First Look: Springtime Risotto with Asparagus and Peas

It's a beautiful June day here in Saskatoon. We've had a decent amount of rain, which means my yard is green and lush, and while the grass is getting too tall, I kind of love it because the cats can scoot around in it and hide like it's their own jungle playground. This totally cracks me up. I love those little critters. The peonies have formed small heads and in about 2 weeks time they'll become the bombshells of the backyard, and honestly, there's no time like peony time! I also love the moisture because it means Dixon's huge vegetable plot is coming along nicely, and for the last month or so I've been enjoying the best springtime asparagus. If you follow me on Instagram you know how bonkers I get about it. I love it so much that it graces the cover of my new cookbook! Isn't it gorgeous? The inside is just as pretty, and I can't wait to share more with you. So much hard work and love and eating went into this collection of recipes. Plus the dishes. So many dishes. One day I will have a dishwasher! 

Greek Stuffed Zucchini with Rice and Lentils

This is a sponsored post.  I was compensated financially by USA Rice.  All thoughts and feelings and opinions about rice are entirely my own.  As always, I wouldn't tell you about a product  unless I loved it.   


I didn't grow any zucchini this year.  In fact, I didn't grow much of anything except pots of herbs and 3 tomatoes.  No, not tomato plants.  Tomatoes, singular.  I'm not sure why the heck my tomatoes did not flourish, but I have an inkling it's because my yard has become tremendously shady over the past couple of years.  Veg hate shade, that's a known fact.  Good thing I'm dating a vegetable farmer so there has been no shortage of tomatoes, or zucchini or anything else that grows in the ground around here.  If I were an emoji right now, I'd be the one with hearts for eyes.

Salted Pumpkin Panna Cotta & A Side of Mashed

It's the eve of Thanksgiving weekend in Canada...turkeys are being purchased, pumpkin pies are being prepped, there are line ups at the grocery stores and gas stations.  I love this weekend.  The weather is still great, there's very little crazy like there is at Christmas, and all you have to do is be thankful.  Bonus points for crashing through all of the fallen leaves like you're five years old again.  This weekend also means spending time with your family and friends, and eating your way into a food coma.  Or maybe it's a smaller gathering this year - just you and your honey bun, or grandma or cat.  My latest article in Culinaire is all about the intimate Thanksgiving dinner for two, and guys, I made Cornish hen for the first time, so you really should check it out.  Deelicious doesn't describe.  There is also a recipe for this dreamy panna cotta, if you want to omit the pie.  So simple and smooth, plus you can make it in advance.  Ding ding ding!  And lastly, I gussied up some mashed potatoes with kale and squash.  There may be no going back to regular mashed spuds after devouring these.  Read the article in its entirety here.  Happy Thanksgiving, and take care out there.  xoxo Renée

Cozy: Savoury Kale & Caramelized Onion Bread Pudding

It's (un)officially winter here in my neck o' the woods - the heavy parka and fleece lined boots have come out of the basement and flannel sheets have cozied up the bed.  The snow is deep and heavy and in the cold dark mornings my boots loudly crunch, and when I exhale you can see my breath rising to the stars.   Long winter nights stretch out before me, and with that comes a cozy house:  candles burn, twinkle lights twinkle, tea brews and keeps hands warm, cloves and cinnamon sticks simmer, the cats curl up in a cat nip-induced coma and the low hum of the furnace is the background acoustic.  And then of course there are the cravings, mainly consisting of cheese and chocolate.  Happily, wine goes with both.

