Friday 20th March '09

I remembered I bought a slab of speck from Cannington Fresh and it's been sitting in the fridge waiting for me to remember to use it. I doubt the speck I bought is as authentic as you can get it, but it was delicious. I came across this website when trying to find a description for speck:
Salumi: Italian Cured Meats

So...while bacon is smoked and comes from the belly of a pig, speck is cured and comes from the pig's legs.

slicing up the speck

I decided on a risotto dish with garlic, onion, speck, mushrooms and zucchini. I also went outside and cut some fresh sage and thyme to use.

simmering the risotto

I didn't want the rice to overcook and become soggy, so I only added a little water at a time. I used to make risotto quite often. My favourite was chicken and mushroom. It's been a while since I've last made risotto. It took me a while to find my arborio rice, but I knew I still had some in the pantry somewhere.

Lunch
Ham, Rockat & Tomato Wrap

At night I have to take the tomatoes inside so that they don't get soggy because it's been rather chilly at night. In passing today, one of the girls at work said it was pouring outside. I gasped and immediately dialled home to see if my mum had brought in my tomatoes like I'd asked her to (because I'm on the night shifts this week). Mum said she couldn't find them - I had moved them to a position atop the shade cloth over my herbs so that they could get more sun. Wah! I hope they didn't get wet!



Dinner
Risotto with Speck, Mushroom & Zucchini

Ooh this came out absolutely perfect! The rice was cooked just right - not soggy at all! I'm going to have to make risotto again really soon. With prawns perhaps.

After work, I had some supper of Mum's ox tail stew and then I made a cup of tea and opened up the pineapple tarts I'd brought back from Singapore in December. I've had them in my cupboard and forgotten about them.