Jono & Jules do food & wine

Not that posh as it happens… we used a sparkling wine from New Zealand (and very nice it was too).

Dinner party on Saturday night meant we had some double cream leftover in the fridge. We also had a fizzy wine so this was Sunday night tea. Easy peasy and just a few ingredients.

Linguine with Champagne for 4

• Melt 40g butter in a shallow pan over a low heat.
• Add a finely chopped onion and 50g finely chopped pancetta and cook for 5 minutes.
• Pour in 200ml Champagne (or any sparkling wine), turn the heat to medium and cook until the alcohol has boiled off.
• Stir in 2 tablespoons double cream, season carefully and heat for a few minutes.
• Cook 350g linguine in lots of salty water until al dente.
• Divide the linguine between 4 bowls and pour over the sauce.
• Sprinkle some grated Parmesan over and serve with a glass of Champagne.

Thanks again Silver Spoon Pasta.

I love pink wine cause it looks girly, makes the table look pretty, and also because it has the same party feel of Champagne but costs considerably less.

Costieres de Nimes is near the southern Rhone and has similar sorts of grape varieties, climate and soils. Recently the quality of the wines have improved massively and the area is much less reliant on the co-operatives which are so widespread in the southern Rhone. So smaller estates have been doing some great things and should provide some excellent value to boot.

I was very excited when I came across this little pink number from one of the more reputable producers: Chateau Mourgues du Gres. Unfortunately it was a bit disappointing. Jono described it as “a low expression wine” and that sums it up really. Smells of not much and tastes of not much. It’s only saving grace was substantial body for a rose wine and a good texture for food. It may also have been better super-chilled on a sunny day rather than coolish in late Autumn.

So the moral of the story is – if you spot a red or white wine from Costieres de Nime, grab it, as you may be in for quite a treat at a reasonable price. If you see a pretty pink wine… well you still might get lucky. You can’t win them all as they say.

Julie

P.S. I have just received an email from a fellow wino who was amazed that I didn’t rate this wine – he did suggest that it may be best drunk at about 18 months to 2 years old. He reckons it has a lovely red fruit character… I’m going to have to try an older bottle to find out…damn life’s hard!

Marks & Spencer Meal Deal is just too cheap to resist. Being winos (and being lucky enough to have easy access to lots of good wines) we tend to gather a collection of these to drink at parties or late at night when people have drunk too much already (other people that is, not us of course).

Anyway, with the pasta dish below we thought a glass of something red with a bit of acidity to balance with the tomato would fit the bill… red with a bit of acidity usually means Italian and in fact when cooking dishes from anywhere in the world you can’t go far wrong with something the locals might drink themselves.

So we had the choice of opening something way too good for one glass with dinner on a Wednesday or the wine that came free with the meal deal. You lot may well have been supping on this yourselves or it might be lingering in your party selection.

So what was the verdict? It smells fruity, like dark cherries, with a bitter but not nasty twist. On the palate it is easy-going and fruity though there is a bit of drying sensation…maybe the tannins are a bit out of whack. It did improve when drunk with the pasta however and for €6 (I think that’s how much it cost when not in the deal) we couldn’t fault it really. We even had another glass on Thursday 😉 Julie

We just love “The Silver Spoon” cookbooks: simple sounding recipes that really work and are so tasty 🙂

Tonight we cooked Linguine with Broccoli and Pancetta – simple ingredients but surprisingly delicious!

From the Silver Spoon Pasta book (serves 4):

• Cut 600g broccoli into florets (and we chopped up the stalks too).
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a saucepan. Add 120g diced pancetta and cook on a medium-low heat for 4-5 minutes.
• Stir in 1 finely chopped clove of garlic and half the broccoli and cook for 5 minutes. Stir every now and again.
• Stir in 1 tablespoon tomato puree and 150ml vegetable stock (we use Marigold Swiss Bouillon), lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes (or until the broccoli is tender but firm).
• Cook 350g linguine with the rest of the broccoli in lots of salty water until al dente.
• Drain, tip into the pan with the sauce and toss over the heat for a few minutes.
• Sprinkle over 40g grated Parmesan to serve.

