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Posts Tagged ‘Easy’

Fennel, Pernod and Red Mullet Parcels

Posted in Fish, Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 11 April 2020| 4 Comments »

Fennel, Pernod and Red Mullet Parcels

We cooked this the night that further restrictions were placed on Ireland. We were a bit unsure how it would all work and if we would still be able to get fresh produce in the local shops or if we’d be stuck with supermarkets. Yesterday we heard that we’d be home for another few weeks but thankfully we can still get fresh fish and almost anything else we need (except plain flour!) from our local shops. We served this with some steamed waxy potatoes.

Wine Suggestion: Light, white and minerally. Our choice is the Allo by Quinta Soalheiro from northern Portugal made from Alvarinho for texture and body, and Loureiro for the fruity, aromtic white flowers. All at 11.5% abv.

Fennel, Pernod and red mullet parcels – serves 4

  • 2 fennel bulbs, sliced thinly
  • 2 tbsp chopped herb fennel leaves
  • 180ml dry white wine
  • 2 tbsp Pernod
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 4 fillets of red mullet or sea bass

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.

You need large 4 pieces of double thickness  tin foil – probably bigger than you think. Divide the sliced fennel between the sheets – keep the edges turned up so you don’t lose anything. Divide the rest of the ingredients between the parcels and lay the fish fillets on the top with the fennel leaves sprinkled over. Season everything well with salt and pepper.

Fold the foil up around the ingredients to make parcels, twisting the edges together to seal, make sure you leave some air inside.

Place the parcels on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the fish flakes easily. Remove the fish and ingredients from the parcels and arrange on warm plates. Pour the juices from the parcels over the top.

(Original recipe from Herbs by Judith Hann, Nourish, 2017.)

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Chicken, Mushroom & Tarragon Pie

Posted in Chicken, Food, tagged , , , , , , , on 10 April 2020| 2 Comments »

Chicken, Mushroom & Tarragon Pie

Our chicken pies usually have some kind of cream in them but we really liked this gravy version. Try and use chicken thighs instead of breasts if you can get them, but no matter. I think we can all be forgiven for using dried herbs rather than fresh at the minute too. Though our local grocer surprisingly had some tarragon. We divided this into two dishes and baked each one fresh over two nights – reheated pastry never works out so well.

Wine Suggestion: Pinot Noir makes a nice match for this dish, be it classic Burgundy or New World. As always with this grape, make sure it is fresh and vibrant – the rich, juicy and high alcohol versions with lower acidity just don’t cut it with food. Tonight we had a cheaper “Little Yering” from the Yarra Valley found in the bargain bin of a local. While it didn’t blow us away it was delightful with the food

Chicken, mushroom & tarragon pie – serves 4

  • 2 onions, roughly chopped
  • 400g diced chicken (we used thighs but breasts fine too)
  • 100g mushrooms, quartered
  • 3 tbsp plain flour
  • 330ml white beer
  • 300ml chicken stock or veg stock
  • 4 tbsp of chopped tarragon leaves
  • a ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry sheet (all-butter not essential)

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.

Heat a splash of oil in a large frying pan and brown the chicken. Remove it from the pan and add the onions and mushrooms. Cook these for about 5 minutes or until softened and browned.

Add 3 tbsp of flour to the mushroom mixture and keep cooking for about 5 minutes, then add the beer and stock. Bring to the boil while scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to get all the sticky bits.

Lower the heat, then add the tarragon, some seasoning, and return the chicken to the pan. Simmer for 10 minutes until thickened, then tip into a baking dish and leave to cool.

Cut the pastry sheet to fit the dish and lay gently onto the sauce. Cut a few slits in the top and make a decoration with the pastry cuttings.

Bake for 30 minutes or until browned.

(Original recipe from Eat: The Little Book of Fast Food by Nigel Slater, Fourth Estate, 2013.)

