Month: May 2018

Risotto is a decadent dish that would make a fantastic entree or main dish for Mother’s Day, especially this mushroom-flavoured, creamy, cheesy version with Pinot Grigio or Pinot Gris. 

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups Arborio rice
• 450g mushrooms of choice – sliced
• 5-6 cups chicken stock 
• ½ cup Pinot Gris
• 2 shallots – chopped (Don’t cut too finely.)
• ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 tbsp butter
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Method:
1.    Place stock in a saucepan over low heat. It should simmer very gently, not bubble or boil.

2.    Take half the butter in a large frying pan and place it on low heat. Once melted and foaming, add the mushrooms. Season with salt, then stir to coat well in butter. Cook, occasionally stirring until they are browned. Transfer the mushrooms and any pan juices to a bowl.

3.    Return the frying pan to heat and pour in the olive oil. Once hot, tip in the shallots. Cook on low heat, stirring regularly, for 10 minutes, until softened. Then, pour in the Arborio and stir until every grain is slick.

4.    Allow the rice to get slightly golden, and then pour in the wine. Let the rice fully absorb the wine. The alcohol is going to burn off, and only the flavour will be soaked up by the rice.

5.    When the wine has been completely absorbed, add a ladle of hot stock. Stir, allow the stock to be absorbed. As you stir the rice, you encourage it to release its starch, turning the liquid in the pan into a beautiful sauce. Keep stirring and adding more ladles of stock until each is absorbed.

6.    After you add the last ladle of stock to the pan, add the reserved mushrooms, the remaining butter and the cheese. Stir till everything is beautifully incorporated, ladle out onto plates and serve immediately!

Modify it to your liking – you can always add peas, ham, chicken… the possibilities are endless!

Porridge. It’s good for you and we all know we should eat more of it, but quite frankly it’s not a sexy food, and often reminds many people of their grandparents. But I bet nanna never had porridge like this before! Simply add red wine poached prunes and…ta daa – sexy breaky!


Ingredients:
Serves 3-4

• 4 chamomile tea bags
• 2 cups quick oats
• ​4 cups full cream milk
• 1 tbsp semolina 
• 2 tbsp brown sugar 
• 2 tbsp flaked almonds 

For poached prunes:

• 2 cups pitted prunes
• ​1 cup of light red wine
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 slices orange peel
• 1 star anise
• 1 cardamom pod 

Extra milk to serve

Method:
1. Place the ingredients for the poached prunes into a saucepan and stir to combine. Place over medium heat for 10 minutes or until the liquid has reduced to about half, stirring periodically. Remove the star anise, orange peel and cardamom and discard. Set aside the prunes to cool. 

2. Place the tea bags into 1 cup of boiling water and allow to steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags and discard. 

3. ​Place the oats, brown sugar, semolina, milk and chamomile tea into a medium saucepan. Place over low-medium heat and stir continuously until it thickens up (about 5 minutes). 

4. Serve the porridge topped with poached prunes and flaked almonds. Add a drizzle of extra milk. 

This recipe was kindly shared with us by Michelle Sanchez. Check out more of Michelle’s gorgeous recipes at www.fb.com/diversebymichellesanchez. 

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You can never have enough avo-on-toast recipes in your repertoire, and this one will definitely give you a morning wake-up call with the added hit of Tabasco!  

Ingredients:
Serves 2

• 2 slices of thick-cut country bread  
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 50g celery, diced widthwise (cut to just under 1cm chunks)
• 50g Persian cucumber, thinly sliced widthwise
• ½ tbsp white wine vinegar
• Friendly pinch of salt
• 1 tsp TABASCO® Sauce
• 1 avocado
• 4 slices carved chicken breast (optional)
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds 
• Flaky salt to taste
• Fresh ground pepper to taste 
• 50g of the inner light green leaves of celery (optional)

Method:
1. Brush two slices of bread with the melted butter. Lightly toast bread, if desired, but ensure bread is cooled before adding vegetable topping. 

2. In a bowl, combine the celery, cucumber, white wine vinegar, salt and TABASCO® Sauce. It should be spicy and bright in flavor.

3. Cut the avocado in half. Use your knife, safely, to remove the pit. Take a spoon and place it between the skin and the flesh and gently move it around the top of the avocado and then down around the base in order to carve the avocado out from its skin. Place the two sides of avocado face down on a cutting board and cut each half into 5 or 6 pieces lengthwise. Fan out the two halves of the avocado.  

4. Build your toast: using a slotted spoon, place an equal amount of the vegetable mixture on each toast. Then place your deli meat (optional). 

5. Place your knife underneath the avocado fan to lift up and place on top of the toasts.

6. Finish Avocado Toast with a healthy helping of sesame seeds, flaky salt and freshly cracked pepper.

7. Finally – take the inner celery leaves and give them a quick toss in the remaining celery/cucumber liquid. Place on top of the toasts to give them a finishing touch. Enjoy!

This recipe was created by chef Jessica Koslow of Sqirl (U.S.) to celebrate TABASCO®’s 150th anniversary. 

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This week our call-out was for Mother’s Day recipes, i.e. easy recipes that could be used to create a delicious dish for mum on Mother’s Day. This Stuffed Mushroom recipe certainly fits the brief – it would be perfect for Mother’s Day brunch or lunch…

This recipe was kindly shared with us by Sara Capacci, who has an obsession for Real Food, Self-Love & Connection. Mother of two & lover of simple life, Sara’s mission is to inspire women to reconnect to themselves and the pleasure of life through Food, Love & Adventure. Originally from Italy, she wants to share the ‘Italian Passion for Food & Life’ with the world. Learn more about Sara at www.theconnectionproject.com.au.

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