Great Christmas Lunch Idea

http://www.thesalmons.org/lynn/dishwasher.html

Certainly adds a new meaning to multipurpose.

The Most Kick-arse-est Mushroom Risotto in the World

This is dedicated to Herr Peter Wenzel - friend, flatmate, artist, mushroom scientist and six foot two worth of inspiration.

You will need:
Home made chicken stock* x 2 cups per serve
Aborio rice x 1/2 cup per serve
Porcini mushrooms (dried) 25g per serve
Button mushrooms x 2/3 cup per serve - sliced
Oyster mushrooms x a handful - roughly chopped
Black or yellow fungus x a handful - roughly chopped
Another selection or two of field/flat/straw/wild/shitake variety of mushrooms fresh if poss - sliced if its a big mushroom, roughly chopped if its a little mushroom.
Cheap bottle of white (but be reasonable)
onion - 1/2 per serve, diced
garlic - 3 clobes, crushed
Olive oil - 2 Tbsp
butter - 1 Tbsp
Italian (continental parsley) - shopped- 1/4 cup per serve
Parmesan or pecorino cheese - shredded - 1/4 per serve plus garnish

Method

1. Soak porcinis in 1 cup of boiling water. Set aside to cool.
2. Heat up stock in a seperate sauce pan adjacent to the main cooking stove, keep on medium heat.
3. In a sturdy hard based pan, saute oil, garlic and oninos with a dash of salt in med-high heat till just clear
4. Remove porcinis from water, squeeze all moist back into the liquid, save the liquid while adding porcinis into onions. Turn heat to medium-low. Add all the other mushrooms and saute lightly before turning heat to low.
   
5. Add aborio rice, stirring quickly to coat it all in oil. Only allow this to be in the pan for less than one minute before adding a ladel of stock. Quickly stirr stock evenly into the rice.
   
6. When the first ladel of stock is almost evaporated - but not quite - otherwise it will burn and that is NO GOOD - add a splash of white wine. Stirr this again till just it almost evaporates. Then add another ladel of stock.
7. Repeat this alternatively with stock and wine, stirring constantly to allow even absorption and protect from burning or the rice sticking at the bottom. Ensure the heat remains low.
   
8. By now the contents should be expanding quite well - switch off the heat just as rice is beginning to 'melt into each other'. Remove from heat and stand (you may choose to give it a cover) for 5-7 minuites.
   
9. Stirr in evenly firstly the butter, then the parmesan, then the parsley.
   
10. Serve immediately and garnish liberally with more parsley and parmesan.

*Home made stock: Boil two chicken bones (very cheap from the supermarkets) in water with a couple of tablespoons of salt and two onions roughly chopped. Simmer in low heat for around two hour before disgarding solid content.

Homemade pasta

Love and admiration from your friends are completely worth the time and labour over this frivolously tiresome recipe. Durum flour is the secret to the fine silky smoothness of the pasta and organic eggs ensures a full nutty whole flavour.

Ingredience
Organic eggs (1 medium size per serve)
Durum flour (approx 1.5 cups per serve)
Fresh or frozen spinach (80g per serve) - only if you are doing green pasta

Method
1) Clean out bench top with fresh paper towels and without use of any chemical detergents - lemon juice or vinegar are always good natural anticeptics. Clean your hands too - remove shit like jewellery, crusty nails and flaky skin from yourself.
2) Measure out around 2 cups of flour on the bench top or a bowl, build a mountain top then make a puddle whole. Break egg(s) into puddle whole.
3) Knead eggs into flour with fingers and palms, using your own judgement (don't drink too much before you do this) till you feel that the dough has just started to form into ONE big lump, but moist and soft enough to not gather firmly.
4) keep kneading without adding too much extra flour.
5) divide dough into manageable balls for going through the pasta machine, probably two balls per serve.
6) This is the labour intensive bit. Pass the dough throug the flat bit of the machine as many times as necessary till it is in a flat, smooth, bubbleless and lumpless flat sheet. It could take you as many as 25 or 30 goes per sheet. Part of life mate.
7) Chop into the width you desire either with knife or the thin settings on the machine
8) Sprinkle with extra flour to keep it from sticking together, cover with glad wrap to refrain from drying
9) Boil water with dash of salt and oil. Add pasta just at boiling point, cook till al dente and serve immediately

If you are doing the spinach bit:
Lightly blanch the spinach in boiling water ensuring not to over cook it. Drain and squeeze as much water out of it as possible (use a paper towel after the sift) , chop finely and add to dough just before its ready to go into the machine. The pressing/flatting process will further refine the leaves and make the pasta green.

NB1: This does not keep well raw so it needs to be cooked on the same day

NB2: As this is fresh, expensive and labour intensive pasta, I suggest that this is served with a fairly simple/non-heavy sauce so that the pasta speaks for itself. Suggestions a) classic olive oil with parmesan & dash of garlic b) Wild mushroms seared in butter and dash of parsley c) baby tomatoes lightly grilled plus fresh basil & boccochini. d) Wine match will complete this.