cranky, makes my new mags a lot less valuable to me than the old ones. After all, no one has the time or inclination to go through 20 magazines to find a recipe that they think they remember. So what to do? Something for me to contemplate as I have a bowl of soup. The haloumi gives a lovely salty kick and a textural contrast to the smooth broccoli flavours.

Since this is Sunday, I will be sending this soup over to Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for her weekly Souper Sunday round-up. Go take a look at her offerings - thee is always something that will take your fancy on offer.

Broccoli Soup With Grilled Haloumi

adapted from Donna Hay

2 tsps olive oil

1 small onion

4 cups chicken stock

1 potato peeled and chopped

650g broccoli florets

100g haloumi, cut into slices and grilled in a non stick pan for 1 min

Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add oil and onion and cook for about 5 mins or until the onion is translucent. Add stock, potato and broccoli and simmer until the potato is tender. Pour the mixture into a blender, and puree until it is smooth. Season to taste. Garnish with cubes of haloumi.

Mushroom Soup

I love this time of year. The air in the mornings and evenings is quite crisp and fresh, but the days are still gloriously warm. And the sea is still a wonderful temperature for swimming. It is also the last week of daylight saving, and I know that in a week we will start on the downhill slide to winter. So it is definitely the time to really savour the last remnants of summer (even though we are officially in autumn already). However I am already moving from cold soups to warm.

This mushroom soup was very quick and easy for a Sunday night. Simply simmer mushrooms in chicken stock with a slice of sourdough. Season, blend and viola. It comes from one of the great ideas you find in the margins of Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion. If you are not familiar with it, this book is stuffed with detailed recipes, organised by key ingredient, as well as mini-recipes in the margins. The mushroom chapter for example offers major recipes like:

- mushroom caps stuffed with goat's cheese on vine leaves or

- mushrooms en papillote

as well as mini-recipes in the margins eg

- morel pasta sauce

- pepper mushrooms, and this week's pick

- mushroom bread soup

So many good ideas, and even though I have had it for years, I still feel there are unexplored chapters in my book. Something to look forward to in winter perhaps? If you are in the mood for soup - drop in on Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for her Souper Sunday.

Mushroom Bread Soup

adapted from "The Cook's Companion" by Stephanie Alexander

500g mushrooms

4 cups chicken stock

2 slices sourdough bread, crusts removed

Simmer sliced mushrooms in stock with bread for 10 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender. Blend soup and season to taste. Garnish with chives and creme fraiche.

Goats Cheese, Potato and Rosemary Tortilla

Among the myriad of cooking blog events is the Blog Party run monthly by Stephanie at Dispensing Happiness. She is a very welcoming hostess - anyone happy to cook an appetizer and arrange some drinks is welcome to drop in. This month's theme was Brunch: Worth Getting Up Late For...Again, and I decided to turn up with this goat's cheese tortilla. For me, brunch = eggs, so it wasn't too hard to decide what to make. And as for drinks, I took the easy way out with a nice crisp glass of French champagne. Thanks for having me Stephanie.

This recipe is easy and endlessly variable depending on what mix-ins you want. Goat's cheese and rosemary were the perfect choice for a night at home alone (which was all the more reason to head along to a cyber party.) Husband would have found the rosemary a bit much, but I thought it was fabulous - judge for yourself where your preferences lie and adjust the recipe accordingly. And in case you slept really late today - this recipe isn't just a brunch - it is just as good as a supper.


Goat's Cheese, Potato and Rosemary Tortilla
adapted from Alex Kearns of Glebe Point Diner in Vogue Entertaining

2 tbl olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
350 g potatoes cooked, peeled and sliced
3 sprigs of rosemary, chopped
6 large eggs
100g goats cheese fetta

Preheat oven to 190C. Heat oil in a 22cm oven proof fry pan, then add onion. Cook onion over medium heat until it becomes translucent. Add garlic and continue cook for another 2 minutes. Stir in potatoes and rosemary. Crack eggs into a bowl without stirring, then tip into the pan. Use a wooden spoon to break the yolks and fold the eggs into the mixture. Press cheese into the tortilla. Transfer to the oven for 5-8 minutes or until the egg is set (if you are using a cast iron pan this will take longer). Cool for five minutes then remove and serve.

Sauteed Broccolini

Its been a busy month for the Barefoot Bloggers, with four recipes to complete in March instead of the usual three. Bless those doing the choosing for the recipes, because it has been a lovely and varied selection. We started this month with Chicken Piccata, today we have both a Chocolate Brownie Pudding and sauteed Broccolini, and then next week we will round out the month with Tomato and Goats Cheese Tarts. And we definitely needed the Broccolini to increase our vitamin and anti oxidant levels around here.

