11 June 2011 by jonoandjules
Yes we do know that it’s June but our weather has been much more suitable for stew than salad in the last few weeks – it’s freezing! If we weren’t so stingy we’d turn the heating back on. As central heating in June is against our principles we’ve had to resort to stew instead. It’s kind of a summery stew as it’s full of spinach which is in season now and is also very good for you.
Hopefully we’ve convinced you that it’s ok to eat stew in June.
Spanish chickpea, chorizo & spinach stew – to feed 4
- 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, finely diced
- 1 celery stick, finely diced
- few sprigs of thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 200g chorizo, diced
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp hot smoked paprika (it’s more common to find the sweet (dulce) one here so just add a bit of chilli powder as well)
- 2 tins of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1-2 tbsp Sherry vinegar
- 400g spinach leaves, washed and drained
- Heat the oil in a big pan, then gently fry the onion for 3-4 minutes until it starts to soften. Stir in the carrot, celery, thyme and bay leaves. Season and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring now and then. Add the garlic, chorizo, cinnamon and smoked paprika. Fry gently until the vegetables soften and the chorizo starts to crisp up and release its oils.
- Stir in the chickpeas, vinegar and 150ml of water, then bring to a simmer for 1-2 minutes until the chickpeas have heated up. Add the spinach, then stir through the chickpeas until it wilts a bit – it will all fit in just be patient!
- Season and serve with some crusty bread to mop up juice.
Wine Suggestion: A spanish red would be good – try a Joven (young), fruity Rioja or do like the Spanish and have a glass of Sherry.
Posted in Food, Uncategorized | Tagged Chickpeas, Chorizo, Cooking, Food, Recipe, Spanish, Spinach, Stew | Leave a Comment »
9 June 2011 by jonoandjules
Italians don’t serve Bolognese with spaghetti or make a really runny tomato sauce like us Irish, so we went to our Italian experts for guidance: Giorgio Locatteli came up trumps. Jono also got to practice his new pasta trick which he’s somewhat obsessed with.
Ragù alla bolognese – serves 8 generously (but don’t divide the recipe, just make the lot and freeze it in small tubs -ready meals!)
- 2 kg of minced beef neck (you may need to order this – chump will do if you can’t get it)
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 2 carrots, finely chopped
- 1 celery stick, finely chopped
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- a large sprig of rosemary and one of sage, tied together
- 2 cloves of garlic
- a bottle of red wine
- 1 tbsp of tomato paste
- 1 litre of tomato passata
Take the meat out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature, spread it out on a tray. This will make it sear rather than boil when you put it in the pan.
Heat the oil in a wide bottomed saucepan and add vegetables, herbs and whole garlic cloves and sweat over a high heat for 5-8 minutes without colouring – you need to keep stirring.
Season the meat with salt and pepper and add it to the vegetables making sure it covers the base of the saucepan. Don’t touch it for 5-6 minutes so it seals underneath and heats through. Careful your vegetables don’t burn – you can add a bit more oil if you need to.
Stir the meat and veg every few minutes for about 10-12 minutes until it starts to stick to the bottom of the pan.
Now add the wine and let it reduce to almost nothing. Add the tomato paste and cook for a couple of minutes – keep stirring.
Add the passata with one litre of water, bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook for an hour and a half. Add a bit of water now and again if necessary, until you have a thick sauce. (You could also cook it in the oven at 120C if you prefer).
When you’re ready to serve, heat the ragù, cook your pasta (preferably pappardelle, tagliatelle, or short pasta) and drain, reserving the cooking water. Add the pasta to the ragu and toss well – add some cooking water if you need to loosen the sauce a bit.
Serve with freshly grated pecorino.
