So, at a time when normally suitcases are being packed and airplanes boarded to start the eventing season travelling around the UK, we are settling into a very different sort of routine near Melbourne, one of self-solation
Luckily, although we sold our property a few years back, we are still on a few acres with one old horse pottering around, our dog Pedro and two cats, one of which is not ours but seems to have decided to adopt us. We’ll come back to him (or her, I can’t get close enough yet to tell) in another blog as I think this will be an ongoing cat saga ….
So, it’s getting up late, feeding animals, working (nothing stops An Eventful Life website, especially not some real virus as opposed to a digital one – that would really scare me) and very occasionally stepping off the place to buy food or essentials. No doubt you’re all doing very much the same. There are also lots of phone calls, zoom calls, Skype calls, mainly just to gossip and chat to friends around the world but sometimes for ‘real work’ to chat to riders and find out how they’re going in lock down
However, the big thing this week for us was preserving lemons. Yep, that’s how exciting life has become, although, to be honest it’s something we’ve wanted to do for ages and never got around to. Now we’ve done it and just have to wait several months to taste the result in our chilli tuna and lemon risotto
They say that good things are worth waiting for, but I am really going to miss my risotto. It seems especially unfair that this is a recipe I don’t usually cook when we’re ‘on the road’ (we do travel with a parmesan grater but a jar of sticky preserved lemons in a car for 10 weeks is going a tad too far I feel) so it is a dish we particularly enjoy at home. But for some strange reason, preserved lemons are bloody hard to come by in Australia, at least outside of trendy foodie urban areas, where no doubt everyone has a tasty tagine every night
A dear friend and fellow journalist, Anna Sharpley, used to provide me with her home-made preserved lemons each year, and also provided the risotto recipe to make good use of them, but since Anna’s lemon supply has dried up I’ve relied on our trips to Sydney events each year to replenish my larder. And there my reasoning for not finding preserved lemons in remote places falls apart because I buy jars of them on each 10 hour trip up and down the Hume highway at the Long Track Café and Pantry, which is a little piece of heaven in the middle of nowhere at Jugiong in NSW
The Long Track Cafe and Pantry - heaven just off the Hume Highway
I was ready to renew my lemon stash in February, just when we were meant to be going to the Sydney at SIEC Summer Classic but as the event was cancelled (no, not due to Coronavirus but bushfires – remember those? It seems like years ago ….) so now I find myself in a bit of a preservative pickle
However, we have a lemon tree. We have jars. How hard can it be?
Not hard at all it turns out and, although we have several months to wait before finding out if we have succeeded in perfectly preserving lemons, they certainly look very pretty and fingers crossed, our risotto will taste as good as ever. The question is, will the lock down last as long as it takes to preserve the lemons?
And for those of you desperate to try the risotto, here’s the recipe. In Australia we can get small tins of John West tuna in oil with chilli; although I’ve never seen them in the UK, I’m sure you can find something similar. Sadly, for some strange reason (what is wrong with me?), I didn’t take a photo of the last risotto we cooked so you’ll have to wait for a photo of the real thing. Or, if you cook it, send me a photo ....
And by the way, it tastes even better heated up the next day so could be great to take to an event with you and just warm up in the microwave
Chilli Tuna Risotto with Lemon
- 2 x 185g cans tuna in oil with chilli
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 375ml fish stock
- 350g arborio rice
- 100ml white wine
- 2 quarters of preserved lemon, flesh removed and skin very finely diced
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
- 50g wild rocket
In a heavy bottomed saucepan, put plenty of olive oil
Lightly sauté the onion, just till translucent, not brown on low heat
Add arborio rice and coat with oil
Add white wine, allow alcohol to cook off for a minute or so
Add fish stock gradually and stir over slow heat; will take at least 30 minutes and you may need to add extra water until rice is soft and gluey
Add preserved lemon and tuna – stir in well and continue to cook for a few minutes
Add parmesan cheese – again stir in well and, once all in, leave to stand for a couple of minutes
Serve on a bed of rocket leaves
