Lobster Risotto

The King of the crustaceans, lobster, is delicate and decadent, and when paired with very simple ingredients it transforms an ordinary meal into something glorious.

I was lucky enough to have a friend bring me some lobsters yesterday, and I knew instantly where a couple of them would end up. Lobster risotto is one of those divine dishes I rarely cook, and when I do, I tell myself I should cook it more often. The sweet, succulent lobster complements the slight chewiness and delicate flavours of the risotto rice so well, and flavoured with a hint of lemon and parsley, this risotto is just divine.

About here is where I usually tell you what other ingredients you can use (it's not like we all have a lobster or two hanging out in the freezer or fridge), but this time I'm not going to, if you can, please try and make this with lobster, it really is the king of the crustaceans.

Lobster Risotto

• 2 lobsters, about 400 grams each - I used frozen
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 5 cups vegetable or chicken stock, heated
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Method

1.   Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and pop the lobster in, cook for 8 to 10 minutes until the meat is white but still tender. Remove, cool under cold running water to stop the cooking.

2.   Remove the tail and cut in half with scissors, and carefully take out the meat. Chop roughly, keeping fairly large chunks, set aside.

3.   Put the stock into a pot on the stove and heat, keep on the stove while cooking the risotto, the stock needs to be hot as you add it to the rice.

4.   Heat the olive oil and butter over a medium to high heat and add the garlic and onion. Cook for a few minutes until the onion has softened, but not browned

5.   Add in the arborio rice and stir to coat then add in the white wine and stir until absorbed. Now stir in a ladle of hot stock and stir until it is absorbed. Keep adding the stock and stirring in between until the rice is cooked, it should be chewy and gooey, not to dry. Add in the lobster and stir through carefully, heat for 1 minute, to heat the lobster.

6.   Remove from heat, squeeze in the lemon and sprinkle on the parmesan and parsley. Season with salt and pepper and stir gently to combine. Serve.

Cinnamon Buns

 

A few weekends ago when the weather got colder and one of my New Year's resolutions had worn off, I had a serious craving for comfort food, so I made my favourite cinnamon buns. Served straight out of the oven and drizzled liberally with a sweet sticky icing, they are the ultimate in comfort food.

They do take a while but they really are worth every decadent bite, the time isn't in cooking or preparing, it's in proofing and raising. So they are a perfect weekend treat.

Cinnamon Buns

for the dough

• 2 teaspoons dried yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup hot milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 3 and 3/4 cup flour

for the filling

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon

for the icing

• 60 grams butter, softened
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 60 to 90 mls boiling water

Method

1.   Mix the yeast with the warm water and a pinch of sugar, let sit for 5 minutes until it bubbles up. Mix milk, sugar, butter, salt and egg. Add to 3 cups of flour and mix well, knead until soft and elastic, add more flour if the dough is sticky. Rest in a buttered bowl in a warm place for an hour and a half until doubled in size.

2.   Punch down, and then roll into a rough 40cm by 25cm rectangle. Mix the melted butter, sugar and cinnamon and spread on the dough.

3.   Beginning with the long side, roll the dough up, don't worry if it gets messy. Cut the roll into 12 to 15 pieces and lie flat side in a baking dish. Leave in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes. 

4.   Bake at 180 degrees celsius (350 degrees fahrenheit) for about 30 minutes until cooked. Try not to pick a piece off to taste (as I did). Doesn't look pretty right, wait until you add the icing!

5.   Make the glaze, mix the butter with the icing sugar and vanilla essence and add 3 tablespoons boiling water. Stir to combine. Add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time until icing is a pouring consistency. Drizzle onto the hot buns in the pan.

6.   Remove the buns from the pan and scoff warm - the remainder will keep for 2 days, and are best eaten warmed.

Mango and Passionfruit Pavlova

Happy Australia Day!

I'm off to an Australia Day barbie today, and looking forward to burgers loaded with beetroot, pineapple, bacon and egg - just like dad used to make. I'm not Australian! I'm a Kiwi! no not the fruit, nor the bird, but a born and bred New Zealander, and NZ's closest neighbours are Australians. We often argue, make bad jokes about each other and strive to beat each other on the sports field, but put us 14,611 kilometres away from home and we're best of friends. We share the same values, we think the same way, and by and large we eat the same food.

There are always discussions about whether Australia or New Zealand created the first Pavlova, regardless of where it came from, it is a dessert enjoyed by both Ozzies and Kiwis alike.

When I asked my favourite Australian sheila what I could bring to the barbie, there was no hesitation. PAV! she said, and I grinned...I love making a good Pav.

For those that haven't experienced the joy of a Pavlova, it is a meringue based dessert, crunchy and crispy on the outside and soft and marshmallowy in the middle and smothered in whipped cream and fruit of your choice. Strawberries are always a favourite, passion fruit are a nice touch, and in this case mangoes are a lovely option. I've saved my favourite fruit for last so that I can clarify a popular misnomer - the fruit is kiwifruit, k-i-w-i-F-R-U-I-T! did you get the emphasis on fruit, regardless of how they are labelled on your supermarket shelf, they are not KIWI's! A kiwi is a New Zealand flightless bird, that only exists in NZ and is one of our national icons. We can call ourselves Kiwis as a friendly colloquial term to emphasise our affinity with our home country, but we do not call kiwifruit Kiwis, unless they lay big fat eggs, run around in the dark, and squawk. Rant over.

