Mushroom Risotto, Roasted Chicken Breast Wrapped in Pancetta with Leeks and Thyme and Carrot Cake with Lime Mascarpone Icing*

This has been, by far, my most ambitious meal to date, at least from the Cook with Jamie cookbook, but also possibly more ambitious than a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

I knew earlier in the day that I would be making the risotto but I still went ahead with making the carrott cake for dessert and that in itself turned into a lengthy process as I had to grate the carrotts, crush the walnuts, zest and juice an orange. The cake itself turned out to be very tasty - but a little to citrusy for me - I am quickly discovering that I am not a BIG fan of citrus flavors in my food (drink-wise it's a different story) so next time I expect that I will use less orange or maybe the problem was the orange was much bigger than the average orange, I'm not so sure.

I really do love carrott cake and if I'm at a restaurant that has it on it's dessert menu, I will often opt for it rather than a decadent chocolate dessert (Queen Mother on Queen Street serves up a Dufflet carrot cake that must be quite popular because every time I dine there, by the time dessert rolls around, the last piece is gone - I've taken to ordering my dessert when I order my meal to guarantee getting a piece although that doesn't always work). I'm not a terribly big fan of cream cheese icing though, at least if it's got that really sour-y sharp cream cheese taste which explains why I don't like cheese cake either, but sometimes, the cream cheese in both icings and cakes can be very subtle in which case, I very much enjoy it. I figured since I was making the icing, then hopefully I could achieve that level of subtlety myself and I think I did except that the icing, made with both cream cheese and mascarpone cheese also had lime in it, which made the icing too citrusy for my taste. Tay and I both tried the cake when it was fresh out of the oven, cutting the edges off a loaf that I made because I had extra batter and he enjoyed it just as much without the icing as with the icing. I think next time I will make a very thin, runny icing that I can drip over the cake and that will harden but that will still allow me the option to garnish with walnut pieces.

By the time I started making dinner it was 6:30 and I figured we'd be eating by 8 at the latest, but again, I underestimated the amount of time that goes into all the prep work, multiplied by the fact that I'm still a little slow with my knife and cutting board - plus in addition to making the risotto I was also making a chicken dish as a backup and the chicken, even though quite quick all things considered, still took a bit of time as well.

I'm starting to understand more and more the temptation to take shortcuts when cooking - to use bottled lemon juice and dried herbs and pre-grated cheeses as it saves considerable time but as best as possible, I'm trying not to fall for those shortcuts despite how overwhelming it is to have all these tasks looming while you're trying to get things done in a timely fashion. I have to assume that these things will all take a bit less time the more practice I have (or, if I allow people in the kitchen with me then I can delegate a lot of the chopping and grating to them).

The chicken itself was fine - it was quick and easy and wrapping it in bacon (I didn't have pancetta) kept the chicken from drying out (plus I love bacon) and the leeks that it was baked with added an interesting flavour and texture that I'd never experienced as I'd never had leeks before).

The risotto itself was easy in theory to make but did take a lot of time - from the chopping of the onions and the celery and the garlic and the thyme and the parsley plus the grating on the parmesan and the cleaning and chopping of the mushrooms (I used 5 kinds - regular button, cremini, portobello, shitake and king oyster (which were really yummy but VERY expensive) to the constant stirring that was involved, first with the onion and celery and then with the addition of the rice and stock and white wine. It took a lot longer than I had anticipated and I think this was ultimately my overall mistake - I didn't take the proper amount of time to allow for the rice to fully absorb the stock and wine so when I finally served dinner (at 9pm, 2 and a half hours after starting) the rice was still a little too firm but I was too hungry to wait any longer). Plus I think I didn't turn the heat down quite enough when I first added the rice, which I think affected the density of the rice. The flavour of the risotto was really unlike anything I'd every tried before - I'm not a big cream of mushroom fan, which of course was the principle taste but it was subtle enough that I enjoyed it quite a bit - again, the taste that through me off was the lemon - I really, really must be using too much lemon because it's the key ingredient preventing me from enjoying these meals (that and my abuse of salt, which I've gotten better about and thankfully avoided doing with the risotto).

Despite the amount of work, I will definitely make risotto again, though next time, I will prepare the risotto base at a seperate time (either earlier that day or even the day before) which will but down the actual prep during meal time (a tip that restaurants use to get risotto out to the table in a timely manner). My next risotto will be Spicy Pangratto, made with breadcrumbs, anchovies and chilies.