Chicken, Mushroom & Tarragon Pie 2

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Minty Pea & Prawn Risotto

Posted in Food, Prawns, tagged , , , , , , , on 9 April 2020| 2 Comments »

Minty Pea & Prawn Risotto

We were looking for freezer inspiration when we made this. We have not stockpiled at all, but we keep putting all our leftovers in the freezer in case we have to stay home for a fortnight and can’t get to the shops. The problem now is that we’ve lots of delicious dinners in the freezer but the most enjoyable bit of our day is cooking dinner together. Reheating doesn’t quite have the same effect. So, if you’ve got some frozen prawns and frozen peas, you can have a go at this and enjoy stirring it – it’s certainly effective therapy for us. Let’s cook through this.

Wine Suggestion:  go a dry rosé or white, which will also be used in the dish, so nothing too over the top. Tonight the Chateau Vignelaure “La Source” Rosé which to our tastes is the equal of the couple of “BIG” names from Provence without the ego prices. Refreshing on it’s own and a great food wine. Dry Rosé Wine is very underated in our minds.

Minty pea and prawn risotto – serves 4

  • 400g frozen peas
  • 750ml fish stock or veg stock
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 300g risotto rice
  • 120ml white wine
  • 300g cooked frozen prawns, defrosted
  • 30g grated Parmesan, plus a bit extra to serve
  • a handful of chopped mint
  • 1 tbsp butter

Start by cooking the peas in boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain and refresh under cold water. Add 200ml of the stock to the peas and whizz with a stick blender (or whatever your whizzing option is) until smoothish. Put the rest of the stock in a pot and keep simmering over a low heat.

Heat the oil in a large, deep pan, then cook the onion for about 5 minutes over a lowish heat, until softened but not browned. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add the rice and stir until the grains are glistening. Add the wine and stir until evaporated. Add the stock, a ladleful at a time, stirring until each one is absorbed before adding another. You will need to keep at this for about 20 minutes. Season well.

Add the whizzed up peas and cook for another couple of minutes, or until most of the liquid had gone. The rice should be al dente by now. Add the prawns and an extra ladle of stock and heat for a couple of minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Parmesan, mint and butter. Check the seasoning and serve with some extra Parmesan.

(Original recipe from Family Kitchen Cookbook by Caroline Bretherton, DK, 2013)

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Lamb Shank Balti

Posted in Food, Indian, Lamb, tagged , , , , , , , on 8 April 2020| 2 Comments »

Lamb Shank Balti

The only thing missing from this dish was a crowd to share it with, but we’ll keep it in our back pockets for when that can happen again. If, like us, you make for a small dinner party, you can pull the leftover meat off the bone and stir it into the sauce. This allows you to have some tomorrow, or stash some in the freezer for another day. Serve with rice and your choice of naan bread, Indian chutneys or pickles and yoghurt or raita.

You need to marinate the meat the night before – literally 3 minutes work! And if you marinate in an oven tray, which we recommend, then take out of the fridge an hour before cooking to come up to room temperature.

Wine Suggestion: A rich and warm, spiced dish like this needs a similar kind of wine. A red from a warmer climate is our choice and tonight it was the Finca Bacara Pirapu; a Monastrell-Syrah blend from Jumilla in Spain. Juicy, and with a warm, earthy spice of it’s own. The high levels of juicy, soft tannins help with the rich meat. We’ll get this wine again for when we are entertaining properly and cooking this dish as it was a delight.

Lamb shank balti – serves 5 to 6

  • 5-6 lamb shanks
  • 3-4 onions, halved and sliced
  • 100g fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
  • 6 tbsp balti paste (we used Patak’s)
  • 2 tbsp garam masala
  • 4tsp brown sugar
  • a handful of pomegranate seeds
  • a handful of coriander leaves

FOR THE MARINADE:

  • 2 tbsp balti paste
  • 2 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp brown mustard seeds
  • 2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 2 tsp kalonji seeds (nigella or onion seeds)
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

The day before, mix the ingredients together for the marinade. Put the lamb shanks in a roasting tin and rub the marinade all over them (you might want to wear disposable gloves if you want to avoid yellow hands). Cover and chill overnight.

Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.

Roast the lamb for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.

Cover the tray with a double layer of tin foil and scrunch tightly around the edges to make sure it’s sealed. Return to the oven and cook for another 3 hours.

Remove the foil and stir the onions into the juices in the tin, then return to the oven and cook, uncovered, for another 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the ginger, garlic, 1 tin of the tomatoes, balti paste, garam masala and sugar into a food processor of blender. Whizz until smoothish. Stir this paste into the onions and also add the second tin of tomatoes and put back in the oven for a final 30 minutes.

Serve with the pomegranate seeds and coriander scattered over.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

 

 

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Cheddar Cheese Risotto

Posted in Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 6 April 2020| 6 Comments »

Cheddar Cheese Risotto

We found Nigella Express on our bookshelves and thought it might be useful these days when we’re looking for simplicity and store cupboard ingredients. This is Nigella’s Cheddar cheese risotto that we made with some limp looking scallions and the dregs from a packet of chives. Also popular with the 6 year old.

Wine Suggestion: A full-bodied white with texture, depth and importantly a freshness to make it feel lighter than the body and rich food demand. Our choice the Rustenberg Chardonnay, a stand-by exemplar of an oaked Chardonnay.

Cheddar cheese risotto – serves 2 adults and 1 child

  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • a few scallions, chopped
  • 300g risotto rice
  • ½ tsp Dijon mustard
  • 125ml white wine
  • 1 litre hot vegetable stock
  • 125g cheddar cheese, cubed
  • 2 tbsp chopped chives

Melt the butter and oil in a saucepan, then add the scallions and cook until softened.

Pour in the rice and stir for a minute so the rice is all coated in the butter and oil.

Turn up the heat, then add the Dijon mustard and white wine. Keep stirring until the wine has been absorbed.

Gradually add the hot stock, a ladleful at a time, stirring until absorbed before adding another. Keep going like this until the rice is al dente – about 18 minutes.

Stir in the cubes of cheese and keep stirring until the cheese has melted. Taste for seasoning, then ladle into warm bowls. Top with some chives if you have them.

(Original recipe from Nigella Express, Chatto & Windus, 2007.)

 

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Shakshuka

Posted in Brunch, Food, Gluten-free, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 5 April 2020| 8 Comments »

Shakshuka

We needed a green pepper for another dish, but could only get a mixed bag of three leaving us with a red and yellow pepper needing to be used. The clocks have changed and so we had brunch, very unusual in this house where our human alarm clocks goes off at 6am most days. Jono has been mastering a new skill and so we had this with freshly baked sourdough. Don’t think we’ll be eating another bite until this evening!

Shakshuka – serves 2

  • 1 tbsp cold pressed rapeseed oil (we used olive oil)
  • 1 red onion, cut into thin wedges
  • 1 red pepper, finely sliced
  • 1 yellow pepper, finely sliced
  • 3 large garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
  • 1 heaped tsp sweet smoked paprika
  • 400g tin of cherry tomatoes
  • 115g baby spinach (we used frozen spinach, boil for a minute or two to wilt, then drain, squeeze out water with hands and chop)
  • 4 medium eggs
  • ½ small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
  • ½ small bunch of dill, roughly chopped (we didn’t have any dill but used some fennel fronds)

Heat the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan. Add the onions and peppers and cook over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes or until starting to soften. Add the garlic and spices and stir for another minute, then add the tomatoes, spinach and 100ml of water. Turn the heat down and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Season to taste.

Make four indentations in the mixture and gently crack an egg into each one (we find it easier to crack the eggs into mugs and pour them in). Cover with a lid or foil and cook over a low heat for 8-10 minutes or until the eggs are just set. Scatter over the herbs and serve.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Greek Lamb with Orzo

Posted in Food, Greek, Lamb, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 4 April 2020| 4 Comments »

Greek Lamb with Orzo

A treat for the weekend without too many ingredients. There is also just a tiny bit of work at the start and then this can be left to pretty much cook itself for a few hours. You can serve with crusty bread or just by itself.

