I invented a fooding!

I am such a recipe rules girl. I can't veer from a recipe unless I have to and even then it pains me. I just can't do it. For the first time ever today, I put together my own recipe. So pleased with myself because it turned out SO nommy and would happily be nommed by carnis, omnis and vegans alike. TASTY! Would be the BEST comfort food!

I don't have a clever name for it, just going with Mash and Mushy Pie for now. Here tis!

Ingredients:
5 potatoes, peeled and cubed
Soy milk
Dairy free butter (I use nuttelex).
Salt
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp (ish) porcini mushrooms, rehydrated in boiling water and chopped
1 portobello mushroom, chopped
4 button mushrooms, chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp fresh chives, chopped
1/2c vegetable stock
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1 sheet shortcrust pastry (vegan)
1 sheet puff pastry (vegan)
sesame seeds to sprinkle.

Boil spuds, drain, mash, mix with soy milk, dairy free butter and salt to taste. While they are boiling, saute onion, garlic and mushrooms til mushrooms have released their juices and all are starting to brown. Add herbs and stock and cook until liquid evaporates. While this is happening, blind bake your shortcrust by putting it in a dish, with baking paper on top and rice to weigh it down. About 10 mins.
Add your mash to your onion and mushroom mix and combine. Spoon into pastry shell. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast. Top with sheet of puff, trim to fit. Brush with soy milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Cook until brown and nommy!

Risotto anyone?

I am a risotto fan, very much so. I really hate the stirring though, and I am too poor for a thermomix, so stir I do. It's always worth it.

I wanted to share this recipe from Veggie Mama along with my slight tweaks because it is one of the best risotto's I have had. In the history of ever. It was divine!

So I didn't know what or where to find these Heirloom tomatoes, so I just got the vine ripened tomatoes from Coles and they did the job nicely. Stuck them in a lightly sprayed with olive oil pan in a hot oven for an hour. Just kept an eye on them until they were slightly bursting, on the verge of collapse. Perfecto.

Meanwhile, I chopped an onion and minced 2 cloves of garlic and cooked them to soft in a tablespoon of oil and a tablespoon of nuttelex. Marg or butter is fine, I use nuttelex as standard so it's my usual. Then I added a cup of arborio rice and stirred, and thus began the stirring. 6 cups of veggie stock (you could do some wine some stock of course), and stir, add, stir, add, stir, add. You know the drill. Until all your stock is absorbed.

I was goats cheeseless, but feta isn't far off the salty cheese mark so I whacked about 100g of that in, and stirred through until melted, along with 1/4c of parmesan and some pepper. I didn't add salt, because the stock is already salty, as is the feta. You could mess around with taste here. I also instead of adding another knob of butter, added a generous splash of cream. Super creamy cheesy risotto. Then I topped it with my roasted tomato and some fresh continental parsley leaves.

Then I put it in my face. And oh my goodness. It's one of those eyes closed, savouring the taste moments. The roasted tomato just gives such a perfect compliment to the risotto, and the flavours are amazing. Drrrooool. Eat up!

My sister is awesome

My sister is the best. She knows I am stuck on liquids and purees for a bit, so she sent me a fantastic gift. A juicer!!!!!

The accompanying card made me teary...



So today I decided to give it a run. So much fun. Here I am all set to juice. I have chopped up apples with skin removed (probably not necessary but my tum is still sensitive), peeled chopped carrot, celery pieces and 2 peeled and quartered oranges.



Put it all in and prepare to hit go.



Voila, 3 seconds later...



Oops, I let it sit a sec whilst I did the dishes and clean up.



No matter, a brisk stir and we are back to this glorious orange color!



Let me assure you it tasted AMAZING. I am stoked. Thank you sister, dear xxx

Arancini

I am so obsessed by food whilst I can't eat much of it, and my friend, Katie, posted about arancini this week. Hers are healthier than mine, and far better for you, but I thought I would share my tried and true recipe anyway!

I find that to make arancini, it is easier to mould the balls from a baked risotto than a stove top one, and you have to let it cool first. I make risotto just to make arancini, really. It's time consuming but the noms are worth it. My favorite recipe for this is a baked mushroom one - vegetarian ftw.