Sprouted Kitchen: Braised White Beans with Leeks & Bacon

My email inbox is often full of surprises.  Sure there are the requests to pimp out products, and hey, have you heard blah blah blah is happening, and hey can I advertise on your site, and so on and so forth.  Then there is the really good stuff, like when sweet strangers comment on a recipe, and when I was offered a job doing this, and when I was invited to go here, and when a classmate from over 30 years ago (I'm old, okay) dropped me a line to say hi, because she saw me making these on TV.  And then there was the biggie, the email that pretty much took my breath away, the one thing I still think about almost every day.  Email.  Almost like Christmas morning.  Almost.  So you can imagine my delight when I received an email from Ali at Ten Speed Press wondering if I would like a review copy of The Sprouted Kitchen cookbook to check out.  Yes!  Please!

Into the Wild: Wild Mushroom & Asiago Risotto Cakes

I'm super thrilled to be the guest blogger over on the Mushrooms Canada blog today.  I created these Wild Mushroom & Asiago Risotto Cakes just for them, and mushroom lovers everywhere!

Quinoa With Roasted Butternut Squash and Pecans

 

So check it out - these photos were all taken in my backyard a couple of days ago.  The cats stretched out, chewing on new shoots of grass while I snapped away.  Every once in awhile they'd stop chomping and start horking and give me a look like "she's still at it - that quinoa must be cold."  Oh the feline attitude I deal with.  I'm totally loving these days of longer light and the ability to shoot outside again.  I've gots the springtime fever I tell ya!  There are baby buds on trees and life is popping out allover.  Spring just oozes possibilities and I'm totally digging it.  

My Seven Links and First Year Blogiversary!

 

One year ago today I put forth into the world my very first post on my brand shiny new food blog.  It was all about gingerbread waffles and caramelized pears and I was pleased as punch.  One year.  Time has flown, friends.  Almost 100 (!!) posts later, and I'm still over the moon that I've created a little world here for you to stop by, stay awhile and hear what I have to say about food and cooking.  Given the healthy measures of gardening, cat talk, single-girl bitching whining, lots of lovely photos and perhaps an over-active imagination when it comes to my boyfriend Don Draper, I hope you've enjoyed letting me share little pieces of my world with you.

Easy Appie: Red Curry Shrimp Dumplings

 

This post is short on words, long on photos - please forgive.  I'm having a bit of a Sophie's Choice moment as far as editing goes, so they all stay!  I've just come off a 50 hour work week, and I'm back at it bright and early tomorrow morning, so please forgive any grammatical misdoings, okay?  And you're probably thinking to yourselves, so what's her excuse the other times she puts the apostrophe in the wrong place?  Good question friends, good question.

So it's rather late on a Sunday night, and while I should be getting my beauty sleep, gearing up for a week of being up to my eyeballs in turkey and stuffing and all things gravy, I knew I couldn't rest until I told you about these dumplings.  I made them last Sunday (yes I've been holding out on you!) and I've been thinking about them all week.  Dumplings are one of my favourite go-out-and-eat foods, especially at Dim Sum.  Yes, I love me a good dumpling times a million.  This recipe in Everyday Food caught my eye a couple of months back and I thought hey, how awesome would these be as appetizers around the holidays?  Super awesome, that's what.

I know, you're busy, and probably thinking who has time to make dumplings?  But for serious, these aren't too difficult at all.  Heck I'd consumed a few Earl Grey martinis the night before, thus not functioning at full culinary capacity and I pulled the wontons off within 40 minutes.  Non-martini imbibing, I'm guessing 30 min.  There are still wonton wrappers in the fridge, so I'll test that theory later this month, when I have, you know, time.

 

And I know, it's super easy to pop into some places that specialize in frozen food and get yourselves some dumplings.  Not to name any names, but it sounds like N&N.  Or you could dive into the freezer section of any large supermarket and get your dumplings there.  It's easy, I get that, and right now you have to choose your battles when it comes to Christmas prep.  (In my house the war is being lost on housework.  If you come over, promise not to look too closely at the levels of dust, okay?  And really, isn't that what January is for?)  But do me a favour, if you pick up anything that comes in a box, look at the list of ingredients.  Sometimes it takes a chemistry degree to figure out what the hell some of the ingredients are.  And I don't know about you, but that scares the crap out of me.