Enjoy 😉

Jono

I love chicken with bones in and crispy skin – and chicken legs are so much cheaper than fillets.

This is tasty enough to do for Sunday lunch and is very little effort indeed.

Get the recipe off the old faithful:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4749/maple-roast-chicken-with-potatoes-and-thyme

Julie

To be honest these were a bit futtery to make… especially at 8.30 on a Monday night when you’re absolutely starved.

Still they tasted great and your veggie friends will be very impressed with your efforts.

Get the recipe from BBC Good Food:

Baked Aubergine stuffed with roast pumpkin, feta and walnut with minted courgettes.

Nice with a glass of leftover Burgundy too 😉

Julie

If you happen to have some leftover truffle (and are therefore a very lucky person). Make a simple risotto bianco and grate the truffle over the top. Heaven!

While I was away in Hungary recently I found a stall in the markets selling fresh black truffles: I couldn’t resist!

Despite the look, the truffle had a great smell, so we invited some friends over for a truffle party. 🙂

Jules made retro prawn cocktail for starter and insisted on pink wine to go with it – “cause it looked pretty”.

Jules reckons Nigella’s recipe is best though it sounds rather disgusting (don’t leave out the pink peppercorns cause they look fab and taste good too).

450g cooked prawns, 200g salad cream, 3 tablespoons tomato ketchup, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, few drops Tabasco sauce (or more if you’re brave), and 1 tablespoon pink pepercorns, crushed.

Mix it all together and hey presto – told you it’s a bit gross!

The pink wine went a treat with it too. Domaine de Pellehaut Cotes de Gascogne (on offer for €8.50 in Mitchell’s). Bargain!

Jono then made Orecchiette with peas, pancetta and black truffle as inspired by Giorgio Locatelli.

Quite a simple recipe that takes 100g Pancetta and sweats it in a knob of butter. You then add 8 tablespoons of peas and continue to cook a bit, add some water and cook for 3-4 minutes until peas are tender enough to crush so they resemble mushy peas. While you’re doing this cook some orecchiette for one minute less than recommended then add to mushy peas and pancetta. toss for a couple of minutes to coat pasta, add a tablespoon of grated parmesan and toss again. Finally grate over 25-30g of truffle, toss for the final time and serve.

Simple really, but delicious with a real luxury feel and that something extra special to the taste

We finished the meal with plums and greengages baked in freshly squeezed orange juice, maple syrup and star anise. So tasty I forgot to take a photo!

Delicious  salmon – the trick is to grill on a really high heat for 4-5 mins in an ovenproof dish so it is slightly under-done … and then to cover it with foil for a few minutes. It emerges cooked, creamy and velvety!

We topped it with quick stir-fried scallions with chilli and ginger and sweet soy sauce: see this recipe from BBC Good Food.

Drank a dry Alsace Riesling with this – it didn’t quite work as the savoury, mineral character fought with the chilli in the sauce. The riesling was delicious the next day with smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for lunch 🙂

Jono

I am such a sucker for those little yellow stickers that M&S have started putting on food that is about to go out of date. This is why I happened to have a packet of ‘Raw King Prawns with Parsley, Lime & Garlic’ and ‘Raw Seared Calamari Rings with Salt, Red Bell Pepper & Cracked Black Pepper’ lying in the bottom of the freezer.

This is not the best paella recipe in the world but it is very cheap and easy (particularly if made with M&S reduced stuff) and hence perfect for a Monday night after a weekend of indulgence (and yes I did help the men eat the steak pie below).

It also gave me a chance to sample some of the hot paprika that Jono picked up for me in Budapest.

You can get the recipe here: 

Easy paella recipe – Recipes – BBC Good Food.

