We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming...
...at least until my energy levels start to drop again



Risotto's one of those dishes where my fussy attention to detail really shows through. I also really like that the variations are endless as long as your finished product includes what is effectively a thick rice soup (which makes it similar to congee, but usually with richer flavours).

So, to breakdown how anal I can get about my food, here's a rundown of the ingredients I used this time around:

• Carnaroli rice (Arborio rice is much easier to find and work with, but I don't like the end result as much)


• filtered water (yes, that anal) broth, made with an organic herb bouillon cube, an organic onion bouillon cube, saffron, a pinch of smoked salt and Smoke'in Apple wine


• nitrate- and nitrite-free bangers


• one whole organic onion, diced


• four white mushrooms, sliced (if the farmer's market across the street carried organic mushrooms, I'd have gotten those)


• Ontario peas, pre-frozen


• organic baby carrots, chopped

For a dish like risotto, you don't really have to use a lot of "premium" ingredients for the flavour to really shine through. My favourite type of food to cook, I've realized, can feed many, uses a variety of ingredients and doesn't need a lot of expensive items to taste good.