Claire's Risotto with Wild Mushrooms, Sun Dried Tomatoes and Rocket

Claire loves risotto and excels at making it as well, so when her friends came for dinner before going out for a night on the town, she made a fabulous pot of things we had picked up at markets on our holidays.  There were dried wild mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes from the Flower Market in Nice, a bottle of Terret-Chardoney we had purchased at our favourite wine store in Nice, and Parmesan Reggiano from our day trip to Italy.  On the way home from the Tate Modern, we made a small detour and picked up the rest of the ingredients including some rocket from Bourogh Market.

Claire's Risotto with Wild Mushrooms, Sun Dried Tomatoes and Rocket

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 shallot
• 500 grams of arborio rice
• 2 cups of white wine
• 3 cups of chicken broth
• 1 cup of dried wild mushrooms
• 1/2 cup of semi-sun dried tomatoes coarsely cut
• rocket (arugula)
• 1 1/2 cups of grated Parmesan Reggiano
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• salt and pepper

Soak dried mushrooms in 2 cups of hot water for an hour.  Coarsely dice shallot.  In a large heavy sauce pan, put 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and heat on stove top,  add shallots and cook until translucent.  Add rice and stir, cooking until the rice has a translucent shell.  Over medium heat, add half of the wine and stir until the the wine is absorbed.  Add the remainder of the wine and stir again until absorbed.  Drain liquid from mushrooms, strain and set aside.  Add mushroom broth to rice mixture and stir until absorbed. Add chicken broth 1/2 cup at time stirring until absorbed and repeating until the rice is cooked el denté.  Stir in mushrooms, tomatoes and cheese.  Add rocket and stir again.  Taste, adjust salt and pepper.  Add a chunk of butter, stir and serve.

Pears Poached in Spiced Red Wine

We are in Nice over the holidays, and our friends Ruth and Mark invited us to Christmas dinner with their family.  In Nice, there is a tradition of finishing the Christmas meal with 13 deserts.  The deserts represent the 12 apostles and Christ and are left out, buffet style, to be consumed over the next three days.  We made Poached Pears in Spiced Red Wine and Claire's Tart Lemon Tart (earlier blog) as two of the thirteen deserts.

Pears Poached in Spiced Red Wine

Because we were staying in a short term rental apartment, we only had basic staples such as salt, pepper and sugar.  This provided a guilt free excuse to visit the market one more time to shop for spices as well as pears and lemons.   

There are two great markets in Nice, the Flower Market on Cours Saleya in the old town and the much larger market in Libération.  We went to the Flower Market, which is much more than just flowers with great selections of herbs and spices, as well as fruits and vegetables, and were fortunate to find Secs de Saint Martin Pears.  These are smallish, very firm pears that are perfect for poaching.  

Poached Pears in Spiced Red Wine

• 1 bottle of Cote de Rhône red wine
• 1 1/2 cup of water
• 10 Secs de Saint Martin pears, or other firm small pear
• 8 peppercorns
• 4 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• juice of one lemon
• 3 strips of lemon peel
• 1/2 cup of unprocessed cane sugar

Choose a stainless steel pan that is deeper than the pears and large enough that the pears do not touch each other.  Add wine, lemon juice and water, sugar and lemon peel, and mix.  Add spices and bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  

Meanwhile, peel pears with a small sharp knife and remove the core of the pears from the bottom being careful to leave the stem in place.  Cut a slice off the bottom of each pear to allow it to stand upright.

Place the pears in the spiced wine mixture and slowly simmer for for an hour or until the pears are soft. The slower the poaching process, the deeper and richer the red colour and flavour of the pears.  When the pears are done, remove the pears from the poaching broth, and strain the liquid.  Return the liquid to the pot and gently boil to reduce liquid by about 75% or until slightly syrupy.

I prefer serving the pears at room temperature with a bit of the syrup, however my daughter loves them warm, with a big spoonful of whipped cream melting over the top and we have been know to eat leftovers cold for breakfast the next morning. 

Red-Hot Salsa

Red -Hot Salsa

This fall, I had a bounty of tomatoes and peppers as the first frost approached. I made three different types of salsas with the tomatoes and peppers, and I have finally tasted the Red-Hot Salsa this weekend. After a couple of months of mellowing, this year's, Red-Hot is particularly good I think, because it was a very hot and sunny summer, resulting in fabulous tomatoes and peppers.  I used a combination of the brandywine, beefsteak and plum tomatoes, with the scotch bonnet, chili, and jalapeño hot peppers, that I grew in my garden this summer.   

Brandywine Tomato on the Vine

• 6 cups of chopped red tomatoes
• 4 cups of a selection of red, orange and yellow sweet peppers, chopped
• 2 cups of chopped onions
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• 2 cups of cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup of finely chopped hot peppers with the seeds removed (be sure to wear rubber gloves and keep hands away from face)
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of  Spanish hot smokey paprika
• 3 tablespoon of chopped  fresh oregano
• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh flat leafed parsley

Put all of the ingredients, except the parsley, into a large heavy enamelled or stainless steel pot.  Bring to a boil, stirring often.  Reduce  the heat and simmer for about an hour, stirring often.  When the salsa is thick enough, a tablespoon of the salsa dropped on a cold plate will flow slowly when tilted. Stir in the parsley and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Place the salsa in preserving bottles, remove air bubbles, screw lids on tightly and process  1 cup jars for 15 minutes, and 20 minutes for 2 cup jars.  This makes about 8 cups of salsa.  

If you can wait, the salsa tastes better after it has had a chance to mellow for a month or two.