Red curry paste is a must in my kitchen.  A smooth, moist blend of lemongrass, red chiles, garlic, shallots, kaffir lime leaves and the gingerlike galangal, red curry paste goes fantastically well with shrimp, chicken, fish and beef.  Don't forget to combine it with coconut milk for an out-of-this-world curry.  A little goes a long way, and some brands will be spicier than others.  The original recipe called for 4 tsp of red curry paste, and I'm not sure if the recipe testers had stomachs lined with iron, but holy moly, 1 tsp is plenty hot.  Not burn your face off hot, but oooh, this has a nice heat hot.  Find red curry paste in the Asian section of the supermarket, or head to your Chinatown and do some exploring.
 

The best thing about making your own dumplings is that you know what is going in them.  Use good-looking shrimp.  I found some large 21-24 size organic white, and they were amazing.  (The number on the package means the amount of shrimp per pound.)  Using a food processor, grind up the shrimp into a paste, add the red curry, some fish sauce (found in the Asian section of your supermarket), green onion and ginger.  Easy filling, right?  While it may take a bit of hunt to find wonton wrappers, any Asian supermarket will have them, and check the refrigeration section in the produce department of the local Safeway/Superstore too.  A little filling in the middle, then fold the corners together, pinch to close tightly and that's it.  I pan-fried mine for a minute, then poured in a little water to steam, cover with a lid and in 3 minutes your dumplings are cooked!  Served with a side dipping sauce, these make an awesome little snack.  I made a batch of about 28.  Froze half of them, and later in the week, when I came home from work ravenous, I heated some chicken broth in a pot, added the frozen dumplings, and some veg and all of a sudden there was wonton soup on my stove.

Looks like I've written more than I ever intended to tonight.  I blame the dumplings.  Once you make them, you'll know what I mean.  Now I better hit the Sealy and try to get a solid 7 hours of slumber.  It's another long work-week, friends.  Good thing I've got more dumplings in the freezer.  

 

Red Curry Shrimp Dumplings

2-3 tsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp minced peeled ginger (from a 2 inch piece)
2 green onions, thinly sliced
3/4 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined.  I used about 20 large shrimp.
1 tsp red curry paste
1 tsp fish sauce
24 wonton wrappers (you may use more if you have extra filling)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sriracha (or other chili/garlic sauce you like)
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar

In a small skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil and over med high heat, cook the ginger and green onion just 2 minutes until fragrant.  Remove from heat.  In a food processor, grind up the shrimp until finely chopped.  Transfer to bowl and add the ginger mixture, as well as the fish sauce and curry paste. Stir to combine.
Working with one wonton wrapper at a time, place 1 heaping tsp of shrimp mixture in the middle.  With a wet finger (I keep a bowl of water handy) moisten the edges of the wrapper, then bring the 4 corners together, pinching to seal.  Cover filled dumplings with a clean towel as you work, so they don't dry out.
In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 or more tsp of vegetable oil over med high heat.  Add the dumplings seam side up and cook until golden on the bottom, about 1 min.  Carefully add 1/2 cup water to skillet and cover, cook until water almost evaporated, about 3 minutes.  Uncover and cook until all water evaporates, another minute.  Reduce heat to medium if they overbrown.  You may have to cook in batches, depending on the size of your pan. 
If planning on making these ahead, freeze them raw, then thaw before cooking.  If you want to put them in soup, throw them in while frozen, and they cook up in no time.  Just look for the pink!
Combine the soy sauce, sriracha, sugar, rice vinegar in a small bowl. Adjust seasonings.  Makes an excellent dipping sauce for the dumplings!  Adapted from Everyday Food, October 2011. 

