Butternut squash risotto

Since the roasted chicken and butternut squash recipe I made recently only called for a quarter of a squash per person, I had half of a butternut squash n my fridge needing to get eaten. My solution, make risotto!

Like any other risotto, I just followed the basic recipe. To make this a butternut squash risotto I cut the half squash into small pieces and added it to the risotto at the same time as the onion. By the time the rice was cooked, the squash was also nice and soft but still in chunks. To get a totally creamy risotto I would have pre cooked the squash in the oven before adding it to the rice.

Rice Pudding!

The weather outside was absolutely horrible yesterday so I decided to make up some rice pudding as comfort food rebellion. To make rice pudding you will need:

• 3/4 cup rice (I used short grain, but medium or long grain work too)
• 1 1/2 cups water
• dash of salt
• 4 cups milk (I used skim milk as it is my preference, but feel free to use whatever you have)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• handful or 2 of raisins
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• ground cinnamon
• ground nutmeg

Combine the water, rice and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes (or until the water has been absorbed. Stir in the milk and sugar and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. At this point, add the raisins, vanilla, ground cinnamon and nutmeg to taste and continue to cook over medium heat for another 10 to 20 minutes. You want the rice and milk to look like a thick porridge. Be careful that you don't over cook the mixture though, or else you will get a solid mass of rice instead of a creamy pudding once it cools. Pour the whole thing into a large bowl, or individual bowls, cover with plastic wrap (pressed down onto the pudding to prevent a skin) and leave in the fridge to set. Serve garnished with a sprinkle or cinnamon.

Last night my boyfriend Andy and I ate some almost immediately after it was finished cooking, giving it enough time so that it had started to set but just enough so that it was still pleasantly hot. I usually eat rice pudding cold but I knew that wasn't an option when Andy started hanging around the kitchen for "no reason" shortly after I had put the pudding in the fridge.

Roasted chicken with creamy butternut squash and chilli

This is another roasted chicken recipe out of Jamie Oliver's Cook With Jamie.














It came out incredibly well with the chicken cooked just right and the squash being creamy, just as promised.
You can find the recipe here.

Sweet corn & chicken soup

This is the first recipe that I've tried from my newest cookbook, Simple Chinese Cooking written by Kylie Kwong, and man was it ever good. To make the soup you need:

• 4 cobs sweet corn
  
• 1 small white onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 5 cm knob ginger
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup shao hsing wine or dry sherry
• 7 cups chicken stock
• 200g chicken breast cut widthways into 1 cm slices
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 finely sliced spring onion

Her directions for making the soup are as follows:

1. Remove kernels from corn cobs by running a sharp knife down the sides of each cob - you should have about 3 cups of corn kernels. Peel and finely dice onion and garlic. Peel ginger and cut into thin slices and then into fine strips (julienne) - you should have about 2 tablespoons ginger julienne.
2. Heat oil in a medium sized heavy based pot and saute onion, ginger, garlic, and salt for 1 minute. Add wine or sherry and simmer for a further minute or until liquid has reduced by half. Stir in corn and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 30 minutes. During the cooking time you may need to skim the surface of the soup to remove any impurities.
3. Stir through chicken and soy sauce and simmer for a further minute. Lower heat and slowly pour in beaten egg into soup in a thin stream, stirring constantly with a fork. Remove the soup from the stove as soon as you see the egg forming fine "ribbons".
4. Serve soup in bowls and garnish with spring onions.

"Steamed" fish with chili and lime

This fish isn't steamed in the traditional sense but it's close enough. I call this fish steamed because by cooking the fish sealed up with some liquid in a hot oven, the fish will cook in the trapped steam from the liquid. So even though it's cooked in an oven the fish stays light and moist and doesn't dry out at all.

To make the fish I chopped up some garlic, ginger and a chili pepper and tossed them into a baking dish lined with foil. I then halved one lime and squeezed it's juice into the dish followed by another lime cut into a couple pieces. For the steaming liquid (and later sauce) I poured in a glug of white wine, some soy sauce, and a couple drops of fish sauce*. To finish, I put the two fish fillets in the dish and spooned over a but of the liquid and other stuff then seasoned the whole thing with some salt and pepper before sealing up the dish with some more foil. I cooked the fish in the oven at 450°F for about 18 minutes since it was frozen, but I would give less time if it were fresh. I then served the fish over some rice (and seaweed for extra nutrients) and spooned some of the sauce over the whole thing.