I enjoyed this recipe although it was not universally acclaimed in this house. My favourite part of the recipe was the two stage cooking process, which I think makes this a good choice for entertaining - blanch your greens ahead of time and then reheat in the lemon garlic butter. I think this would work just as well for beans or snow peas as for broccolini. Sadly husband and children are not very fond of broccolini, and would prefer standard issue broccoli most days of the week. I will probably use the recipe again but for different greens. Thanks to Mary of Meet Me In the Kitchen for her choice - I'm sure one day I will convince the family about broccolini (or not).

Sauteed Broccolini
from Ina Garten

1 bunch broccolini
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 lemon, zested
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Blanch the broccolini in a large pot of boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain immediately and immerse in a bowl of ice water.

Melt the butter in a large saute pan. Add the lemon zest and garlic and stir. Drain the broccolini and add it to the garlic mixture and heat for 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the pepper, and toss well before serving.

Pissaladiere - Take Tarts While Tarts Are Passing

I grew up lucky enough to have two wonderful grandmothers with me all the way through to adulthood. One was a really wonderful cook, who passed her handwritten cookbook on to me, and I feel a very strong link with her in my kitchen. The other grandmother was an appalling cook (possibly deliberately), who left me with a lot of colourful sayings that still float through my mind in all sorts of situations. Among her collected sayings and wisdom was:

- mad as a ha'penny watch (a watch that sold for half a penny was obviously not going to be anything other than silly)

- miserable as a bandicoot (bandicoots are native Australian animals. I am unaware of whether or not they are miserable)

- you catch more flies with honey than vinegar (ie be nice)

and my favourite

- take tarts while tarts are passing (or grab whatever life sends your way because you may never get another chance)

I cannot make a tart (or more particularly serve a tart) without instructing everyone to "take tarts while tarts are passing". And this tart is definitely worth taking. A traditional French tart from Nice, the pissaladiere uses minimal ingredients and effort (thanks to sheets of pre-rolled puff pastry). The only requirement is a fair bit of time to allow the onions to caramelize and become a bit jammy. I love it as a Sunday night dinner with a green salad. So if you are the sort of person who starts wondering at three or four in the afternoon what you will make for dinner, pop some onions on to start caramelizing. The rest of the tart takes minimal time to assemble, and then 20 mins in the oven to bake, leaving lots of lazy sunday afternoon time to do other things. This recipe comes from the incredible Stephanie Alexander cookbook, which is constantly referred to in my kitchen for her insights on what to do with every ingredient under the sun.

And I will leave you with a little wisdom from my other grandmother - "never let anyone be as wise as yourself". If you have some grandmotherly wisdom to pass on, I'd love to hear it, just leave me a comment.

Pissaladiere

adapted from Stephanie Alexander in the Cook's Companion

3-4 brown onions thickly sliced

olive oil

1 sheet puff pastry

16 anchovy fillets halved lengthwise (or 32 anchovies if you would rather have them thicker)

12 black olives

Slowly cook onion in 2 tbls olive oil until it is very soft and caramelized (if it seems to be getting a bit too browned and not jammy enough, add a tbl of water and cover the pan with a sheet of foil, pressed onto the onions to help it get to the right texture). Preheat oven to 220C. Lay pastry sheet on a baking tray. Leaving a 1cm border untouched, prick the pastry all over with a fork, then spread the onion in a thick layer on it. Arrange the anchovies in crisscross rows to form large diamonds. Sit an olive in each diamond and drizzle with a little olive oil. Bake for 20 mins until pastry is brown and crisp. Serve warm.

Pappa Al Pomidoro - A Fantastic Tomato Soup

This soup has been naging me to make it for weeks. It was one of the December choices for the Barefoot Bloggers (thanks Natalie from Burned Bits), but we were travelling and it was impossible. Not physically impossible. I did have access to a kitchen from time to time however there just was no way that I was going to give up being spoiled and not cooking while on holidays. I'm sure every mother in the world would have done the same. Believe me when I tell you that there is an inordinate pleasure sometimes in not being responsible for dinner for days at a time. And so much less washing up.....

