In praise of prosciutto

I have always been a somewhat squeamish diner. As much as I love food, there are certain things that scare the pants off me. One of my most frightening experiences was going for Dim Sum at a renowned eatery in Hong Kong whilst on honeymoon. No one spoke English, which meant that you just had to pick items from the carts moving between the tables, piloted by servers shouting in very loud (but completely incomprehensible to me) Cantonese. They could have been shouting anything: "Get your deep fried cricket larvae soaked in cows' blood here!" "Tasty domestic cat feces marinated in malt vinegar on a nest of goat's hair!" Seriously, it was entirely possible I was being offered monkey brains, as all the doughy balls of what was clearly a sought-after selection of local delicacies looked exactly the same. Fortunately, it was one of those moments when I realized I had married the right man, as he gladly (and possibly too enthusiastically at times for my rising level of nausea to bear) bit into every one, before declaring "Oh yes, that is completely bland pork and carrots, you can eat that!" or more ominously, "Oh no, you DEFINITELY don't want that one...!", and eagerly scarfing down the rest of the offending 'ball of horror.'

One of the things that scares me is raw meat. I think it is in part a texture thing, since there is a distinct slipperiness that I associate with a steak that might, to a less squeamish palate, seem deliciously rare and juicy. Yes, I am the one who orders her filet 'well done' and gets the dirty arrogant looks from snobby servers in the finer establishments. My eldest son has thankfully inherited his dietary courage from his father, and will gladly order monkfish tartare and chow down with glee, while his mother gags next to him, and tries not to think about food poisoning. My daughter has, less fortunately for her, inherited my lack of bravery when it comes to uncooked meat, and is thus doomed for a lifetime of filthy or confused looks from steak aficionados. The jury is out on youngest son, as it should be on someone who doesn't like pasta and (deliberately) mixes lemon curd and nutella in a sandwich. His weirdness is of unknown provenance.

One exception that my daughter and I make in the raw meat stakes is prosciutto. To be fair, I may have neglected to tell her that it isn't cooked, and as a trusting soul, with obviously misplaced faith in her mother's protective tendencies, she clearly hasn't googled it yet. For me, it is because it is prosciutto - it is luscious, salty, hammy, and ultimately delicious. And yet, if you do google it, it seems almost worse than eating raw meat, since it isn't just straight from the pig, it is air-cured. What? The process is probably a tad more complex, but I have visions of them leaving strips of carved meat out on a sunny patio for a few days to 'air' before packing them up and selling them to unsuspecting recovering fear-mongerers like myself. Sheesh Google! Knowledge is overrated! But yet, as with the power of bacon to prevent many an animal lover from becoming vegetarian, the taste of prosciutto has the power to kill my usual resolve to cook the heck out of all forms of meat. Ignorance is, in some cases, no bad thing. (But don't tell my children I said that...)

This recipe highlights prosciutto by making it a topping on a delicious bed of creamy risotto. Far from an afterthought, this renders the prosciutto a salty foil to the creamy, cheesy pillow on which it lies. So pour yourself a glass of something full-bodied, switch off google and enjoy, safe in your own relative ignorance :-)

Sage, Mozzarella and Prosciutto Risotto
Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine
Serves 6

42 fluid ounces of chicken stock/broth
1 TBSP salted butter
1 1/2 TBSP olive oil
1 1/2 cups finely chopped leek
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/4 cups arborio rice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 cup dry white wine
grated zest of one lemon
3 TBSP finely chopped fresh sage
1 TBSP lemon juice, plus more to taste
6 oz chopped fresh mozzarella (low moisture works best)
4 oz prosciutto, chopped

1. Bring the chicken stock to a simmer and keep it warm over a low heat.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter with the olive oil over a medium heat in a separate large pan. Add the leek and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the leek is softened.
3. Add the rice, salt and pepper and continue to cook, stirring, for one minute. Then pour in the wine, reduce the heat to low, and let the mixture simmer until the liquid is almost evaporated.
4. Begin adding the broth, a ladle-ful at a time, letting each portion of broth almost evaporate, before adding more. You will need to stir the mixture frequently at this point, to determine when it needs more broth, and also to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan.
5. After about 20 minutes, you should be just about out of broth, and if you taste it, the rice should be cooked (not soggy, slightly al dente). At this point, stir in the sage, lemon zest and juice, and taste to see if you want to add more juice.
6. Remove from the heat, quickly stir in the cubed mozzarella and then spoon immediately on to plates (if you wait too long, the mozzarella becomes very stringy and it is impossible to get it out of the pan without leaving strings of cheese all over the kitchen!).
7. Top with the prosciutto and serve straight away with a green salad.