(Original recipe from Giorgio Locatelli’s ‘Made in Italy: Food & Stories’)
Posted in Beef, Food | Tagged Bolognese, Cooking, Food, Italian, Pasta, Ragu, Recipe | Leave a Comment »
8 June 2011 by jonoandjules
We’re mad for prawns these day; mostly because we have a huge bag in the freezer. We’re also mad for avocados; but that’s because they are in season and taste yum at the minute! We even managed to eat this on the patio just before another big, rainy cloud came over. We love summers in Ireland; we might not get the weather but at least we can get summery produce.
Prawn, grapefruit and avocado salad – to serve 4 on the patio (weather permitting)
- a medium rustic-style loaf, torn into big chunks
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 large pink grapefruit
- 2 avocados
- 4 little gem lettuces
- 200g cooked large prawns
- 3 tbsp Thai sweet chilli sauce
Heat the oven to 220C/Fan 200C/Gas 7. Put the bread chunks onto a baking tray, drizzle with 2 tsp of oil and rub in with your hands. Season and bake for 10 minutes until they are crispy and golden.
Cut the peel and pith off one of the grapefruits and slice into segments. Throw these in your salad bowl.
Squeeze the juice from the other grapefruit into a separate small bowl.
Peel, stone and slice the avocados and separate the lettuce leaves. Add these to the grapefruit segments along with the prawns.
Whisk the sweet chilli sauce and remaining tsp of oil into the grapefruit juice and season.
Cool the croutons for a few minutes before tossing with the rest of the salad and drizzling over the sweet chilli dressing.
Dada!
Posted in Food, Healthy, Shellfish | Tagged Avocado, Cooking, Food, Grapefruit, prawns, Recipe, Salad | Leave a Comment »
7 June 2011 by jonoandjules
We cooked this for a veggie dinner party and it was really tasty. There’s a lot of stages involved so leave yourself plenty of time. We cooked it in the morning and reheated it on the hob while we steamed the rice and that worked well. You might want to ease up on the chilli depending on your audience – it’s quite hot.
Spicy aubergine stew – to feed 6 generously
- 1 kg aubergines
- 3 medium onions
- 2 tbsp groundnut oil
- 8 green cardamom pods
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 tsp black peppercorns
- 4 big garlic cloves
- a thumb-sized piece of ginger
- 2 rounded tsp turmeric
- 10 medium-sized tomatoes, peeled and seeded
- 500ml vegetable stock
- 2 x 400ml tins coconut milk
- 4 finely chopped red chillies (or less if you like it milder)
- a small bunch of mint
- a bigger handful of coriander
Cut the aubergines into big chunks and tip them into a colander, put it in the sink and sprinkle sea salt all over. Leave them for a minimum of half an hour.
Crush the cardamom pods with the flat blade of a knife and shake out the little seeds into a mortar. Add the coriander seeds and the peppercorns and grind them to a coarse powder.
Peel and roughly chop the onions, then cook them in a very large pan over a moderate heat until they are soft and translucent.
Thinly slice the garlic. Peel the ginger and cut it into thin matchsticks. Stir the garlic and ginger into the onions with the turmeric and ground spices. Add the tomatoes.
Rinse the aubergine of their salt and pat dry. Grill them on a ridged cast-iron pan until they start to soften and have griddle marks all over. This will take many batches. Add them to the onions, then pour in the stock and bring to the boil.
Add the coconut milk, chillies and some salt and simmer for 45 minutes. The aubergines should be very soft but not falling apart.
Lift out the aubergines, tomatoes and some of the onion with a draining spoon. Reduce the rest of the sauce by boiling hard for 5 minutes. Now ladle most, but not all, of the sauce into a blender and whizz until smooth and thick (watch you don’t scald yourself – we used a stick blender in a separate pot).
Return the vegetables and sauce to the original pot, then chop the fresh herbs and stir them in with a final seasoning of salt and pepper.
Serve with steamed rice.
