Review: Pitango organic Risotto

Hi honey, I'm home!

What's for tea?

Sound familiar?

How about the sound of a shoe being thrown at hubby's head?

Well, my domestic situation isn't quite so dire, but I'll admit that after spending 10 hours at work, slaving over a hot stove late into the evening is not my idea of bliss.  

Recently, I was given the chance to review Pitango's range of risottos (they also have readymade soups).

Why didn't I find out about these sooner? I do like to make risotto, but with this pre-prepared range, there's no more standing, stirring, stirring, and scraping a pot of rice, all while complaining that 'my feet are killing me...' (sorry, the sore feet are my own problem, caused by wearing vanity high heels all day).

Here we had the pumpkin, leek and spinach variety. Ingredients are largely organic and not artificial (rice, pumpkin, leek, spinach, onion, cream, white wine, olive oil, turmeric, fennel, etc).

All you need to do is cut open a corner of the pouch and microwave for 3 to 4 minutes.

I dished this up with some sauteed kale and shards of crispy prosciutto.

Too easy.

Moral of the story: 

Pitango risotto = a lifesaver

Ergo, happy wife = happy life.

Pitango risotto is $7 for 500g (serves 2).

I got mine at Woolworths, but it's pretty popular and sells out often.

This is a very creamy risotto. I've tried, but mine is never this creamy, darn it.

It tastes really good, not too salty.

Risotto served here with kale and prosciutto and garlic bread.

Sweet as, bro! (Pitango being a New Zealand company and all)

This post was kindly sponsored by Pitango. 

Thanks to Amanda at missy mischief

Oven Express and Zumbo macarons - what a combo

When I first saw my little cottage many years ago, I was entranced. It was – and still is – a perfect home, with a lovely renovated interior and a plot of low-maintenance garden for enjoying the sunshine. It also came with some high-spec, stainless steel appliances, including a shiny cooktop and a swish oven.

I didn’t realise at the time, but the oven wasn’t as spotless as it should have been. For a new-ish oven, it was pretty grotty, with a fine coating of grease that made me wonder what the previous owners had been cooking in it.  I suppose I could have cleaned it, but I wasn’t sure that there was any non-abrasive cleaning product that would get the gunk off.

Well, imagine my delight when Susan from Oven Express asked if I was interested in reviewing their oven cleaning service. Yes, please, with bells on!

Some details on the services available from Oven Express

1. How long does it take?

My oven cleaning took approx. 1½ hours. A very thorough cleaning, including removal of the oven door and inside racks to improve access to the inside of the oven . The racks are soaked in a tank in their van, with the water heated to 90C and this really gets the grease off. My oven door is double glass, and I was astonished that the cleaning technician, Rabin, managed scrape off the layer of brown haze on it. I can now see what’s cooking in the oven!

2. How much does it cost?

Prices for an an oven clean start from $160 for a standard 60cm oven. Oven Express also cleans barbeques (prices from $140). You can combine these with a rangehood or stovetop clean as well.

3. What areas do they service?

Oven Express has a number of technicians who service the Sydney metro area at the moment.

4. What type of cleaning products are used?

They use non-caustic, fume-free cleaning products. There was barely any smell while my oven was being cleaned. Afterwards, I left the oven to air out for a day before using it, and there was a bit of ‘cleaning’ smell when the oven was first turned on, but this dissipated after a few minutes. Also, the technician was very neat and orderly and didn’t make or leave any mess behind.

5. Would I recommend this service?

Yes, definitely. My oven is now like new and I enjoy using it more. I think an oven cleaning would be ideal if your oven isn’t cleaned regularly. I’m speaking from experience here. It would also be useful if your home is on the market and you don’t want to be embarrassed by potential buyers taking a peek in your oven and getting a shock (yes, I actually look in ovens; don’t you?)

Oven Express

Ovenexpress.com.au

Ph: 1800 325 773
Ooh, Look... blog received this oven cleaning service compliments of Oven Express.

Before: Gross, filthy, caked-on grease

During: Grease, begone!

After: Oh utter bliss, a clean oven.

-----

To celebrate having a nice clean oven, I dug out a packet of Adriano Zumbo Patissier Salted Caramel Macarons.

I'd bought this pack about a year ago and it was 2 weeks from its Best Before date. And I'd never made macarons before.

It sounded like a good idea at the time...

