spring... finally

where to start...

it has been a long long long winter, but i believe that finally the sun is getting the upper hand and the winter gods have given up in this part of the world.

and just when the nights were warming up little by little, our waterheater decided to blow its last breath... so, there were a few nervous moments trying to find a good plumber (actually pretty hard even tho there s so many around) who also had the time to come as soon as possible to install a brand new heater (i can take a bit of cold, but not going without hot water for too long)!
however, as i write this, they re here... banging away, and hopefully by this evening, i ll be able to have a long hot bath!

meanwhile, food-wise, spring means new young fresh vegetables and lighter dishes.

whereas during the dark months i d happily go for musky woolly mushrooms in a risotto, this time i just had to go for the season s white asparagus combined with little sweet peas.

and when you need some time to clear your head and just contemplate the cooking process, making a risotto can be meditative and relaxing.

RISOTTO WITH ASPARAGUS AND SWEET PEAS

INGREDIENTS:

500 gr white asparagus, stalks peeled and cut into 3 cm pieces, then steamed lightly
280 gr arborio or carnaroli rice
250 gr green peas (thawed if from frozen)
2 banana shallots, finely chopped
1500 ml light chicken stock, kept warm
20 gr unsalted butter
100 ml double cream
70 ml Noilly Prat vermouth
rapeseed oil
salt and pepper
nutmeg
Pecorino Romano cheese for grating

METHOD:

1. using a heavy based casserole, start by gently sweating the chopped shallots in some rapeseed oil
2. add the rice and toast for about 5 minutes
3. add the Noilly Prat and stir until it has been absorbed
4. then keep adding the stock, ladle by ladle, waiting and stirring in between until the stock too has been absorbed
5. add the steamed asparagus pieces halfway through the cooking process
6. at the end of cooking (it will take about half an hour to 40 minutes, working gently) add the thawed peas and warm through
7. finally add the butter and cream and let it all melt in, then season to taste with salt and pepper and a grating of nutmeg (which is unusual but somehow works really well)
8. serve all'onda, meaning slightly loose, with a grating of the Pecorino Romano.

a soft and gentle risotto.

i m ready for those brighter days, bring it on!

Oba-chan no o-zoni (or Happy New Year)

here we are again, another year has begun.

2012.

year of the dragon.

every new year, my Oba-chan (Japanese grandmother) would make us a special soup called o-zoni, which usually contained a grilled rice-cake or two, some vegetables, mainly daikon and carrots in miso... there is also a typical new year tradition of making o-sechi ryouri but since we were such difficult eaters, Oji-chan and Oba-chan had that mostly for themselves, and only in later years did my brother and i learn to appreciate this.

we were huge fans, however, of o-zoni, which in our house was made with miso (hence the latter half of this blog s name) and is apparently more traditional in western parts of Japan, whereas the clear soup; suimono, is more the norm in eastern Japanese households. in both cases though, the chewy rice cake or mochi, either grilled or just plain, is added to the soup.

we would have been making the mochi at my great-aunt s house and there was always too much, but it was so much fun hitting the steamed glutinous rice in a huge stone mortar with enormous wooden hammers and trying not to hit the hands of the person who had to fold the mass and add some water to keep the whole thing from sticking.

recently i found some pictures from way back when of us doing just that.

here s my brother

and me

boy, that does bring back memories.

and memories were exactly what prompted me to make that o-zoni yesterday morning to ring in the new year.

i must admit i haven t made miso-shiru (miso-soup) at home in a very very long time. but i do always have the ingredients in my cupboard, so i really can t say what kept me.

a few weeks ago, i had also been lucky enough to find dried rice cakes at the Chinese supermarket. i guess this was the trigger for me to try and make the o-zoni my Oba-chan used to make.

i wanted to recapture those moments, and especially the taste, and the textures...

OBA-CHAN no O-ZONI (Grandma s o-zoni)

10 cm piece of daikon or white retich
1 fairly thick carrot (although mine was a bit thin)
a few rice-cakes, either grilled or not
a few mangetout peas
1 liter water
1 tablespoon dashi stock granules
2 tablespoons white miso paste

Oba-chan used to just slice the daikon and the carrot into thick matchsticks, but i wanted to make those pretty flowers, and after having used a cookie cutter i realized mine had 6 petals instead of the more auspicious 5... but hey, they were cute enough ;-)

boil the root vegetables in the water with the dashi stock granules until soft. if not grilled, add the dried ricecakes and cook until pliable, then add the mangetout and cook until al dente. if the rice-cakes have been grilled, add them with the mangetout. turn off the heat and mix the miso paste with some of the stock until blended, then add into the rest of the stock. do not boil anymore, just heat through.

arrange the vegetables in a miso-bowl, and finish with some mitsuba leaves, which i did not have, so i used coriander. some people like to add some shichimi (seven-spice) and/or some yuzu at the end for extra flavor.

this one though, tasted exactly like my Oba-chan s... and that s good enough for me.

Oba-chan passed away in 1993, but Oji-chan is still going strong at 102. i hope he s enjoying some o-zoni as well and remembering...

New Year 1970... Oji-chan, Oba-chan and moi

Happy New Year everyone!

risotto to soothe the senses

i have an allergy... i only recently found out, but now i do and it s not nice...

so in order to feel a bit better, and because it s the only thing i now seem to be able to taste, i made us a risotto for dinner... creamy, tender but with a little bite, with hot-smoked salmon and watercress and some young spinach leaves...

the ultimate comfort food!

apparently everyone has their own special recipe, and this is mine:

INGREDIENTS:

1.5 liters light chicken stock, kept very hot
2 celery sticks, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped
400 grams of carnaroli or arborio rice
1 small wineglass of Noilly Prat vermouth
2 hot-smoked salmon filets, flaked
very large handful of watercress, roughly chopped
very large handful of young spinach leaves
ground black pepper and a pinch of seasalt
a drizzle of light olive oil
a little bit of cream
pecorino cheese

METHOD:

drizzle some light olive oil in a thick-bottomed deep pan and heat.
add the chopped onions and fry lightly until glassy, then add the celery and fry gently until nearly tender, then add garlic
now add the rice and stir until well-coated with the oil and onion celery mixture
add the Noilly Prat and stir until absorbed
then start adding the stock, one ladleful at a time, stirring in between, only adding more stock when the rice has absorbed most of the liquid... keep doing this until the rice is creamy but still has a little bit of bite to it (but no hard core!)
you may not need all the stock, it depends a bit on how the rice reacts...
then add the chopped watercress, the spinach, and the flaked smoked salmon and a tiny bit of cream
adjust your seasoning with some black pepper, since the salmon is salty you may not want to add too much salt
serve immediately with some pecorino cheese to grate for those who want it...

buon appetito

ps. ofcourse i like to play with ingredients and one of my other favorites is wild mushrooms... the method is quite the same as the above, although instead of adding salmon and watercress and spinach, i add sautéed wild mushrooms at the end and loads of chopped parsley...

pps. i like adding Noilly Prat instead of white wine, it s a little less harsh... although i know some recipes that call for red wine too