Silent Spears

Since time immemorial man has brandished weapons of choice to attack, conquer, malign and carry out other unmentionables. It is all in the name of power; weapons were and are man’s greatest allies in the games of war and control.

By nature I am a very calm and relatively collected person. For me altercations and arguments are a waste of time and energy. People say it’s not usually a good trait in this ruthless world, where if you buckle down, you are considered weak and are more likely to be steam-rolled over by other so-called alternate personalities. But I beg to differ; force is not always the answer to get things done your way and for coercing and manipulating situations to turn in your favor.

I have realized one of the greatest weapons; a psychologically powerful one is silence. This restraint works wonders if used in the correct situations and can safely be considered as one of best way of handling an ugly fired up situation. We have heard and maybe even been faced with a typical situation between mother and her naughty child. I had recently observed this moment in real time. A boisterous little boy was giving a hard time to his mother, she resisted by bearing the brunt of his words and whacks from his little hands with silence. She kept quite watching him intently, not ignoring, yet not looking at him straight, no look of disdain on her face but a mild wrinkling of her forehead which painted the picture of clear disgust and disappointment. The child bounced around for a while throwing his weight around in a fitful tantrum but piped down instantly on realizing that the energy he expelled was not proving the point and rendering his efforts quite useless.

Similarly, the very same action can be replicated in everyday situations. There are times when family feuds take place; times when workplace tempers are sky high, times even between friends when things are not agreeable. Silence is and should be the key to carefully ease out of the situation and come away unscathed. Mind you it works, I had recently witnessed at a dinner a very non-issue escalate into a fiery argument which was saved by the valet bringing in the cars at the precise moment when things could have gone out of hand. I kept thinking to myself, this situation could have been avoided had both the parties not been so adamant on proving a point. Had they just accepted each of their points and stuck with a no-win situation assuming that what they each thought was correct and left it at that without bantering about it, I think this could have been an acceptable solution to such a heated and insignificant matter.

We are also familiar with the term, The Silent Treatment, well try it out the next time someone crosses your path in a way you did not intend them to and it will work as the perfect shield and weapon to an otherwise unpleasant face-off.

Speaking of weapons and silent spears, I recently came upon a nice harvest of Asparagus spears in the exotic aisle of my local food mall. I brought them back home for dinner and landed up sprucing up an otherwise basic recipe for asparagus as also combining it with another basic Italian dish in a novel way. Read on below to bookmark another signature recipe which brings together the color and flavor of the season – ‘red’ & ‘beets’, conveniently combined with risotto which marries the ingredients right down to the wine used for cooking it to the side dish of asparagus it is served up with.

Beetroot Risotto with Buttered Asparagus Spears in Rosé Wine & Marjoram Jus

Ingredients

Beetroot Risotto

• 1½ cups Arborio Rice
• 500gms Beetroot
• 5 strands – Fresh Marjoram (leaves picked and pounded w/ tablsp of Olive Oil)
• 5 cups Vegetable Stock
• 3 tablsp Butter
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 5 cloves Garlic, minced
• ¾ cup Rosé wine
• ¾ cup Parmesan Cheese (grated)
• Salt to taste
• Fresh Parmesan Slices to top

Buttered Asparagus Spears

• 8 Spears Asparagus
• 2 tablsp Butter
• Sea Salt & Pepper to taste

Rosé Wine Marjoram Jus

• ½ cup Rosé Wine
• 5 strands fresh Marjoram (leaves picked)

Preheat oven to 250C. Peel and chop the beets and place on a square of foil, drizzle with a little olive oil and sea salt and pop in the oven for about 30 minutes or until cooked.

To prepare the buttered asparagus, melt the butter on medium heat in a large pan (enough to fit the spears). Once the butter starts foaming add the asparagus. Stir fry gently till the liquid starts steaming and add the salt. Cover and cook, stirring once in a while, for about 8-10 minutes or till the spears are glossy and cooked at the ends.

If you feel the asparagus spears are too thick towards the end (which will leave it fibrous and chewy, peel the ends till it acquires the thickness of the tips)

Remove the spears with a pair of tongs and proceed to make the jus. In the residual butter liquid in the same pan, add the Rosé wine and marjoram leaves. Cover and leave to simmer till it is reduced to half. Remove from flame and check for seasoning. Keep aside for the final plating.

To proceed with the Beetroot risotto: puree the roasted beets in the mixer, you may use a little milk if the puree is very dry (about ¼ cup should be enough). Keep aside.

Heat the butter in a deep bottomed vessel and let it foam on a medium heat. Tip in the onions and garlic and stir fry till fragrant and translucent. Add the rice and marjoram together into the pan and stir fry gently till they turn glossy and well coated with the butter. Add the Rosé wine and turn up the heat a little for the mixture to boil. Mix well for about 5 minutes or till the wine is absorbed by the rice.

At this point, you have to be careful. You have to add in a ladle of hot vegetable stock into the rice mix and stir gently till it is absorbed. Continue this process till you complete ladling about 2½ cups of stock, then add in the beetroot puree, seasonings and grated parmesan cheese, stir till well incorporated.

Continue ladling the stock till all the vegetable stock is used up. You know the rice is cooked once the dish turns creamy and the rice has turned fluffy but you can still see the grains.

To plate: heat up the jus and pour into a glass or a long bowl, place the buttered asparagus spears and place the bowl in a plate. Spoon the creamy risotto onto the side of a plate and scatter some fresh parmesan slices atop the rice. Add a strand of marjoram to finish and serve hot.