This goes very well (as do most things fishy) with a Muscadet which you can also usually pick up for a bargain price. Ours was a Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie from Chateau de Jaunay, which was very tasty indeed and a good example of how Muscadet has improved over the years.

Julie

I had three men to feed on Saturday night so thought that nothing would do but a big meat pie.

This is Jamie Olivers steak and cheese. You can get the recipe here:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/

Takes a few hours but easy peasy and all can be done in advance (the men thought I was very clever :))

Serve with peas and potatoes and a big red wine (one of the men was South African so he brought us a nice Shiraz from there).

Julie

These are pretty healthy and not many calories – hopefully you don’t care but we are trying to be good 😦 Not least because I’m off to Belfast for the weekend for a Thai cookery demo in my Mum’s. I presume we have to eat all the Thai cookery afterwards and coconut milk is evil… well not evil but calorific. Jono meanwhile is off to Hungary to be wined and dined and massaged and wined and dined and  … (ok probably not massaged).

So if you would like to try them for yourselves you can find the recipe here:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12228/stuffed-tomatoes-with-lamb-mince-dill-and-rice

Btw, I couldn’t find any beef tomatoes so had to use lots of big little ones. If you live in Dublin you may have the same problem.

Julie

A great side with real taste and texture!

We roasted these sweet potatoes after tossing in a mix of Hot Paprika, Cayenne Pepper, Sea Salt and Olive Oil.

Roasted hot for 30 mins they end up a good combination of soft and sweet centres, spicy and tangy spices and a slight caramelisation that combines it all.

These jazzed up very simple chicken breasts to make a meal with character.

We’ve decided to do them again soon

Drank a glass of the 2007 Sipp Mack Riesling Vielles Vignes: lovely and dry with thrilling flavours of lime and grapefruit citrus, hints of honey and touches of minerality. Very easy on the palate and yet chock full of flavour and a thrilling length and verve. Do this wine again too!

Jono

Domaine de Pecoula, Monbazillac 2005

delicious sweet wine made from semillon – late harvest and with a bit of noble rot (which is a good thing) 🙂

we found this at Marks & Spencers for €7.99  for 375ml (don’t tell anyone!) and it was lemony, sweet, delicious and a complete bargain

Jules is a chatter box and should have had a blog years ago, coz she is telling me what to say 🙂 ………..

That said this wine is a bargain .. it has great balance so that the sweetness is not anything but delicious and never cloying. We drank this with cheese (blue and cheddar) which worked perfectly. It was also not too heavy so we probably could have drunk a whole bottle (not the half that it was sold in). Really easy and smooth.

If I see it again I’ll buy at least another bottle if not more – yum scrum!

Jono

Not quite true … we found a recipe that promised to be the Ultimate Ratatouille recipe … so we had to test this out … and as Jules is studying the Rhone wines we happened to pick up a Tavel Rose while out in town and it just happened to promise on the back label that it was a perfect match for Ratatouille… we couldn’t believe it!

Guess what – we have found the best Ratatouille we have ever tried (see recipe below)

Jono

So the wine…. great colour and yum scrum strawberry aromas. Low acidity but the strawberryness  balances out the high alcohol (and you don’t notice the alcohol (14%)  too much with the food). Oh yes it works with Ratatouille! The two together more than made up for the horrible wet Dublin weather… we could have been on a beach in the south of France (except we were inside and we could see outside… and it was nasty!).

Julie

The Ultimate Ratatouille (from Angela Nilsen – published in BBC Good Food Magazine in September 2007) – Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 medium onions

5-6 large tomatoes (about 450g)

sprig thyme

sprig rosemary

1 bay leaf

125ml olive oil

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 red peppers

3 medium courgettes

1 large aubergine

1.5 tsp coriander seeds, crushed

coriander and parsley to finish

crusty bread to serve

Method:

Chop the onions (not too finely) and garlic. Heat 2 tbsp oil and sweat in big frying pan until soft but not coloured for 12-15 minutes.

