the italian way

I was on a no-carb diet for about six months (strictly for three months, the other three months I cheated with an occasional carbo indulgence).
So for me, eating carbs is like a special treat, like how we eat fruit cake once a year (usually around Christmas), I eat carbs almost as often.

During the three months when I cheated, I had recently moved to my new home in Prague and having lived apart from my husband for nearly three months while we slowly transitioned from London to Prague, I decided to indulge a little and make him a scallop and pea risotto. It was also to celebrate the fact that I finally found a small Italian deli not far from our new home that sold these wonderful delectable creatures - fresh. Fresh seafood in this country is so hard to come by. I used to think that London had a dismal offering of seafood compared to Australia, until I arrived in Prague that is.
So these scallops were definitely a treat, simply because they were fresh and because they aren't always readily available at that Italian deli. I think I got lucky that day.

This was a recipe I knocked up based on trial and error (more error than anything else). It's great served on a summer evening with a nice chilled glass of sauvignon blanc. You can be nice and split the scallops evenly among both servings, or in my case hoard them all. My poor husband got the scallop and pea risotto (minus the scallops).

carnaroli rice

the finished product - scallop and pea risotto with
parmigiano

scallop and pea risotto
created: 15 June 2011


[ingredients]:

• 1 cup carnaroli rice (you can also use arborio)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 25g unsalted butter
• 2-3 tsp olive oil
• 6 large scallops (coral removed)
• 1/2 cup peas (the frozen variety is fine)
• 700ml liquid vegetable stock
• 75g parmigiano reggiano cheese
• salt
• black pepper
• a generous splash of white wine (sauvignon blanc or riesling)

 [method]:

• In a hot pan, add the olive oil and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add the carnaroli rice and continue frying for another thirty seconds.
• Then add the peas and mix well.
• Add a generous splash of white wine (I usually use sauvignon blanc or riesling) and cook for a few minutes until the alcohol has been cooked out of the liquid.
• Add 1 ladle of vegetable stock and stir, allowing most of the stock to be absorbed into the rice before adding the next ladle of stock.
• Continue this process until the rice is cooked but with a firm bite (you may find that you have some leftover stock but it's better to have too much than not enough).
• In a separate pan, add some olive oil and wait until the oil is extremely hot.
• Place the scallops in the pan and cook on each side for a minute (depending on the size of your scallops)
• Season both sides of the scallop with salt and pepper (to taste).
• Once cooked, set the scallops aside.
• Before turning off the stove, add parmesan cheese and butter to the rice and gently stir through until the both the cheese and butter have melted and is incorporated into the rice (approx 1 minute or so). This gives the rice a level of richness and creaminess.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste
• To serve, ladle the risotto onto a plate and place the scallops on top of the rice. 
• To finish, grate some parmigiano cheese over the top.

Serves: 2


Preparation time: 5mins
Cooking time: 35mins

an old aussie favourite

Let's get started shall we. I mean, I've procrastinated long enough about starting this blog so why wait any longer? Because if I sit on my hands for another minute, this blog may never get started. Ok here we go...

About a month ago, a few of us were invited by my husband's colleague to his summer 'cottage' in the Czech countryside for some friendly tennis followed by a BBQ. Feeling abit homesick, I thought I'd test out a recipe I saw in the January 2011 edition of Food and Travel which reminded me of home. I can almost guarantee that any Australian over the age of fifteen has made this dessert at least once in their lives. It's none other than the 'Pav' to the folks Down Under or simply Pavlova to everyone else.

The traditional pavlova recipe calls for alot of sugar, alot of egg whites and alot of fruit like passionfruit, pineapple, strawberry, banana and pretty much any fruit you can get your hands on. This version is somewhat more refined than the traditional version with cinnamon cream as a topper and the use of only ONE type of fruit.

The original recipe in the magazine called for pomegranate seeds but I used blueberries instead as they were in season. Plus I didn't like to entertain the idea of having to tap out all those pomegranate seeds from its shell.

I can't profess to be a pav lover. In fact I never really ate pavlova (let alone make one!) until I came across this recipe. But ever since making it, all I can think about is the light chewy texture of the meringue and the subtle cinnamon notes from the cream.

I hope you enjoy making this (and eating this) as much as I did.

brown sugar pavlova with cinnamon cream and blueberries
adapted from Food and Travel magazine (January 2011)
created: 25 June 2011


[ingredients]:

• 4 large egg whites
• 50g light muscovado sugar
• 175g caster sugar
• 1tsp cornflour
• 1tsp white wine vinegar
• 300ml double/whipping cream
• 1tbsp icing sugar
• 1 1/2tsp ground cinnamon
• 150g blueberries

[method]:

• Preheat oven to 140C.
• Line baking tray with baking paper (but do not grease as the eggwhites will collapse).
• Place egg whites into a very clean bowl and using an electric whisk or electric mixer, whisk until the whites form stiff peaks.
• All the while, add the sugars (muscovado and caster) 1 teaspoon at a time while whisking.
• Finally add the vinegar and cornflour along with the final portion of sugars before turning off the whisk/mixer.
• Pile the meringue onto the lined baking tray and form the mixture into a loose 20cm circle.
• Create swirls in the meringue by using a skewer (or something similar).
• Bake for approximately 1 hour (should be light brown all over) and leave in the oven until meringue is completely cooled (overnight is ideal).
• To complete, whip the cream, cinnamon and icing sugar to soft peaks.
• Pile the cinnamon cream onto the cooled pavlova and scatter the blueberries over the top.

Best eaten immediately.


Serves: 8