(Original recipe from Nigel Slater’s Tender Volume 1)
Posted in Food, Vegetarian | Tagged Aubergine, Cooking, Nigel Slater, Recipe, Vegetarian | 2 Comments »
6 June 2011 by jonoandjules
It’s avocado season and we have a big bag of prawns in the freezer. This is one of two prawn and avocado salads we’ve tried in the last few days. The seasoned pistachios make this one a bit special. We loved it.
Avocado and prawn salad (Insalata di avocado e gamberetti)
- 50g pistachio nuts, shelled and chopped
- 2 avocados
- juice of a lemon
- 200g cooked peeled prawns
- olive oil
- salt and white pepper
Mix the pistachios with a pinch of pepper in a bowl.
Peel, half and stone the avocados. Slice them thinly and drizzle with the lemon juice.
Put the avocado in a salad bowl, add the prawns and stir gently.
Sprinkle the pistachios over, season lightly with salt, drizzle with oil and serve.
Wine Suggestion: Try a dry Gasgogny rose (ours was Domaine de Pellehaut from Mitchell & Son on offer for €7.95. Bargain!)
(Original recipe from ‘Recipes from an Italian Summer’ published by Phaidon)
Posted in Food, Healthy, Shellfish | Tagged Avocado, Cooking, Food, Healthy, Pistachios, prawns, Salad, Summer | 2 Comments »
31 May 2011 by jonoandjules
When you live in Ireland you need to take advantage of every glimmer of sunshine. It’s always good to have a barbecue recipe up your sleeve so you don’t end up with burgers and sausages again (though we like them too).
Pork fillet and pepper kebabs – to serve 6
- 1kg boneless pork loin
- 1 red pepper
- 1 yellow pepper
- 1 green pepper
- 2 onions, quartered
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp ras el hanout (a spice mix from North Africa. Available in the supermarket)
Cut the pork into 36 large cubes and cut each pepper into 12 squares. Cut the onions into 36 small wedges.
Put the sugar and vinegar in a small pan and cook over a low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Pour into a bowl and stir in the olive oil and ras el hanout. Add the pork cubes and give it a good mix.
Thread the pork and veg alternately onto 12 kebab skewers (if you’re using wooden ones you need to soak them for about half an hour first).
Cook on the barbecue, turning and brushing with the marinade for 12-15 minutes, until cooked through.
Serve with salad and some baked potatoes if you like.
Posted in Food, Pork | Tagged Barbecue, BBQ, Cooking, North African, Pork, Recipe | 2 Comments »
27 May 2011 by jonoandjules
This tastes so much better than it looks and it looked really good on the plate when served, but by that stage we were so starved we ate it instead of taking pics! So much healthier than a Thai takeaway and dead-on tasty. The marinade is a really neat trick which we’ll definitely use again.
- 200g raw, peeled tiger prawns
- 1 green chilli, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, crush 1 and finely slice the other 2
- a bunch of coriander, separate the leaves from the stalks and save both
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- juice of a lime
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp groundnut oil
- 3 cm piece of ginger, finely slice and then shred it
- 8 scallions, finely sliced
- a red pepper, thinly sliced
- 85g water chestnuts, sliced (we couldn’t find these and it was fine without them!)
- 100g beansprouts
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- pack of egg noodles to serve
- lime wedges
Whiz the chilli, crushed garlic, coriander stalks (snip them with scissors to make them small) and caster sugar in a small food processor. Add half the lime juice and the fish sauce and then pour over your prawns.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok, add the ginger and scallions and fry for a minute. Add the red pepper and fry for another minute or until it starts to soften. Add the water chestnuts and bean sprouts and toss until the sprouts start wilting. Add the soy sauce and plenty of black pepper and tip the lot into a serving dish.
Heat a bit of oil in the wok and toss your egg noodles until hot. They’ll pick up some of the juicy and crunchy bits from the veggies. Mix them into the serving dish with the vegetables.
Lift the prawns out of their marinade and cook in wok with the remaining oil for a minute or two or until they turn pink. Add the marinade and swirl it around in the wok to heat it. Tip everything over the vegetables and noodles. Add the coriander leaves and remaining lime juice before you serve. Put some lime wedges on the side of the plates.
