Not Quite New, Not Quite a Recipe
Had a meeting with PubDude and Mrs. Pub. late this afternoon, extending well past 5:00. They want to know how to go on, and how we can work together better. Of course this is all moot because we don't have any new projects coming up, because PubDude would rather play editor than actually acquire books.
So when they left, I was feeling less than calm, and less than happy. Frustrated to tears captures my mood rather better than anything else. So I wasn't precisely in the mood for a lonely new recipe Thursday.
What I wanted was to come home and have someone say "Look, we'll do a recipe some other time. Let's have sushi," and hold me while I fell apart, then deal with getting me out the door for dinner. Not because it's such a bad thing not to make a new recipe, but because I needed to fall apart, and I needed someone else to give me permission to do so.
But, you know, letting the need to fall apart get in the way of plans when I'm on my own is somehow less okay than falling apart all over someone, and letting them tell me it's okay to do so.
Tonight's original culinary plan was for a savoury sweet-potato pie. When I arrived home at around 20h00, I really didn't feel like I could manage pastry (I am not favoured by the pastry gods, so if I'm not really on the ball, my pastry turns cardboardy. Or soggy. Or both), and the mushrooms in the fridge were not looking like it would be a good idea to store them for another day. So I improvised.
Quick & Dirty Mushroom Risotto
1/2 cup sliced onion
2 cloves garlic
1 small pat butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup sliced white mushrooms
slosh cider vinegar
slosh soy sauce
1 cup arborio rice
3 cups vegetable stock, give or take
fresh parsley
handful or so of frozen peas
salt, pepper to taste
I sautéed the onion in the butter and oil until it was clear, added the garlic (squished with a garlic squisher), and in a minute or two, the mushrooms. When the mushrooms released their liquid and it started to evaporate, I added the cider vinegar (in place of wine, which I didn't have) and a small slosh of soy sauce.
Then I poured the rice into the pan, and let it get coated with the oil, and sautéed it for a few minutes. Then I added the first cup of stock and stirred it in, then turned the heat down. Then I watered the plants until the rice had absorbed the stock. After one trip to the roof to water the plants, I stirred the pan and added another cup of stock. Then I took another can of water to the roof and watered the plants. Then I came down and stirred, and added a tablespoon of fresh parsley, and another half cup of stock. I let everything simmer down until it was almost done, then I added some peas. When they were done, so was the risotto.
I topped it with salt and pepper, and a grating of fresh parmesan.
It wasn't bad. It needed wine, and maybe some stronger-flavoured mushrooms, but overall, for something thrown together, it was a pretty satisfactory risotto.
I ate it with this:
Tomato-Mozzarella Salad
I took a handful of cherry tomatoes from the garden, a small handful of chicory and one of basil from the fire escape, and combined them with some fresh mozzarella and a handful of arugula. Then I dashed the entire affair with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and lemon juice.
This did exactly what I wanted it to.
Then I watched Buffy and Angel while eating.
The other sucktastic part of being alone on a night like this is that I have to do the dishes myself.
Pout.
So when they left, I was feeling less than calm, and less than happy. Frustrated to tears captures my mood rather better than anything else. So I wasn't precisely in the mood for a lonely new recipe Thursday.
What I wanted was to come home and have someone say "Look, we'll do a recipe some other time. Let's have sushi," and hold me while I fell apart, then deal with getting me out the door for dinner. Not because it's such a bad thing not to make a new recipe, but because I needed to fall apart, and I needed someone else to give me permission to do so.
But, you know, letting the need to fall apart get in the way of plans when I'm on my own is somehow less okay than falling apart all over someone, and letting them tell me it's okay to do so.
Tonight's original culinary plan was for a savoury sweet-potato pie. When I arrived home at around 20h00, I really didn't feel like I could manage pastry (I am not favoured by the pastry gods, so if I'm not really on the ball, my pastry turns cardboardy. Or soggy. Or both), and the mushrooms in the fridge were not looking like it would be a good idea to store them for another day. So I improvised.
Quick & Dirty Mushroom Risotto
1/2 cup sliced onion
2 cloves garlic
1 small pat butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup sliced white mushrooms
slosh cider vinegar
slosh soy sauce
1 cup arborio rice
3 cups vegetable stock, give or take
fresh parsley
handful or so of frozen peas
salt, pepper to taste
I sautéed the onion in the butter and oil until it was clear, added the garlic (squished with a garlic squisher), and in a minute or two, the mushrooms. When the mushrooms released their liquid and it started to evaporate, I added the cider vinegar (in place of wine, which I didn't have) and a small slosh of soy sauce.
Then I poured the rice into the pan, and let it get coated with the oil, and sautéed it for a few minutes. Then I added the first cup of stock and stirred it in, then turned the heat down. Then I watered the plants until the rice had absorbed the stock. After one trip to the roof to water the plants, I stirred the pan and added another cup of stock. Then I took another can of water to the roof and watered the plants. Then I came down and stirred, and added a tablespoon of fresh parsley, and another half cup of stock. I let everything simmer down until it was almost done, then I added some peas. When they were done, so was the risotto.
I topped it with salt and pepper, and a grating of fresh parmesan.
It wasn't bad. It needed wine, and maybe some stronger-flavoured mushrooms, but overall, for something thrown together, it was a pretty satisfactory risotto.
I ate it with this:
Tomato-Mozzarella Salad
I took a handful of cherry tomatoes from the garden, a small handful of chicory and one of basil from the fire escape, and combined them with some fresh mozzarella and a handful of arugula. Then I dashed the entire affair with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and lemon juice.
This did exactly what I wanted it to.
Then I watched Buffy and Angel while eating.
The other sucktastic part of being alone on a night like this is that I have to do the dishes myself.
Pout.