Wine Suggestion: we think that a southern French blend like Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre is a really good combination as long as the wine is fresh and not too jammy. Tonight we enjoyed the Domaine de Cébène Faugeres “Felgaria” which had a majority of Mourvedre and was pure, elegant and expressive with spices and warm aromas.

Greek lamb with orzo – serves 6

  • 1kg shoulder of lamb, cut into large cubes
  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 1 tbsp chopped oregano or 1 tsp dried oregano
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1.2 litres hot chicken or veg stock
  • 400g orzo
  • freshly grated Parmesan, to serve

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.

Put the lamb into a large casserole dish with the onions, oregano, ground cinnamon, cinnamon sticks and olive oil. Toss with your hands to ensure everything is coated with oil. Bake in the oven, uncovered, for 45 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Add the tomatoes and stock, then cover and return to the oven for a further 1½ hours or until the lamb is meltingly tender. You can throw away the cinnamon sticks at this point.

Stir in the orzo and return to the oven again, with the lid on. Cook for another 20 minutes, stirring halfway through, or until the orzo is cooked and the sauce has thickened. Serve sprinkled with grated Parmesan.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Spaghetti with Roasted Red Mullet

Posted in Fish, Food, Italian, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , on 3 April 2020| Leave a Comment »

Spaghetti with Roasted Red Mullet

It feels a bit weird posting recipes like this but at the same time we think its important to remember that there are no food shortages. The fish shops are open and fishermen continue to fish and while this continues, we’re going to make the most of it.

Wine Suggestion: a good rule of thumb when matching wines is to look at the source of the food and see what is being grown nearby. Today, an Italian seafood pasta drags us to the Poggio ai Ginepri Vermentino, grown on the Tuscan coast; both floral and salty in equal amounts with a good dollop of tasty fruit in the middle.

Spaghetti with roasted red mullet – serves 2

  • 4 small fillets of red mullet – ask the fish shop to fillet them for you and make sure you check them over for tiny bones
  • a handful of black olives, pitted
  • a dried chilli or half a tsp of dried chilli flakes
  • 200g cherry tomatoes
  • your best extra virgin olive oil
  • some fresh thyme, leaves stripped
  • 200g spaghetti

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F.

Prick the cherry tomatoes with a fork, then toss with a little olive oil, season and spread over a baking tray. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

Put the fillets of red mullet in a single layer in a shallow baking dish, sprinkle with thyme and the dried chilli, then season. Drizzle with oil and roast in the oven for 5 minutes.

Cook the spaghetti in loads of salty water until al dente. Drain and return to the pan.

Add the olives and tomatoes to the pasta with 1 tbsp of olive oil and season. Add the red mullet and toss gently, then serve.

(Original recipe from Italian Two Easy: Simple Recipes form the London River Cafe by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers, Clarkson Potter, 2006)

 

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Purple Sprouting Broccoli Pasta Bake

Posted in Food, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 2 April 2020| 4 Comments »

Purple Sprouting Broccoli Pasta Bake

We’ve been cooking pretty much as usual since Covid-19 struck and we’ve all had to stay home. We are trying even harder than usual though to use what we already have. The only fresh ingredient you need here is broccoli, we used purple sprouting as it’s in season but any broccoli will do. Hopefully you have everything else in your cupboard or fridge already, if not the corner shop should have it.

Wine Suggestion: a simple white wine with a bit of freshness and texture is all that is needed here. Our selection is the Macchialupa Falanghina from Benevento in Campania, Italy, which over delivers but is joyfully fresh and vibrant.