In the Family: Making Sauerkraut (with Turkey Sausages)

 

It's an annual event:  one weekend in October, my sister comes for a visit, toting along her beautiful daughters and her father-in-law's cabbage shredder.  It's sauerkraut making time!  If my sis has a bumper crop o' cabbage, she brings that too, but this year the worms killed most of it.  Bloody worms.  Mom got a massive deal on cabbage from one of the local farmers at the market, so all dreams of sauerkraut were still intact. (Yes, I dream of sauerkraut, don't you?)  We grew up eating this stuff - fried with onions and perogies; baked with pork chops; the most perfect grilled sausage topping. In fact sauerkraut and sausages were born to party together.  Us Kohlmans, we love the stuff.  My younger brother is especially crazy for sauerkraut - like he almost has a problem.  Mom says that when she was pregnant with him she ate it like crazy, so maybe that accounts for something.  (In my case, she must have ate her weight in bacon and chocolate.  Must ask her.)  Even the little ones among us have acquired a fondness for cabbage. 

Disclaimer:  I had no part in the making of the sauerkraut - this is totally my Mom's and sister's show.  I had strict instructions to keep the kidlets occupied/entertained and the wine glasses topped up.  Two very important tasks indeed!   My sis cranks out the cabbage like nobody's business and makes us laugh.  And not just because we've tucked into a bottle of white.  She's the funniest person I know and I love it when she comes for a visit. On this mid October Sunday, we make our kraut (I watch, they make), gossip a lot little, watch the kids torment chase the cats, and count the days until we can crack one of these jars open. 
 

There are a couple of ways to make sauerkraut, that I know of anyway.  First is to layer the shredded cabbage and salt in a crock, weigh it down with something heavy, and let it bubble away and ferment.  After month or so it's good to go, with freezing in containers usually the way of preserving it.  We don't make it like that.  Our method is simple too, in that shredded cabbage is placed into sterilized jars, a simple brine poured over this, lids screwed on and done.  Here, I'll show you:

Start with clean, sterilized jars and lids.  

Shred the cabbage.  If you don't have a cabbage shredder (this one is quite old, not sure if they even make them anymore), you can do it by hand. Mom doesn't like how cabbage turns out in the food processor. Just sayin'.

Toss the shredded cabbage with coarse salt.  I asked Mom for quantities, and I got "the look".  She told me to tell you, sprinkle some pickling salt over a bowl-full of cabbage.  Thanks Mom. 

Put the cabbage into jars and pour a brine over this.  (Mom uses the same recipe every year, from this  Community cook book that I've known all my life.  Next year there is talk that they may pack some peppers in with the cabbage just to shake things up a bit.  That will be interesting.)  Screw lids on tight, and Voila!  You've made sauerkraut!  Let stand on the counter, with tea towels underneath just in case it bubbles over.  I know Mom will add more brine if a jar loses a lot of liquid.  

After 3-4 weeks, you can unscrew a jar and enjoy in your favourite recipe. This is simple yet delicious  peasant food that I cut my teeth on.  Mom gives us each a couple of jars to take home, but I'm lucky. I just live a few blocks away and I have keys to her house, so if I've run out and got a hankering, I know where to find the best sauerkraut in the world.  

I really like kraut with fried onions and sausages, especially when they are crispy and super flavourful like mine were.  (The turkey sausages came from Pine View Farms and were amazing.)  Here's what I did:  in a skillet, heat some oil, and cook off the sausages until all crispy and golden.  When done, remove from pan.  To the same pan, add a bit more oil (canola is fine) fry sliced onions, add a bunch of sauerkraut, minus the juice, to warm through and get a little browned.  Add sausages back to pan and let the whole thing mingle for about 5 minutes.  Add some cracked pepper and dish up some garlic sour cream mashed potatoes or cooked perogies alongside.  Comfort food all the way baby. 

