ITALIAN FOODIES

Sorry for my absence but it's been a crazy week in La Cucina, our main deli assistant Iwona has returned to Poland so I'm trying to find someone to replace her which is proving rather difficult. Normally when we advertise a position we are inundated with C.V's but not this time so I'm working crazy hours until we do!! There is a positive though as it means I'm there a lot more than usual 11am to 10pm the last 2 days so I get to see what's going on, the poor staff, they're probably secretly hoping that I have a baby a year for the next 20 years so that I'm on permanent maternity leave:)

There's a really great buzz around the place as it's really busy, the weather has been lovely this week so lot's of people eating outside drinking cappuccino and eating Laura's cupcakes. We've added a new range of ready to bake "pasta al forno" dishes which are proving really popular, we tried them a couple of years ago but they didn't sell so I'm really delighted that they have taken off now.

They are really handy as you just pop them into the oven for 30-40 mins at 200 degrees, the trays serve 2 but bigger trays can be ordered in advance.

 The range includes:

• meat lasagna
• aubergine and courgette lasagna
• macaroni and cheese
• sun-dried tomato, black olive, mozzarella, parmesan and tomato sauce.
• Italian sausage, porcini, mushrooms, mozzarella, parmesan and tomato sauce.

We're starting a new range of ready to cook oven meals which I wanted to get your opinion on. I've been asking everyone in the shop all week what they think and I've received a really positive response. We'll basically prepare a full meal - meat, potato and vegetables which you basically pop into the oven and cook, we will even provide instructions. We will only have one option to start and this will change weekly e.g.

 - WEEK 1

• MUSTARD AND ROSEMARY CRUSTED RACK OF LAMB
• PATATE ARROSTO
• ROASTED VEGETABLES

 - WEEK 2

• ROAST CHICKEN PIECES
• BAKED POTATOES
• BROCCOLI

The list is endless - roast beef, lamb, chicken, shepherd's pie etc etc. I would love some feedback from my Limerick readers and everyone else, if this service was available in your area  would you avail of it?? I know when I came home from the hospital with the princess I would have been lost without the MIL's "MEALS ON WHEELS", she used to send us home dinner every evening and it was so handy. I think they would be great also for a dinner party or just those evenings when you don't have time to cook and you would like some "real" food!! Let me know what you think!!

Anyway there wasn't much cooking in the Italian foodie house this week just this tasty risotto on Tuesday night! Everytime we have risotto we wonder why we don't have it more often as we have pasta a couple of times a week, I know it takes a little longer to prepare but it is SOOOO worth it so people this week get out the arborio or carnaroli rice and get cooking:)

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 20g butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 75g spinach chopped
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1 celery stick plus leaves chopped
• 1 litre vegetable stock - we used fresh stock from La Cucina but you can use stock cubes.
• 200g risotto rice - we used carnaroli
• salt
• Parmesan cheese
• goat's cheese - we used St Tola
• nutmeg

WHAT TO DO:

 - melt 10g of the butter with the oil in a large pan, add the spinach, onion and celery and cook over a medium heat for 5 mins, then lower the heat and cook for a further 10 mins.

 - bring the stock to the boil in another saucepan.

 - season the vegetables with salt and add a little freshly grated nutmeg and stir in the rice.

 - Add a ladleful of the hot stock and cook, stirring, until it has been absorbed.

 - continue adding the stock, a ladleful at a time, and stirring until each addition has been absorbed. This will take 18-20 mins.

 - when the rice is tender, stir in the remaining butter and some Parmesan.

 - serve with some goat's cheese and Parmesan on top!

p.s. we added a "little" olive oil for the picture but we were a little heavy handed;) It is proving rather difficult to take photos with the evenings getting darker:(

BUON APPETITO!!

Italy are having one of their best summers ever, it's over 30 degrees everyday, low humidity, little rain, they're all having a smashing time - doesn't that just brighten your day! To add to our misery we watch the Italian news and weather every evening, they seem to know we are watching because they seem to be doing a bloody feature every evening from some beach, yesterday they were at some huge pool with about a hundred bronzed Italians of all ages dancing in the pool, they're mad into this in Italy, they always have summer songs and everybody dances in the swimming pools following a group of people on a stage. We've never joined in I'm afraid, a bit too cheesy for us cool, white people with a little extra grip on the hips from Irlanda.

Bruno's sister went for 3 weeks and has decided because the weather is so nice there and so bad here she might as well stay another week, Bruno's nephews are having a ball, they are going to a summer school where they take them on excursions in the local area and feed them good home-made Italian food and they learn some Italian too. Bruno used to go to Italy every summer from June until September,  he went every year until he was 18 - lucky thing. The furthest we got was a mobile home in Tramore or Salthill and a ride in the Twister Cups at the carnival, the future is bright for the princess.

