This was an odd one.

But it worked wonderfully...

I MADE GIN RISOTTO.

(And I'd like to apologise for my lack of posting too; life has been manic manic manic: Staying up all night for the Summer Ball, helping to redesign the university's former magazine as a newspaper, heading home for the Jubilee and having generic course start up meetings... Basically life has been packed. Although I've still been cooking like crazy, I just haven't had the chance to sit down and write about it all. SO I'm terribly sorry. But recipes are on their way...)

I cooked this gin risotto over the weekend when Jamie was here to stay. I've been playing around with the idea for a while now but its taken me a while to get on and try it, and I have to say it worked surprisingly well.

I have to admit that there was a moment when I accidentally hot boxed the kitchen with gin when I thought, "THIS IS NOT GOING TO WORK!" but I persevered and it did. Jamie said she thought it made all the other ingredients stand out just that bit more. I say you can subtly taste the gin. I served this with baked cherry tomatoes and it's lovely. Try it and see...

What you need for two servings:

1 red onion, chopped

50g butter

2 teaspoons of dried rosemary

150g risotto rice

1 cup of gin 

1 oxo cube

Green beans or any other green vegetables you happen to have around

2 teaspoons of lemon juice

2 handfuls of grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

What you gotta do:

1. Melt the butter in a pan. Add the onion and the rosemary. Fry gently for a minute.

2. Add the rice. Stir until coated in butter.

3. Add the cup of gin and let the alcohol evaporate off. (Important note: don't sniff the steam that evaporates off. You may feel as if you're about to die. And I do not recommend this...)

4. Add about a pint of water and an oxo cube. 

5. After about ten minutes, add the vegetables, the lemon juice and most of the Parmesan, leaving some behind for serving.

6. When the rice is cooked and the liquid has all evaporated off, season with salt and pepper and serve with Parmesan cheese and some baked tomatoes. ENJOY.

And here's how you make baked tomatoes:

8 cherry tomatoes, cut in half.

2 handfuls of Parmesan cheese.

Salt and Pepper.

Olive Oil.

1) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

2) Place the tomatoes cut side up in a shallow dish. 

3) Sprinkle with substantial amounts of parmesan.

4) Season with salt and pepper then drizzle with olive oil.

5) Bake in the oven for twenty minutes until the cheese is melted and the olive oil is bubbling. Serve with the risotto, or simply eat with toast for a light lunch.