Happy New Year everyone!
Today’s recipes are a triple wine threat of deliciousness. We threw a New Year’s bash chez nous and found a number of half-full wine bottles in the morning. This is how we wasted not and wanted not. What we’ve got for you today: red wine-stewed apricots for a special punchy manhattan, mussels apocalypse with subtle anise undertones & we-cleaned-the-fridge risotto, to, of course, accompany the mussels.
Let’s start off the feast with a Mad-Men approved aperitif, inspired the lovely folks at The Ace on Roncesvalles.
- 1 Package of dried apricots $5.00
- 1 cup white sugar
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 3 star anise stars
Enough red wine to drown your deliciousness.
- Put everything listed above in a pot. Put ‘er on the stove and boil down.
- Now that your apricots are plump with wine and spices, throw one in a lowball glass.
- In a shaker make your typical manhattan (we do 2 shots of Bullet, 1/2 shot of red vermouth, 3 dashes of bitters, and a table spoon of that reduced wine mixture, shaken over ice).
- Yum! And, if you’re feeling sassy, adorn with a cinnamon stick.
(Recipe thanks to our household mixologist, Darcy Streitenfeld.)
Mussels Apocalypse
- 2 lbs of fresh mussels at $2.50/lb
- 1 head of fennel at $1.50
- 2 onions at mere cents!
- 4 cloves of garlic, for price see above
- a half can of stewed tomatoes $1
- a fist of of curly parsley $1.50
- a half bottle of white zinfandel
- Heat some olive oil in a tall broad frying pan (make sure you have a lid lying around somewhere), throw in the onions and garlic and saute until silken.
- Cut Fennel tops off and reserve. Cut off the knotty bottom and toss. Cut width wise, and then lengthwise. Then cut into thin (0.5 cm) strips.
- Throw fennel, tomatoes & wine in and let simmer, lid on to ensure minimal liquid loss.
- After 25 minutes of simmering throw in the mussels, throw that lid back on and shake the pot while on the burner to ensure every last mussel gets a blast of heat and decides to yawn nice and wide for easy mange-ing later.
- Try to time it all so that the mussels are the last dish you prepare, they get a little leathery if forced to sit out.
We-cleaned-the-fridge Risotto
(No prices included because this dish was the result of a fridge and pantry clean.)
- 2 onions
- 3 garlic cloves
- a half of a buttercup squash
- a half of a fennel bulb
- 2.5 cups of arborio rise
- 3 cups of veggie stalk
- 1 cup of white whine
- butter, olive oil (to coat pan)
- 1 tbs of sage
- 1 tsp of saffron
- Onions, garlic butter, olive oil and action!
- Add buttercup squash, peeled and diced.
- Add diced fennel bulb. (And the spices.)
- Saute for 10 mins.
- Add arborio rice.
- Add the wine and stir.
- Once the wine has been absorbed start adding (one ladle at a time) the stalk, stirring until the liquid is absorbed and then adding more liquid. Keep the dish on a medium-low heat. After 20 minutes start tasting the risotto as you go; it’s done when the rice is soft and delish.
For platting:
In a broad bowl put down a bed of risotto, then a handful of mussels with some sauce and fennel. Finally, garnish with the fennel fronds & a sprinkle of parmesan & a crack of pepper.
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