The only thing that's keeping us going in this weather is "HOPE", the hope that because the weather has been so bad, it has to get better and we're going to have a scorching August and September. I have never watched the Irish weather forecast so much in my life, I tune in every night praying for some good news. Has anyone else noticed how much smilier the weather forecasters have become, maybe they think if they have a cheesier grin it might make the blows to come easier on us - IT DOESN'T!!!

SO, in this weather all that's left to do is eat and drink to console ourselves. We haven't had risotto since my last post on risotto with asparagus. I'm going to repeat myself and say once again how easy it is to make. It is perceived as being really difficult and time consuming but it really isn't. It takes about 20-25 minutes and involves a bit of stirring but the end result is so good it's worth it. I will have both Carnoroli and Arborio rice in stock in La Cucina next week. I have a lot of new products coming including Polenta so I will do a post on them when they are in.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 300g risotto rice - we used Arborio.
• 1 small onion
• 30g cold butter
• 1lt vegetable stock - we used fresh stock from La Cucina but you can use a stock cube if you don't have fresh!
• sea salt and black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 200ml white wine
• 50g dried porcini
• 5 mushrooms chopped

WHAT TO DO:

 - soak your porcini in boiling water for about 15 mins.

 - bring the stock to the boil and switch off.

 - heat the oil and half the butter in a pan, add the onion and cook over a low heat for about 5 mins.

 - add the rice and cook until the grains are covered in fat.

 - turn up the heat, add the wine and cook for a couple of mins until it has evaporated.

 - add a ladle of stock and cook, stirring until it has been absorbed. Keep repeating this until you have used all the stock and it has been absorbed. This will take 18-20 mins. The rice shoukd always be moist but not swimming in liquid.

 - halfway through add the porcini and the liquid.

 - in another pan heat up a little olive oil and cook your sliced mushrooms for a few minutes and add to risotto when ready. Season with salt and pepper.

 - remove from the heat and add your cold butter and parmesan.

We went all out and had a Bruschetta Al Pomodoro to start!

BUON APPETITO!!

It's official, Bruno has turned into the "risotto king", a couple of weeks ago it was Barolo and porcini risotto which was delicious so this week we decided to cook  risotto with something that's in season. To be honest we're not that educated as to what's in season, I just pick things up from magazines and food programmes. I think probably most people in Ireland are the same as we don't have much seasonal produce.

 Asparagus is one vegetable that is very much based on seasonality.  It is only in season from late April until mid June and in Italy this is the only time they eat it. For the other 10 months of the year it is just not possible to buy it unlike here where it's available all year round. The main regions where aparagus is grown in Italy are Emilia-Romagna, the Veneto and Piedmont. There are actually 3 types of asparagus, white, purple and green. I've only ever seen the green in Ireland. In Italy the most popular way of serving it is boiled with butter and parmesan cheese, in Milan you might be served it with a fried egg on top. We often have this ourselves as a "contorno" with fish or meat.

Good fresh asparagus should be firm. You can check the quality by bending a spear and it should snap in the natural place just below halfway - if it simply bends and doesn't snap then it isn't fresh. A big apology to all you people buying asparagus in Superquinn, it was me who left a couple of bunches with pieces snapped off. I had to check for freshness!!!

I know a lot of people are afraid of risotto and have probably never made it in their life but it is not as difficult as you think. Give it a try, you'll be surprised at how easy it is!! This recipe is from our cooking bible "The Silver Spoon".

WHAT YOU NEED FOR 2!

• asparagus - I bought one fresh bunch and one pack of spears in Superquinn. Good to see they are using  produce from Europe - one was from Thailand and the other from Peru?????
• 1and 1/4 pints veg stock - we had fresh stock from La Cucina but you can use a stock cube.
• 30g butter
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 200g risotto rice - we used Carnaroli
• salt
• freshly grated parmesan cheese.

WHAT TO DO:

 - cook the asparagus in a pot of salted boiling water for 10-12 mins

 - drain and cut off the tips and chop the stems.

 - bring the stock to the boil and switch off.

 - Melt 8g of the butter in a pan and heat the tips over a low heat for a couple of mins.

 - melt 13g of the butter in a pan with the oil, add the oinion and cook over a low heat for 5 mins, stirring occasionally.

 - stir in the rice and cook until the grains are covered in fat and then add chopped stems.

 - add a ladle of stock and cook, stirring until it has been absorbed. Keep repeating this until you have used all the stock and it has been absorbed. This will take 18-20 mins.

 - when the rice is tender stir in the asparagus tips and the remainder of the butter.

 - serve with parmesan on top.

Buon Appetito!

p.s. if you find a strange odour lingering in your bathroom, don't be alarmed it's a good thing because asparagus is detoxifying and a diuretic. Basically it's good for the system!! Check out Laura's lemon tarts for dessert!!