From Cook With Jamie, pages 131, 187 and 387

Proper Blokes' Sausage Fusilli*

Fusilli made with minced Italian sausage and a white wine lemon sauce and parsley garnish - a rustic recipe that sounded lovely and looked quite easy but proved to take a bit more time than I had anticipated as the recipe required the sausage to be removed from it's casing, the fennel seeds bashed (I don't have a pestly and mortar so had Tay go at the seeds with a rubber mallet) and a lemon, juiced and zested. Despite the effort, the recipe had tons of potential and a lot of flavor except I made the irreversible mistake of seasoning it with too much salt.

A real shame - all that work to waste.

I was able to eat it despite it's saltiness but I have a higher salt threshold to Tay who couldn't eat it. The leftovers the next day weren't quite so salty but next time, serious care will have to be given to how much salt I use. Next tiem I might also use a little less fennel seed.

* From Cook With Jamie, page 72

Proper Tomato Salad*

Fresh tomatoes, basil, oregano, red chili pepper and shallots with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

We had friends round to dinner and were having Indian food - I made this salad almost as an afterthought, mostly because I had the ingredients handy and also wanted to keep my hands busy while we waited for them to arrive. I used vine tomatoes as well as the red chili that the recipe called for - which I have sinced discovered, are difficult to find in our local grocery stores. I also added ripe avocado and some bocconcini since I had some on hand but afterwards felt like they were unneccessary. Cucumbers, which I added, were a worthwhile addition, and were sliced very thinly.

I'm a big fan of tomatoes and as a result, absolutely loved this salad and is probably the best thing I have made from Cook with Jamie so far. I couldn't believe the flavors of the tomato with the basil. I can't wait to make this recipe in the summer months when I can get my hands on some garden tomatoes**.

* From Cook With Jamie, page 33

** I was so excited when I found an assortment of gourmet tomatoes while shopping at Dominion the other day - I've already earmarked them for another tomato salad.

Old-School Pork Chops with Apples and Sage | Greek Salad With Lemon Oil Dressing

Thick pork chops, pan fried and then baked with sauteed apples and topped with sage, served with a leftover olive oil mash on the side and a greek salad with lemon oil dressing.

The pork chops took a lot longer than the suggested time in the recipe, mostly due to the thickness of them - if I had to guess, the cooking time was twice as long. Very pleasant but subtle flavor to the chops with the apples and sage and the mashed potatoes, left over from the previous nights meal, were just as enjoyable. I'm not a big mashed potato person but I'm a fan of these.

The greek salad took the most time, with chopping the tomatoes and shallots, preparing the lettuce and finally, mixing the dressing. The dressing was very good but a little too lemony** and the feta, which I'd never bought before, was a really easy addition to the salad. I did add ripe avocado to the recipe, as suggested and it was lovely.

*From Cook With Jamie, pages 179, 40 & 24, respectively

** Update: I have since made this salad again and reduced the amount of lemon which improved the taste considerably.

Pan-fried Sirloin Steak with Simple Chianti Butter Sauce and Olive Oil Mash | Buttered Peas with Crunchy Bacon*

I've never cooked steak before - always leaving the grilling to Tay while I provided the side dishes, mostly because I found the varying degrees of 'doneness' to be intimidating and I always worried that I would undercook the beef or worse, over cook it.

This dish, which included pan-fried steak with a red wine sauce and mashed potatoes with olive oil, parmesan and butter was surprisingly easy. Served on the side were buttered peas, made with bacon and a loaf of warm french bread.

I didn't have any Chianti on hand so instead used a Sangiovese, which, from what I can tell, worked well. The sauce was a little too salty but with lots of flavor. I think a part of the problem with the salt is that I'm not using coarse sea salt rather than regular table salt, which I think I tend to use more sparingly as it comes out of the shaker.

I used fresh peas for the side dish, but since its not their season, they were quite small. Next time, I expect that I will use frozen peas, an option listed in the book.

The steaks were cooked very nicely - I was aiming at medium steak - Tay's steak, which was a bit thicker ended up being medium-rare while mine was medium.



*From Cook With Jamie, Pages 158 & 320, respectively