The pack contains meringue mix, almond meal, caramel and piping bags and macaron stencil. 

You whip the meringue mix (contains dried eggwhites) with water, then fold in the sieved almond meal. 

Then fill the piping bag with the mixture and pipe macaron shells (using the stencil traced onto baking paper first).

After baking the shells, beat some softened butter with the caramel to make buttercream.

Sandwich the macaron shells with buttercream and voila, salted caramel macarons!

So where did I go wrong? I didn't sieve the almond meal properly, resulting in grainy mix. The shells are really orange in colour because the pack was so close to expiry. I didn't pipe the shells big enough, so they look like melting moments made from doggy-do.

What's good about them? They have 'feet'. They taste alright. The buttercream is yummy. They look pretty good coming out of my beautifully clean oven.

Will I try making macarons again? Heck, yeah! They can't be any worse than this effort...!

A sous vide experience PLUS Protein Balls

Warning: This is a long post, to make up for not writing anything for a while. Missed you!

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a demonstration of Breville’s Sous Vide Supreme.  

I was keen to attend because the demo featured Sydney chef, Pete Evans, who is also a host of TV show, My Kitchen Rules, and infamous activated almonds specialist.

The event was held at the Sydney Seafood School, at the Fish Markets, which meant taking pics of the expensive scampi.

So what he demoed was a tabouli salad with sous vided salmon and crispy salmon skin.

To cook using sous vide, you need a couple of gadgets, namely a vacuum-sealing machine that seals the food in a special plastic bag (gadget no. 1). The meat goes into the bag with some seasoning or marinade, then you put it into the sous vide machine (gadget no. 2).

After the food is cooked (and it’s difficult to overcook given the stable temperature of the sous vide water bath), remove from the bag and serve. You may want to also crisp up the surface of the food in a grill pan (gadget no. 3).

So, sous vide is ideal for foolproof cooking of more expensive cuts of meat, like fillet steak or lamb. The vacuum bag also seals in flavours and cooking smells, so it’s perfect for salmon, which is notorious for stinking out the kitchen and the rest of the house – not pleasant, no matter how tasty the salmon is. Mind you, if you have the space for all the sous vide paraphernalia, then you’d probably have a roomy kitchen with a powerful exhaust system, too, wouldn’t you?

The resulting salmon that Pete Evans  showed us (and which we also prepared ourselves), was beautifully cooked all the way through, with no dry bits or raw bits. And it’s pretty cool to watch the air getting sucked out of the vacuum sealed bag and to break it open after 20 or so minutes to get at the moist and juicy fish.

Me and my mate Pete. These photos are from the iPhone, so a bit blurry (and Pete (nice guy!) took this selfie because his arms are longer than mine...)

Pete Evans is a bit of a health nut (pardon the pun), so I thought I’d share these healthy balls with you. I’ve made these protein balls (aka ‘amazeballs’) a couple of times now, and they always disappear like the clappers, they are so good.

By the way, a bulk food shop recently opened in Balmain, called The Source, and they sell scoops of stuff out of big bins. Things like goji and Inca berries, raw almonds (you need to activate them yourself), chocolate-covered Turkish delight, flours, honey, and even cleaning products for the home. It’s a fantastic place for when you need just a small amount of something and don’t want to buy a whole bag. This is where I got the ingredients for these amazeballs.

Protein balls

makes 25-30

Ingredients

100g raw or toasted cashews, chopped

100g raw or toasted almonds

2 tblsp LSA (linseed, sunflower seeds and almonds, ground)

170g dates, pitted and chopped

100g dried apricots, chopped

100g prunes, pitted and chopped

1 tblsp peanut butter or tahini

2 tblsp cocoa powder

1 tblsp ground cinnamon

2 tblsp honey

Pinch of sea salt

50g desiccated coconut, for coating

Method

1. Combine the cashews, almonds and LSA in a food processor until finely ground.

2. Add the dates, apricots and prunes to the processor and combine until everything is chopped in to very small pieces.

3. Add the peanut butter, cocoa, cinnamon, honey and sea salt and whiz until the mixture starts to form a big, clumpy ball (about 2 minutes).

4. Roll heaped tablespoons of the mixture into walnut-sized balls (wet your hands first). Roll in coconut and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. 

recipe adapted from Sydney Morning Herald (June 2013)

Colourful and healthy (?) ingredients.

Mix them all together in a large-ish food processor to get these tasty morsels.