 

Ruby Red: Beet-Barley Risotto with Ricotta and Thyme

 

So this is it.  The last time I'll be cooking with anything fresh from the garden, for a long, long while. Sniff.  It's a little sad to think I have to start buying my vegetables from the market again.  I've been so spoiled for the past four months. Growing your own food rocks (and saves you money!!!)  I didn't have many beets left in the garden, just enough to impart some magnificent colour to the risotto I'd been planning.  If food were fireworks, this risotto would be high in the sky. 

Risotto, as you know, is usually made with arborio rice.  Nice, short grain, fat rice.  Remember that rice pudding I made, with the caramelized brown sugar crust?  That was made with arborio rice.  It's really the only rice I have in the house.  Well that, and it's healthier cousin, brown short grain rice.  I don't eat a lot of rice, really.  Can't remember when I had a pot of it on my stove, even.  My starch of choice comes from potato-land.  Then noodles.  Then fun, healthy stuff like quinoa and lentils.  I never crave a pot of steamed rice like I do garlic mashed.   My rice needs to be gussied up either in coconut milk (yum!) or in a creamy risotto, with butter and cheese.  How do you say Calorification?

When I spied with my little green eye, this beet-barley risotto, I thought I must make.  Don't get me wrong, I loves me some risotto the traditional way, but because it substituted barley, it just sounded so healthy.  And healthy is good, right?  It's hardly a secret I have one massive sweet tooth.  Take a look through the recipe index and see for yourself where my interests lie.  To compensate for all of that sweetness (and butter!) when preparing meals at home, I try to cut back a wee bit on the fat and increase my fibre where I can.  This risotto fits the bill perfectly.  Using the "pearl" barley creates a soft, chewy texture, and while it does have some of the bran removed, it's still loaded with nutrients and fibre.  Yay!

Risotto is not something you want to walk away from.  It requires your undivided attention, so don't go shopping for shoes online while trying to prepare this.  It's not complicated, at all.  Just picky.  First you melt a little butter in a saucepan, add some chopped garlic and onion, cook that a bit.  Add barley and glugs of white wine.  The most work you have to do is just stir in hot broth to the barley and stir, stir, stir until it's all incorporated.  And repeat.  And repeat.  That's all. Takes about 45 minutes from start to finish.  Keep the heat on medium low and you'll be fine.  While you're at it, keep a glass of white nearby for you, too.  I mean you have to have something to keep you company while you're busy stirring.  The original recipe called for canned beets, but I used about 1 cup of cooked, puréed beets.   Let me tell you, stirring them into the risotto at the end was glorious!  Look at that colour - and I didn't really muck around with any of it while editing the photos.  That's all beet's doing.

Can we talk about ricotta?  It really makes this risotto.  Yes, it's fine on it's own.  Has a lovely, chewy texture and is all aromatic with the fresh thyme and very, very fancy because it's, well, red.  But when you get a bite of the ricotta, with the beet-barley combo, it's just really, really good.  Ricotta kind of puts it over the top.  You need the ricotta.   Partner this risotto with any roasted meat - like bone-in chicken breasts, or some nice ribs, or lamb.  Mmmmm.  Lamb.  Now I'm really talking fancy talk.

Beet-Barley Risotto with Ricotta and Thyme

4 cups vegetable (or chicken) broth
2 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
1 cup pearl barley
1/2 cup white wine
1 398ml. can beets, drained, patted dry and puréed OR 1 cup of cooked, puréed  fresh beets
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup ricotta (or more!)

Heat the broth in a large saucepan.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and keep warm.
Melt the butter in a large, wide saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 min.  Add barley and stir until glossy, about 1 min.  Add wine and stir until barley has absorbed it, about 3 min.  Add 1/2 cup of broth.  Stir often until barley has absorbed most of the liquid.  Continue adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, and stirring, until barley is tender to the bite, keeping heat over medium low, so mixture is just simmering.  When all of broth is gone, your risotto should be done.  Stir in puréed beets and thyme and warm through.  The entire stirring and cooking process will be about 40-45 minutes.  Risotto should be slightly saucy but not soupy.  Remove from heat.  Serve right away, with a generous dollop of ricotta over each serving.  Makes enough for 4. 

