Freezing Avocados

One of the perks of living in Southern California is the abundance of avocados. There are many different varieties of avocados and they ripen at different times throughout the year. Our neighbor's tree decided to choose this week to ripen and her little, 90 year old self was not going to eat all the fruit. We gladly accepted many heavy bags full of avocados and have since been gorging ourselves on the velvety goodness. We had about a dozen very ripe avocados and couldn't finish them so we decided to try and freeze them. Here's how:

1. Wash the avocados.

2. Cut and peel the avocados.

3. Place flesh in a bowl, add about 1 tbsp of lemon or lime juice per 3-4 avocados.

4. Mash the avocados with a potato masher or fork.

5. Put avocado in vacuum seal bags or airtight storage containers and freeze.

I am kind of excited to have a stockpile of avocado in my freezer. I'm not sure how the consistency will be on after freezing but I will update this post when I have some. I am expecting it to be perfect for guacamole, avocado smoothies or a sandwich spread.

Lobster Risotto

Risotto is one of my favorite things to make. I mean, what's better than cheese and butter coated rice? Not much! I made this lobster risotto for a special occassion and wow was it good. I found the idea for the recipe on the Stone Brewery blog but I cooked differently than they recommended. I prefer to cook my risotto more in the style of Jamie Oliver. My combo cooking method is in the recipe below. 

Lobster Risotto

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients

1½ Tbsp olive oil

1 cup onions, chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

6½ cups seafood or vegetable stock

1 tsp garlic, minced

1 tsp orange zest

1 tsp lemon zest

2 cups Arborio rice

¼ cup heavy cream

½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1 Tbsp unsalted butter

1½ pounds lobster meat, chopped into bit-sized pieces

2 Tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

In a sauce pan, bring stock to a simmer. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the onions soften slightly, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and zest and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the rice and stir constantly for about a minute. Add a ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of salt. Turn down the heat to a simmer so the rice doesn't cook too quickly on the outside. Keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring, allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. This will take around 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the heavy cream, Parmesan and butter. Stir well. Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, lightly season the lobster with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining oil in a medium-sized sauté pan over medium-high. Add the lobster meat and sauté very lightly until cooked (unless using cooked lobster, then cook until the meat is hot all the way through). Add the lobster and remaining stock to the risotto mixture. Adjust the seasoning if needed. To serve, ladle the risotto in a bowl and garnish with parsley.

Yum! 

Note: Lobster was not readily available on the day I chose to cook this recipe. I substitued langostino meat for the lobster. Langostino has a more mild flavor than lobster and it worked very well in this case

I am his TV #7

I watch TV and he watches me. This dog might officially be insane.

Pleaseeeeee!!!!

Working from home gives you the opportunity to really get to know your pets and all their quirks. When I worked out of the house I was certain that the dogs would sleep all day and then be ready to play by the time I got home. Being home means they don't sleep as often and they're ready to play, bark at the mailman or pathetically beg for a tiny morsel of my lunch. Lola was laying on the floor with her neck stretched as far as it would go just so she could rest her chin on the edge of my chair. It looked really uncomfortable and entirely hilarious. 

The view today

When I opened my eyes this morning I could see a bright purple coming through the window so I lept out of bed to snap a picture of this morning's sunrise. It was worth it! Sky scense are always fleeting and this one was no exception. Here's what we had 15 minutes later.

And then an hour after that...