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Day 37 of The Challenge (I lied. We cooked tonight rather than eating leftovers before leaving on our trip). We roasted the last of our Georgia candy roaster pumpkin this evening, and had 250g of chanterelles left. It was either pumpkin pasta with a mushroom sauce or risotto. We opted for the risotto, and the pumpkin pasta will have to wait (although not to long. I do so love it and it had been a little while since I pulled out my pasta maker). This was creamy and filling (and orange) and very tasty. Ingredients: 250 g of Arborio rice 1 1/2 c roasted pumpkin in chunks 3 onions, chopped 1/2 head of garlic, peeled and chopped 250 g of chanterelles 3 tbsp olive oil 1 c of milk 1 1/2 - 2 c of water, broth or reserved mushroom water (like from prepping a chanterelle tart) 1 1/2 tsp sumac 1 tbsp lime juice 2 tsp thyme 1 tsp sage 1 tsp urfa biber (Turkish black chilli pepper) salt and pepper to taste Parmesan for sprinkling 1) Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan and sauté onions. When they go translucent and then begin to char a little on the bottom, add in the garlic and then keep them moving. 2) Heat the rest of the olive oil in a saucepan and add the rice. Stir until translucent then add the water/mushroom water/broth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed. Add milk and stir. 3) Once garlic is soft, add the chanterelles, the thyme and the sage and lower the heat. Cook gently, allowing the mushrooms to give off their liquid. 4) As the rice cooks and absorbs the liquid, add the pumpkin and stir. Add sumac, and once the milk is absorbed, add lime juice and urfa biber. 5) When the rice has thickened and cooked, add the mushrooms and onions to the rice and mix. Salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle desired parmesan over the top. Super tasty. I love making risotto and find them relatively quick and easy once you figure them out. They are endlessly adaptable too. The flavours played off each other beautifully in this tonight. It would have worked with bacon, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that it lost out by not having any.

chicken and spinach "sauce", and stuck with butter so the richness is all from dairy fats (a lacto free It could easily be made either gluten free or keto friendly by omitting the noodles.

Skip the raisins and toast to make it keto-friendly, or use gluten-free toast for a gluten-free meal.

I started making my own apple pectin last year, and have used it a couple of times for jellies (like my Lemon and Ginger Chilli Jelly). Apple pectin is entirely naturally occurring in apples, and in the presence of sugar, it helps gel things. I wondered if it would be possible to use pectin instead of gelatine in other things, like Panna Cotta. I do like panna cotta and like playing around with flavours for it occasionally (like my lemon-topped one, or my savoury lemongrass and coconut one!). I was a little worried that the pectin would both flavour and colour the panna cotta as it is a pink colour. As for the flavour, I decided to run with it and pair it with applesauce. The idea has been bouncing around for a little while and I finally decided to try it. Recipe Cook time: 20-30 minutes + chill time 4 hours to overnight -- Portions: 4 -- Difficulty: Easy Ingredients: 2c cream 2 c apple pectin 3 tbsp brown sugar 1 c apple sauce 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp allspice 1) Pour cream and pectin into a saucepan and heat slowly. Stir in sugar. Bring to a slow simmer and cook for about 15 minutes. 2) Mix the cinnamon and allspice into the applesauce and spoon it into the bottom of 4 or 5 glasses. Gently pour the cream mixture over the top of the apple sauce and chill overnight in the fridge. This worked. Ish. Better than I had feared but not as well as I had hoped. I initially started with 1 c pectin, but while the cream did thicken, it didn't gel. I poured it all (apple sauce included as I couldn't seem to get just the cream) back into a saucepan, and added the third tablespoon of sugar and another cup of pectin. I cooked it again and chilled it again. This time it worked! The cream was the right consistency for panna cotta, and absolutely delicious, with little bits of apple and lots of spice caught in it. The only problem was that the cream was a solid layer on top of a layer of juice. I don't know if it was from the apple sauce or from the pectin, or a little of each, but as soon as we started eating the panna cotta, the juice seeped up and mixed with the cream, and it was all a liquidy mess. Next time, I think I need to reduce both the apple sauce and the pectin a bit further to prevent that. It was still tasty though! So very tasty! Science experiment successful though. Pectin works to gel things other than jellies, as a replacement for gelatine. With some caveats! The other issue with using homemade pectin, scientifically speaking, is that it is not going to be a uniform strength. What took 2 cups of pectin this time might take 1 1/2 or 3 next time, there is no real way to know... I guess I will just have to play that one by ear. Luckily, that is how most of my cooking happens, so I'm ok with that. Also, it didn't turn pink, but was a little coloured by the spices. I will have to try this one again, with reduced ingredients, to see how it goes then. Served in little glasses, I think this could work quite nicely as a party food!

Digesting our stew that evening, we lit the candles on our Christmas tree for the second time this year

