Cook, Interrupted

Hey there. Many apologies for being a baaad blogger. Will be back at the end of August, can't wait.

Have a fantastic summer, and in the meantime, here are a few of the things I haven't had time to post.

Rustic Apple Tart
Recipe from foodisluv.















Beet Risotto
Recipe from spoonful of sugar.















Swedish Meatballs
Another great one from foodisluv.

Middle-Eastern Feast (with cats)

OK, food in a moment - first I have to show you this:















And this:















She's sure it's all for her! Quite a look on her face when she was told to get down. Awww...

Back to the food. The inspiration for this came from Pinch My Salt: she did a hummus post last week, and I poked around on her site and found some great recipes for other things to go with it. Then Bob had a fancy middle-eastern spread for Father's Day, and that sealed the deal.

Originally was going to try making pita too, but oh well.

Herewith some fun facts from Wikipedia:

• The largest recorded bowl of tabbouleh was made on June 9, 2006 in Ramallah in the West Bank. It weighed 3,348 lbs, and earned a Guinness World Record.
• In the movie Bruno, Sacha Baron-Cohen (in character as Bruno) confuses Hummus and Hamas in an interview with Israeli and Palestinian scholars, creating much confusion.
• Come to think of it, did you see You Don't Mess with the Zohan? (A work of genius.) Hummus features there too...
• Nothing funny about tzatziki, apparently.

The Recipes

All from Pinch My Salt:

• Artichoke Hummus (she has lots of other flavors too, will go back and try some more)
• Tzatziki
• Tabbouleh with Persimmons & Almonds

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

Everything was very easy, so nothing went wrong! It was all delicious. The sweetness of the tabbouleh made a great contrast with the sharpness of the tzatziki.

Hummus:

• Would certainly have been easier with a food processor - my mini-prep is very mini, so had to blend everything in little batches. Forgot to put the oil on the top, oops.
• Had to leave out the garlic, of course :( But it was still great.

Tabbouleh:

• Didn't use persimmons - just some apricots and a nectarine that we had already, and they worked perfectly.
• Used about half the amount of herbs, just because we didn't have enough, and it was fine (though I know it's supposed to be very herby).

Tzatziki:

• Bumped up the mint a bit - Mark Bittman had half a cup, and Pinch My Salt had a tablespoon, so I split the difference and used a quarter cup, which seemed to work.
• Drained the cucumbers but didn't strain the yoghurt, and it was still good (even the next day).

Pix

Tabbouleh:

Hummus:















Tzatziki:















On the table, Jack throwing a pita:

Asparagus Risotto

Tonight's dinner - nice, but not as good as the pea risotto, methinks. A tad bland.

The Recipe: Asparagus Risotto
From Mr. B. online at NYTimes.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

The point of this article is that you don't need to stir risotto constantly. That may be true, but not sure that even Mr. B. totally buys into his argument here. In his How to Cook Everything (aka The Bible), he says you shouldn't walk away from the stove for more than a minute, and that seems about right, in my (extremely limited) experience.

Pix

Beginning Step 4.















End Step 4.















On plate, baaad pic. Garnish is some left-over prosciutto, sauteed a couple of mins:

Winter Squash Risotto (Orange Again!)

This is a recipe I stumbled on when looking for info on sodium (see below). And, yes, it's orange. What is it with us?

It was pretty easy, tasty, and had a lovely fragrance - which is nice, because our apartment is rather short on doors, and smells tend to waft about and hang around.

Served it with some asparagus that had been languishing in the fridge since the Pernod dish - actually a very good combination of flavors, highly recommended.

The Recipe: Winter Squash Risotto

Here's the link:
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/winter_squash_risotto.html

I've been wondering whether I should after all be replicating the recipes here, to prevent broken link issues, etc. Any thoughts?

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

Well, actually, I did make quite a big mistake - just after step 2, I started to do a bit of tidying, and put away the packet of rice. And discovered the arborio rice was still sitting in the cupboard - I'd used jasmine rice instead! Aaaargh!

But, you know, it really didn't seem to matter. It cooked up fine, and didn't taste weird at all. I think the parmesan cheese covers a lot of sins.

Also, the butternut squash could have been a teeny bit softer, even though it was definitely done - but maybe that's a matter of taste. Perhaps could cook it a little longer before adding the other ingredients, or else steam/nuke/parboil it separately before starting.

Pix

After step 2













About the middle of step 3

On the plate, with some fresh grated Parm. on top