Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for December, 2015

Potato & Leek Gratin

Posted in Food, tagged , , , , , , , , on 14 December 2015| Leave a Comment »

Potato & Leek Gratin

Seasonal comfort food for dark nights and lashing rain. This gratin would work as a side for roast lamb or chicken, or like we did, add a little ham make it a weekday meal.

Potato & Leek Gratin – serves 4

  • 125ml chicken or vegetable stock
  • carton double cream
  • 150ml milk
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 1 bay leaf
  • a knob of butter
  • 800g potato, peeled and thinly sliced (use a mandolin if you have one)
  • 2 leeks, washed and thinly sliced
  • 175g good quality sliced ham, chopped (optional)
  • 85g cheddar, grated

Pour the stock, cream and milk into a small saucepan with the garlic and bay leaf and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse.

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/. Butter a 2 litre gratin dish well. Mix the potatoes, leeks and ham together and put into the gratin dish in an even layer. Pour over the creamy stock and tuck in the bay leaf. Season and sprinkle the cheese over the top.

Loosely cover with foil, set on a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes. Test the potatoes with a knife – they should be just beginning to soften. Remove the foil and bake for another 35-45 minutes, spooning some of the stock mixture over every now and again until the potatoes are tender. Cool for 15 minutes or so before serving.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

Wine suggestion: We had a bottle of Reyneke Organic Syrah from South Africa opened to try as they’ve been getting great press lately, and we love how they integrate their workers into the whole process, genuinely giving back and involving the community. We thought it might have been too big and rich for the gratin but they complimented each other really well.

Reyneke Organic Syrah

Read Full Post »

Pot-Roasted Chicken with Chorizo, Leeks and Cider

Posted in Chicken, Food, Spanish, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 8 December 2015| 5 Comments »

Pot-roast Chicken with Chorizo, Leek and Cider

A great array of flavours and super-moist roast chicken. Chorizo cooked in cider is often served as a tapa in Spain and it’s delicious!

Wine Suggestion: A Spanish cider would be of course be great with this or failing that a good quality dry cider from somewhere else. If you feel like wine we’d recommend a really smooth Rioja.

Pot-roasted Chicken with Chorizo, Leeks & Cider – serves 4

  • 1 x 1.75kg chicken
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cooking chorizo sausages, sliced
  • 50g butter
  • 700g leeks, washed and sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 300g baby carrots, trimmed and peeled
  • Leaves from 2 large sprigs of thyme
  • 2 fresh bay leaves
  • 200ml dry cider

Preheat the oven to 160C/Gas 3.

Season the cavity and outside of the chicken with salt and black pepper.

Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish and brown the chicken on all sides until golden, then set aside.

Lower the heat and add the chorizo, butter, leeks, garlic, carrots, thyme and bay leaves. Cover and cook gently until the leeks have softened.

Place the chicken on top of the vegetables in the casserole dish, pour over the cider, then cover and cook in the oven for 1 hour. Remove the lid from the casserole dish and turn the oven up to 200C/Gas 6. Continue to cook for another 20 minutes or until the chicken skin is browned.

Remove the chicken from the casserole and onto a carving board, cover with foil. Skim the excess fat from the surface of the vegetable juices, then place over a medium heat and simmer vigorously for 5 minutes to reduce. Season to taste with more salt if needed.

To carve the chicken, remove the legs and cut each one in half at the joint. Carve the breast in slices. Use a slotted spoon to put the chorizo and vegetables onto the centre of the plates and place the chicken on top. Spoon the cooking juices over to serve.

(Original recipe from Rick Stein’s Spain, BBC Books, 2011.)

Read Full Post »

Roasted broccoli

Posted in Food, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 7 December 2015| 1 Comment »

Roasted broccoli

Roasted broccoli is a bit different and retains a satisfying crunch. Careful not to over-roast the pine nuts!

Roasted broccoli – serves 4 as a side dish

  • 200g broccoli, cut into florets including the stalk
  • 50ml olive oil
  • 5 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 25g pine nuts

Preheat the oven to 240C/Gas 9.

Put the broccoli in a bowl and toss with the garlic and olive oil, then season well with salt and black pepper.

Tip into a roasting tin and put into the oven. After 10 minutes sprinkle over the pine nuts and cook for another 5 minutes or until the broccoli is starting to soften and the pine nuts are golden.

(Original recipe from Rachel’s Everyday Kitchen by Rachel Allen, HarperCollins, 2013.)

Read Full Post »

Spanakopita

Posted in Cheese, Food, Greek, Party Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 4 December 2015| Leave a Comment »

Spanakopita

The classic spinach & feta combination never gets tired. These savoury Greek pastries are delicious and very easy to make. We worked out a production line (thanks Tricia & Orla) and had them assembled in no time! Great as a starter or snack with drinks. Perfect entertaining food.

Wine Suggestion: If you can find an Assyrtiko,  a crisp and delicious Greek white, then you’ve got a great match. Unfortunately it can be hard to find good Greek wines so stick to the Mediterranean and search for a Fiano or Greco di Tufo from Italy. Failing this we’ve had crisp Touraine Sauvignon Blancs with this as well to great effect.

Spanakopita (Spinch, mint & feta pastries) – makes 18-20

  • 500g spinach
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ small onion, finely chopped
  • 2 scallions, trimmed and finely chopped
  • 100g Greek feta cheese
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tbsp finely grated Greek kefalotiri cheese or Parmesan
  • a pinch of finely grated nutmeg
  • 2 tbsp chopped mint
  • 250-275g pack of filo pastry (about 6 sheets)
  • 100g butter, melted

Wash and dry the spinach (remove the stalks if they look tough). Finely shred the leaves.

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and cook gently until soft but not browned. Gradually add the spinach, a handful at a time, until it has all wilted. Tip into a colander and drain, pressing out the liquid with a wooden spoon, then return to the pan with the scallions and cook for 1 minute. Leave to cool.

Crumble the feta into a large bowl and roughly mash with a fork – you can leave it a bit chunky. Mix in the eggs, Parmesan, the spinach mixture, nutmeg, mint and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4.

Unroll the sheets of filo and cut the stack lengthways into strips about 7.5cm wide. Brush the top layer with melted butter. Put a heaped teaspoonful of the filling in the centre of one strip, at the end closest to you, and fold one bottom corner of the pastry diagonally over the filling, so that the corner touches the opposite side to make a triangle. Then fold over the filled triangular corner, and keep folding it along the whole strip in a triangular parcel. Repeat to make all the spanakopita.

Brush the undersides of each parcel with more butter and place on a lightly buttered baking tray. Brush the tops with butter and bake for 25 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.

These are best served straight from the oven while the pastry is still crispy but they are also good at room temperature.

(Original recipe from Rick Stein’s Mediterranean Escapes, BBC Books, 2007.)

Read Full Post »