Fettuccine with Mushrooms and Walnuts

Cookbook: "The Skinny Country"
By: Chef Fabio Viviani

I made this meal last night and it was so yummy. I love eating the "fresh" pasta (fresh pasta in a package). It is better than the dry boxed kind. I am sure even fresher is better for me, but the local Pasta & Cheese shop was closed. Again, using the E-cookbook recipe as my shopping list, I was able to get through the food store quickly and get cookin'!


I am still trying to organize myself to know when to start what, so everything comes out ready at the same time, but I did pretty good last night. Again, in this recipe, the flavours are not something I have had before. It was delicious. I've cooked with herbs in the past...actually, sprinkling ripped sweet basil over a caprese salad is not really working with herbs per se, but...I've stuck some rosemary sprigs in beef stew before! My problem is, I thought I was supposed to eat those branchy things, all these years. Turns out...it is just for flavour and not something you need to eat. FYI: Common sense is not a strong trait in geniuses. I'm just sayin' (lol).

Photo of Chef Viviani from www.health.com. No, he is not cooking this dish in the picture--but we can pretend he is, eh? :o)

So, I added the sage and rosemary to the olive oil and removed them (as much as I could), which allowed the oil to be infused by these herbs. Brilliant! Then, I added the walnuts (what?!) to the oil which was followed by slices of garlic...and mushroom (huh?!). Ok...being Canadian, the only thing we ever have with walnuts is Maple, so this is a totally new flavour for my palate (and my palate liked it...ALOT).

I was trying to keep up with the pasta rising over the pot, with bubbles boiling over--so the pasta was slightly overcooked. Still...whatever..the smoke alarms didn't go off and that alone makes me closer to Chef-hood. :o)



Sprinkled some Romano (freshly grated) *FYI: If you spray cooking spray on the cheese grater, it will help you and your little arms from struggling to get the maximum amount of cheese you so deserve.

Another great recipe from this book--check it out! (I do feel a cookbook hop soon, though--wanting something Spanish!)

Ciao Bella's!
xox

Risotto

Recipe Book: "The Skinny Country" by Chef Fabio Viviani

I was so nervous to make this dish. I think Top Chef psyched me out. So many Chefs went home because their Risotto was cooked wrong; "Too stiff", "not the right consistency", etc...it really freaked me out. I never had Risotto before, so I had no expectations on the flavour whatsoever.

I bought the chicken stock--which was a tiny bit under 4 cups for the box. This recipe calls for 4-5 cups of chicken stock and means it. I need to learn how to chop the onions a bit finer, but that will come with more experience and not something that took away from the flavour.




After spending about 10 minutes rinsing my crying eyes, I started to caramelize the onions as the chicken stock was heating up. I added the rice and should have let it soak the olive oil just a tiny bit longer, but I was so nervous (and hungry!).By the time I added the wine, the smell was amazing---then to add the chicken stock on top of that--WOW! Not something I ever smelled before...ever. I love that. Smelling food combinations for the first time, that just work. It is like a new world--stimulating the senses and awakening an appreciation for the creativity of real cooking.



The Risotto I made tonight was delicious. The layers of flavour were unexpected. You taste the wine, you taste the parmesan, you taste the chicken stock...but in dimensions. In layers. The consistency that mine came out in tonight, would have gotten me voted off Top Chef island, and probably a nuggie from Chef Viviani, but...I will make this again (it is a staple now, forever). It is something I would miss if I never had it again. It is that good!

As far as the title being "The Skinny Country"--if everything tastes this good, I can't see that happening! (especially since I just went into the fridge and scooped a spoonful out, cold!)

I know...shameful girl!

xox

Introduction

My name is Lisa. Just a girl journaling about my cookbook promiscuities, in search for healthy recipes that satisfy my hunger for delicious & natural food. I'm not a writer by career so if there are any typos or comma's that should be where they are not, please forgive me & try to see passed it. Oh yeah, and please keep in mind I was raised by French-speaking parents. Merci! ;oP

OK...so here we go...

When I was a little girl, my parents always gave us canned vegetables. They were young parents and did what they thought was best. I remember looking at my little bowl of canned peas; olive in colour, floating lifelessly in their grey, toxic water...still turns my stomach when I think of it. I would be given a time limit, "on the 7, those peas had better be gone!". I always used several napkins for those nights (they would get full so quickly). Thankfully we got a dog, shortly thereafter.



I remember watching Popeye on TV and thinking how delicious the spinach looked and how he would just gulp it down. I imagined it would taste, like fresh grass smelled and the idea of just "gulping it down" was so intriguing. When we bought a can, I could not believe that something was worse than peas! I was totally turned off of vegetables. My sweet mother would beg me to "please...just eat 5 peas" as if those 5 peas would provide me with just enough vitamins to keep me healthy.

When I turned around 13-14 years old, I would religiously read Vogue magazines. They would always show what the Supermodels would have in their grocery bags. I would save my babysitting money and make my mini-list according to what they bought. Paulina Porizkova buys honeydew melon and Evian water? So will I! Turns out I hate Honeydew Melon and Evian (unless its for spritzing my face). But, it got me out of the canned vegetable aisle and actually trying real food. (Thanks Paulina!)



As an adult on my own, I try to eat natural foods as much as possible. It is a conscious decision every single day. Being very busy in my career it would be very easy to just get some take-out, fast food or frozen meals--but I seriously have an internal dialogue...sometimes argument on what is more important. Junk food...or good health?

It's always a struggle when I go to the food store; I always become lost. I know what is considered "good food" and what is considered "bad food". But convenience is always the most difficult thing to give up.

I had seen the movie "Julie & Julia" and the idea of cooking through a cookbook was inspiring. I mentioned the idea on my business blog and started to get all these amazing people coming in, with cookbooks, to help me out. With a stack of cookbooks over my head, I didn't know where to begin. Some cookbooks are too big, you know? They have recipes for just...too much. I was looking for cookbooks for good simple food, that was delicious. No foam. No liquid nitrogen. I don't need my mangos to look like eggs or my wine to look like pasta. As brilliant as those Chefs are, those are just not recipes to pass down to future generations.



So, I sit with my stack of books and will pull from the ones that I think can offer me basic, delicious, natural cooking and will share my honest successes and failures with y'all. There will be no recipe bashing here. I am not a food critic. I'm just a girl who wants to cook without the fire alarms going off. A girl who wants to be asked to bring more than just the salad to future dinner parties. And come out on the other side...a good cook. Thas'all. :o)

xox