I always wonder, when typing the titles of these updates, if I’m just a month ahead of myself? As of course this is the news of December 2008…

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I took this recipe and adjusted it. I adjusted it a bit much and we have leftovers, which we’ll have as a rice bake for lunch tomorrow. The amounts below are for 12 serves of risotto, with side vegetables.

1 whole small Jap pumpkin (homegrown), cubed in 2cm pieces
1 medium brown onion, diced
2L+ boiling water with 1.5 tblspn Massell Chicken-style stock powder
4 cups white rice
1/2 tsp dried Italian herbs (too rainy to get to the garden!)
Dice onion and pumpkin, saute in a large, heavy-based pot in a little olive oil until golden and softening. Add the rice and stir for approximately 1 minute. Add about 1L of the water with stock powder added. Stir until absorbed.

Add remaining water and half-cover pot over medium heat so rice absorbs water, stirring often. Have extra water at hand to keep risotto moist and stop it sticking to the base of the pot.

When risotto is soft and creamy, add some freshly ground pepper.

Serve with some steamed green vegies and grated cheese. Mmmmmmmmm comfort food!

For Libby, here’s my Asian Omelette instructions (not really a recipe!), inspired by a recipe on Simple Savings. This was enough for the seven of us (hubby was at work)…

5 cakes of plain two-minute-style noodles
6 eggs (homegrown for us)
garam marsala, chili or preferred seasoning
a little Massel chicken-style stock powder

Cook noodles as per packet directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Beat eggs with spices and stock powder. Add noodles to egg mix and combine.

Heat a little oil in a heavy-based frypan. Add enough of the mix to cover the base of the pan. As it’s frying, push around the edges so a nice firm ‘cake’ is forming. Once the cake is golden on the bottom, fold in half, omelette-style. Fry a little longer, then flip to fry the other side if you’re not sure it’s done through…

Remove from pan and continue until all the mix is done.

We cut our omlettes in half as we used a large cast iron frypan. We served them with some plain boiled basmati rice and frozen peas, tamari and some chilli and garlic sauce. Very simple, cheap and filling!

Just thought I’d let you know that they’ve extended their great offer…

Until December 9th the price of Vault membership is $27, save $20!

Simple Savings is the only website I’ve ever paid to be a member of, and I continue to renew that membership at only $17 each year. Highly recommended!

Ooops, I’m a little late with this post. And thanks for your patience whilst the site was down for two weeks. For now, I’m back!

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