The past few months I’ve really enjoyed being able to cook more at home. I’d chalk that up to having a much better kitchen to cook in, but it’s also a function of trying to eat healthier and save money. I’ve been cooking for most of my life, but these days it seems to be more frequently.

A few weeks ago I tried making my first risotto, and I was really happy with the results. Since then I’ve made it a few times and I’m surprised by how creamy and filling it is without any heavy cream or butter.

So the main ingredients I used to cook this were the good quality Arborio rice, a good white wine (I don’t drink wine so I had to rely on the wine store guy on this one), homemade chicken stock, shallots, Parmesan, asparagus, and a variety of wild mushrooms.

A lot of people say cooking risotto is too complicated for cooking at home. I beg to differ! It is actually super easy… but it takes quite a long time to make and it is quite labour intensive (stirring a pot for 45 minutes can get tiring!) but it’s totally worth it. And leftovers for lunch re-heat really nice.

I also quickly browned up some homemade pecan and panko-encrusted chicken breast strips to add some meat to the dish, but it’s definitely not necessary to enjoy.

So give it a try if you haven’t already! If anyone would like the recipe for this or anything else I’ve posted in the Food category to the right, please let me know.

So I know I said I was going to have a moving timelapse video up on the weekend but I got stuck finishing off Resident Evil 5 on the Xbox 360. I can’t help it — I’m a sucker for good video games .

P.S. Looking forward to the Canucks game tonight anyone?

I miss hanging out in the mountains and the ocean. Although I consider myself to be comfortable with domestic activities, I still feel a little stir crazy when I spend too much time indoors.

On Friday, we went out for dinner before Allan’s hockey game on Commercial Drive. The restaurants in this area are so diverse and GOOD. We decided to try out Marcello Pizzeria and Ristorante. We shared the margarita pizza and a tomato cream sauce fettuccine, as well as the focaccia to start. It was super tasty. And, they managed to get our dinner to us in about 10 minutes when we told them we were in a rush, even though they were at capacity. I’d definitely eat there again.

Photo Credit: MarthaStewart.com

Saturday went by in a blur. We spent a couple hours with Trev and Crista trying to find ice, and then finally found some public skating time at Bill Copeland arena in Burnaby. Then it was a mad dash to Granville Island to pick up the groceries for Amy’s birthday party which was also a dinner party. Spent about 2 and a half hours cutting, flattening, and rolling beef tenderloin for the Japanese themed potluck. I made Japanese Grilled Beef Rolls with Scallion Soy Sauce, stuffed with scallions, peppers and/or asparagus… a variation on this Martha Stewart recipe. I didn’t get any pictures but I’ll see if anyone from the party did. This was a new recipe for me, but it was a lot of fun to experiment.

I had a lot of fun! Everyone made some delicious dishes including teriyaki chicken, tempura, and Matcha cheesecake (YUM!). A lot of board games were played, and I’m pretty sure I saw a lot of Asahi beer disappear along with sake.

Sunday morning we had intended to go to Cypress with the free passes but I couldn’t go because when I woke up I was still seriously stuffed up and wheezing from all the cat and smoke exposure at the party the previous night. I hate allergies!

I’m so disappointed I didn’t get to go snowboarding on the weekend. I’m hoping to get out sometime this coming week. It’s supposed to snow!

We popped over to Granville Island again last night and I picked up some more beef tenderloin since we only had a little tease of it last night. I browned the beef in with pancetta, and then braised the beef in red wine, fresh homemade tomato sauce from scratch, and simmered for a while. I also added some fresh basil, spinach, and thinly spliced portobello mushrooms. You can see it here below served on some pappardelle noodles and topped with shaved Parmesan reggiano, bacon, and toasted pine nuts. It tasted really good but I was a bit disappointed it didn’t look better in the photo here.

Well, I gotta run. I’m just itching to get on the ice and I’ve got skating this morning! Hurray!

What did you guys do for the weekend?