Ingredients 

2 Roma Tomatoes, seeds removed, diced

1/2 red capsicum, diced

15cm cucumber, seeds removed, diced

1/4 red onion, finely diced

handful green beans, chopped, blanched and cooled

bunch asparagus, chopped, blanched and cooled

1 tsp black mustard seeds -

pinch crushed cummin seeds,

pinch coriander powder

Squirt Lemon juice

Orange flavoured olive oil

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Method

Mix all together and serve with lebanese bread, felafel and yoghourt.

I try to like it, I really do. It just sounds so sexy when Italians say the word, with the soft dentalised T, the kitchen getting hot and steamy while stirring those translucent pearls of rice over the stove, the super fresh ingredients just picked up from the market . Yep - it should work. But it doesn’t.  I’ve had risotto at restaurants, and made it at home, and I just can’t see what all the fuss is about.

So, in a vain attempt to try to win myself over and join the cool and sexy risotto-lovers, I made it again yesterday. I followed instructions, I did a nice simple combination of flavours – Chicken, mushroom, pea and asparagus. I even made my own stock (after forgetting to buy it at the shops!)  But still no win. The flavours were there… but the texture is just not my bag. Also, if I ever try it again, I won’t be using large field mushrooms - they turned the brew into a fetching shade of “Tracksuit Grey”.

RISOTTO FAIL.

But Behold! Arancini to the rescue! These nifty little balls of deliciousness saved the day… well… the left overs the next day at least! Arancini Balls (or, as I have coined them Gruel Cubes, but we’ll get to that later) are another ‘very in’ thing at the moment, they originate from Sicily. Essentially, they’re crumbed balls of leftover Risotto. So, maybe that 2 kilograms of risotto I have frozen in the fridge won’t go to waste!

Ingredients

A serve of leftover Risotto – I’m not even going to bother giving you my recipe… please find one that works for you.

Plain Flour

1 egg, lightly whisked

Breadcrumbs

finely grated parmesan cheese

Olive Oil spray

Olive Oil

Method

1. take some risotto in your hand and shape it into a ball
2. roll in flour
3. roll in egg
4. roll in breadcrumbs mixed with parmesan cheese
5. repeat for next ball
6. spray with olive oil (this just makes sure all sides are covered in oil)
7. add a bit of oil to a heated pan and fry balls on all sides until golden. (they kinda turned into cube shapes while cooking this way, hense the nick name – Gruel Cubes. Arancini Balls sounds a lot more fancy)
8. or deep fry
9. or bake in the oven

I call these Potatoes “confit”, but apparently, after some investigation, I have discovered these sort of potatoes are known as pommes de terre à la sarladaise. A crispy potato cooked in duck fat.

Well, I thought I’d give it a crack after I trimmed a bit of the excess skin and fat off a couple of Duckbreasts I had. There was so much I said “This is not going to go to waste!” and cooked my potatoes in it. Oh My. OOooh My. It was good. So crispy on the outside, and fluffy in the middle.

I served it with duckbreasts with Green Peppercorn sauce. My lovely Mum showed me how to make this sauce. She served it with Chicken. It is so simple,  only 2 ingredients!

Ingredients

2 duck breast

3 smallish potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters

2 bunches asparagus, steamed, to serve

For Sauce

150ml pure cream

1 can green peppercorns (you can find little cans of these next to all the other herbs and spices in the supermarket)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Trim a little of the excess fat and skin from the  edges of the duck breasts, and reserve.

2. Score the skin of the breasts with a sharp knife in a criss-cross pattern, then season on both sides.

3. Put the breasts, skin side down,  into a cold pan and then turn on the heat.  Add the trimmed bits of skin to the pan.

4. As the duck heats up, it will release its fat.

5.  Turn the breast over once it is brown on the skin side (about 5 minutes once it reaches heat).

6. At the same time as this, Put the Potatoes into some boiling water and simmer for about 5 minutes.

7. Drain and add to the same pan the duckbreasts are in.  Spoon over the duck fat.

8. Pop into the preheated oven. Cook the duck for about 10-15 minutes. Take out and rest in some aluminium foil.

9. While the duck rests, continue to cook the potatoes. Basting with the fat every once in a while.

10. Blanche or steam the asparagus.

For the sauce:

Drain the brine from the peppercorns and add to a hot pan. Add the cream and stir with a wooden spoon constantly while boiling until it thickens. (I added about 1/2 tsp of cornflour to mine, and it went really thick! But next time I will just stick to my mum’s recipe!)

Serve the duck with the Potatoes and asparagus, with the peppercorn sauce over the duck.

1/3 cup Quinoa
2/3 cup Water
Chicken Stock Cube

2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 red onion, sliced
1 large Chicken thigh, trimmed of all fat, deboned and cubed
1 bunch of Asparagus, trimmed of woody end and cut into inch long pieces
100g green beans, cut on diagonal into inches
2/3 cup frozen baby peas
1 Josephine Pear, cored and cut into 1/8ths
1/2 shallot, finely cut
Avocado

1. Rinse Quinoa and add to water and about 1/4 of the stock cube, in saucepan with lid. Bring to boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.

2. On high heat, brown chicken and remove from fry pan/ wok and set aside
3. Do the same with the pear to caremelise slightly, and set aside
4. In a little oil, stirfry the garlic and onion, then add all the vegetables and stirfry for a few minutes. Add a few spoonfuls of water during the cooking process to help the vegies steam.
5. Add the pear, chicken and quinoa to the pan, stir til heated through and combined. Season as required
6 Serve with a shard of avocado and a drizzle of oil or vinegar.