For the first potluck of the new year I made the asparagus lemongrass risotto from Veganomicon. Risotto is a bit of effort because you have to make a broth and then gradually add it to arborio rice (which is more starchy than normal rice so it gets a nice creamy texture), stirring constantly, until its totally absorbed. It was worth it, and half an hour of stirring gives you lots of time to ponder about the meaning of life… or whatever. The broth contained ginger, garlic, lemongrass and soy sauce, and after stirring that in you add some sauteed asparagus, fresh basil and mint, and top with chopped roasted peanuts. Voila! I’ve always had the impression that risotto is pretty blah, but this one has a unique flavour, definitely make it if you have some time on your hands.
I also had been wanting to make the jelly donut cupcakes which I finally got around to… they were a little disappointing. The magic of baking was supposed to make jam stay in the center but it all sunk to the bottom for some reason (Jon commented that I should have bought a lower density jam… har har), maybe I added it too much. They were good and everything, I think the problem was they actually were kind of like donuts and when you’re eating a cupcake you want it to taste like a cupcake, not a donut. Oh well, I like the jam idea because you don’t have to use one of those fancy icing bags, you just pour the cupcake batter in and then add a dollop of jam. I would like to try it with chocolate or peanut butter cupcakes one day!
