Roasted garlic and pumpkin risotto

Donna's Roasted Garlic and Pumpkin Risotto

Making good on my every Monday commitment, even after an internet problem that I fixed myself!! (the old turn off / turn on trick - my old IT work colleagues would be proud) is one of the first Donna's I ever made - her Roasted Garlic and Pumpkin Risotto, from issue 14, page 138. I should thank Crystal for this - she made it once years ago and it has been a favourite of my family's ever since! It is super easy, the only bother is the time standing at the stove while you stir the stock in, probably about 20 minutes. And it is very open to personal touches - the last time I made this (which isn't the photo below because we ate last weeks batch before I remembered to take a photo) I added sliced swiss mushrooms about halfway through adding the stock. I had planned to saute them and stir them through at the end with the pumpkin however our stovetop was already rather full because along side this risotto I was making a, ahem, breast milk risotto for Flynn. Which by-the-by he loved! But cooking the mushrooms in with the risotto worked well anyway.

This photo does not do the taste justice!

But back to the Donna - my top tips:

• I always throw a few extra garlic cloves into roast then the 8 she recommends because roasted garlic is LOVED in this house!
• I normally use dried oregano because I rarely have fresh in my crisper and it's still good
• I would recommend using a semi-decent stock rather then the powdered version/stock cube if you can, but it is still nice if you powdered is all you have. I used the new stock paste in a tube and it was good.
• If you put the pumpkin and garlic into the oven before doing anything else, it tends to be ready just as the risotto is ready. Nice!

Let me know if this is a regular in your house, or if you try making it for the first time.

And a question - has anyone made the dark chocolate and caramel pudding the the front of the last issue's cover? If so, is it worth cooking?

Leek, Zucchini + Couscous Soup

With added Chicken

Soup, soup, a tasty soup, soup!
A spicy carrot and corriander!!
[Chilli Chowder!]
CRUTON CRUTON!
Crunchy friends in a liquid broth!
I am dispatchio, oh!
I am missala soho.
Misso misso,
Fighting in the Dojo,
Misso misso...
Oriental friends in the land of SOUP!
- The Mighty Boosh :)

↑ Donna's and Mine ↓

My first post! :)

This soup really caught my eye, I had never cooked with Israeli/pearl couscous before and I absolutely love anything with thyme.

If I make a soup in my household, I'm skating on thin ice. In my husbands words "soup is not a real dinner"! so if I make one it better be pretty tasty and hearty. So I thought I'd add chicken to mine, to beef it up, plus my Husband's all about the meat :)
The recipe says 2 leeks and one zucchini, but I did the opposite as I wanted to save my other leek for another dish, and I didn't think 1 zucchini was enough for a big soup. I put two sliced garlic's in too.


Once all ingredients were in the saucepan and brewing nicely I added my chicken breast and poached it, let it cook and then sliced it up thinly and returned it to the soup.

I put in a heap load of Thyme because if it's not bursting with flavour I'm not happy. I picked thyme and put it in and also left some on it's stem, purely because when I look at it in the pan it looks sexy and makes me happy while it's brewing away - hah! Also, the stems are quiet potent so I think it definitely infuses more flavour.
I didn't have any spinach to top it with, I don't think it really needs it. The Parmesan finishes it off nicely, also a fresh loaf of sourdough soy and linseed bread from Bourke St Bakery complimented it beautifully.


I personally found this soup really delicious and so did the rest of my family - yep, even the Husband! :)

Harper kept saying "mmm" the whole way through, and yelling "kinni (zucchini)"! Really loud with a big grin, so cute :)

From issue 56 Page 32

Rhubarb Tart

Ok, so I go into this post with mixed feelings. This tart, which I made for the first time two weeks ago, and I, have a short but messy history.

So, to the technicalities for a moment,

Everything about this tart is simple and delicious. I use the Pastry recipe found in Issue 38, Page 118. This was the first from-scratch pastry I attempted and it is so wonderful and easy, I don't see the point changing (I will post my thoughts on the pastry recipe later).