PSB and Pasta Bake – serves 4

  • 250-300g broccoli, cut into florets (we use stalks and all)
  • 250-300g penne pasta (or whatever short pasta you have)
  • 25g butter
  • 25g plain flour
  • 300ml milk
  • 2 large handfuls of grated Cheddar cheese (or any leftover cheese)
  • 1 tbsp grainy mustard (or any mustard)

Cook the pasta in loads of salty boiling water and add the broccoli for the last 4 minutes. Drain and leave to steam dry in the pot.

Make a cheese sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan, then stir in the flour. Keep stirring for a minute, then gradually add the milk, a little at a time, stirring all the time. Keep stirring now until the mixture bubbles, then leave to simmer for a couple of minutes. Stir in the mustard, one large handful of cheese and plenty of seasoning.

Tip the cooked pasta and broccoli into the sauce and stir gently. Tip into an ovenproof dish and put under a hot grill for a few minutes until browned and bubbling.

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Paneer Tikka Masala

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Indian, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 1 April 2020| Leave a Comment »

Paneer Tikka Masala

Being thankful for sunshine and all we have this evening. The clocks will change tomorrow and hopefully things will take a turn for the better soon. In the meantime stay at home and eat well. This is super straightforward but flavour-packed! Serve with steamed basmati rice and naan bread from your local takeaway.

Wine Suggestion: A lager style beer. To be a little “craft”, even though they’ve been brewing since 1824, we chose the C&A Veltins Grevensteiner Helles which had character and smoothness in equal proportions.

Paneer tikka masala – serves 3

  • 3 tbsp curry powder (the recipe suggests tikka curry powder, we had hot so that’s what we got)
  • 2 tbsp natural yoghurt
  • 200g paneer, cut into small cubes
  • 1 green pepper, diced
  • 1 tbsp groundnut oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp grated ginger
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 400g passata
  • 2 tsp tomato purée
  • 2 tsp caster sugar
  • 4 tbsp double cream
  • a knob of butter
  • a handful of chopped coriander
  • steamed basmati rice and naan bread (to serve)

Mix the 1 tbsp of the curry powder and the yoghurt together in a bowl, then stir in the paneer and peppers and leave to marinade while you make the sauce.

Heat the oil in a pan, then add the onion and cook until soft and starting to brown a little. Add the ginger and garlic and continue cooking for a couple of minutes.

Stir in the remaining 2 tbsp of curry powder and stir until fragrant, then stir in the passata, tomato purée and sugar. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until thickened. Stir in the cream and cook for another couple of minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the grill to high. Spread the paneer and pepper out over a non-stick baking tray or a tray lined with foil, then place under the grill until charred and sizzling. Turn everything over to brown on both sides.

Tip the panner and peppers into the sauce, add a knob of butter, the coriander and some seasoning and cook for a couple of minutes. Serve the curry with rice and naan.

(Original recipe by Janine Ratcliffe in BBC Olive Magazine, March 2020)

 

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Chorizo & Chilli Pepper Pasta

Posted in Food, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , on 30 March 2020| 6 Comments »

Chorizo & Chilli Pepper Pasta

We made this to use up a piece of chorizo ring leftover from a previous recipe. The whole dish took about 20 minutes from start to finish and was yummy.

Wine Suggestion: The first time we had this it was with a Beaujolais (Gamay) and it was a delightful match, and then a few weeks later it was with a white blend of Grenache Blanc and Viognier and again a real delight. We think the key here is a vibrant, medium bodied wine … and avoid to much complexity and concentration … this is a simple, if very tasty dish, so keep the wine the same.

Chorizo & chilli pepper pasta – serves 2

  • 200g penne (or any short pasta)
  • ½ tbsp olive oil
  • 100g chorizo, skinned and cut into small chunks
  • 400g tin cherry tomatoes (regular tin of chopped tomatoes would be fine if that’s what you have)
  • 3 guindilla pickled chilli peppers, sliced on an angle (any pickled chillies would do)
  • a handful of basil leaves, roughly torn
  • grated Parmesan, to serve

Cook the pasta in lots of salty water for a minute less than recommended on the packet.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over a high heat. Fry the chorizo for a couple of minutes or until it releases its oil.