Wine Suggestion: We had a glass of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc which went really well. The fruit was juicy and counter-acted the chilli instead of fighting against it which can happen. It was fresh and zingy.
Posted in Asian, Food, Healthy, Shellfish | Tagged Cooking, Healthy, Noodles, prawns, Recipe, Stir-fry, Thai | 2 Comments »
23 May 2011 by jonoandjules
We like leftovers and at the same time we don’t cause it means we don’t get to cook anything new for dinner. Our way around this is to cook some tasty side dishes which we often neglect in favour of the main event.
We picked up some new season ‘blue danube’ potatoes, carrot, chard (or Silverbeet as Jono would say), and onions at the market on Sunday and made two tasty treats to brighten up the leftover peposo (see post below).
New potatoes and onions – to serve 2
- 15g butter
- 2 onions, halved and sliced fine
- a big sprig of thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp olive ol
- 3oog cooked new potatoes, cooled and sliced thick
- a large handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped fine
Heat the butter in a shallow pan and cook the onions on low, with the thyme and bay leaves, for 20 minutes or until very soft.
Turn the heat up to medium and cook for another 5 minutes or so to make the onions golden and sticky.
Add olive oil and add the sliced potatoes. Fry for 10 minutes until golden (they won’t crisp up much because of the onions but they’ll taste good).
Just before serving toss in parsley and season.
Jono’s Silverbeet and Carrots
- Swiss chard (silverbeet)
- Carrots
- Butter
Rinse the chard and remove the stalks. Chop the stalks coarsely and cut the chard into ribbons, as you would cabbage.
Simmer some chopped carrots in a small amount of water and a good knob of butter for about 10 minutes. Add the chard stalks and cook for another 7 minutes. Add the ribbons of chard for the last 3-4 minutes. Season well and drain off any excess liquid.
(Original recipe Jono)
Posted in Food, Side dish, Vegetarian | Tagged Cooking, New potatoes, Onions, Recipe, side dish, Silverbeet, Swiss Chard, Vegetarian | 1 Comment »
22 May 2011 by jonoandjules
I would like to point out that the plate above is Jono’s and not mine – he’s much greedier than me.
If you don’t like Italian food you might want to ignore us for the next while as we’re somewhat smitten.
We tasted a few stews in Italy, peppery and otherwise, and they were fantastic. Jono’s had his eye on this recipe for ages too so we got on to Tom O’Connor in Glasthule, our butcher, who rose to the challenge as always.
You can use beef or veal shin for this recipe (we used veal). Jamie suggests buying the whole bone, slicing the meat off, and adding the bone to the stew. We got it osso bucco style which worked brilliantly.
There is a shocking amount of black pepper and garlic in this recipe. You hardly notice the garlic by the time it’s cooked but the pepper is fierce. Jamie recommends 4 tablespoons of fresh ground black pepper. I think we’ll try two next time which might be safer for a crowd.
This is a really easy dish to cook but it takes 6 hours in the oven (or overnight if you like) so be prepared. This gives intense flavour and makes the meat melt – you can literally lift the bones out and carve the meat with a spoon.
Peposo (the famous hunter’s peppery beef stew) – serves 10
- 2.5 kg beef or veal shin on the bone (see advice above)
- 20 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 4 heaped tbsp freshly ground black pepper (we’ll go for 2 tbsp next time we think)
- 5 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 bottles of Chianti (we just used a decent fruity red wine from Gascony cause that’s what we had)
- 2 bay leaves
If your meat is in one piece, slice the meat off the bone in big chunky slabs (keep the bone). If it is osso bucco style leave it as it is.
Heat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2.
Put a layer of sliced meat in the bottom of your biggest casserole, cover with some garlic cloves and sprinkle with a tbsp of pepper and a little salt.