Hubby used most of a chicken making pho this weekend, which naturally generated rather a lot of nice, rich chicken stock. What else to do with beautiful rich stock than risotto? (I do feel that I am mildly predictable on that score at times). We also had giant mushrooms in the fridge, which are quite a rare find in the grocery store. Maybe it is having read Babar Learns to Cook a few too many times recently to Little One, but the large mushrooms immediately told me to stuff them. Both seemed like good ideas, so I decided to couple them up and serve the mushrooms on the risotto. Unsure what to stuff the mushrooms with, Hubby pointed out that we had a very lovely, if somewhat lonely, aubergine in the fridge, so that became the stuffing. The rest, as they say, is history (well, half of it is anyway. the other half is waiting to become a very tasty leftover dinner sometime in the next couple of days, at which point it too will become history.) Ingredients: For the Risotto: 2 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, chopped 4-5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 300 g arborio rice 2 1/2 c chicken stock a pinch of saffron 1 tsp (ish) dried orange peel 1 - 1/2 c parmesan 2 tbsp butter Salt and pepper to taste For the Mushrooms: 5 large stuffable mushrooms 1 tbsp olive oil 1 red onion, chopped 1/2 head garlic, sliced 1/2 aubergine, cubed 200g chopped tinned tomatoes 1 c red wine 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 4 cloves 1 tsp rosemary 1/4 c millet Salt and pepper to taste 1) Start the risotto. Heat olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Sauté onions and garlic for about 3 minutes, then add the rice. Stir occasionally, allowing the rice to become translucent in the oil. 2) Add the saffron and orange peel and about half of the chicken stock. Stir regularly, and keep it on medium heat. When the liquid is most of the way absorbed, add the rest of the stock and continue stirring. 3) Meanwhile, heat the oil for the mushroom filling in a small frying pan. Sauté the onions and garlic. While they are starting to sweat, cut up the aubergine and the mushroom stalks. After a couple of minutes, add these and the rosemary to the pan. Stir, cooking over medium heat. 4) Cook the mushroom filling for about 5 minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes, about half the wine, and the spices. 5) When the tomato mix has reduced a bit. add the millet and the rest of the wine. Cook for a further 5 - 10 minutes until the liquid is most of the way absorbed. When this has happened, fill the mushroom cups with the tomato mix. Set aside. 6) Use 1 tbsp of the butter to grease an ovenproof dish. Stir most of the parmesan, finely grated, into the risotto, and test a grain of rice. If it is almost cooked, make sure there is still a little liquid, adding a little stock or water if necessary, and pour into the prepared dish. Place the mushroom cups on top and spoon remaining filling around the cups on top of the risotto. Dot with the remaining tbsp of butter and the remaining cheese, either thinly sliced or grated. 7) Bake at 180°C for about 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and golden, and the rice and mushrooms are fully cooked through. Serve piping hot. I wasn't sure how all the flavours would play together, but I needn't have worried. It was a big hit with all of us and I look forward to the leftovers. The mushrooms had a lovely nutty depth of flavour, while the warm spice notes of the sauce, contrasted with the acidity of the tomatoes created a nice balance. A minor problem though, that hubby assures me isn't an issue, is that the risotto was perhaps a little bland. I specifically didn't want to over flavour it and have it compete with the mushrooms, but it could have had a little more going for it. It was nice and creamy though. This could easily be made with vegetable stock, making this vegetarian, and for a fancier look, it could be cooked in individual ramequins. All in all, though, I am very happy with this one.

For a vegan or dairy-free experience, swap out the whey or the milk for your favourite nut milk.

Rösti is a traditional Swiss-German food, so traditional in fact that the border between the French and German speaking cantons in Switzerland is referred to as the Rösti border. It is a dish of potatoes, parboiled then fried or baked, with cheese and sometimes onion. It is often served with ham and a fried egg on top, referred to the skier's plate, and comes with a pickle or two and maybe a slice of tomato. I have grown up with rösti. It is filling, warming on a ski-day, tasty, fulfilling... Or almost. It always leaves me not quite satisfied. The stodge of pure carbs and fat leaves me looking for the veg and feeling heavy, and it often is very greasy. This dissatisfaction led me to tinker a bit with tradition, and this, or variants of this, is the result. It is never quite the same twice as it depends what I have on hand (in this case fresh beetroots from a local farmer, some of the tastiest and most flavourful I've ever had). Traditional with a twist. Ingredients: 2 large potatoes 1 large beetroot 2 courgettes (or zucchini depending on where you're from) 3 medium carrots 1 large(ish) onion 2 handfuls of spinach 2 tomatoes 100g mature cheese (given where I live this tends to be L'Etivaz or Gruyère) Bacon 1 egg per person Thyme 1) Parboil your potatoes and beetroot. You want them to be almost cooked through, but not so soft that they turn to mush in the oven. Preheat oven to 210°C. 2) Grate your potatoes, beetroot, carrots, courgettes, and cheese. Cube your bacon and slice your onion into rings. Cube one tomato, slice the other one into rings. 3) Grease an oven-proof dish with butter of lard - your choice. If you really must, then use olive oil, but don't eliminate the fat entirely, it is necessary to some extent. 4) Mix together all of the ingredients except the sliced tomato and a few slices of onion, and a handful of cheese. Place mix in the dish, and fluff is with a spoon. Sprinkle the extra cheese over the top and place the tomato and onion rings on the surface. If your grated mixture was a little dry, dot the top with a small amount of butter. 5) Bake uncovered for about 40-45 minutes until the cheese is melted and there is some crisping around the edges. Fry an egg, leaving the egg yolk runny and place one on top of each portion (season your fried egg however you wish. Red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, thyme, It is up to you). Serve hot with a salad. Results? I find this take on the traditional dish infinitely more satisfying. Minimal grease, and reduced carbs. There is veg in every bite and while retaining its traditional essence, it is lighter and more satisfying while still being filling and hitting the rösti spot. It remains a dish for a cool day, but being lighter and more veg leaning rather than stodgy, you can get away with it in the summer. I have started this blog off with this recipe at the request of a friend (Swisscleo.wixsite.com) :)

I like that once you free yourself from the need to keep it traditional, it can become such a versatile

As a side note, the ricotta in this was homemade last week, as I had wanted to try freezing the ricotta This could easily be made gluten-free, by simply omitting the pasta layer, which we included primarily