Stir in the tin of tomatoes, a pinch of sugar and seasoning.  Let bubble for 5 minutes, then stir in the peppers and basil.

Drain the pasta and stir through the sauce.

Serve with plenty of Parmesan.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Roast Chicken with a Breton Onion Sauce

Posted in Chicken, Food, tagged , , , , , , , , on 28 March 2020| 4 Comments »

Roast chicken with a Breton sauce

We made this on the first weekend of social distancing as our dinner date was cancelled. We were all in a bit of shock but reassured ourselves by planning all of the things that we could cook while spending time at home. We loved this recipe by Diana Henry and the sauce is absolutely delicious. We served with some purple sprouting broccoli and roast potatoes. Diana suggests green beans or Savoy cabbage and waxy potatoes.

Wine suggestion: Our inspiration tonight was the Loire, being the closest wine region to Brittany, which specialises in apples (cider & Calvados). We chose a bottle of Chateau du Hureau’s Foudre, a Chenin Blanc that is fermented and aged in large oak barrels; full of appley flavours alongside a refined texture and enough body and a freshness to match the rich, creamy dish.

Roast chicken with a Breton onion sauce – serves 6

  • 1.8kg chicken
  • 25g unsalted butter
  • 4 thyme sprigs, leaves stripped

FOR THE ONIONS:

  • 30g unsalted butter, slightly softened
  • 450g onions, finely chopped

FOR THE SAUCE:

  • 300ml full cream milk
  • a slice of onion
  • a few parsley stalks
  • 4 black peppercorns
  • a bay leaf
  • 30g unsalted butter
  • 30g plain flour
  • nutmeg, for grating
  • 3 tbsp crème fraîche
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp Calvados

Preheat your oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.

Prep the chicken first by mashing the butter and thyme leaves together with some salt and pepper. Loosen the skin over the breast of the chicken with your hands. This is easy to do but be gentle so you don’t tear the skin. Spread half of the butter under the skin with your hands, then spread the rest over the outside. Season all over with salt and pepper and put into a roasting tin. Cook for 20 minutes per 500g plus an extra 10 minutes.

Melt the butter for the onions in a heavy-based pan, then add the onions. Stir to coat them in the butter, add 2 tbsp of water, then cover and cook over a very low heat until completely soft. Check them now and then and add a bit more water if needed. Set aside until needed.

Remove the chicken from the oven, cover loosely with foil and leave to rest for 15 minutes.

To make the sauce put the milk, onion, parsley and peppercorns and bay leaf in a saucepan and slowly bring to just under the boil. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes, then strain into a jug.

Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan, add the flour and stir over a medium-low heat for a minute. Remove the pan from the heat, then start adding the strained milk, a little at a time, stirring until smooth. Season and add a little grated nutmeg. Return the pan to the heat and stir until boiling. Turn the heat down and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the onions and their juices, the crème fraîche, mustard and Calvados and taste for seasoning. Serve the chicken with the sauce and veg on the side.

(Original recipe from A Bird in the Hand by Diana Henry, Mitchell Beazley, 2015.)

 

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Genoese Squid with Potatoes

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Italian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 27 March 2020| Leave a Comment »

Genoese Squid with Potatoes

Mothers Day dinner 2020. Not a huge roast or a barbecue with the rest of the family but a glorious sunny day and this Diana Henry recipe, which was perfect! Great for all of us on a budget now too, squid is cheap, and not everyone realises that you can slow cook it. The sauce this dish has is so vibrant and rich and when we reheated the leftovers in the oven two days later it was still amazing.

Wine Suggestion: we chose a classic wine for seafood and an explemary winery, the  Pazo de Señorans Albariño 2018 which is a wine we love both in youth and as it ages and gains texture and complexity. The salty sea air ideas you get from Albariño just seem to work so well.