Add 2 sprigs of rosemary and repeat with another layer of meat. Keep going like this until your ingredients are used up and you have a full pot.
Pour the wine over the top, add any left over bones and the bay leaves. Top up with water if necessary to cover the meat.
Bring to the boil and cover tightly with double thick foil and the lid.
Cook in the oven for 6 hours (or overnight at 140C/275F/Gas1).
When it’s done, skim off any fat, remove the bones, bay leaves and rosemary twigs.
Serve on toast (hunter style) or with some new potatoes and carrots (Jono and Jules’ style).
It’s good!
(Original recipe from Jamie’s Italy).
Wine Suggestion: An Italian red with a good dollop of Sangiovese for tannin and fresh acidity. We drank some Col d’Orcia Brunello di Montalcino which matched the spiciness and had majestic fruit. Perfect
Posted in Beef, Food, Italy, Wine | Tagged Cooking, Italian, Pepper, Recipe, Stew. Peposo | 8 Comments »
21 May 2011 by jonoandjules
So home from honeymoon and we had all the boxes in the new house to unpack (you know all this from the last post). The sensible thing would be to stay home and unpack them but I felt the need to go on the hunt for Tipo 00 flour instead. We had got a shiny pasta machine in Italy see.
Jules wanted to unpack but I insisted on kneading dough; I won her over in the end! This is my homemade and fresh fettuccine with The Frankies Spuntino’s Sunday Sauce (really tasty tomato sauce). A success and so much more fun than unpacking 🙂
I actually made enough for the village and didn’t research how to store fresh pasta. The first meal was fantastic … and the rest … well I’ll live and learn.
Posted in Food, Healthy, Pasta, Vegetarian | Tagged Cooking, Fettuccine Pomodoro, Pasta, Recipe, Vegetarian | 2 Comments »
20 May 2011 by jonoandjules
Well here’s a nice tasty houmous and a bit different from the one we’re all used too. We love houmous but it sometimes has that over-powering thing you get from raw garlic (no matter how little you use). This one uses some cooked red onions and indian spices for flavour instead and it’s a winner!
Red onion & Indian-spiced houmous
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- a red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp each of cumin seeds and coriander seeds
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 400g tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- juice 1/2 lemon
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 2 tsp finely chopped coriander
- pitta bread or grilled soft tortilla to serve
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan and fry the onion until soft and getting a bit of colour. Take off the heat and set aside to cool.
Toast the spices for a couple of minutes on a low heat and then grind to a powder in a mortar and pestle.
Blitz the chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, ground spices, some salt, coriander and red onion in a food processor until smooth.
Serve dressed with some olive oil and something crunchy to dip in it.
P.S. We spread the leftovers on soft tortillas and stuffed them with roasted veggies and rocket for lunch to take to work.
Posted in Food, Healthy, Uncategorized, Vegetarian | Tagged Cooking, Healthy, Houmous, Recipe, Vegetarian | Leave a Comment »
18 May 2011 by jonoandjules
Quite a lot has happened since our last post. We moved house, then we got married, then we went to London, Paris and Italy. Lot’s of eating and drinking but no time for blog posts. When we got home we couldn’t work out if our new house had been robbed or if we had just left it in a complete state of disarray. Thankfully the latter. So needless to say we left the mess where it was and headed to the shops to get some ingredients for a tasty breakfast/brunch and two course dinner.
Breakfast/brunch mushrooms on toast for 2
- 250g chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- butter
- really nice bread, toasted (we got a white pan loaf from Butler’s Pantry)
You could probably work this out for yourselves.
Fry the mushrooms for about 5 minutes in a knob of butter until they’re soft and your mouth starts watering. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in another knob of butter and the parsley.
Throw the mushrooms on top of your toast.
It’s nice to be home.