Enjoy your Pav!

Pavlova

• 6 egg whites
• 1 1/4 cup caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 250 mls whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence extra
• 1 very ripe mango, sliced
• pulp of 3 large passion fruit

Method

1.  Line a baking sheet with baking paper, mark out a 20cm circle on the paper. Turn the paper over so the pen or pencil doesn't get onto the meringue. Heat the oven to 100 degrees Celsius (200 degrees Fahrenheit).

2.  Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add in the caster sugar one spoon at a time. whisking well in between to dissolve the sugar. The final mixture shouldn't be gritty, if it is, beat until it is smooth. Add the cornflour, vinegar and vanilla essence and whisk to combine.

3.  Spread the meringue evenly on the baking paper to the edges of the circle. Fluff up the top to form peaks (these will crisp up).

4.  Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until the meringue is crisp and not moist to touch. If the meringue starts to brown, turn the oven down to 80 degrees. Turn the oven off, leave the door ajar, and leave the Pavlova in the oven until the oven is cold.

5.  Beat the cream with the sugar and vanilla essence until soft peaks form. Spread onto the Pavlova and top with fruit of your choice.

Easy French Toast

Merry Christmas. We had a lazy hazy Christmas Day this year - hubby, me and the two little chefs. Traditionally our Christmas mornings start with opening the Santa sacks, followed by breakfast, followed by gift opening. I was allowed to open a present early this year. Can you guess why? 

That's right! the little chefs bought me a frying pan for Christmas, a heavy duty, cast iron, non stick coated frying pan with a metal handle (for days I feel like finished off an omelet under the grill). 

I have been moaning and groaning this year whenever I make pancakes or french toast that my frying pan is awful and that's why they never seem to turn out right. I know that's not the reason, but it always seemed a good excuse.

So armed with a new heavy duty frying pan, a scribbled out copy of Alton Brown's French Toast recipe, some milk, cream, eggs and a loaf of day old brioche, I made breakfast. And they turned out fairly well. The little chefs gobbled them down gleefully.

I usually serve french toast with bacon and banana or a load of mixed berries that have been sprinkled with sugar and left for half an hour to release their juices.

French Toast

• 2/3 cup milk (160mls)
• 2/3 cup cream (160mls)
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons warmed honey or 1 tablespoon agave syrup (my preference)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• Loaf of day old bread
• good quality maple syrup to serve

Method

1.   Whisk the eggs slightly, add the milk, cream, salt, cinnamon and honey or agave syrup. Whisk well.

2.   Cut the bread (I like using brioche) into thick (1/2 to 3/4 inch slices).

3.   Soak the bread one slice at a time in the egg mixture for 30 seconds each side, remove and place on a rack inside a pan to catch the drips. This makes it less soggy.

4.   Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy duty frying pan over a medium heat and add the bread, cooking for about 3 minutes each side until golden brown. Pop into an oven dish and place in a 150 degrees Celsius oven until the rest are cooked.

5.   Serve with good quality maple syrup.

Cranberry Chutney

I've said before that I was born in the wrong era, I love baking, but more than baking my favourite love is preserves (that and Asian fare). Turning a glut of fabulous fresh ingredients into a beautiful jar of tasty condiment that you can dollop on chicken or meat, served with an amazing cheese platter, or lift a burger from common to sublime makes me smile from ear to ear. This time of year gives me the perfect excuse to make one of my favourite chutneys - Cranberry.

I make it early, in November, so that my US and Canadian friends can enjoy it for Thanksgiving. It doesn't matter when I make it, it's always the same routine, I turn the Christmas music up loud, and dance my way around the kitchen while smelling the lovely Christmas spices in the chutney. Yum!

I bottle it like my mum used to, in sterilised jars in a water bath, but you don't have to, just pop the jars you're putting it into in the dishwasher and wash on a hot cycle, just store the finished chutney in the fridge and it will keep for at least 6 months and up to a year.

Serve it with cheese, on turkey or chicken, or both - my favourite way to use it is in Chicken, Cranberry and Brie Filos or Tarts.

Cranberry Chutney

• 360 gram pack of cranberries (give or take 40 grams)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cider or white vinegar (not malt, it's too strong)
• 1/2 cup raisins or sultanas
• 1/2 cup peeled, 1/2 cm diced apples
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Method

1.   Bring the water and sugar to a slow boil in a large (and I do mean large) pot.

2.   Add remaining ingredients, return to boil and simmer for 20 minutes until apples are tender, cranberries have popped and squidged together and the sauce is fairly thick.

3. Pour into a dishwasher sterilised jar, pop the lid on and cool, then refrigerate.