Quarter the tomatoes and cut out their cores. Roughly chop the tomatoes. Wrap the thyme and rosemary in the bay leaf and tie up with string. Add tomatoes and herbs to onions and cook gently for 20-25 minutes, stir every now and again.

Remove the cores and seeds from peppers and cut into one inch pieces. Cut the courgettes and aubergines into similar size pieces.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in pan and fry peppers for about 5 minutes until soft and a little bit browned. Tip into a bowl.

Add 2 tbsp oil and aubergine to the pan and fry for 5 minutes (don’t add more oil even though it gets absorbed).

Tip on top of the the peppers and repeat with the courgettes until they are golden.

Add all to the tomatoes with coriander seeds, cover and barely simmer for about 15 minutes or until everything is tender.

Season and sprinkle chopped coriander and parsley over.

Enjoy!

Chicken Tagine

Made some preserved lemons, thanks to Stephanie Alexander, so had to use them: et voila! a chicken tagine with lemons and olives from Jamie Does …

Great delicate and elegant flavours but the chicken pieces were too large – Jamie says to quarter the chicken but I think you need smaller pieces (ie jointed or legs, breasts or thighs). I also think you need a touch more spice marinade, but I’ll try both these ideas soon to see if they work.

Enjoyed a Rioja with the meal. Found this suggestion on the net and it worked! We tried a Gran Reserva – in this case the Solar de Samaniego 2001 – the age mellows out the aggressive tannins perfectly and the structured, elegant tannins work with the food. Spices and chicken meld really well with the aged strawberry and vanillin fruits. Good match!

Jono 🙂

What to do when your hubby brings home some Kingfish from the shops cause it “looked interesting”? This was the dilemma I found myself in last week.

Interesting it may look but no one seems to have a damn clue what it is. We consulted Rick Stein who only had one rather complicated dish but between Rick and the web we figured curry was the way forward.

The Kingfish kind of looked like a meaty steak, like swordfish or tuna.

As well as trying to make healthier stuff we’re also trying to save lots of money so we picked a fish curry that wasn’t going to break the bank with lots of fancy ingredients.

Nigel Slater came to the rescue. This is “a very fresh-tasting and really quite spicy fish curry” from his book Appetite and it was very good indeed.

Nigel Slater’s fresh-tasting and really quite spicy fish curry (made with Kingfish)

(Makes enough for 2 or 3 according to Nigel but we managed to polish the lot off)

Ingredients:

2 medium onions

veg oil

550g assorted fish and shellfish (or 2 Kingfish steaks)

black mustard seeds

2 or 3 hot red chillies

a tsp each of garam masala, ground turmeric, mild chilli powder

4 tomatoes

about 500ml of Marigold vegetable bouillon

100ml coconut milk

Peel and roughly chop onions and cook slowly with a small amount of oil in a casserole over a low heat, until soft and pale gold.

Remove all skin and bones from fish and cut into large chunks.

Sprinkle a tsp of mustard seeds into the onions, then seed and chop the chillies and add them too.

Cook, stirring in the ground spices, till it all smells fragrant.

Chop up the tomatoes and stir them in, cook down for five minutes or so, then pour in the stock.

Bring to the boil and slide in the fish. Simmer until tender (6 or 7 minutes).

Stir in the coconut milk, season with salt and simmer for a minute or two longer before eating.

We ate it with basmati rice.

So this was Thursday’s pretty healthy and very tasty dinner.

We got the recipe from my trusty BBC Good Food Magazine without which I would still be living on a diet of toast and cereal. My first issue was September 2000 and I still have every issue published since and use them all the time.

Click here for the recipe:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12278/creamy-beetroot-risotto

P.S. Strange things might happen in the toilet after eating this but don’t panic! You’re not bleeding to death it’s just the beetroot!

Julie