Happy New Freakin' Year.
I'm at work today. NO ONE has called. I'm basically being paid to sit here and browse the internet. I'll take that though. There are much worse things.
Today is a day for newness. It's the first of the year 2004 and it leaves a lot of time for reflection both on the past year and on the coming year, which I hope will bring a lot of changes. I want to lose 50 lbs. by this time next year. Even though doing that will still put me about 50 lbs. overweight, I will be a lot more healthy than I am right now. I will also feel much better. One of the ways I plan on doing this is by working out. I haven't figured out yet what I'm going to do, but I know walking and running will be involved (if my knees and ankle cooperate and don't give me too much trouble).
I think I may cook up some risotto tonight. I made it once before and it was so good. I think I want to try again with some different flavors. This time I"m going to use butternut squash, bacon and chestnuts a la JO stylie.
Here's the recipe:
Pumpkin, Sage, Chestnut and Bacon Risotto

1 small sweet cooking pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, about 2 1/2
pounds
Olive oil
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
Sea salt and ground black pepper
12 slices bacon or pancetta
2 ounces shelled chestnuts (vacuum packed are fine)
15 fresh sage leaves
4 cups chicken stock or canned broth
3 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
5 small stalks celery, finely chopped
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine or dry white vermouth
4 tablespoons butter
3/8 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
About 1 cup mascarpone, optional.

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Halve pumpkin lengthwise, and remove seeds;
rinse seeds, drain, and reserve. Cut pumpkin lengthwise into thick slices,
and spread in a layer across a large baking sheet. (If using squash, cut
into quarters.) Sprinkle pumpkin with olive oil, and set aside. Using a
mortar and pestle, pound the coriander seeds until crushed. Sprinkle over
pumpkin along with salt and pepper, and bake until soft, about 40 minutes.

2. Remove pumpkin from oven (leave oven on), and spread bacon over it. In a
small bowl, combine reserved seeds, chestnuts, sage and salt and pepper to
taste. Add tablespoon olive oil, and mix well. Sprinkle over pumpkin and
bacon. Place back in oven until bacon is crisp, 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Remove pumpkin from oven. Scrape bacon, chestnuts, sage and pumpkin seeds
onto a small plate; reserve. Finely chop about half the pumpkin. Chop other
half so that it is slightly chunky; reserve.

4. Place chicken stock in a small pan over medium-low heat. Bring to a
simmer, then reduce heat to very low to keep warm. Place a large saucepan
over medium heat, and add tablespoon olive oil, shallots, celery and a pinch
of salt. Stir, cover, and cook for 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high,
and add rice. Stir constantly until rice is translucent, 2 to 3 minutes.
Stir in wine until it is absorbed, 1 to 2 minutes.

5. Begin adding broth to rice, a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly.
Allow each ladleful to be absorbed before adding next; process will take
about 20 minutes. When ready, rice will be soft with a slight bite. Season
with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Remove rice from heat. Add chopped pumpkin, and stir vigorously until
mixed; fold in pumpkin chunks. Mix in butter and Parmesan. Place a lid over
the saucepan, and let sit for 2 minutes. To serve, place a portion on each
of 6 serving plates. Top each portion with crumbled bacon, and sprinkle with
mixture of chestnuts, sage and pumpkin seeds. Add a dash more cheese.
Garnish each plate with a dollop of mascarpone if desired, and serve
immediately.

Time: 1 hour 50 minutes

Yield: 6 servings.

Adapted from Jamie Oliver


I'm sure my daughter won't like it but she may try it. There's nothing in it that sounds bad to me tbh. I miss the days of cooking for people who would eat it...