Guest Post and Giveaway
Today, I’m honored to have a guest post written by Eriac Bauermeister, the author of The School of Essential Ingredients. (If you read my review, you know that I loved this book.) Erica Bauermesiter has a PhD in literature from the University of Washington where she has taught writing and literature. She has co-authored 2 non-fiction books. The School of Essential Ingredients is her first novel. This is what she has to say:
Thoughts on risotto, asparagus and spring….
For a long time I thought of risotto as a winter dish. I love the idea of coming home after a cold and hectic day and standing at the stove, stirring chicken broth into the softly sizzling rice while listening to my children talking at the kitchen table. The dark outside the windows, the lights above the table and the stove. It is such a comforting activity, and the risotto when you eat it feels that way, too.
But then spring comes along, with its crazy combination of hope and green shoots coming up in the yard, but cool weather when you least expect it (or in our case in Seattle, snow on April 1st). It seems like the world is inviting you to get excited and run out there among all that green, but a part of you still wants to feel safe and warm.
Which leads us straight to asparagus risotto, and if I can convince you to find the freshest and most local asparagus you can to make this dish, I will sleep easier tonight. Because once you eat asparagus that has been freshly picked, not shipped from who-knows-where until it toughens into spears that yes, indeed, could be used for swords at the table just as every child instinctively wants to do – well, once you eat the good stuff, you will never go back. You will be willing to wait all the rest of the year until asparagus season comes around again. And you will be reminded that waiting and anticipation are not bad things – and that the rewards for doing so can be incredible.
So here’s a recipe for Lillian’s asparagus risotto, with the hope that you will feel inspired to play with it yourself, as Lillian would want you to do. What other fresh vegetables might you use in another season? How about adding some lemon zest? Grilled shrimp? The possibilities are as infinite as spring…
4 cups chicken or vegetable brothLillian’s Spring Risotto
1/2 lb asparagus3 T butter
3 T olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
1 1/3 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper (to taste)
lemon zest (optional)
shaved parmesan
Cut asparagus tips into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Cut half of the stocks into finely chopped pieces; cut the other half into 1 inch pieces.
Heat broth in a heavy saucepan. When boiling, add asparagus and cook until just tender (3-5 minutes). Take out asparagus with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl. Turn down heat under broth to a low simmer.
In a different heavy saucepan, melt butter and add olive oil. Add chopped onions and saute until translucent (about 5 minutes). Add rice and bay leaf and stir until well coated with the butter. Add wine and cook, stirring, until liquid has evaporated.
Add a ladleful of heated broth to the rice, stirring until liquid is absorbed. Continue adding a ladleful at a time, until broth is gone and rice is creamy but grains are still firm.
Add the asparagus and a pinch of lemon zest (optional). Add salt and pepper to taste. Put in a serving bowl and top with Parmesan shavings.
Prep time: 45-50 minutes (with much contemplative stirring)
Serves 6.
To celebrate the release of her book in Australia, Erica is offering one lucky reader an autographed copy of The School of Essential Ingredients featuring the Australian cover (as pictured to the left)! Contest is open to the U S and Canada. All you have to do to enter is send an email to bookgiveaway@ericabauermeister.com and mention BermudaOnion. You can get extra points by describing your favorite spring dish. Giveaway ends on April 17, 2009. Good luck!
I’ve heard so many good things about this book. And I really enjoyed the guest post, though I don’t care for asparagus
The Australian cover is so pretty too. Just a question before I send an e-mail: is it open worldwide?
Wow, next time I make risotto, I am going to add the lemon zest.Great idea. Oh, I want this book, I think I need this book. Please enter me in the drawing. Thanks.
wow…the Australia book cover is gorgeous!!!
Thanks for the recipe, looks yummy, got to try it out.
Wow — what a fantastic giveaway!
Any chance it’s an international contest?
Hi! Just posted this on Win A Book. Good looking recipe.
What a fun contest!
