Risotto on stand by

I became a big fan of risotto after learning how to
make it with italian rice. I learned the recipe from
José Hugo Celidônio's book, Histórias e Receitas
(Stories and Recipes). Clarissa has already
written about the risotto's technique, so I am not
repeating it here. What I want to mention
is the tip he gives on how to stop the cooking,
just before the rice is ready.

When the rice is almost cooked, you add one more
cup of chicken broth and turn off the heat. You
may ask "How do I know when the rice is almost done?".
Well, you have to learn it by yourself, doing one
after another (I always taste it). The rice will
cook a bit more and absorb the liquid while it
seats waiting for your next move.

You should try shrimps! One pound of scrimps,
a hot pan with a little bit of olive oil, salt,
pepper... After frying the shrimps, lightly,
throw it into the rice under low heat.

Mussels and squid are great too. I have just
tried smoked salmon and it was delicious.
Don't forget to add one more spoon of butter
with the salmon.

Fettucini with smoked salmon

One of these days, running through the supermarket, late,
having to fix dinner for the girls, I decided that my best
option would be a quick pasta. The idea was to prepare
fettucini with cream cheese and mushrooms. For a change,
and to avoid hearing that "again!" from my daughter, I
also bought 100 g of smoked salmon. Well, it did not
taste that bad...

Here we go:

100 g of smoked salmon, sliced
fresh mushrooms (+/- 500 g)
a cup of cream cheese
a handful of green onions
1/4 glass of a good white wine
olive oil
black pepper
a pinch of salt
Barilla's fettucini

Slice the onion and throw it into a hot pan with olive oil.
Immediately, add the mushrooms cut in thin slices. Steer a little,
add the wine, the salt, the pepper, ant let it cook for a while.
The mushrooms loose water quickly and reduce to half their size
in a few minutes. When the mixture had lost half of its water,
turn down the heat and add the cheese. Turn off the heat and
add the salmon.

The pasta should be ready, of course, cooked in salt water
and drained. Al dente.
Just pour the sauce over the pasta. I had it with a delicious
chadornnay.

Recipe: Cherry Cheesecake

This is for my dear friends at the Privy Parlor!!! ;)

It's a recipe from the book Nigella Express, by Nigella Lawson. It's really interesting, because is not baked, it's really easy to make, looks damn good and tastes even better! Nigella suggests as topping a French cherry preserve, to make it even easier. Here's her note, on the book:

"Please do not be tempted to open a jar of cherry pie filling over the cake. I use some French cherry concoction that seems to be pretty universally available and has no added sugar, but anything labelled "conserve" as opposed to "jam" should be safe.

And, if you feel like it, when cherries are in season, strew the top with a couple of handfuls of beautiful fruit."

Cherry Cheesecake

Ingredients:
(Serves 6-8)

125g (4,5 oz) digestive biscuits
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
75g (2,5 oz) soft butter
250ml (8,5 oz) double cream
300g (10 oz) cream cheese
1 x 284g (10 oz) jar St Dalfour Rhapsodie de Fruit Black Cherry Spread
60g (2 oz) icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract



Preparation:

Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until beginning to turn to crumbs, then add the butter and whiz again to make the mixture clump.

Press this mixture into a 20cm springform tin; press a little up the sides to form a slight ridge.

Beat together the cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth.

Lightly whip the double cream, and then fold it into the cream cheese mixture.

Spoon the cheesecake filling on top of the biscuit base and smooth with a spatula. Put it in the fridge for 3 hours or overnight.

When you are ready to serve the cheesecake, unmould it and spread the black cherry over the top.

It's pizza time!

You can make pizza at home: it's easier than you think, it's healthier (because hou have the control over the ingredients, you know what you are eating) and it's really fun! I do that every saturday night, sometimes we have guests, people can be in the kitchen with you drinking wine and choosing the toppings. It's really a good time.

This is my dough recipe, it's really simple - I just need to remember to begin with 4 hours in advance to let it rise enough.

Pizza Dough Recipe

(yields 3 medium pizzas)

1 pound all-purpose flour
35 ounces of dry yeast
1 to 1 1/2 cup tap water
1 1/2 tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbs oil

In a food processor, put all the dry ingredients. Turn on the machine to medium speed and keep it running while you add the water and oil mixed together, in a thin stream, until the dough forms a ball inside the running machine. You probably will need to add a little more water. Turn of the food processor, transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover with a damped towel and let it in a warm place to rise (I use a turned-off pre-heated oven at 300º) for about 1 hour. After that time, knead the dough a bit, inside the bowl, without any additional flour, just to mix well the fermentation spots. You should have a smooth dough at this point. Cover with the towel and let it rise again for 2 to 3 hours (if you have the time). Divide the dough in 3 balls, without kneading. Pour a little flour on a rolling-board, spread each ball in a circle, transfer it to a pizza sheet or pan. You should bake a bit each pizza before put the topping, about 10-15 min. at 400º. Garnish the pre-baked pizza and put in the oven until golden - this time use the oven broiler!

Toppings!

Tip: I like to spread a little catchup over the pizza, 1 tbs, before putting the topping...

Napolitana Pizza: tomato fillets, minced garlic, origano, fresh basil, salt and a little oil.

Roman Pizza: tomato fillets, anchovy fillets, cubes of mozzarella, minced basil, grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Margherita Pizza: tomato fillets, finely sliced mozzarella, minced basil, salt and olive oil.

Mushrooms Pizza: small slices of mushroom (previously browned in oil and garlic), parsley and mozzarella.

5-cheeses Pizza: grated parmesan, pecorino, provolone, gruyère and muzzarella cheeses.

Clarissa's Home Pizza: tomato slices, cubes of gorgonzola cheese, sliced muzzarella, sliced onions, origano.

Tuna Pizza: grated canned tuna, muzzarella slices, onion slices, black olives, origano

Enjoy and HAVE FUN!!!