Karohemd's World

My original plan had just been the risotto but then I randomly spotted some nice looking venison yesterday so I bought it, venison and wild mushrooms being a match made in heaventhe forest, anyway.

Ingredients:
Venison steak
olive oil, salt, pepper

risotto rice (arborio or carnaroli are best)
vegetable stock (I made my own but feel free to buy ready made or even a cube), about two pints
half an onion (finely chopped)
dried wild mushrooms (porcini in my case; soaked in hot water)
butter, extra virgin olive oil
vermouth or white wine, salt, pepper, parmesan

Method:
For the risotto, heat the stock and keep it hot (just under a simmer). Sweat off the onions in a mix of butter and olive oil (or either, depending on the region of Italy, wars have been fought over this issue). When the onions are soft and translucent, add the rice and stir to coat evenly. Add a generous splash of vermouth or white wine and stir until absorbed. Now mix in the drained mushrooms (reserve the liquor, you can either add it to the stock or to the risotto directly at a later stage) and add the first ladle of stock. Turn the heat down to a slow simmer and stir until most of the stock is absorbed. Add another ladle of stock and so forth, until the rice is cooked but still has bite, stirring all the time, about 20 or 30 minutes. About five minutes before the end, season with salt and pepper. When the risotto is done, turn off the heat, stir in a generous handful of grated parmesan, put the lid on and let stand for a minute. This will make it extra creamy.

Meanwhile, fry the venison steaks to your preferred doneness and keep warm to rest.

Plate the risotto and set the sliced venison on top. I served it with a simple leaf salad.

This was prompted by a repeat of Heston Blumenthal's mad risotto episode I saw last night. I knew I'd get asparagus in my box today so sometime during today I made up my mind.
All I did was a basic risotto but this time with a generous pinch of saffron in the stock which gave it a wonderful colour and slightly earthy taste. The asparagus was just seasoned with salt and pepper and steamed until tender but still crunchy. I arranged the asparagus on a pool of risotto and for some extra indulgence added some parmesan shavings and a drizzle of truffle-infused olive oil. It was absolutely divine.

So on Saturday I finally managed to cook the three course meal I had promised as a birthday present. I guess we're living too busy lives. So here we go:

My organic box today contained a huge bush of spinach, a head of cauliflower (yuk, going to a friend tomorrow), an enormous leek, carrots, potatoes and a sane number of onions. Due to the cauliflower not being used, there won't be much left to do, which is good as I have fewer cooking days this week. The leek and spinach will go into a creamy side dish on Sunday with some of the potatoes as second side and the carrots I'll eat as snack, anyway.

Spinach really shrinks a lot when cooked, I could have used all of it instead of just half...

Anyway, I made a risotto (basic recipe with garlic/onions in olive oil, Carnaroli rice, white wine and veg stock ladle by ladle) with the wilted ripped spinach leaves folded in in the last 20 seconds and it tasted lovely indeed. Slightly underestimated the rice so the two portions are a bit smaller than intended but I've got yoghurt and fresh fruit, too. :o)

No photo because the camera was packed away and I was too hungry to unpack and didn't want to let it get cold, either but imagine a creamy golden-coloured risotto with green streaks and freshly grated parmesan on top.