Rigatoni with Homemade Pesto

One of the first things we did when we arrived in Houston was to buy fresh herbs in pots for the back deck:  Rosemary, basil, oregano, flat leaf parsley and thyme. We are fortunate to have Buchanan’s Native Plants in the neighborhood with their great selection of wonderful plants.  All of the herbs are healthy and growing but the basil has really taken off!  Which only means one thing: pesto!

Ingredients

2-3 big branches of overgrown basil

1-2 large cloves of garlic , peeled and coarsely chopped (I only had one but would have put two if it had been available.)

45g or 1.6 ounces of raw pine nuts

100g or 4 ounces of Parmesan

Olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

500g or about 1 pound rigatoni pasta

Special Equipment

Hand blender

Method

Toast the pine nuts in a dry non-stick skillet.

Pick the leaves off of the basil branches and finely grate the Parmesan. 

Put 100ml or 4 ounces olive oil in the hand blender container. Add the toasted pine nuts, half the basil leaves and half the Parmesan.  Blend for a couple of minutes and then add the balance of the basil and the Parmesan and a few good grinds of fresh black pepper. If the pesto is too thick, add more olive oil, starting with another 2 ounces. Blend until the pesto is smooth and of even consistency.   This will make enough pesto for two or three meals.  It keeps in the fridge for a couple of weeks. It can be frozen and will still be tasty but it is most delicious fresh.

Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Save some pasta water in a cup before draining in a colander.  After draining, pour the pasta back in the hot pot and add a great dollop of pesto, according to your taste. 

Mix thoroughly and serve.  (If you are not serving immediately, wait to add the pesto until you are ready. Loosen the pasta with some reserved pasta water first and warm through before adding the pesto.)

Serve topped with extra Parmesan.  This can be a complete meal on its own or it also makes a great side dish.   We served ours with a small fillet each of single-hook-caught wild salmon from Whole Foods, simply pan-fried in a non-stick skillet with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and a touch of olive oil.

Grilled Mushroom Risotto

Younger daughter and I are on our own again so it’s time to get back on the program of trying to eat healthier and more vegetarian.  That was tough when we ate out so much when Simon was here.  So our first evening’s meal was a mushroom risotto we had planned for a couple of weeks back, adapted from a recipe from Jamie Oliver.

Ingredients to serve two hungry people without a side dish – or two not so hungry people with a small bowl of leftovers for breakfast the next day

For the risotto

Approx. ½ liter/1 pint vegetable stock  (Make stock with vegetable stock paste or cubes and warm water or go all out and boil some vegetables. I used the stock paste.)

2 tablespoons olive oil

200g/7oz risotto rice (I used Arborio and I think it turned out creamer than my usual Carnaroli.)

½ glass of dry white wine

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

42g/1½oz butter

56g/2oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese

For the mushrooms

3 large Portobello mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thickly

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

For the mushrooms: Heat a griddle pan till it is scorching hot and then add a drizzle of olive oil.  Place the mushroom slices in the hot pan with enough space in between so that they actually grill and brown. Turn when golden and brown the other side.  Turn the heat down and sprinkle with sea salt, pepper and the finely chopped garlic.  Drizzle with a little more olive oil and let the garlic cook until it is soft. Do not let it burn or it will be bitter. Remove from the hot pan and set aside to top the risotto.

For the risotto:. You want it to be smooth, creamy and oozy, not thick and stodgy.

Stage 1

In a pan, heat the olive oil and add the rice then turn up the heat.

Stage 2

The rice will begin to lightly fry, so keep stirring it. After a minute it will look slightly translucent. Add the wine and keep stirring — it will smell fantastic. Any harsh alcohol flavors will evaporate and leave the rice with a tasty essence.

Stage 3

Once the wine has cooked into the rice, add your first ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of salt. Turn down the heat to a simmer so the rice doesn’t cook too quickly on the outside. Keep adding ladlesful of stock, stirring and almost massaging the creamy starch out of the rice, allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. This will take around 15 minutes. Taste the rice — is it cooked? Carry on adding stock until the rice is soft but with a slight bite. Don’t forget to check the seasoning carefully. If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, add some boiling water.

Stage 4

Remove from the heat and add the butter and Parmesan. Stir well. Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for two minutes. This is the most important part of making the perfect risotto, as this is when it becomes outrageously creamy and oozy like it should be. Eat it as soon as possible, while the risotto retains its beautiful texture.

Serve topped  with the grilled mushroom slices and another helping of freshly grated Parmesan.

Enjoy! 

Duck eggs poached in tomato coulis

In Kuala Lumpur, our satellite service has the Asian Food Channel instead of the Food Network but the concept is the same: Lots of shows with people cooking or traveling around the world and eating and cooking.  Through AFC, I have been introduced to many chefs and cooks who have inspired me to try different methods and different foods. One of these is Kylie Kwong.  

Kylie is an Australian of Chinese descent and she often invites her mother to join her in the kitchen during her shows. She has a restaurant in Sydney  where her dishes are Chinese with an Australian flair, with a great emphasis on fresh, lively ingredients with lots of spark and chili. Last year I watched her make a duck egg omelet on the beach at a family get-together and I wanted to try duck eggs. You know, just to see if they were any different from hens’ eggs.

Saturday at the farmers’ market I had my first chance.  Duck eggs were 50 cents a piece, so I bought six. Pricey, I suppose, if that was going to be the only eggs you bought and used but $3 seems reasonable for a possible new taste sensation.  I am disappointed to report that we couldn’t really tell the difference between the delicious pastured hens’ eggs we had for breakfast yesterday and the duck eggs we had today, but that won’t stop me sharing the recipe for how I served them because it would also work quite well with normal eggs.

Eggs poached in tomato coulis

Ingredients

4 duck or hen eggs

2 well-ripen tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup finely chopped onion tops

1 Serrano pepper, seeds removed and finely chopped

2 tsp soy sauce

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil

Method

This is going to work best in a non-stick skillet. Sauté the chopped tomatoes, Serrano pepper and two-thirds of the onion tops in a little olive oil. 

This will get really juicy at first. Cook down for about five to 10 minutes until the liquid is reduced by a quarter. Add one teaspoon of the soy sauce. Stir well and then make small holes in the tomato in which to drop the eggs.

Break the eggs carefully and drop them into the tomato coulis. Sprinkle the yolks with a little sea salt and black pepper.  Turn the fire down to medium and put a lid on the saucepan. 

Used to normal eggs, I was surprised by how long it took the duck eggs to poach. I ended up spooning a little of the hot tomato over the whites so cook them faster because I didn’t want the yolk cooked through and it looked like they might be by the time the whites were completely opaque.  I also took the lid off after just a few minutes for the same reason.

Spoon the hot tomato over the whites to help them cook faster.

Right at the end, I drizzled the second teaspoon of soy sauce over the yolks and added a drizzle of good olive oil, also bought at the farmers’ market.

Serve with toasted, buttered whole grain bread cut into soldiers for dipping and sprinkle remaining onion tops to garnish. 

Enjoy!