Unstuffed Mini Capsicums

Yes, that's right, unstuffed. Because I was lazy ;) :D

Anyway, this came about because the vast majority of my family went shopping together on the weekend at the newly-arrived-and-therefore-exciting (sigh) Costco. Amidst all the kerfuffle, a large box of baby red capsicums (bell peppers :P) were purchased and split up between us. Hence the txt message I received from Mum this afternoon, detailing the delicious feta-and-spinach-stuffed capsicums they'd had for dinner last night.

Plagued by pregnancy cravings and sickness, stuffed capsicums sounded like just the thing for tonight's dinner - only I couldn't be bothered making the stuffing, then stuffing the capsicums, and then baking it all again. Hence, unstuffed capsicums O:) :D


Ingredients
1 onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed
300g mushrooms, thinly sliced
olive oil
1.2c long grain rice
2.5c vegetable stock
12 baby red capsicums
sweet chilli sauce
soy sauce
salt
tarragon
100g cream cheese, cubed
baby spinach, to serve

Method
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Add mushrooms; stir until reduced. Add rice; stir for 1 minute to coat thoroughly. Add stock. Bring to the boil. Simmer with a TIGHT lid for 20 minutes. DO NOT OPEN, or you'll lose all the precious steam. If through a tragedy not of your making, the lid gets lifted (hi there, curious meal-eaters *glare*), add some more hot water to compensate. You're basically just making a pilaf, here.

Meanwhile, deseed the capsicums (reserving a 'lid' for each) and rinse them. Shake them dry, though not too dry, and replace 'lids'. The lids help preserve the moisture so they become tender, rather than drying out. Bake in a 200C oven for 15 minutes.

Once 20 mins is up for the rice, turn off the heat and give it a good stir. If, like me, you're unlucky and some stuck to the bottom, transfer to a new pot to avoid contaminating the good stuff with anything burnt. Season with sauces, salt and tarragon to taste, then stir through cream cheese.

Plate up, and enjoy :o)

Great Risottos Made Easy

I have a bit of a reputation for making a good risotto. My husband, in fact, refuses to order risotto on the odd occasion we eat out, for fear it won't live up to his expectations :D A couple of people recently have asked me for the recipe, and I thought I might as well share it on here with you. Enjoy :)

1 onion (or half, if you don't feel like chopping lots of onion)
Garlic to taste (I usually use a good 5-6 cloves, but then again, I love garlic. 2 is probably okay too! :D)
1c arborio rice (MUST be arborio or it won't be nice and creamy at the end)
3.5 - 4c stock (I use chicken stock with orange veggies and vegetable stock with everything else. The amount you need will depend on the rice: stop once it's cooked through and don't worry about any excess stock, as you don't want a gluggy risotto)
1/3 - 1/2c parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Make up the stock and put it in a saucepan over a VERY low heat on the stove. You just want to keep it warm so it incorporates easier.

Finely dice then saute the garlic and onion in some oil (I like olive).

Add the rice, stir so it's coated in the oil, then add enough stock to just cover the rice. Give it a good stir. Bring it to the boil, then turn the heat down so it's just gently simmering. Keep a close eye on it, stirring a couple of times every minute so the rice cooks evenly and doesn't stick, and as soon as you can drag the spoon from one side of the pan to the other in about half a second and still see the bottom of the pan, add another ladle-ful of stock. Continue this until all the stock is gone.

Check to make sure the rice is cooked through (make sure it's not crunchy) but turn off the heat as soon as the last stock is absorbed so the risotto doesn't dry out (yuck). Stir through the parmesan until it's all melted, season to taste, and serve!! :)

If you want to add things to make it tastier, this is what you add when:

• Vegetables that need sauteing to soften them go in with the onion at the beginning (eg capsicum, mushrooms).
• Spices go in with the onion at the beginning (heat releases their smell and taste).
• Green leafies go in at the very end, after the parmesan (this includes herbs).
• Other vegetables are best pre-cooked (microwaved or baked) and added once the last stock is absorbed but before the parmesan. (I often microwave pumpkin or sweet potato then grill it with sea salt and olive oil). This is also when you would add any meat (pre-cooked).
• Feta can be added either before the parmesan if you wanted it melted in a bit, or after if you want it chunkier.
• You can also add flavours to the stock - try substituting some of it with red wine vinegar, or a splash of lemon juice, for example.

And that's it! Too easy :)

Returning with Risotto...

So, yes, it's been - lots - of months since I've been here. I've been doing my masters degree this year, and it's all been rather insane.

However, I finished yesterday (woo hoo!!), so I am back! :D

To celebrate, I actually felt like cooking for the first time in ages last night, and despite the warmth of the days recently, the nights have been lovely and cool - so risotto it was :) This meal was especially exciting because it gave me an opportunity to use fresh herbs from my very own herb garden for the first time! Hoorah!

The Recipe
1 large sweet potato
1/4 of a butternut pumpkin
olive oil
salt
1 small onion
1t of crushed garlic
~7 medium mushrooms
1c arborio rice
3 stock cubes dissolved in 4c water
~1.5T sweet chilli sauce
3 smallish sprigs of fresh greek oregano
3 twigs of garden thyme
1/3c grated parmesan cheese

...My mouth is watering just typing out the ingredients! Hoorah that I have left overs for lunch :)

Roughly dice the pumpkin and sweet potato. You can make the cubes whatever size, but bear in mind that a) smaller cooks faster and b) they will shrink quite a bit upon baking. Mine were ~2cm cubed. Microwave on high or steam for 5 minutes. Spread onto olive-oiled tray, sprinkle liberally with salt, and place into a hot oven (200C).

Place stock in a covered saucepan and keep on a low heat constantly, to keep the liquid warm (it will cook quicker/easier when added to the rice if it doesn't have to heat up first).

Finely chop the onion. Fry in oil with the garlic until translucent. Slice mushrooms, saute with onion until cooked. Add the rice and 2 ladlefuls of stock. Stir well.

Add sweet chilli sauce.

Add a ladleful of stock periodically, whenever the mixture starts to look a little dry - if you can scrape the rice away and see the bottom of the pot for more than a second, it's ready for more liquid.

Once all the liquid is absorbed, add the (finely chopped) herbs and stir through. Remove from heat if it's starting to dry out. Stir through the baked pumpkin and sweet potato, then stir through the cheese.

Serve hot :)

The Results
Okay, so risotto is a fairly standard meal in our house over winter. That said, we didn't have much this year, as I've been pretty slack when it comes to cooking. But regardless, I've made squillions of varieties of this recipe: and this, officially, is the best. My husband, who is not free with compliments, said he'd gladly pay $40 in a restaurant for this risotto :)

I attribute the great success to two things:

Firstly, instead of taking the quicker cop-out method of just grilling (broiling) the vegies, I actually baked them with salt and olive oil and all. Much, much tastier.

Secondly, the difference that fresh, home-grown herbs make is absolutely INSANE. And Greek oregano is my new favourite: besides the amazing salty-savoury complex flavour it adds to the dish, it's purple and fuzzy! What's not to love?!

Hehe.

As I was making this, I lamented that I didn't have any feta cheese to add, being the feta-addict that I am; but it turns out that it really didn't need it. The flavours were beautifully subtle and complex, and husband was absolutely determined that I must have used more herbs than I had (I'm usually prone to throwing in at least 5 or 6).

So, an all-round fabulous success, and definitely one I'll make again, instead of my usual 'what do I have in the cupboard' approach :)