Cooking as meditation

I've always cooked to relax, which means when I'm under a lot of stress I tend to gain weight.  But thanks to some cholecystic issues, I've been on a virtually fat-free diet for a couple of months.  I've lost six pounds and I'm now officially classed as "underweight."  This situation has done nothing to help my stress levels.  So to kill two birds with one stone, I decided to make risotto.

My friend, Kurt, taught me to make risotto.  Well, not so much taught me as I've watched "the Maestro" make it a dozen times.  Risotto is a basic rice recipe that you can vary with the addition of different ingredients. Last week "baby bella" (aka crimini) mushrooms were on sale at Winn-Dixie and they beckoned to be made into risotto.  The recipe is relatively low-fat because you can adjust the amount of oil and parmesan cheese.  And risotto is meditative in that it requires constant stirring for about 20 minutes.  Yes, there are "oven baked" varieties on FoodGawker but I wanted to be taken away from my grading, class prep and research for a few minutes.  So without further ado, this is my recipe for



BABY BELLA RISOTTO

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 finely diced onion
1 garlic clove
1 cup finely diced mushrooms (I sliced the crimini mushrooms horizontally, then diced them for a nice even texture)
2 tablespoons sherry
1 cup uncooked arborio rice (also known as "risotto rice" this is a round kernel, very different from long grain)
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup water (plus more if necessary)
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
Parsley for garnish

Heat the olive oil in a wide frying pan over medium heat.  Add the onions and garlic and saute for three minutes.  Add the mushrooms and continue to saute 4-5 minutes. Do not brown.  Add the sherry to deglaze the pan.  Then stir in the rice.

Add about one cup of broth and begin stirring, still over medium heat.  When the broth has been absorbed, add another 1/2 cup broth.  Continue stirring.  Don't walk away or the rice will start sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Each time the liquid has been absorbed, add another 1/2 cup of broth.  When you're out of broth, add the water 1/2 cup at a time.  The standard cooking time is about 20 minutes, but test the rice to see if it is tender with just a little bit of chewiness to it.  When it's reached this texture, remove the pan from the heat and add the parmesan cheese.  Stir it in quickly because it will start to melt in the hot risotto.  The resulting mixture should be creamy.  Serve topped with parsley and salt and pepper to taste.  Serves 3-4.

A cancer-fighting dessert?

Black bean brownie bites from the American Institute for Cancer Research.

These are wonderful!  Like a cross between a brownie and a mini muffin, delicately spiced with cinnamon. Perfect with coffee or afternoon tea.

Feel Good Food

I don't know about you, but my comfort food is usually very unhealthy (a box of macaroni and cheese; chocolate donuts).  But there's at least one healthy dish I crave to boost my well-being and my creativity:

PH's FENNEL-ORANGE SALAD

One bulb of fresh fennel (should be white, no brown/yellow spots, with plenty of green fronds on top)

One orange

½ a small red onion

Juice of ½ a lemon or to taste

1 tsp of honey or to taste

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Remove the bottom of the fennel bulb which is woody and tough.  Cut off the top stalks of the fennel, reserving some of the feathery green fronds to garnish the salad.  Slice the fennel bulb into paper thin slices.  Slice the red onion also into paper thin slices.  Peel the orange with a knife and cut into clean sections, so that only membrane remains left over.  Put the fennel slices, onion slices, and orange slices into a bowl, and squeeze the remaining orange juice from the membrane over the vegetables.

In a cup, mix oil, honey and lemon juice until it is emulsified.  Pour over the fennel mixture.  Season with salt and pepper, garnish with reserved fennel fronds.

Recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.  Can be refrigerated, but should be served at room temperature.