Lemon Chicken Risotto

I am very enthused these days; maybe it’s the festive xmasý spirit or that I can see some changes on the blog or maybe it is just the end of the year. A year that has more or less been good; good is an understatement, I should say fabulous. Yes, there have been changes- big changes- and hiccups, but overall, it has been quite nice. Touche’…  Since I have been feeling satisfied with myself, I have also decided not to work much anymore till the 1^st now. That’s my treat to myself; of course I have to go to work for one more day this week, but that will be my last working day for the year! Instead, I had decided to focus on my energies on making one complex dish for Ak, before I signed off the blog for the year. Since Ak was the one who initiated this whole blog, and set it up to make me actually do it, I thought I had to do something fancy, and unexpected. Hence- the risotto. Now, SC, SG and PM are aware of the tomato and basil risotto (and i think i have very good reviews from them :p and i owe them one again!), that I think I have managed to cook reasonably, quite a few times, but I hadn’t really tried a complex recipe. I remembered Ak ‘looooving’ the Lemon Chicken Risotto, sometime when we were out for Dinner, and thought maybe this could be ‘the unpredicted one’. 

                Risottos are considered to be complicated; because it’s very easy to overcook or under cook. Also, the time taken to cook it, is considerably more than an average meal, since it included just standing and watching, refilling with stock and then waiting again for it to cook a little more. I have always been very skeptical of cooking a risotto, because no matter how many times you have made one before, one could still easily go wrong. To prevent that from happening, I thought I should use a tried and tested recipe, since I was also going to add chicken. My first halt was a cookbook on Italian cooking- Nothing; and then began my search online. I found a lemon risotto, a prawn risotto, a chicken risotto, an asparagus risooto, but NOT a lemon chicken Risotto. I searched keenly, but to no avail, since most recipes I found did either not have wine or no lemon or no chicken. I now had newfound regard for the Lemon Chicken Risotto; it seemed like a rare, unusual recipe. I returned to one of my favourite cooks, Nigella, and used the recipe for a Lemon risotto as a base which I planned to tweak (the original can be found here). Even though I reduced the quantities a bit, this recipe is definitely for 3 and not for 2!

                 The Risotto was a winner. Ak was ‘impressed’, so much so, that he brought out some wine in order to commemorate. In this wonderfully cold weather, this surely was more than just comfort food.

p.s. A tip: The recipe does take about 45 minutes to cook. I would suggest, keep a snack handy, for one would surely feel hungry while standing there, watching it cook. We had some magnificent Cranberry Goats Cheese, which was sent by SIL- Totally festive, and delectable. Thanks for the Xmas Goodies!

p.p.s I am not much of an egg person, especially when the yolk is used uncooked. Therefore, I skipped the Egg from the recipe. Feel free to use it though. Also, I skipped the celery, since I had run out of it!

Puff Pastry Wraps- Celebrating Milestones

Communicooking has achieved a milestone. I got featured on Foodista.com as their Featured Blog of the Day on 20^th December. To be honest, I was quite elated! The Yaaaaaay was silent in my heart, because I really could not believe it! For many in the blogging world, this may not be such a big deal, but I am sure, a lot of the bloggers would identify with this moment that they too would have experienced at some point of time! Nevertheless, I was extremely excited, inspired and motivated, Thanks to Foodista!

And there was no better way to celebrate, except to do another post. In the current situation, where there are only 2 people eating, I am constantly worried with regards to excess food around the house- especially perishables like vegetables. In my weekend visits to my wonderland as Ak calls it (well, it’s the local grocery store- and I am like a little child, in a toy shop), Ak had suggested we pick Puff Pastry. I assume he was hoping for the Chocolat Twisties, but this week, being super chaotic at work- had not led to much of anything new worth writing about. I walked into my kitchen, and opened the fridge, and I could see so much stuff- and the puff pastry was going to expire soon! Usually, the basic fresh puff pastry pack is used in 2 batches, but since it was almost close to expiry date- I decided to have a puff pastry day!

