A Year In My Kitchen: The End.

So that’s it. Last night was the end. For now at least…

Mushroom Risotto

When I decided to save the mushroom risotto until the end, it was for a couple of reasons – firstly, I love mushroom risotto and secondly, I already have a pretty good recipe and was curious to see if Jamie could still wow me at this late stage in the game.

So to his basic risotto recipe, I added a whole heap of mushrooms (enoki, shitake, oyster, Swiss brown, button) that I’d gently pan fried in quite a lot of butter with some garlic and thyme, then stirred through with lemon juice, more butter, finely chopped parsley and grated parmesan.

Then as instructed by Jamie, I served it up in its giant pot in the middle of the table and let the ladies serve themselves.

Oh, that’s right, did I mention that this was a celebration?

I could hardly cook my final Jamie recipe alone – there was French champagne to be drunk, toasts to be made and relief and achievements to be celebrated!

So I served up Jamie’s mushroom risotto to the girls, as we sipped our Moet and reminisced about the thing I did this last 10 months.

The risotto was a hit and we all back for seconds. I’m happy to say that Jamie could still impress me at the very end and that I will now use Jamie’s recipe for mushroom risotto above my own (tried & tested & family favourite for many years) recipe. So how about that for a finale!

The question is, what have I learnt along the way?


* That there’s no such thing as too much lemon zest.
* That there’s no real way to measure a knob of butter or a glug of olive oil, so just trust your instincts.
* That fennel seeds are an incredibly useful ingredient.
* That being scared of a recipe is actually just laziness.
* That sometimes you need to leave work early just to make sure you don’t eat at midnight.
* That just coz people work in a fish shop, doesn’t mean they care about fish and what you plan to do with it.
* That not all butchers are handsome.
* That making pasta is cheaper than joining a gym, but probably not as effective.
* That cooking for my friends and family is still one of my favourite things to do.
* That killing a lobster really is as easy as one two three.
* That pork cooked in a slow oven overnight might keep you awake with worry, but will satisfy your stomach no end.
* That melted butter is sometimes considered a “sauce”.
* That the Easter bunny still delivers eggs, even if you eat his cousin.
* That Jamie Oliver is most definitely a great cook and someone I’ve enjoyed sharing my kitchen with.
* That “cooking every recipe in one cookbook in one year and blogging about it” is a great conversation starter.
* That cooking every recipe in one cookbook in one year and blogging about it is a one way ticket to weight gain.
* That there’s no such thing as too much lemon zest.

And now that we are at the end, I want to say thank you for supporting me along the way. Hopefully you have enjoyed yourself, laughed a little, been inspired and that – like me – you have ended up discovering lots of new foodie things.

I don’t think it’s quite hit me yet, that it’s all over, but maybe once I move the book from the recipe book holder and onto the shelf it will seem more real! However all the encouragement I’ve had along the way has definitely sunk in and made me realise that I have actually done something quite special, so yay and thanks for that!

158 recipes, 304 days, a battered cookbook and one exhausted cook. A Year In My Kitchen has come to an end.

Xx

PS – See you soon though, for another food adventure.