Posted in Brunch, Food, Healthy, Vegetarian | Tagged Brunch, Cooking, Food, Healthy, Mushrooms, Recipe, Toast, Vegetarian | 2 Comments »
17 April 2011 by jonoandjules
We’re moving house this week and next week we’re getting married so we don’t reckon there will be much cooking done. Don’t worry we’ll be back mid-May after eating lots of great food and drinking lots of wine in Tuscany. In the mean time enjoy this cause we did!
Baked salmon with smoked pancetta – to serve 4
- 4 pieces of salmon fillet, about 540g in total
- 12 thin slices of smoked pancetta
- 4 bay leaves
Heat the oven to 230C/fan 210C/Gas 8.
Take the skin off the salmon and wrap each piece in 3 slices of pancetta, tuck the ends underneath.
Lay the fish in an ovenproof dish and tuck a bay leaf between the fish and pancetta.
Lightly brush with olive oil and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the pancetta is golden.
Serve with minty peas and new potatoes.
Simple and the salmon stays wonderfully moist and picks up the smoky flavour.
(Original recipe from Nigel Slater, printed in Sainsbury’s magazine).
Posted in Fish, Food | Tagged Cooking, Fish, Nigel Slater, Recipe, Salmon, Spring | 7 Comments »
10 April 2011 by jonoandjules
Steaming hot in the casserole … this is so tasty and shows you how flavours can intensify with slow cooking. This has very few ingredients, but the three and a half hours cooking makes the flavours burst on your tongue and the beef melt (we carved it perfectly with a blunt knife). We’ll definitely be doing this again. The recipe come from the French answer to Delia: “I know how to cook” which is published by Phaidon and celebrates the tradition of cooking rather than the celebrity and glamour: tasty dish after dish using simple ingredients. Classic French cookery for the home cook rather than the chef.
Boeuf au riz (Beef with rice) – serves 6
- 30g butter
- 900g stewing beef, in one piece
- 100g onion, chopped
- 1 bouquet garni (we raided the herb garden and bundled up some rosemary, thyme, bay, parsley and oregano)
- 750ml stock
- 250g long grain rice
Heat the butter on medium-high heat in a heavy-based casserole.
Add the beef and brown all over.
Add the onion and bouquet garni and season generously with pepper and a little salt.
Pour in the stock, cover and cook on a low heat for 3 hours.
Rinse the rice well and add to the casserole and cook for another 30 minutes.
That’s it – enjoy!
Wine suggestion: A full-bodied Pinot Noir from Hawkes Bay in New Zealand (or somewhere else in the New World). Ours was from Morton Estate which you can pick up in Mitchell’s (say hi to Jono while you’re there).
Posted in Beef, Food | Tagged Beef, Cooking, French, I Know How to Cook, Recipe, Wine suggestion | Leave a Comment »
10 April 2011 by jonoandjules
This guacamole takes minutes to make and is delish! Avocados are in season now too so you should have no bother picking up some nice ripe ones. Another side that we pulled from one of Jamie’s 30 minute meals. It’s so good we’ve made it twice in 48 hours!
- 4 scallions
- bunch of fresh coriander
- 1 red chilli
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled
- 1 lime
- 2-3 small ripe avocados
- a handful of cherry tomatoes
Put the scallions into your food processor with the coriander, whole chilli (remove the stalk), garlic, the juice from the lime and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Whizz while you stone the avocados and quarter the tomatoes.
Stop whizzing and put the avocado flesh into the processor. Add the tomatoes and pulse until chunky (don’t start whizzing again or it will go smooth which you don’t want here).
Scrape it out into a bowl, season and add a bit more lime juice if you want.
Serve with tortilla chips, chilli or whatever you like.
Posted in Food, Side dish, Vegetarian | Tagged Avocado, Cooking, Guacamole, Jamie Oliver, Recipe, Side, Starter, Vegetarian | 2 Comments »
9 April 2011 by jonoandjules
This month’s Irish Food Bloggers’ Association Cookalong theme was chocolate.