Magnum Opus- guest post by Ak

I often wonder what sort of background music would be appropriate for the bits in life where we are doing really awesome stuff. Maybe you should let this music play while you read this post about the awesomeness yesterday.

The reason why T is not writing this post is that she writes this blog for the joy of cooking. She loves the process, the mixing with hands, the transformation of ingredients. She enjoys the thousand little subtleties that make her cooking different from everyone else. It is a relaxation, a therapeutic release that results in something beautiful. Something that can be taken up at will and at a convenient time.

Yesterday, though, was an event. It called for good food, to be prepared in large quantities, for lots of people. The people mix was reasonable eclectic - a little less than half were vegetarians, some of whom would not even have eggs - some would enjoy their drink and eat later, some would want to be fed as soon as they entered. It also called for birthday cake, which we could have easily outsourced along with the rest of the food - a recommendation of mine that was put down almost immediately - There would be cooking - lots of cooking and T would do it.

So we fixed a menu for 20 people and here it is:

The Lazy Chicken (Grilled Chicken in garlic and herb sauce)

I have recently discovered how a lot of my posts have this one quote from Ak, which is the motivation behind the post. This is almost always- presumably a good thing, because on numerous occasions, inertia could get the better of me. Today’s was; “Just because it was easy for you, does not make it ‘not worthy’ of a post. I wonder, what is it that makes something worthy of talking about it. This makes me rethink of what this blog is intended to do.

As much as today was a downer day- when a post would have been out of question, with me not feeling well, and not having slept for a few days now, I thought I would do something quick for dinner. Since Workwise, the momentum is at a different pace completely, efficiency has taken a completely new meaning and this, like always, would reflect in my cooking. The dish for today was going to be Grilled Chicken accompanied with some veggies- (grilled, because I wanted a try a new multipurpose grill pan, that I had been recently gifted by a thoughtful aunt, who is aware of my love for new technology in cookware!). The Grilled Chicken Breast has been one of my favourite dishes for over 10 years now. There was a time, when I would blindly order the Grilled Chicken Breast, wherever I went. The recipe below was invented on the go, recreating my memories of a mildly flavoured chicken that is not overdone with spices; the recipe is simple, not too fancy, extremely healthy and a meal by itself, if accompanied with bread and a little salad (optional).  Maple is optional (I love the sweetness it adds), and so is wine. I call it lazy, only because it really takes no effort, and is perfect for a lazy winter night.

p.s. I think it looked appetizing enough for Ak to pour some wine to accompany it J

The Quickie

I don’t know about the rest of the world, but I take life and things around me for granted; my work, people around me, people I really care about, and of course, my cooking. My next planned post after a very efficient Sunday was to be with my pretty pretty, newly found cupcake cases (I had been desperately looking to find nice-looking, good quality and inexpensive cupcake wrappers all over!). However, this was not to be.

George Kneller said, ‘To think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted.’

               So, on Ak’s insistence for the quickie ( and I mean the post of course), and because of the beautiful photographs that he took despite my hesitancy to document this, here I am, writing about a very average, very tired and no time, hardly any ingredients available- Sunday dinner.  This was a meal literally, made out of nothing in the fridge. The menu was decided on the basis of 2 key ingredients that were available and then the rest just happened. Each of the recipes, as a matter of fact, has one or two elements missing and hence, has been replaced with something similar and on occasion, even contradictory. Hence, for the convenience of anyone who may want to try any one of the recipes, I have posted the originals.

Disclaimer: If one must try this, it is only at one’s own risk.

Actually Communicating and Cooking!

So, today’s post is sooner than otherwise planned- actually it was completely unscheduled. Had a very efficient workday, with dedicated communication work, only to end with a naïve round of cooking. Considering it was a long working day, with more to continue later, I thought of keeping dinner rather simple; and just as I was about to begin, Ak decided that it was worth writing about. Out came the camera- and I figured that my artless, vague menu was up for some excitement .