So I planned to make this soup ASAP after our return, but it was hot. Far too hot to contemplate a traditional warm Italian soup with crunchy oven-baked topping. I made some cold soups instead. But then this week, in the middle of what is traditionally our most stifling month in Sydney, the weather suddenly cooled off to the point where a bowl of soup was a wonderful and welcoming thing. And this soup was particularly warm and welcoming. I am so very glad that it kept nagging at the back of my mind, because I will make this soup again and again. I did change things ever so slightly - I had bacon in the fridge and no pancetta, but in future I don't think I will bother with either. The croutons and basil were topping enough. I also blended the soup in the pot with my stick blender, mostly because I had assumed the soup would be blended at some point (naughty naughty not reading recipe all the way through), and had been very haphazard in my vegetable chopping. Blending it really prettied it up, and I think I would blend it again in the future. And as for the flavour, it is mouth-watering - it will remind you why tomato soup is such a classic.

If you are in the mood for soup, check out the Souper Sunday round-up from Deb at Kahakai Kitchen - there is a growing band of soup-lovers arriving at her site each week. Incidentally, I served it with corn bread - recipe to follow later this week.

Pappa Al Pomidoro
from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics

Ingredients
1/2 cup good olive oil
2 cups chopped yellow onion (2 onions)
1 cup medium-diced carrots, unpeeled (3 carrots)
1 fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and medium-diced (1 1/2 cups)
4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
3 cups (3 cm) diced ciabatta cubes, crusts removed
4 x 400g cans crushed tomatoes
4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves (I halved this because the kids don't like things too 'herby')
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

For the topping:
3 cups (3cm) diced ciabatta cubes
50g thickly sliced pancetta, chopped (or leave out)
24 to 30 whole fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons good olive oil, plus more for serving
Salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, fennel, and garlic and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until tender. Add the ciabatta cubes and cook for 5 more minutes. Add the tomatoes to the pot along with the chicken stock, red wine, basil, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and allow to simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C. For the topping, place the ciabatta cubes, pancetta, and basil on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss well. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes, until all the ingredients are crisp. The basil leaves will turn dark and crisp, which is perfectly fine. Reheat the soup, if necessary, beat with a wire whisk until the bread is broken up. Stir in the Parmesan and taste for seasoning. Serve hot sprinkled with the topping and drizzled with additional olive oil.

Caramelized Carrots with Mortadella - Today's Nomination for Best Supporting Role

We are well and truly in the middle of awards season at the moment, and I couldn't be happier. I love four hour telecasts of increasing inanity featuring people wearing fantastic dresses who will possibly disappear into the ether leaving nothing behind but the smell of flaming ego. (No really I do. And while I'm confessing, I like Eurovision as well.) In years gone by, I would even make a passing attempt to see all the Best Picture nominee films before the awards were announced. Children and the economics and logistics of babysitters vs movie tickets put an end to that. I can't really explain why, but spending $50 on a babysitter makes sense when you are going out to a restaurant or a dinner party but does not make sense when all you are doing is watching a movie.

All this brings me, very circuitously to supporting acts, and their importance. Just as a film can be lifted enormously by the quality of supporting acts (imagine "Four Weddings and a Funeral" if it was two hours of unabridged Hugh Grant and Andy McDowell simpering), and so can a meal. These carrots may not win an Oscar but they definitely won curtain calls here, if you'll allow me to extend the metaphor. Take my advice and make more than you think you will need because they will all be eaten - I used five large carrots for four of us and next time I will use 6 or 7.

This recipe comes from the fabulous Stephanie Alexander in her amazing encyclopedic tome "The Cook's Companion". This is an extremely useful book covering everything from very simple to very complex recipes organised into chapters for every ingredient you could imagine. It is a mainstay in Australian kitchens - if you don't own it, buy it now. Stephanie credits Marcella Hazan as her inspiration for this recipe - an impressive bloodline if ever there was one.

Caramelized Carrot and Mortadella

from The Cook's Companion by Stephanie Alexander

carrots

mortadella sausage chopped (or any other sausage - I actually used hot salami because that is what I had)

olive oil

Saute carrots and sausage in 5mm olive oil for about 20 mins over medium high heat, turning frequently. The carrots shrink enormously and get dark brown crispy edges. When tender, season and serve.

Mashed Potato, Mashed Potato...

