A little light supper: Leek, Mushroom and Lemon Risotto [V]

 

I always thought risotto was beyond my capabilities with all that adding a ladleful at a time business but I have found that I quite enjoy making it these days,  especially if I just want something that isn't too complicated and something that can be made relatively quickly.  Its usually one of those go to meals that if I know we've got a busy day, I get all the ingredients ready in advance and when I'm ready I can cook relatively quickly. By quickly I mean it's one of those meals I can make whilst enjoying a glass of wine, cooks perks of course and usually by the time I have consumed the wine the risotto is ready and yes there is usually a second glass to go with it.    It is also one of those meals that lends itself to be eaten al fresco if the weather allows and when we can finally have friends and family over again its one that doesn't keep you away from your guests for too long.  

Serves 4          

8oz trimmed leeks

8oz mushrooms

2 ribs of celery chopped

1 cup of frozen pees

2 tbsp of olive oil

3 garlic cloves crushed

6 tbsp of butter

1 large onion diced

2 cups of Arborio rice

1.5 litres of vegetable stock

Grated zest and juice of one lemon

2/3 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese

¼ cup of freshly chopped chives and parsley

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

 

1.       Slice the leeks lengthwise and roughly chop. Wipe the mushrooms to remove any soil and roughly chop.

2.       Heat the oil in a large saucepan and cook the garlic for 1 minute. Add the leeks, mushrooms and celery and plenty of seasoning and cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes or until softened.  Add the frozen peas and cook for a further 1-2 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

3.       Add 2 tbsp of the butter and cook the onion over a medium heat for about 5 minutes.

4.       Stir in the rice and cook for 1 minute. Add a ladleful of stock to the pan and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid has been absorbed.

5.       Stir in more liquid as each ladleful is absorbed; this should take 20-25 minutes. The risotto will turn thick and creamy; the rice should be tender but not sticky.

6.       Just before serving stir in the leeks, mushrooms, celery and remaining butter, grated lemon zest and juice, half the parmesan cheese and the herbs.

7.       Adjust the seasoning and serve, sprinkled with the remaining parmesan and herbs. Serve with lemon wedges.

Now the big kids have all but flown there is invariably leftovers and this risotto lends itself to freezing or if you have access to a microwave at your place of work you could take it and  heat it up for your lunch.

Enjoy

Mx

March Reads

 Good morning all on this rather nippy  but sunny Easter Sunday morning.  The sun has got their hat on but by bunkum its cold outside this morning with even a touch of frost, so I thought I pop in here and tell you about my March reads instead.

As our little crafting group can't meet up at the moment due to COVID 19 restrictions we thought it might be nice to include a book club as part of our little gang as we can take our time reading the selected book and then have a zoom meeting to discuss and of course there may be a little glass of something and some chocolate involved in these meet ups, but that's ok isn't it?

So last month we reviewed our first book which was Kate Mosse 'The Burning Chambers' which was released in 2019 and a hefty 608 pages, this is Book 1 of a trilogy of books following the love story of Minou and Piet and their lives during war torn France. The second in the trilogy 'The City of Tears' was released in February 2021 with  slightly less pages at 455 was the first recommendation for the group to read, but many of us felt that we would need to read the first book first in order to get the feel of the characters and how they all fell into place within the story and I think we all agreed having now read The City of Tears that this was the right decision to take.  

The City of Tears is based some 10 years from where we left Minou and Piet, they are now married and have two children of their own.  The Wars of Religion continue across France and those who once were your friends and neighbours have now become your enemies.  A wedding is to take place between the Catholic crown and the Huguenot King in a bid to bring balance and peace to France. Minou, Piet and their family receive an invitation to the wedding and although Minou has her reservations about attending it is decided they should go,  but what they cannot know is that their oldest enemy Vidal will also be there. Within days of the marriage and on the eve of the feast of St. Bartholomew Minou's family will be scattered to the four winds when violence breaks out within the city and unbeknown to Minou  one of her beloved children will be lost after sneaking out of the house alone,  disappeared without a trace.  Minou and Piet search for their child but when a bloodstained bonnet is found they fear the worse and make the hardest decision of their lives, to leave France to find refuge in Amsterdam. In the City of Tears we find the family fighting to stay together whist they continue to try and find out what happened to their missing child. Minou and Piet torture themselves everyday not knowing if they are alive or dead. If alive where have they been all this time and who has been looking after them and if dead the one things neither can contemplate, what happened to them and where is their last resting place.

I am not a huge fan of Kate Mosse novels the period of history she likes to write about, especially French history is not a period of history I know anything about and therefore I wouldn't know if it was factually accurate or not.   I have read a couple of her other novels in the past, they have all been beautifully written with a good command of language and the text tends to flow through the storyline very well.  I thought the City of Tears a better storyline than The Burning Chambers but for me personally I am glad that I decided to read the first in the series to get the background of all the characters and to a certain extent you could easily loose elements of the characters and their stories if you haven't read the first.   

I would recommend this series of books and I will definitely read the third when it is released. 

Now for my second book of March, which isn't a novel at all but worthy of a mention none the less.  I was given a copy of 'The Boy, the mole, the Fox and the Horse' as a birthday present and I have to say it is a book I have absolutely fallen in love with.  I had seen posters in various places of Charlie Mackesy's work before especially during lockdown as he has produced quite a few for the NHS over the past twelve months.  He released his book in October 2019 so I don't know why I hadn't discovered it before.

It is 128 pages of beautiful illustrations and text that no matter what sort of a day you are having you will find something within those pages to lift your spirits and enable you to face whatever is ahead.

I love this book so much that it has become my go to gift for family and friends this year and each recipient so far has fallen in love with it as much as I have and one friend has also introduced it to her 94 year old dad who each day lets the book fall open on a page and keeps the words with him all day. I think that's lovely that a father and daughter have something to share in this way. 

Now those who know me well know that I also get through one Christmas and immediately start planning on gifts for the next.  Well I can tell you for those who haven't received a copy for their birthday they will be receiving one for Christmas this year and yes I know we are only just into April but I don't think it's ever too early to start thinking about these things.  I am very much thinking for the girls of the family that a book hamper with a copy of Charlie's book and some treats for a cold winters evening is definitely something worth considering. 

I am going to leave you all with this last helping from Charlie's book its definitely something I think we could all admit to struggling to ask for at times.

Enjoy your Sunday one & all

Mx