*Make sure to only use a couple drops of fish sauce. It's pungent!

Groundhog Day

iPod Cozies

These iPod cases are really simple to put together and cost pennies to make. For a pocket or sleeve style cozy: cut a piece of felt that is the size of 2 iPods, lengthwise, and one iPod wide plus a little extra felt for the seem. Stitch some felt cutouts onto what will become the front of the case, fold the felt in half and stitch the sides together using a basic blanket stitch.

I've made a couple variations with fabric lining, button closures, multiple layers for pockets, and a hole on the bottom to allow for easy iPod charging. I made the more complicated Owl case by creating a template from a preexisting case. The best part about the cozies is that the felt is so soft, it wont scratch your iPod at all.

Nothing to do but get crafty!

I got to work today just in time to find out that the college was closed due to the "inclement weather". Thanks should go out to the college for not making this decision until 7:45am - I start work at 8am - and real thanks should go out to Tim Hortons for not closing until all the bewildered students and staff were able to get coffee and baked goods.

Now that I'm back home, it's time to get crafty.

Leek & Potato Soup

I have leek and potato soup for dinner at least once a week, it's just that good. It takes almost no time and effort, and freezes really well so heated up leftovers taste just as good as when you first made it.

To make leek and potato soup I just use an equal number of leeks and baking potatoes, a bit of butter or olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper, and enough vegetable stock and/or water to cover everything once it's in a pot. Cut the tough, dark green tops off of the leeks so you're left with the tender white and light green parts only. Slice the roots off the end of the leeks and slice down the middle of them lengthwise. This will let you clean the leeks really well since they grow in sand that seems to enjoy getting in between the many layers of the leek. Once they are well cleaned, slice them into smaller pieces and saute in the butter or olive oil on low heat for about 10 minutes. You want the leeks to get soft but don't let them brown.

While the leeks are getting soft, clean and thinly slice the baking potatoes. Purists would tell you that the potatoes should be peeled but that sound like more work to me, besides, a lot of the nutrients in a potato are just under the skin of the potato as well so I like to think of not peeling as the healthier option. Once your leeks are soft, throw in the sliced potatoes and stock/water. Bring the whole thing to a boil and then cover and let simmer until the potatoes are cooked (about 20 minutes).

I puree the soup at this point with an immersion blender that I have, so I can blend it right in the pot but you can blend it in a traditional blender or just mash of the potatoes by hand and leave the soup chunky as well. Add some salt and pepper to taste (with emphasis on the pepper) and thin the soup with either water or milk if needed.

One more thing that I add that is completely optional is a cup or two of corn after the soup is already pureed. I added it one day on a whim and it was so good that it's now a regular addition to my soup. The sweet corn goes really well with the leeks and potatoes and it gives the soup a bit more of a rustic, hearty feel.

Fish Curry

More yellow food!
This recipe is nice and light while still keeping the "comfort food" feeling that I love about curries. Tamarind paste, if you can get it, will give the curry a great tangy flavour but if you can't get a hold of any I've substituted with tamarind sauce or a little lemon juice and brown sugar. Neither are quite the same, with the tamarind sauce being close, but both substitutions will provide a bit of an edge to the curry.

Ingredients:

• any white fish fillets, cut into chunks
  
• vegetable or fish stock
• coconut milk
• tamarind paste
  
• onion
• garlic
• ginger
• fresh, long, red chillies or red pepper flakes
• turmeric
• ground cumin
• ground coriander
• veg. oil
  
• vegetables of your choice (I used cauliflower and snow peas in this one but I've also tried red pepper, bok choy or spinach, and even sweet potato)
  

To make the curry, finely slice the onion, garlic, ginger and red chili and lightly fry in a bit of oil. Add the spices (2 tbsp. turmeric and 1 tsp. each of the cumin and coriander) and fry for another minute. Then add about 2 tbsp. tamarind paste (diluted in a little hot water), one can of coconut milk and 1-2 cups of stock. Let everything simmer for around 15 minutes and then right before you want to eat drop in the fish and vegetables and simmer for another minute or two until the fish is just cooked.

*If you are using vegetables that take longer to cook, like cauliflower or sweet potato, add them to the curry before the fish based on cooking time.

*For a vegan curry just replace the fish with tofu or lentils (just give the lentils enough time to cook in the curry so they will be soft).