One of my favourite books is "Heartburn" by Nora Ephron (of "Harry Met Sally" fame), which later became a Meryl Streep film. In it she talks about how, for her, the phases of a love affair are always marked by potatoes. "In the end, I always want potatoes. Mashed potatoes. Nothing like mashed potatoes when you are feeling blue. Nothing like getting into bed with a bowl of hot mashed potatoes already loaded with butter, and methodically adding a cold thin slice of butter to every forkful. The problem with mashed potatoes, though, is that they require almost as much hard work as crisp potatoes, and when you are feeling blue, the last thing you feel like is hard work. Of course, you can always get someone to make the mashed potatoes for you, but lets face it: the reason you are blue is that there isn't anyone to make them for you. As a result, most people do not have nearly enough mashed potatoes in their lives, and when they do, it's almost always at the wrong time."

I think mashed potatoes are comfort food extraordinaire, and pair very well with everything from roasted salmon to BBQ beef to the old favourite of sausages. This recipe makes the mashed potato a little bit more of a star in the meal because of the additional flavours and textures. It comes from "Vogue Wine and Food Cookbook: A Book of Modern Food" by Joan Campbell (Conde Nast 1995). This recipe is my entry into Novel Food, a food event that calls on bloggers to make something inspired by their reading.

Mashed Potatoes With Onions and Pine Nuts

(serves 6)

3 brown onions, peeled and sliced thinly

3 tbls olive oil

1 kg potatoes

150g butter

70ml milk (or more to taste)

3 tbl toasted pine nuts

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and fry the onions over medium to high heat, tossing frequently until they are cooked and some of the onion is crisp and golden. Season to taste. Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until tender and then drain. Add the butter, some milk and salt and pepper and mash. Beat the potatoes with a fork until they are light and fluffy, adding more milk and seasoning as required. Serve the potatoes covered with the onions and the oil the onions were cooked in. Sprinkle with pine nuts. Grind over some pepper.

Risotto Cakes - Tasty and More-ish

Today is the "super Thursday" of Barefoot Bloggers, when not one but two bonus recipes will be posted. The Barefoot crew are a group of food bloggers who regularly cook and post the same recipe from the collected wisdom of the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. Congratulations and thanks to Deb from Kahakai Kitchen who chose this recipe after she referred the most people to the Barefoot Blogger site last month. It comes from Ina's new book: "Barefoot Contessa:Back to Basics".

The risotto cakes were relatively simple to make, although you can't reduce the fridge chilling time. The first night I made these, I rushed it a little and they tended to fall apart a bit. To keep them together, I had to be very careful lowering them into the oil on a spatula and lifting them out gently on a spatula as well. After two messes in a normal frying pan with oil on medium-low heat (as specified), I changed to a non-stick pan and put the oil on medium-high heat and the result was much better. I used the leftover mixture the next night (after it had been chilling 24 hrs), with better results. The cakes all hung together much more. I would probably make these again, but bite-sized as an hors d'oeuvre for a party. And in case you were wondering, I served the risotto cakes as a side dish with roasted duck breasts and a rocket salad, as an indulgent dinner with my husband.

Here is what Ina Garten had to say about the recipe:
"I used to have to wait until I made risotto in order to make risotto cakes from the leftovers. So I decided to do a recipe for risotto cakes that I make from scratch. Most of this can be assembled early in the day and then sautéed just before dinner. The yogurt, chives, and Italian Fontina give these a delicious creamy interior, and the panko gives them a wonderful crunchy crust.”

Chive Risotto Cakes

from "Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics" by Ina Garten

1 cup uncooked Arborio rice

½ cup Greek yogurt

2 extra-large eggs

3 tbls minced fresh chives

1 ½ cup cups grated Italian Fontina cheese (150g)

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

¾ cup panko (Japanese dried bread flakes)

Good olive oil

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add ½ tablespoon salt and the Arborio rice. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. The grains of rice will be quite soft. Drain the rice in a sieve and run under cold water until cool. Drain well.

Meanwhile, whisk together the yogurt, eggs, chives, Fontina, 1 ¼ tsps salt, and the pepper in a medium bowl. Add the cooled rice and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight, until firm.

Spread the panko in a shallow dish. Heat 3 tbls olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Form balls of the rice mixture using a standard ice cream scoop or a large spoon. Pat the balls into patties 3 inches in diameter and ¾ inch thick. Place 4-6 patties in the panko, turning once to coat. Place the patties in the hot oil and cook, turning once, for about 3 minutes on each side until the risotto cakes are crisp and nicely browned. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and keep warm in a 120C oven for up to 30 minutes. Continue cooking in batches, adding oil as necessary, until all the cakes are fried. Serve hot.

Note from Ina: “Panko, or Japanese bread flakes, have a crisper, lighter texture than regular bread crumbs."