Preheat your oven to 180c. Put 3c of vegetable stock and 1.5c of cold water in a saucepan. Bring it to the boil, then simmer covered until you need it later on.

Melt 25g butter in another saucepan, and cook about 400g mushys. Mixed mushrooms are good, but almost always just use button ones, because they're the easiest to source! Cook them a few minutes until they brown, then move them to a bowl and set aside. Melt another 25g butter and add a finely chopped brown onion, and 2 crushed garlic cloves until soft. Add in 2c of arborio rice and stir until coated with the oil/garlic/onion mix for a minute or so, then put the mushrooms back in. Next add 1/2c dry white wine and boil and stir until it is all but evaporated.

At this point I get out my baking dish and tip the mix into it, then pour the pre-prepared stock over the top, evening it all out gently with a spoon. Cover it up with foil, and put it carefully in the oven. Bake it for 25min, stir it every so often. Remove the foil and bake it another 5 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed.

Remove it from the oven and stir in 1/3c fresh chopped chives and 1/3c parmesan (or cheddar) cheese. Try to resist eating it all. I always set aside a small bowl for my lunch, and use the rest for dinner arancini! Now leave it to cool.

About an hour or so later, you're set to go. Prepare 3 bowls on your work surface. In one, put some plain flour, the next, beaten egg, and the final, breadcrumbs. Cut up some small cubes of mozzarella cheese, and have them handy too. Some people put bolognese sauce in the centre with the cheese, that's pretty traditional, but I wanted mine vegetarian (plus it was easier than working out how the hell to get bolognese sauce in the middle without a massive mess!)

Anyway, scoop about a small handful of your risotto up and start moulding it into a half ball, stick a square of mozzarella on it then grabe some more to cover it up and make it into a ball. Roll it in the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs and set it on a plate. Repeat until your risotto is gone!

Next, heat a pan of shallow oil to super hot. Place arancini in the hot oil and turn as it browns, then put it on a baking tray. Repeat until all are browned then bake in the oven at a low temperature for 15-20m until heated through.

ENJOY!

I love food

Too much, really. But I do. I love the process of cooking, too. I recently asked a vegan friend for some of her recipes. I don't know that I am capable of being vegan (cheese, chocolate...) but I really want to at least try and cut meat from my diet as much as possible. Anyway, this week I tried 2 of her recipes. I have to say, they surprised the hell out of me. Tasty is an understatement. They were divine. I love chickpeas at the best of times, so I loved the recipe that featured those. Then she introduced me to quinoa.

I cooked it up, looked at it and thought. Hmm. Really? Doesn't LOOK like it's going to be thrilling. It was amazing. The recipe was a stuffing mix for roasted capsicums, but I could have eaten just it by the bowlful. Why did I now know this before??? The same friend sent me a 3rd recipe this week. With her current strike rate, there is no way I'll be passing it up! Who needs meat?!

Being Healthier

J and have decided that we need to be healthier than we have been the last little while. We both feel sluggish and bleaugh so we found some great recipes and have been taking the dog for longer walks. Some of the meals we have planned for the fortnight sound beautiful:

Asian style chicken salad
Balsamic steak with cannellini bean mash
Beef bourguignon with parmesan dumplings
Beef stroganoff with steamed vegies
Honey lemon chicken stirfry
Thai beef stirfry
Pasta with smoked chicken, asparagus, and pesto
Vegie burgers
Chicken and spinach curry
Yogurt rubbed chicken with tomato lentils
Vegetarian Fajitas
Low fat chicken, lemon and herb burger

We also have a night out at gold class and Finns birthday which are both likely to be a little on the indulgent side, but thats ok. Moderation! All the recipes came from the Taste website, from categories such as heart smart, low fat, low GI, low carb, low kilojoule. Yummy!!!


ALSO, whilst I am thinking of it, I was intending my life writing to be about my childhood, but was trying to work out how a bunch of stories could become something with more meaning, and now I think I will combine stories of my childhood, with commentary on Finn's somehow, and make it intergenerational or something. Just an idea I am toying with that I wanted to write down before it flitted out of my brain again, as so many things tend to do!!!!!