I haven’t been showing a lot of my sourdough bread baking lately, but here is a (green!) bread that I made this week: Green Olive and Rosemary Focaccia. I think that Alice (Alice in Wondoughland) was a little tired, because it didn’t rise nearly as much as I had hoped, but it still tasted delicious. I am a huge fan of olives though generally prefer black over green. These were bright and briney and with a little extra olive oil, the bread was great.
What do you call risotto that uses no rice? Orzotto, of course! I didn’t have an aborio rice in the pantry and wanted to make a risotto, so instead, I went with orzo. Basically, the same process as risotto, shallot and pasta in the pan with butter, slowly add the liquid and flavorings, in this case vibrant pureed peas. Orzotto does take as long as traditional risotto though; only about 20 minutes. Scallops were on sale so I didn’t have to take out a loan to afford them. Ha ha ha.
This is a super vibrant thing to make for spring — or all summer long really. It’s one of my go-to recipes when I don’t know what else to make. Peas, perlini mozzarella, pesto (yes, the store bought variety is totally fine!) and pasta of your choice. Also works well as a pasta salad if you’re looking for a cool option.
If you follow this site, you know that I seem to make a variation of Colcannon (Irish mashed potatoes) most St. Patrick’s Day — varying the potatoes (sometimes sweet potatoes) and the greens (cabbage, kale, even spinach), but this year, I stuck with transitional russett potatoes and cabbage, but make “cakes”, sort of like potato pancakes. Fried up, they are a great side dish to Irish-style sausages, or even for breakfast with bacon and eggs. Very filling!
As I have mentioned before, I am a big fan of “wild game” whether it be venison, boar, elk, etc. This recipe takes my Vension Ragout, adds a whole lot more mushrooms to make it very thick, and then fill into delicious, buttery puff pastry. totally decadent. Very earthy, savory, comfort food.
Hand pies freeze well! Wrap in foil, then pop each one in a ziplock baggie. To reheat bake in the tin foil for 12-12 minutes, then unwrap and bake an additional 5 minutes without the foil to crisp up. Great for a lunch or dinner with a salad.