 

Zucchini Fritters with Fresh Tomato and Feta Salsa

 

The end is in sight my friends, the end is in sight.  No, I haven't been on some massive mountainous trek (though that sounds like fun!).  My news is more ground level:  I'm down to my final 2 zucchini.  Woo hoo!  For the last couple of months I've been somewhat overwhelmed by the plethora of yellow squash creeping along my vegetable garden floor.  This is the first year the zucchini seeds have actually done anything, and I blame it all on that manure I lovingly spread across the garden way back in May.  The garden rocked this year, plain and simple.  Never before have I grown vegetables with such success - goes to show that the health of your garden really does depend on the health of your soil.  Plus the weather in Saskatoon was absolutely perfect - lovely, hot, sunny days, with not a lot of rain.  Dragging the hose around the yard was no fun, but I like to think I burned a million calories while doing so.

If you've been reading me regularly, and are aware of my squash "issues", you know I've stuffed it and grilled it; eaten it roasted and raw.  There was a week in early September where I was eating zucchini every day...and tempted to put them into neighbour's mailboxes.  Yes, there was a squash-palooza at my place this Summer, and I'm happy to report it's finally winding down.

My friend Chelsey texted me a couple of weeks ago, just to say hey, and to let me know she made the most amazing zucchini fritters.  Hello!  Chelse and I have been friends since the days of big hair and bigger glasses; since the dawn of cassette singles and stirrup pants; since the days of "Twin Peaks" and gorging on Ritz crackers with barbecue sauce.  Chelse was clearly reading my mind when she sent that text.  Further follow up resulted in her giving me the recipe, which she acquired from a lovely British food mag called 'Olive'. 

Looking at it online, I'm thinking I may just have to get a subscription...

So about the fritters.  They were freaking amazing.  The batter is quite simple - coarsely grated zucchini, with some eggs, flour, diced onion and hot pepper.  I added a little lemon zest just to brighten the flavour, and a good shake of coarse salt.  Next time - and yes, there will be a next time -  I would add some fresh herbs to the mix - like cilantro, parsley or basil.  The fritters were like how fritters should be:  crispy good on the outside and tender on the inside.  The fresh salsa (Yay!  I get to use up some tomatoes sitting on my counter too!) was the perfect accompaniment - and really, there's never a bad time for feta cheese, is there?  I only had yellow zucchini, so I had to purchase some green from the market, just to add more pop of colour in my photos.  You can imagine how ridiculous I felt buying zucchini!  Oh well.  Just two more to go, and I think I'll just grate them up too, for something deep, dark and decadent.  Stay tuned for that.

Zucchini Fritters with Fresh Tomato and Feta Salsa

Fritters:
1 hot pepper, finely diced (use any variety you like, just remember to seed it if you don't want it too spicy, and wear rubber gloves while handling!)
1/2 red onion, finely diced
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp coarse salt (more for sprinkling after)
1 tsp baking powder
3 medium zucchini, coarsely grated, juice squeezed out (about 2 cups, packed)
canola oil for frying

In a large bowl, combine the pepper, onion, lemon zest, spices, eggs.  Stir well.  Add the flour, stirring to moisten, then add the grated zucchini, stirring until all combined.   Heat oil, about 1/2 inch deep in a large skillet, dropping the batter by heaping spoonfuls.  Spread out a little to make round.  Fry on each side, about 3 minutes over medium high heat, until golden.  Sprinkle with salt, heap with your fresh salsa.  Makes about 8 fritters.

Salsa:
Combine in a bowl:
Fresh tomatoes, diced
red onion, diced
fresh herbs like mint, cilantro or basil
squeeze of honey
squeeze of a lime
drizzle of olive oil
salt, pepper, dash of hot sauce
diced feta cheese

Season it as you like!