Porcini, Sage and Blood Orange Risotto

This risotto sounds bizarre in concept. But in truth it is soothing and comforting to eat and not unusual at all in flavour. I like to believe the flavours merge together quite harmoniously. Don’t think of this dish as orange flavoured. Rather think of it as orange scented. The porcini in itself is assertive, both in taste and aroma, with the orange part lending an agreeable subtle quality.
As for everything I cook, the quality of ingredients used in this dish is extremely important. Choose good meaty slices of porcini instead of small unidentifiable pieces. Yes, they are expensive, but a small amount will go a long way. It is more economical to buy a one-kilo bag instead of many small 10gram packs. The added advantage is you will have an abundant amount of porcini in the kitchen cupboard waiting to be used during the entire year. Somehow I don’t feel too guilty using an expensive product when I have a lot of it.
As for the oranges, I used a hybrid navel / blood orange I found at the green grocer. I didn’t think much of this pseudo breed. I much prefer the real thing. If you can get pure blood oranges use them. They have a distinctive and wonderful aroma.
Sometime ago I wrote in one of my posts that Arborio rice made a poor risotto, and that I preferred to use carnaroli or vialone nano rice for their superior grain. Since writing that post, I have experimented with one brand of Arborio produced in Italy. I am very pleased to now write that I have been producing excellent “risotti” with this particular product. I guess all Arborio rices are not of the same in quality. As patriotic as I am, Australian Arborio rice is terrible and I do not recommend it all. Do try out different brand names if you are not satisfied with the one you are using.
And on a final note, I am not going to pretend the unique idea for this dish is mine. It is from the renowned River Café in London. The original recipe is printed in their “River Café Cook Book Easy”. I have adapted the recipe to suit my own palate.

Ingredients
Homemade Italian style stock, 1-2 litre (stock cubes are unacceptable)
30g dried porcini
100g swiss brown mushrooms, quatered
Fresh sage leaves
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
200g arborio, carnaroli, or vialone rice
1 blood orange, zest finely chopped and juiced
Grana Padano to taste, freshly grated
Unsalted cultured butter, about 50g cut into small cubes.
Sea salt
Fresh black pepper

Method
In a small bowl, soak the porcini with enough boiling water to just cover, for 15 minutes. Strain the porcini, reserving the liquid. Rinse each individual porcino slice under a tap of running water. Porcini are notorious for harbouring dirt; taste a slice if you are unsure. Strain the porcini liquid through unscented tissue paper and add to the stock.
In a saucepan heat 1- 2 tbsp of oil over a low heat. Add the garlic; do not allow it to colour. Add the swiss browns and cook gently for about 10 minutes. Put in the porcini slices and continue to cook for another 10 minutes. Set aside. Heat the stock in a separate pot, and keep it hot.
In the saucepan you have chosen to prepare your risotto, gently heat the remaining oil with the onion. Cook gently for 5 minutes. Do not allow the onion to colour.
Add the rice, turn up the heat and sauté for 1- 2 minutes, or until the rice has changed colour slightly.
Turn the heat back to medium and add 1 ladleful of hot stock. Stir the rice and season with salt, keeping in mind that the cheeses added at the end is salty.
When the rice has absorbed the stock, add another ladleful. Continue in this fashion until the rice is plump, al dente and creamy. It will take about 20 minutes. Use as much stock as you think it needs. I haven’t given a precise amount of stock needed because I have never measured it, preferring to cook with my eyes and tastes buds. At this stage you can stir in the reserved porcini/ swiss brown mushroom mixture.
Turn off the heat. Add freshly grated grana to taste, the butter, orange juice and zest.
Mix gently to combine. Add more stock if you think it needs it- risotto should be moist and wavy.
Check the seasoning and serve. Enough for 2.

Roasted Quail with Red Wine, Sage and Thyme

As soon as the weather turns remotely autumnal, I go nuts and start cooking everything with red wine. And by “autumnal” I mean anything under 30c. By the time March comes around I have had enough of summer (well actually, I had enough back in December) and I cant wait to start cooking with the flavours of autumn and the approaching winter.
You could do this dish with squab pigeons, just increase the cooking times. Make sure to keep the meat pink and juicy.

Ingredients
4 quail
30 ml extra virgin olive oil
10ml red wine
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp chopped sage
Fresh black + white peppers
Sea salt
600 ml rich, dark quail stock (or other stock)
300ml red wine. extra
2 tsp sugar or to taste
1 tsp of tomato paste or a splash of tomato puree (optional)
10g butter

Method
Cut away the backbone from the quails. Reserve the backbones for future stock.
Lay out the birds, as shown in the photograph, and apply pressure to the breast with your hand to flatten out. Cut away the wing at the first joint.
In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, red wine (10ml), herbs and peppers.
Rub all over the quail. Leave to marinate, either, in the fridge for a long time or for a short time at room temperature.
In the meantime reduce the stock and the extra red wine (and tomato, if using) to a glaze consistency. Add sugar to balance the acid levels. Set aside.
Preheat your oven to the highest setting. Place the quail, breast side down in a baking dish and season with salt. Roast for 6 minutes. Turn them over, so they are breast side up. Season the breasts with a pinch of salt, and roast for a further 2 minutes.
The quail will be perfectly tender and moist after this time. Don’t expect them to have browned. 8 minutes in the oven is not enough time to color them.
Allow the quail to rest while you get on with the sauce.
Bring the sauce back to the boil, and add the butter, emulsifying it into the reduction. Serve the quail with the red wine reduction and a plate of roast vegetables.
4 quail will serve 2 people.