Anyone who follows this blog will know that we don’t do too many desserts but we got the Green and Black’s Chocolate book – Unwrapped – out with enthusiasm anyway. Flicking through the many fabulous looking desserts we came across this Chicken Mole, a savoury South American dish with chocolate sauce.
To be honest we weren’t too sure if we’d like the result and to be really honest we didn’t. I’ve used a square of chocolate in a big pot of chilli before and there is no doubt it can add a bit of character. This recipe uses 75g of dark chocolate and was a bit much we thought.
Having said that all four of us cleared our plates and two even had seconds so it wasn’t that bad, maybe just not quite to our tastes. Interesting nonetheless and we made a cracking guacamole to serve on the side (which we shall blog about later) with some tortilla chips which pleased us more.
Here’s the recipe if you’re feeling brave.
Chicken Mole – to serve 4
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 large onions, sliced
- 2tsp smoked sweet paprika
- 8 pieces of chicken on the bone (we used thighs and drumsticks)
- 400g tin of red kidney beans
- 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 75g dark chocolate, minimum 60% cocoa solids
Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas mark 2.
Crush the garlic and slice the onions.
Seal the chicken in some olive oil in a big casserole pot that can go in the oven. When the chicken is lightly browned add the onions and garlic.
When the onions are lightly browned, add the tomatoes and kidney beans (including the juice), plus the paprika and 50g of the chocolate.
Bring to simmer and put in the oven for 1 hr 30 minutes.
Skim the surface to remove any chicken fat. Taste and adjust seasoning – you’ll need some salt. Add another 20g of chocolate to taste.
We served this with pilau rice, tortilla chips and guacamole.
Wine suggestion: This went well with a rich Tempranillo/Garnacha blend from Toro in Spain.
Posted in Chicken, Food | Tagged Chicken, Chocolate, Cookalong, Cooking, Mole, Recipe, South American | 3 Comments »
7 April 2011 by jonoandjules
… it was. You know when you read a recipe and it looks tasty enough, but nothing special; good for a weeknight. Well this looked like that, and then had such great balance of flavours it had to make the blog. It did take longer than we expected, but the pizza-like aromas from the oven had us salivating and it was worth the wait. More like a veggie pasta bake than a frittata we reckon.
Easy oven frittata (serves 4, or less if you’re hungry)
- 1/2 tsp oilve oil
- 85g fusilli, macaroni or small pasta – we used conchigle
- 1 bunch of scallions, chopped
- 85g frozen peas
- 85g frozen or tinned sweetcorn
- 1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
- 2 large eggs
- 150ml milk
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 50g good Irish cheddar, grated (Bandon Vale worked well)
- 2 tbsp parmesan, finely grated
- a green salad to serve
Preheat oven to 190C / fan 170C and grease a 1.2 litre baking dish with olive oil
Cook the pasta in salted boiling water for 8 minutes. Add all the veg and cook for a further 2 minutes. Drain and tip into baking dish.
Beat together eggs, add thyme and milk and beat a little more. Mix in most of the two cheeses and some black pepper and a sprinkle of salt. Pour into the baking dish, stir, then scatter remaining cheeses on top.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until golden and set. Cool for a minute or two and serve with the salad leaves.
Surprisingly tasty and low fat too! What more could you ask for?
(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)
Posted in Food, Healthy, Vegetarian | Tagged Cooking, Easy, Frittata, Low fat, Pasta, Peppers, Recipe, Scallions, Sweetcorn, Vegetarian | 2 Comments »
6 April 2011 by jonoandjules
… but dinner is still a top priority. Flung together pasta dishes are therefore all the rage in our house. Here’s another one with just a handful of ingredients but still tastes nice and fresh. All sorted in 10 minutes and beats a ready meal any day!
Tagliatelle with prawns, cherry tomatoes and basil – (serves 2)
- 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 red chilli, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 200g large raw prawns, peeled and deveined
- 225g dried tagliatelle
- 25g fresh basil, leaves torn
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta for 8 to 10 minutes.