The mind is like a parachute...

No, I haven't completely lost the plot, this is the first half of a quotation from the wise Charlie Chan, Chinese Detective. The full quotation is as follows:

"The mind if like a parachute; it only works when it is open."

Never a truer word was spoken. And where food is concerned, there are some deep-seated fears and habits which take some effort to overcome. When you do overcome them though, and open your mind to something out of your comfort zone, you are often generously rewarded!

The inspiration for this post is a conversation I had with a friend yesterday, and the deep-seated fear in question is not of a particular ingredient or flavor, but rather a method of cooking. My friend mentioned that she is loathe to use her slow cooker because she doesn't like the idea of having food bubbling away for 8 hours, when she can put together a dinner in half an hour anyway. Hmmmm... Don't get me wrong, I love me a half-hour dinner, but I also LOVE my slow cooker, so this is a dish designed to win over the doubters! And win them over it will, by showing that not only can the crockpot create a wonderful main dish, in need only of a few sides and perhaps some carbohydrate to soak it up, but sometimes, the slow cooker can do ALL the work, with just 15 minutes of prep time thrown in of a morning. Ha! Beat that!

This recipe is a great example of just that kind of slow cooker winner, since it has some great filling grains in there (pearl barley), some hearty beef, which is the meat I think most benefits from the slow cooker, as even the cheapest cuts become lusciously tender, and plenty of vegetables. All you need do to accompany this, is cut some crusty bread up, so that those around the table can mop up the juicy goodness in their bowls.

So come on - open your mind, embrace simplicity, dust off the slow cooker, and let it bubble :-)

Crockpot Irish Stew
Adapted from Family Fresh Meals
Serves 6

1.5-2lbs stew beef, trimmed of fat and cubed
1 14 oz can low-sodium diced tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
2 cups carrots cut into 1/2" pieces
2 cups frozen pearl onions, thawed
3/4 cup pearl barley
5 cups beef broth
1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp fresh chopped sage (or 1/2 tsp dried)
1 tsp fresh chopped thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 bunch Lacinato/Green Kale, stems removed, leaves rolled up and finely sliced

1. Combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker except for the kale.
2. Mix well, cover and cook on LOW for 7 1/2 hours.
3. Add the sliced kale and continue to cook on LOW for a further 1/2 hour.

A hug in a bowl

Who doesn't need a warm hug sometimes? And if it comes laced with vitamins, minerals and other fabulous nutritional benefits, then what a wonderful hug that is. Truth is, it is now dark when I get up in the mornings, and this morning, it was drizzling. Why my daughter even resorted to wearing her Uggs to school. And if it is this kind of hug-worthy weather here in California, then I can only imagine the kind of warm hugs which are needed in other less temperate climes. So, this recipe is doubtless a timely one.

And this recipe fits the season in more ways than one, featuring as it does, some delicious pumpkin and butternut squash. Put down your Pumpkin Spiced Latte, put on your warm fuzzy slippers, and whip up a batch of this. Then feel the warmth of a hug in a bowl :-)

Pumpkin Polenta with Roasted Vegetables
Serves 6

1 lb brussels sprouts, trimmed and shredded
1 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1" cubes
3/4 lb broccoli, cut into small florets
salt and pepper
olive oil
1 1/2 cups polenta
3 3/4 cups low fat milk
3 cups vegetable stock/broth
1 can pureed pumpkin
1 cup grated parmesan (plus more for sprinkling on top)
3 TBSP chopped fresh sage

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 C). Toss the sprouts, squash and broccoli together on a large roasting pan with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread in an even layer and roast in the oven for 30 minutes, tossing again once, halfway through the cooking time.
2. Meanwhile, bring stock and milk to a boil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Season with salt and pepper and stir in polenta. Bring back to a boil, and then simmer over a low heat, stirring frequently to stop it sticking. After about 25 minutes, the polenta should be much thicker, at which point stir in the pumpkin, sage and 1 cup parmesan until combined and heated through.
3. Serve the polenta in bowls, with the roasted vegetables on the top, sprinkled with extra parmesan cheese.