Mushroom Risotto

I’m not sure I’ve eaten risotto before. Seen it plenty of times on the menu but can’t remember a single time I’ve ordered it. Last night, while we were out for dinner, our friend Jane ordered mushroom risotto and what do you know, today all I want to eat is mushroom risotto! I walked to the store in the sunshine to get some supplies, and of course bought just a little too much to comfortably carry home. It didn’t help that I just had to buy this cute red colander. It’s red, so it matches most of my kitchen accessories. I’m not into coloured appliances but my spice racks, salt and pepper grinders, spatula, whisk…the list goes on…are all ruby red. Hubby and I both are fond of ruby.

The risotto was worth the wait, it was delicious! It yields six servings but I managed to dish out only five. I’m sure you could use any type of  mushroom; I used portobello and cup mushrooms. I’m thinking I’ll try pumpkin risotto next.

Wholemeal Banana Muffins

Anytime you can pack some extra goodness and fibre into a sweet treat, without affecting the taste too much I say hooray! These are Banana Crumb Muffins without the crumb topping, made with wholemeal plain flour. As always, I added some cinnamon to the batter. The wholemeal flour changed the taste and texture of the muffin only very slightly. I used four small-medium overripe bananas.

Banana Crumb Muffins

It’s been a while since we’ve had some bananas become overripe, due to their high cost in Australia over the last year. I’m not usually a big fan of banana cake but this recipe was delicious. I added some cinnamon to the batter and put the crumb topping on only half the batch. I baked 12 muffins, of the size I usually make cupcakes. They are extra good warm, with butter.

 

Banana Crumb Muffins
From: allrecipes.com
View recipe here.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit /190 degrees Celsius. Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter.

Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.