I made this meal tonight. It’s the first heavily savoury risotto i’ve made, and a bloody ripper, even if i do say so myself.

Ingredients:
- Good quality fillet steak (i used rib eye, something nice and juicy preferably)
- Carnaroli rice – higher starch content than arborio rice means creamier risotto.
- Red wine (mine was the 2002 Riverbank Estate Cabernets, my nana bought it for my birthday… what a great nana :) )
- Tomatos (both real and pureed)
- Quality beef stock
- Bok Choy (this is for a change in texture from the rest of the risotto to add some bite)
- Rosemary
- Risotto stuff ( ive made a lot of risotto lately, so i seem to be repeating the same ingredients and steps, basically this means, chopped onion, garlic, and leek, combined in either butter or olive oil, used to coat the rice before adding stock)

So basically you cook it like you’d cook any risotto, except that before you cook the rice, you cut the beef into strips (or chunks should you so desire) and braise it in a combination of red wine, rosemary, garlic and a little beef stock. Then set it aside just as its medium rare.

Continue with the rest of the risotto, creating the base stock out of beef stock, red wine, and rosemary.

When your rice is ready to go, begin adding the stock, stirring when you need to, and towards the end add in the chopped and pureed tomatoes (as many as you like depending on how ‘tomatoey’ you want it). Then when the rice is almost done, add your beef back in, stir it through, and then add the bok choy and let it soften slighty before serving.

What you get is big juicy pieces of steak combined beautifully with succulent and crisp bok choy and tender carnaroli rice.

And yes, my photography skills are not improving… but fortunately my cooking skills are… so whilst it looks kinda ugly, it tasted really good …

This is a simple recipe i came across recently while eating at Lamonts. It was a lot smaller in portion size when i had it there… I seem to have an uncanny knack of making meals a lot bigger than they need to be, but then if it tastes good, i want plenty…

Ingredients:

Risotto

• Arborio or Carnaroli Rice (roughly a cup per person)
• Spanish Onion (diced finely)
• Leek (diced finely)
• Fresh Garlic (crushed)
• 500 mL chicken stock
• A handful each of basil, italian parsely, coriander, chives (basically any fresh green herbs you can get your hands on) roughly chopped
• 1 – 2 cups dry white wine
• salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Salmon

• Fresh Salmon fillets (sliced into relatively thin strips)
• Salt & Pepper and extra virgin olive oil to season
• Fresh lemon juice

Directions

Risotto

• Place your chicken stock into a large pan with an equal amount of water and bring it to the boil, then turn down the heat and let it simmer
• Fry the onion, garlic, and leek in a pan with some olive oil until soft but not browned
• Add the rice to the vegetables, stir the rice through the mixture, coating the rice
• Add a cup or so of white wine to the mixture, letting it absorb into the mixture
• Turn the heat to medium low on the pan and start adding the stock into the rice a little at a time
• Continue adding stock (i use a ladle full each time) until the rice begins to absorb and the liquid and gets softer
• Test the texture of the rice to see if it is soft enough. You want a little bite to it, or else it will turn into mush
• As the rice is nearly ready throw all your herbs into the mixture, and stir them through.
• Done !

Salmon

• Season your salmon slices with olive oil, sea salt flakes and cracked black pepper
• If you can, curl the salmon slices into a roll, it should look like a small cylinder at the end. Use a toothpick to fasten the ends if they won’t stay put
• In a hot pan, add a splash of olive oil and sear the salmon on the top and bottom. A minute or so on each side should be plenty
• Drizzle some lemon juice over the salmon as its cooking, lime juice would also add some nice flavour.
• When the salmon is cooked to your liking, serve the risotto into a large plate and add the salmon on top.
• Garnish with more fresh herbs and some crème fraîche if you like

Enjoy with a nice glass of white wine (perhaps a Semillon).