You don’t haveto be in Washington to get snow in April. We’ve got an inch or two here in Ohio and it’s still snowing
This sounds heavenly, especially with the shrimp. I’ve been thinking about planting some asparagus in my back yard.
Thank you for hosting this giveaway!
What a gorgeous book cover! I like it even better than the US cover.
Fantastic recipe. That’s one that my husband and I would both love. And I agree with Jen, the cover is gorgeous!
This was a nice taste of her writing (pardon the pun). I have this one on my list so I’m sending an email to try to win it. Thanks Kathy for posting this.
I did love the book, but since I have the ARC, it’s not fair to enter the contest and try for another…I guess…although that one is so nice….:-)
I read your review Kathy, very nice.
I’m glad you liked this book. I think I’d enjoy it a lot too.
The recipes sound YUMMY!
I really enjoyed the guest post as well!!
I am delighted to pass on two awards, to you; Premio Dardos Award & One Lovely Blog Award! Please stop by my blog to see the awards and find out all the particulars.
Your blog is marvellous!
((hugs))
-Bobbie
Great interview. Maybe I should try that recipe!
Loved the guest post. It certainly made me hungry
Yummy and Yippee… drooling over asparagus from my desk…and excited for the giveaway. Thank you.
I love this recipe for risotto. I’m making a not to try it next week and I might even dare to post my results. A lot of risottos are usually too rich for me, but this one seems to be really delicate. Thanks!
So sorry not to make this contest truly international, but wanted to let you all know that (within the next year) SCHOOL will be published in the native language in a whole lovely list of countries including Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, and the UK. Every cover is different, so we’re looking forward to seeing what each country comes up with!
I love, love, love risotto and make it all the time year-round. And one of my favorite times to make it is the evening after I’ve been to our local farmer’s market. Fresh viggies and lovely risotto. Yummmmm.
Thanks for the post.
I always hated asparagus until I tried the fresh stuff – and YES what a difference. I am going to try this recipe soon because asparagus is very much in season here. I wonder if it’s good with white asparagus?
Great guest post! I’ve already read the book but I’d still love to have a hardback copy especially with this cover. This book is one I can see myself reading again for sure.
Ok, that post made me hungry. Suddenly the PB&J I brought to eat during class for dinner isn’t looking very appetizing.
mmm, I love asparagus and just in time for asparagus season. I’m printing this out for my next trip to the grocery store (and sending an email for a chance to win). Thanks for doing this give-away.
Please enter me Kathy. Thanks!
Mmmm, asparagus. My favorite!
Wonderful guest post — I understand exactly what she means about spring being around the corner, yet we still seek warmth and safety (I made butternut squash soup on Friday … feels like an autumn/winter dish, but the cold damp weather here called for it, even in spring!)
This is a wonderful guest post and a great recipe. I’m saving all of the recipes Erica is posting in her guest posts. I loved this book as well and is one of my favorite reads of the year.
Oh that recipe sounds divine! I LOVE asparagus, but my husband is allergic so I don’t cook it often. I might just have to indulge by myself.
Thanks for the great guest post.
This reciepe sounds awesome ! I had not heard of this book yet but glad you shared this with us : )
Lori Barnes
i love the book cover and the recipe sounds delish! i love eating risotto…but making it is a tad work intensive for me. my sister whips up a mean risotto…
Ooh! That sounds like a yummy risotto! Thanks for the heads-up about the giveaway.
Gorgeous cover. And how fun to have a recipe from Erica! But I’m always a little intimidated by the standing-and-stirring time for risotto. As a mom of two boys, I never know when I’m going to have to turn off the stove and find the band-aids, LOL.
What a great guest post! I am looking forward to one day reading this book. Although the kitchen and I do not get along, it does sound like a book that even I would enjoy.
fantastic guest post. I love the inclusion of a recipe. I love having stir fry in the spring because I can get all those fresh vegetables from the farmer’s markets and other places. its just better with fresh veggies.
I’m planning on making asparagus risotto tomorrow, and this sounds like just the perfect recipe. I love asparagus – definitely one of my favorite spring foods! Thanks for entering me in the contest.