Weekend...All creatures great and small and accidentally Vegan and Gluten/Dairy Free Leek and Portobello Mushroom Risotto.

Tap, tap, tap..."It sounds like someone's playing with the old typewriter on the landing upstairs," I said.  "There's nobody upstairs," he replied. 

"Mmm...Curious," we muttered in unison. Then went upstairs to investigate...There was the typewriter on the landing floor but no ghostly fingers striking the keys. The tapping sound was coming from the opposite corner, by the window. We soon spied the secret intruder. It was one of the little swifts that live in the eaves. He'd somehow flown inside and trapped himself between the window pane and some tools. Eek...it's tiny head caught between the glass and a small saw blade. His little wings drumming on the glass in an attempt to escape. Thankfully it wasn't the blade side of the saw, but still...EEK...he was so delicate. Ahmad carefully eased him out and lifted him up from the tools to fly away through the open window...safe and sound...

That may not have been the last we saw of our tiny house guest.  Later, we were driving back from a farm down a narrow hedged lane a few miles away. We'd been collecting cherries kindly given by the generous local farmer. Big dark juicy ones to make wine and all ready picked. I spied a bird in front of us...He was flying unusually low along the tunnel of the narrow lane. He turned off to the side for a second to land on a branch as if he was waiting for us. But then he took flight again. Flying low in front of the car...As if he was leading us along the road as I drove, swooping up and down in a kind of salute...Honestly cross my heart...

...I think it might have been our little swift just saying thank you...

...don't you? 

I like to think so...

This is some scrumptious comfort food that I made at the weekend...creamy and unctuous without even a hint of gluten or dairy...

Leek and Portobello mushroom risotto (accidentally vegan)

Ingredients for two large portions or four small:

• Four medium sized Portobello mushrooms
• One cup measurement of arborio (risotto rice)
• One leek
• Olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• A pint of hot vegetable stock
• Garlic - lots, about five of six cloves
• A heavy based sauce or frying pan

Method:

1. Remove the outer skin from the leek, top and tail and then cut down the centre. Cut each half into small slices and wash thoroughly.
2. Poor a little olive oil into the pan and warm on the hob. Add the leeks and begin to sauté. 
3. Season and add the mushrooms, mix well and continue to cook. 
4. Peel and crush the garlic and add. Mixing again. Mixing well so that all the flavours amalgomate. Add the seasoning and the cup of rice.
5. Allow the rice to cook a little combining all the ingredients. 
6. Add the vegetable stock little buy little stirring. Continue to do this until the vegetables are tender and the rice has absorbed all the stock, is tender but still has a little bit to it.

Serve while still nice and warm. This accidentally vegan supper is comforting and delicious served just as it comes. But you may like to add a nob of butter or grating of parmesan if you like dairy. 

nb arborio is naturally gluten free but if you have an allergy remember to check that the rice is produced in an environment where products containing gluten may be...

joining Karen for weekends

Stinging Nettle and Goats Cheese Risotto, and Spring Foraging

I made my first stinging nettle risotto of the season... sounds like I've been doing it for years doesn't it? Last year was not only my first venture into nettle cuisine but also my first attempt at risotto! I'm now well and truly addicted to making, and eating, both. If you haven't tasted cooked nettles they are similar to spinach. I love spinach, both cooked and raw, and as you can see have an abundant supply of organic nettles in my own garden and so as long as I want to use a blanched leaf and not a salad leaf, why not use nettles? It can't get more local than that...

You can link to the recipe I used here. Except that this time I was lazy and used a vegetable stock cube. I've actually found one that doesn't have anything dodgy in it. I added the blanched chopped nettles and then stirred in pieces of ripe goats cheese, then ate...yum...

This Spring foraging video by my favourite Alys Fowler has just introduced me to the idea of eating dandelion root in the same way I might use parsnips! Apparently fried, the flower-bud in the base, tastes a bit like globe artichoke.

