Pea and Asparagus Risotto

Spring has sprung and I thought I would share a tasty, seasonal recipe with you.  We use Jamie's basic risotto recipe and add blanched peas and asparagus at the very end!  Although it is a bit time consuming, the end result is delicious and not too heavy for a Summer's evening.

Ingredients:

• approx 1.1 litres/2 pints stock (we usually use vegetable, but chicken and fish can also be used)
• 1 knob of butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed

 • ½ a head of celery, finely chopped (I hate celery, so I leave this out)
• 400g/14oz risotto rice
• 2 wine glasses of dry white vermouth (dry Martini or Noilly Prat) or dry white wine - we use dry Martini
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 70g/2½oz butter
• 115g/4oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese

• Fresh bunch of asparagus  

• Handful of peas (frozen will do)

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil and butter before adding the onions, garlic (and celery if you fancy it).  Fry very slowly for about 15 minutes, until they are very soft but not too coloured.  Add the risotto rice and turn up the heat.
2. It is important to make sure that every grain of rice is coated in the oil and butter.  Keep stirring it until it looks slightly translucent.  Add the vermouth (or wine) and keep stirring.
3. Trim the asparagus and chop into blocks of approx. 3 cm.  Add the asparagus stalks the rice.  
4. Once the vermouth has cooked into the rice, add your first splash of stock and some salt.  Turn down the heat so that the rice doesn't cook too quickly on the outside.
5. Gradually add ladles of stock, stirring as you go.  Wait until the rice has absorbed the moisture before adding the next ladleful.  This will take approximately 15 minutes - at this point, taste the rice, if it is still not cooked then keep adding stock/or boiled water until the rice is cooked but with a slight bite to it.
6. While waiting for the rice to cook, blanch the asparagus tips and peas.
7. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Parmesan, asparagus tips and peas.  Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes in order to make it delicious and oozy.
8. Check the seasoning and serve with some extra Parmesan and a glass of chilled white wine - Perfect!

The Great Wall of Vagina

Like it or loathe it, the widely talked about Great Wall of Vagina has arrived in the Capital.

From Essex vajazzles to One Born Every Minute, vaginas are everywhere. However, nowhere puts the female nether regions in the spotlight more so, than Jamie McCartney’s Great Wall of Vagina.  With 400 participants ranging from 18-76 years old, the artwork took 5 years to make, used ½ a tonne of plaster and has resulted in 9 metres of vaginas  (now there's a sentence I never thought I'd write!) The collection includes mothers, daughters, identical twins, and even a pre and post labiaplasty mold. The presentation of the artwork is far from being a pornographic pervert party; instead, it is a provocative response to cosmetic labial surgeries and encourages people to take a deeper look (pun intended) at what constitutes normality, by changing female body perception through art.

It's free, on at the Hay Hill Gallery and is here until 2nd June.

For those days when you've lost your whistle...

We all have days when we feel a bit down trodden, like we're not all that good at anything and that we've just lost our whistle.  I saw this video and I thought it summed days like these up - as everyone always gets their va va voom back, whatever the weather!  This little co-production venture between Trunk Animation in London and Dansk Tegnefilm in Denmark, was amazingly made using thousands of potato prints!  Brilliant!

More than just your average sandwich!

In celebration of the recent 250th anniversary of the best invention EVER, I thought I'd share some sandwiches with you, that are literally a cut above the rest!  

 

In an effort to make his 4 year old son, Oscar, eat lunch, Mark Northeast revolutionised our views on our old favourite filling and 2 bread combo by producing mind blowing works of art from lunch foods.  From space rockets and giraffes to Harry Potter characters and musical instruments, Mark has expanded his 'Funky Lunch' repertoire and has launched workshops and instructional books to help others recreate his masterpieces.  The only thing is - they almost look too good to eat.

 These are some of my favourites but check out the 'Funky Lunch' website for even more amazing sarnies and don't be surprised if you're slightly disappointed by your lunches from this day forward!    In the word's of Masterchef - "Presentation doesn't get tougher than this."

One of Draco's finest jokes - 'What do you call Harry Potter when he eats a bacon sandwich?'

'Harry Trotter'!

Street Feast London Night Market

It’s lunchtime again and tummies across the nation are rumbling.  With this in mind, I thought I’d go one step further and help you with tonight’s dinner plans.  Tonight, Shoreditch’s Sclater Street Car Park is being transformed into a festival involving ten of London’s best street food vendors.  From Big Apple Hot Dogs to The Ribman and Homeslice hand-rolled pizzas, there’s a variety to suit every taste!  The Street Feast London Night Market’s mouth-watering delights can all be washed down with cocktails, wine and beer galore served from their bar.  The Night Markets are on every Friday until 20th July - hurrah! I’m salivating already!

When the birthday cake is finished...

A birthday weekend full of Colin the Caterpillar cake is bound to make my already extremely sweet tooth, even sweeter.  In the aftermath of Colin's face consumption, I neared a sugar low and obviously my thoughts turned to quick and easy desserts.  I thought I'd share one of my favourites with you.  Served at London's prestigious Ivy restaurant, this is the easiest dessert EVER and is delicious, both for an emergency pudding fix and for dinner party occassions.  Here it is folks: Frozen Berries with Hot White Chocolate (the clue's in the name).

Ingredients:

• 2 half-pints fresh raspberries
• 2 half-pints fresh blueberries
• 1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced thick
• 1 cup of cream
• 10 ounces good white chocolate (not chips), chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:

1. You can either spread the berries on a sheet pan in a single layer early in the day and place them in the freezer.  Once they’re frozen, store them in a freezer bag.  
2. OR you can cheat (like we always do) and just buy frozen fruit from the supermarket.  It's way less hassle and they can be stored so they're ready for when you most need them!
3. In a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, heat the cream, white chocolate and vanilla just until the chocolate melts. Don’t let the bowl touch the water and heat the mixture until it’s warm to the touch.
4. Put the frozen berries in little pudding dishes and allow to defrost a little (for about 10 minutes.)  Pour the hot white chocolate evenly over the frozen berries and DIG IN!

The mixture of hot and cold will blow your mind!  It only takes about 15 minutes and is AMAZING so give it a go and let me know if you love it as much as I do!

Handmade!

I thought this was so darn sweet that it had to go on to 'The Little Things in Life.'  For Wallpaper* magazine's 'Handmade' issue, they asked dutch filmakers, Lernert & Sander, to create a film about bespoke tailoring.  In collaboration with Italian tailors, Brioni, this was the result - a hand has never looked so smart!