About ME!

HELLO!!

I'm Christine. I'm a busy mum to 5 year old twins, Robin and Evie and wife to Ian. I also run a property management company. We live in a small village in beautiful, rural Northumberland. I love spending time at home with my family, running and exercising and socialising with my fabulous friends.

When I'm not busy with work, family or friends, my favourite pastimes are cooking and eating (often a combination of family/friends and food). I particularly get so much (too much?!) pleasure from making healthy, nutritious meals from nothing (well, whatever I've got in the house!), making leftovers exciting and not wasting a thing. I HATE waste. I've wanted to start a blog for a few years but time just hasn't allowed it. But I'm very excited about getting it going now and sharing my passion for food with the world!!

I'm very health conscious and want to feed my family good food, on a budget. As you can imagine, time is not something that I have a lot of so my cooking has to fit in with my busy life. Weekday cooking has to be fuss-free and speedy but I still want it to feel indulgent.

I am also a keen vegetable gardener. There is little better than creating a whole meal from produce that you raised with your own fair hands. And in the British weather, it's not always easy. It makes you appreciate it even more though! I would urge anyone to have a go at growing their own. Even if it's just a few of your favourites in pots or some herbs on the windowsill. Do it!

I'm going to try and share some of the recipes that I create and any tips that I have along with general ramblings about food and the good life!

Don't expect fine dining, just homemade, tasty, healthy and wholesome food. Always on a budget! Maybe with the odd flashy, entertaining number thrown in for good measure. The budget won't go out the window though.

I'm very new to this so please bear with me until I find my feet!!

I hope you enjoy it. All feedback very much appreciated!!

Thanks y'all!

Sunday, 23 March 2014

Baked risotto - the easiest meal you'll make!

I've never made a baked risotto before but I went to a pampered chef night at my friend's house on Friday and they made one there. It took minutes to put together and then the oven did the rest. 

I've been in the veg garden all day and came in absolutely shattered and desperate for a bath so I literally chopped a few things up and chucked it all in an oven dish and stuck it in the oven while I had my bath. It was ready when I got out and was the perfect comfort food, which I troughed while I caught up on Call The Midwife! 




Ingredients

1 mug of risotto rice. I used arborio. 
1 pack of dried porcini mushrooms
A couple of inches of chorizo, sliced 
1 leek, sliced ( I just had small leeks, from the garden, so used 3)
A handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
A couple of knobs of butter
A good grating of hard cheese. I used grana padano. Any cheese, even cheddar, would be nice. 

Method

Cover the mushrooms in boiling water and let them hydrate. 
Put the leek, rice, tomatoes and chorizo in an oven dish. 
When the mushrooms are ready, add them to the dish. 
Put the mushroom liquor into the mug that you measured the rice in. You'll need  2.5 mugs full so if you haven't got enough, top up with hot water. 
Give it a stir and put the butter on the top. I used some of the wild garlic butter that i made last week. 
Put it in the oven at gas mark 5 for about 45 minutes. Do check it after 30 mins though. If it needs more water, feel free to add. 
Grate cheese over and stir it in. Grate some more over the top. Pop it back in the oven for a couple of mins. 
Serve with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar over it. 







No comments:

Post a Comment