I have used the leaves before, they are very bitter a little like radicchio but good in a mixed salad and I've drunk the root ground up to make a coffee substitute...(I know there's no substitute for coffee... I should say alternative drink....is that better...and I will stick to real coffee but for anyone who can't drink it for any reason it may be worth trying.)

The good news is that Alys is in the process of writing a book The Thrifty Forager:Living Off Your Local Landscape which you can pre-order from Waterstones. At £16.99 it's quite expensive but if I save up all my spinach and parsnip money, by July when it's available I should have enough to buy at least one copy!

Frugal food - Beetroot top risotto

Beetroots are scrumptious added to a roast chicken dinner.  They are delicious roasted in a little olive oil with carrots, parsnips, par-boiled potatoes, red onion, peppers, lemon and garlic, sea salt and crushed black pepper and maybe a few herbs or chilli flakes...mmm...a feast...

When the beets are nice and small I love to use the leaves in salads...they look so pretty and I hate to waste them when using the roots. But they are getting bigger now and the leaves are a bit tough for salads.  I couldn't bare to throw them away and so I made a risotto supper with them the following evening.     

It really was a simple supper using a few store cupboard ingredients.

• Wash the beetroot tops (leaves and stalks) thoroughly and cut into pieces.
• Place in a saucepan, cover with vegetable stock and cook until tender.
• Remove the tops when cooked and reserve both the stock, and tops for later.
• Meanwhile slice a small red onion and sauté until soft.
• Add a crushed garlic clove and cook a little while longer.
• Add a cup of risotto rice and cook for a couple of minutes.
• Gradually add stock until the rice is ready, adding the beetroot tops in the last few minutes.
• Add plenty of grated parmesan cheese
• Check the seasoning...you may not need to add any salt or pepper if the stock is well seasoned as the Parmesan is quite salty too.
• Enjoy

 If you like spinach or chard I'm sure you'll love this risotto...

Thanks B for all the little seedlings you gave us in spring...

My Gentle Seduction

I was really proud at successfully weaning myself off cheese a couple of years ago. I love cheeses but they are so high in saturated fat that they can’t be that good for you. I decided that I’d rather have no cheese at all than fat-free flavourless substitutes. If I couldn’t have black peppercorn Boursin, creamy Caprice de Dieux Camembert, or tangy Oxford Blue then I’d rather do without any…except maybe the odd grating of Parmesan every so now and then.

But then the gentle seduction commenced. It all started when ‘A’ began to make the most delicious pizzas. The kind that have thin crispy bases like authentic Tuscan ones. He asked me what topping I wanted.

“Just the tomato sauce and vegetables, oh and maybe some smoked fish and olives please” I replied.

“What, no cheese” was his response.

“No thank you” was mine.

“You can’t have pizza without Mozzarella,” he said.

“Oh well, just a little bit then,” said I.

That was it…my will was broken. Once I’d tasted the pizza with stretchy salty, creamy Mozzarella there was no holding back.

So when H came home for the weekend I stocked up with her favourite Somerset goats cheese and soft balls of buffalo Mozzarella, floating in little tubs of water. She didn’t eat them and they remained in the fridge. But not for long. The goats cheese only improved with time, getting runny and unctuous. ‘A’ was out for the evening I had a sudden longing for nursery food. I made a big dish of leek risotto (using my favourite Nigel Slater's recipe but omitting the wine and tarragon and using vegetable and not chicken stock.) The goats cheese called out to me and I couldn’t resist…I was lost… it would be perfect melted into the risotto. It was mellow and creamy and utterly delicious…even better after my long cheese abstinence.

But then the next day I wanted something substantial for lunch before going to work. A quick pantry and fridge raid revealed spaghetti, baby spinach leaves, cooked beetroot, pine nuts, red salad onions, beef tomatoes and a tub of mozzarella…the rest is history….

But that’s it; I’ve got to stop now. I must remain loyal to my healthy diet…

No more cheese…

Well maybe the odd bit, every now and again…

…It was lovely while it lasted…