Risotto..

Saturday night I decided to have a few people over for dinner, don't know why I did this...I was a bit hung over from a wedding the night before...and I had very little food in the house! To make matters worse, I had no motivation to go to the shop or even inspiration, so that when I got to the shop I would know what to buy. I took a peek in the fridge and what I had was, a left over chicken carcass, a picked at fully roasted duck and a few beets that I pulled from my man's garden... I thought about it...and I came up with a duck and beet risotto! And it tasted fantastic...

I started making my chicken stock..I had some garlic, carrot and onion, (didn't have any celery)threw that all into the pot with the chicken and cold water..the thing to remember with stock is to bring to a boil and then SIMMER...

While that was simmering I washed the beets, tossed them in a bit of olive oil lots of sea salt and pepper, then into the oven to roast..

So, once those two parts of the meal were done, I could start working on the risotto.

I know there are all different ways to do risotto, but I prefer the traditional way that takes 25 min of stirring...here is my basic recipe:

Start with a large sautee pan, melt butter(or use olive oil)...add to that chopped garlic, I like to use about 2 cloves. Chopped onion and sautee....Sautee for about 5 min, until onion and garlic becomes translucent... remember the heat should be moderate...I add in the arborio rice at this point and give it a little stir, then deglaze with white wine(about 1/2 cup)...let that simmer away for a min or two...then start adding your hot chicken stock...one ladle at a time, stir as you add and keep stirring until the stock has been absorbed into the risotto, then add another ladle full and continue this until the risotto is creamy and soft to the bite... To finish, I added the shredded duck meat and diced beet...generous shavings of Parmesan, salt and pepper and a bit of fresh herbs that I had around...It was sooo tasty...with this basic recipe, you can add whatever you like. For a vegetarian version, make yourself a lovely veggie stock... another favourite of mine is to add roasted butternut squash...

The roasted duck... for those of you who want beautiful locally grown duck, try

Annies Roasts...you can pre-order your duck, and collect it at Mahon or Douglas Market

I will post the link below..

The finished jewell tone product..I forgot to take photos of the process...but you can see how good it looks!

http://www.anniesroasts.ie/

wedding cakes!

Here are some photo's of recent wedding cakes that have been baked at Diva....

Ok, this isn't a wedding cake, but I think it would make a good design..

The Woodland Fairy cake...a 10" layer cake with mini cupcakes..

A two tiered, 4 layer per cake, wedding cake with fresh flowers..

A three tiered Ribbon Cake, made with hand rolled chocolate ribbons...

Tasty Enough?

we have just finished entering a few of diva's delights in the Irish Taste Awards! everyone please cross your fingers with us.....

taylor

French Macarons

lemon. raspberry.

taylor

Blueberry Waffles!

As a few of you know, I just love blueberries!! And I was so excited when I found Rose Cottage Berries at the Mahon Point Farmers Market last year...they grow all kinds of berries, and in particular they grow blueberries! Yay! Irish blueberries...how exciting...

Last week, I bought too many, so we had a blueberry waffle special...here are a few photo's and a recipe that I use at home, from Martha Stewart,

http://www.marthastewart.com/354943/buttermilk-waffles

Cookbooks....

Buttermilk fried chicken, recipe from: "Ad Hoc at Home: Family Style Recipes," by Thomas Keller

seriously good fried chicken. so moist it doesnt even need a sauce

Bellini Layered Jelly Shots, recipe from

"Jelly Shot Test Kitchen: Jell-ing Classic Cocktails - One Drink at a Time,"

by Michelle Palm. so fun to eat/drink!

Cointreau Soaked Plum Clafloutis, recipe from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," by Julia Child, Simone Beck, And Louisette Bertholle.

who knew something so simple could be so delicous? the french do, and julia child of course!

taylor

Mannings Emporium, Ballylicky

Last Tuesday I brought my youngest daughter to the wilds of Southwest Cork. On the way there(and back!) I made a little pit stop at Manning's Emporium. A great little slice of Irish Foodie Heaven... They have a great selection of wine, cheese, Irish specialty food items and even locally made soap! stop in and have a cheese board with a glass of wine the next time you are making the journey west!