Besides baking the final tart a little longer than Donna says (as usual), Everything else is as the recipe states, and it is delicious. Kind of cheesecakey with the scrumptious tartness of the rhubarb. As for where you can find the rhubarb, I'm not sure. I am lucky enough to have a mother who grows rhubarb, which is why I decided to make this recipe in the first place.

Anyhoo, back to our messy history.

I was so impressed with this yummy tart I wanted to share it with everyone I could.

After it being almost demolished at a friends going-away party, I decided to take some to my parents-in-law, who were staying at a local caravan park. Impress the in-laws.

In the car park I dropped the tart, contained in my favourite, vintage, stoneware, tart dish. Right onto my big toe.

While hopping around the car park yelling faux expletives (Miss Three was present) Sweetyboy collected the miraculously unbroken tart dish and the amazingly preserved tart (Thank you glad wrap!).

Three and a half hours at emergency proved that the toe was not, in-fact broken, just crazy sore. A hot needle was inserted to relive a hematoma that had formed under the nail.

The nail is slowly (and painfully) in the process of falling off as we speak.

I ate the remainder of the tart and enjoyed every bite.

So... Make this tart. You wont regret it. Unless of course you drop it on your toe and the baking dish smashes and the tart is ruined.

I just noticed that most of the photos of my finished creations show them partially eaten. This is because 1) I have no self control, and 2) am very forgetful. Usually we have already begun digging in when I remember 'Ahhhh! I was going to take a photo of this for the blog!'

Issue 2, Page. 30

Spiced Snowflake Doughnuts

Well this is a post on behalf of my husband, who likes to try his hand at the occasional Donna recipe (usually the sickly sweet ones!).

He is a prolific Doughnut eater and so was super excited to see these little morsels of sugary goodness get a feature in the Autumn 2011 issue.

I personally would have gone for the Italian Doughnuts, but he wanted to try something a little simpler for his first time.

The majority of the recipe was quite easy, though a little time consuming, definitely for a rainy weekend with lots of time on your hands, which are frequent where we live.

After lovingly and painstakingly, kneading for 10 minutes, and cutting precisely and rising for what seemed an infinite amount of time, they were almost ready to fry.

Then tragedy struck.

I am mostly to blame (as Sweetyboy kindly pointed out) as I had placed them down on a low table since I was making dinner, and there was no room on the bench.

They had risen beautifully, and looking oh so delicious, when Miss Three spied them.

Over half were promptly squashed flat, and I am sad to say, did not rise again.

If grown men cried over doughnuts, I have no doubt Sweetyboy would have shed more than his share of tears.

They did puff a little in the frying, but were no where near the puffy deliciousness of the other non-squashed.

These doughnuts have a very yeasty flavour, which is not unpleasant with cinnamon and sugar, but a little over powering when combined with the ginger and sugar.

I am sure we will make these Doughnuts again but maybe not this variation.

The finished product!

They did taste better than they look (and excuse my messy house in the background!)

Issue 56, Page. 158

Caramel Pear Pie

The pie special in Donna hay magazine issue 38, is my go-to for a warm winter desert at the moment. I have made quite a few of them now and this one is definitely a stand out.

I must say it does generally turn out looking just like Donna's, though I always cook it longer than she says, until the top of mine is all lovely and brown like Donna's is in the picture.

Due to recipes failing in the past I have been to nervous to take it out of the oven at the time she says because it looks a little sloppy and not set. I am quite notorious for over cooking things though!

I haven't deviated from the recipe too much. A friend tried to make hers cook faster and added almond meal. I thought it was delicious, but I will let her tell you about it!

She also gave me the idea to add Black Strap Molasses. Just 2 Tbsp added to the golden syrup because it is super strong!

I loved it! But others preferred it the regular way, so each to their own.

I used a heart shaped cookie cutter for the decoration around the edge and just cut the hearts in half long-ways.

Donna Hay Magazine

Issue 38, Page 124.