The Bookery Cook… a cooking book created by three sisters incorporating two of our favourite loves, art & food.
“Food has always played a big part of the lives of the Thompson sisters – Jessica, Georgia and Maxine. So much so, they created a cookbook and a blog to celebrate and share their love of cooking and eating. To accompany the recipes in the book, the sisters approached artists all over the world to produce artworks inspired by the dishes. Each artist’s unique interpretation lifts the food off the pages and into the imagination. This book will appeal to lovers of art as much as lovers of food, and will find its place equally in the kitchen or on the coffee table.”
As it is pink month at Red Hill Gallery (for no other reason than because P!nk is downunder on her ‘The Truth About Love Tour”) we thought we would share pink in a form other than art… food was the obvious choice.
Presenting The Bookery Cooks ‘Beetroot, Walnut & Goats Cheese Risotto’ or what I duly dubbed ‘The Risotto Massacre’ – my kitchen looked like a crime scene after making this!
We LOVE the concept behind The Bookery Cook, fantastic food accompanied by artists take on the dishes – sometimes literal, sometimes abstract, sometimes bizarre and often humours flicking through the pages is an absolute joy. The talented Belinda Suzette was the artist lucky enough to illustrate this murderously (pun intended) good recipe.
This was the first time I’ve ever made a Risotto and apart from the constant stirring (bicep work out anyone) it was an absolute doddle to make. With the weather being unseasonably warm and sunny I decided to share this alarmingly pink risotto with five of my girlfriends on a 4th of July picnic at Kangaroo Point. The agreeance was unanimous as the five of us declared the Risotto Massacre to be the most delicious (and prettiest) risotto we had ever had the pleasure of eating… I’m even going to go as far as to say that my risotto looked better than the one on The Bookery Cook’s blog… wouldn’t you agree?!?!
Click on the links to read more about The Bookery Cook and the Belinda Suzette
www.thebookerycook.com.au
www.belindasuzette.com
www.belindasuzette.blogspot.com.au
If you decide to have a crack at this recipe then please let us know and share your experiences and pictures!
Beetroot, Goat’s Cheese & Walnut Risotto
Recipe from The Bookery Cook by the Thompson Sisters
When you add the beetroot to this dish it stains the rice with an alarming (in a good way) magenta hue. Even more alarming though is the tasty combination of sweet beetroot with creamy goat’s cheese and crunchy roasted walnuts.
3 fresh beetroot (beets), scrubbed and each cut into 8 wedges (if you don’t have time to roast the beetroot you can use tinned)
80 ml (21/2 fl oz/1/3 cup) olive oil
50 g (13/4 oz) butter
1 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
330 g (111/2 oz/11/2 cups) arborio rice
125 ml (4 fl oz/1/2 cup) white wine
1 litre (35 fl oz/4 cups) chicken stock, hot
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram or oregano leaves, chopped
125 g (41/2 oz/1 cup) roughly chopped walnuts, roasted
100 g (31/2 oz) goat’s cheese
rocket (arugula) leaves, to serve
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400ºF/Gas 6). Wrap the beetroot in a foil parcel with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast in the oven for 30–40 minutes, or until the beetroot can be pierced easily with a sharp knife but is still firm.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil and the butter in a large saucepan over medium–low heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the rice and stir to ensure every grain is well coated in oil. Add the wine and stir gently until all of the wine has evaporated.
Add 125 ml (4 fl oz/1/2 cup) stock to the risotto and stir gently until the liquid has been completely absorbed. Continue to add the stock 1/2 cup at a time, continually stirring and ensuring the stock has been absorbed before adding more, about 5–8 minutes. After 750 ml (26 fl oz/3 cups) of the stock has been added, add the roasted beetroot segments and marjoram. Add the remaining stock and continue stirring until the rice is tender.
Serve risotto topped with a generous sprinkling of walnuts, crumbled goats cheese and some fresh rocket.