Heat oil in a frying pan, add the prawns and toss until cooked pink in colour. Stir in the garlic and chilli and cook for a further minute or two until softened.
Drain pasta and return to pot. Toss in the prawn mixture, cherry tomatoes and basil over some heat. Drizzle with olive oil and season if you like.
Posted in Food, Healthy, Pasta, Shellfish | Leave a Comment »
5 April 2011 by jonoandjules
… ONLY BETTER!)
Here’s something we do when we know we’re going to get in late and hungry. To call it a recipe might be pushing it but it tastes good and requires virtually no effort.
10-minute tortellini – to serve 2
- 250g pack fresh spinach and ricotta tortellini (or something similar – we try to avoid the meat filled ones as there is something a bit dog food like about them)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 250g pack cherry tomatoes
- a big bunch of parsley, leaves roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp finely grated parmesan
Boil the past for 2 minutes until just cooked.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the tomatoes until they start to blister.
When the pasta is cooked, drain it quickly, reserving some of the water.
Tip the pasta, parsley, a splash of the cooking water and most of the Parmesan into the tomatoes and bubble it all together. Season with black pepper and salt.
Serve with the rest of the Parmesan.
Hey presto.
(We learned this from some other cheaters – BBC Good Food)
Posted in Food, Healthy, Vegetarian | Tagged Cooking, Easy, Quick, Recipe, Tortellini, Vegetarian | Leave a Comment »
4 April 2011 by jonoandjules
Our local fish counter (in Caviston’s, Glasthule) had Red Mullet today, which we never see, so I urgently called Jules to find a recipe. She found this in 2 minutes flat and we went with it as there wasn’t too many ingredients. The salsa tastes absolutely amazing. Now that the evenings are longer we’ve been dying to use the barbecue more so we’re very pleased with ourselves for a Monday night (especially as we’d planned to have salad!) Very full and satisfied now.
Barbecue red mullet with a hot salsa (to serve 4)
For the fish:
- 4 red mullet, scaled, cleaned and gutted
- small bunch of fresh oregano, leaves picked
For the salsa:
- a handful of black olives, stoned and roughly chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
- 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
- a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 6 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
- a small bunch of flatleaf parsley, leaves picked and torn
Get your barbecue hot.
Slash the fish all over on both sides, about 1 cm deep, to help it cook through.
Roughly chop some oregano on a big board and spread it out. Sprinkle with a generous amount of salt and black pepper.
Roll the fish over the board and rub all the flavourings into the slashes you made.
Barbecue the fish for about 4 minutes on each side until you have crispy skin and soft cooked flesh inside.
Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and add the chopped olives. Warm them through for a minute or two and add the garlic, chilli and rosemary sprigs. Fry gently until the garlic is soft.
Remove and discard the rosemary and toss in the chopped tomatoes. Squeeze in the lemon juice and add the parsley.
Taste for seasoning (you probably won’t need salt as the olives will be salty) and warm through.
(Original recipe from Jamie Oliver)
Wine suggestion: We had a glass of Gruner Veltliner from Marlborough in New Zealand. Very unusual as this grape’s home turf is Austria. Quite peachy with bit of typical white pepper spice. If you fancy something different you can buy it in Mitchell and Son for about €15.95. A refreshing change from Sauvignon Blanc.
Posted in Barbecue, Fish, Food, Healthy | Tagged Barbecue, Cooking, Gruner Veltliner, Healthy, Jamie Oliver, Marlborough, Recipe, Red Mullet, Tinpot Hut, Tomato Salsa, Wine suggestion | Leave a Comment »
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Yes we do know that it’s June but our weather has been much more suitable for stew than salad in the last few weeks – it’s freezing! If we weren’t so stingy we’d turn the heating back on. As central heating in June is against our principles we’ve had to resort to stew instead. It’s kind of a summery stew as it’s full of spinach which is in season now and is also very good for you.
Jono & Jules do food & wine 