Anchovy, Caper and Sage Marinated Scallops

I am only going to write this once (or I will try). I HATE SUMMER. It is almost 40c as I write this, and there is nothing glamorous about it (shorts, sweat, body ordour, greasy skin, bad hair) People who enjoy these suffocating weather conditions are freaks. (I am sorry if I have offended, but the heat makes me bitchy)
On a positive note, summery food is the only thing that will keep me from slashing my wrists and these scallops are delicious. They only require a couple of minutes of cooking, so if you are precious like moi, you wont get too hot in the kitchen…

Ingredients
300g scallops, cleaned weight (with the coral still attached)
4 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
1 tsp of salt preserved capers, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped sage (fresh is best)
Lots of fresh black pepper
1 tbsp of olive oil
30g butter
Lemon wedges, to serve

Method
Combine the anchovy, capers and sage with the olive oil.
Toss with scallops.
Grind over a generous amount of black pepper and toss again.
Cover and refrigerate.
When you are ready to cook, heat the butter in a wide pan over a high heat.
Add the scallops and sear for about 1 minute, or until lightly golden. Turn them over.
Another minute (or less) and they will be ready.
Serve immediately with lemon wedges.
This goes well with borlotti beans, artichokes and rocket leaves tossed with tarragon vinegar and olive oil.

Enough for 2.

Silverbeet, Ricotta & Currant Ravioli

I know Silverbeet is an old fashioned vegetable and probably considered boring by some, but I really like it and I cook it often.
It is cheap and plentiful, and is available from both greengrocers and supermarkets I like it better than spinach and I cook with it all year round. The natural season for silverbeet in Australia, is April through to November. But I do not really care for this because I use it all year round! Another reason I use this vegetable often, is the fact you get “two” vegetables- the leaves and the stalks (I will provide a recipe for the stalks soon).
There are many recipes from the Mediterranean repertoire which combine silverbeet and currants (or raisins) and so I thought this combination would work well as a filling for Ravioli. And it was very successful. The sweetness from the currants are not immediately apparent to the palate, but offer a slight fruitiness which works well with the silverbeet and ricotta.
Unlike most vegetables, which benefit from quick cooking, I think silverbeet tastes best from a longer cooking method.
I am only offering the recipe for the filling and the dressing for this dish, because I have written about ravioli in the past. For more instructions on how to assemble and cook the ravioli, refer to the Potato and Basil Ravioli recipe in my archives.

Ingredients:

For the filling
10 silverbeet leaves (some large, some small, that’s just the way it goes)
20g cultured butter
1 tbsp of cream (35% milk fat)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tbsp of currants
Sea salt
Fresh black and white pepper
200g ricotta

For the Sage and Anchovy butter
50g cultured butter
4 fresh sage leaves
2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped (or more if you like anchovy. I live with someone who despises them, so I keep these to a minimum)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

Method

For the filling:
Soak the leaves in plenty of water, to loosen any dirt.
Cut away all traces of the stalk, all the way up through the leaf. Reserve the stalks for another meal. Roughly chop the leaves.
Place them into a saucepan (with any water still clinging to the leaves).
Cook over a high heat, stirring often until the leaves have just wilted. This will only take a couple of minutes.
Remove the leaves and place in a strainer. Leave to drain and cool. A considerable amount of liquid should drain away.
When the leaves are cool, chop them as fine as you can by hand.
Melt the butter in the saucepan used previously, over a low heat.
Add the silverbeet, cream and currants. Cook gently like this for about 15- 20 minutes, until most of the moisture has evaporated. The silverbeet will lose the bright green shade and turn a darker, deeper green.
Add the garlic towards the end, along with salt and pepper. Transfer to a glass bowl.
When cool, crumble in the ricotta and combine well.
If the filling seems a bit dry, add a splash of extra virgin olive oil. Check the seasoning again. Pasta is bland, so make sure the filling is well salted.
Cover until ready to assemble your ravioli.

For the dressing:
Prepare this while you are poaching the ravioli.
Over a low heat, in a small saucepan melt together the butter, anchovy fillets and the sage. Do this until the butter is a very light golden brown and the anchovy has completely disappeared. The sage will add a subtle fragrance and the anchovy a mysterious background saltiness (in fact most palates will not pick up on the anchovy note)
Pour over the ravioli and serve with Parmesan cheese
Note- I have not mentioned my thoughts on butter before- I always use unsalted, cultured butter. Sometimes French, sometimes Australian. The French butter is white and creamy, the Australian not as creamy but still has a very good flavour. I honestly find the flavour of ordinary salted butter simply revolting. This nasty tasting butter will ruin any dish you use it in...