Genoese squid with potatoes – serves 4

  • 750g squid, cleaned (look up online how to do it if you need, we used some pre-cleaned squid tubes from the fish shop)
  • 550g waxy potatoes
  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 350ml white wine
  • leaves from 2 oregano/marjoram sprigs
  • 2½ tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
  • 400g tin cherry tomatoes
  • extra virgin olive oil, to finish

Wash the squid and remove any gunge from the inside the tubes. Cut the tubes into thick rings. Cut the hard bit from the end of each tentacle and slice the wings into 2 or 3. Cut the tentacles too if they’re big. Rinse everything in a sieve, then dry well with kitchen roll.

Wash the potatoes (you can peel or not) and cut into 4cm thick slices.

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan. When the oil is really hot, tip in the squid and garlic and toss around for a minute. Add the white wine, oregano, 1½ tbsp of the parsley, tomatoes and plenty of seasoning. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the potatoes, then season again, cover and cook for a further 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Taste again for seasoning, you might need to add a bit of extra salt to make the sauce sing, sprinkle over the rest of the parsley and serve with your best olive oil drizzled on top.

(Original recipe from Food from Plenty by Diana Henry, Mitchell Beazley, 2010)

 

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Sardines & Peppers on Toast

Posted in Fish, Food, tagged , , , , , , on 26 March 2020| 2 Comments »

Sardines & Peppers on Toast

This was my lunch on the strangest Mother’s Day ever. I was supposed to be cooking lunch for my own Mum but we couldn’t do that due to social distancing, and we live too far away to drive up and chat through the window. But we did FaceTime twice and that was good. Meanwhile, Mother Nature looked after everyone in Dublin with a gorgeous sunny day and this lunch reminded us of holidays. It’s also an easy lunch to do on a weekday – we can do these things while most of us are at home – turn it into an opportunity as my Dad would say!

Sardines and peppers on toast – serves 2

  • 2 large roasted red peppers from  a jar, torn into pieces
  • juice of a lemon, plus some extra lemon wedges to serve if you like
  • olive oil
  • 1 clove of garlic, halved
  • a handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • a pinch of sweet smoked paprika
  • 2 large slices of sourdough bread
  • 1 small tin of sardines, drained

Put the peppers into a bowl with the lemon juice, 1 tbsp of olive oil, the garlic, parsley, paprika and some salt and pepper. Leave aside while you toast your bread.

Toast the bread and put onto warm plates. Top with roasted peppers, followed by the sardines, then drizzle the liquid from the peppers over the top.

(Original recipe by Janine Ratcliffe in Olive Magazine, March 2016.)

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Sticky Glazed Gammon with Creamy Mustard Cabbage

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Pork, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 25 March 2020| 1 Comment »

Sticky glazed gammon with creamy, mustard cabbage

We’re managing being stuck at home by keeping up our cooking routine and making something delicious to eat everyday. However, like many of the you, our budget has been restricted. So, we’re using everything up in the cupboards and buying good value items like gammon and a gigantic cabbage from our local farm shop which lasted us for days!

It’s also a good distraction from some of the daily events of the world to have to be creative with ingredients

Wine Suggestion: a light, juicy and relatively simple red works well with this. Tonight it’s the La Combe St Roche red from the Languedoc; an inexpensive and easy drinking blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Carignan and Merlot.

Sticky glazed gammon with creamy mustard cabbage – serves 2

  • ½ savoy cabbage, shredded
  • butter
  • unsmoked gammon steaks
  • 1 tbsp runny honey
  • a dash of Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tbsp half-fat crème fraîche
  • 1 tbsp grainy mustard

Cook the cabbage in boiling salted water for a few minutes or until tender, then drain really well. Tip the cabbage out onto some kitchen roll to get rid of any extra moisture.

Heat a knob of butter in a large frying pan until foaming, then add the gammon and cook for 2 minutes on each side until golden. Add the honey and Worcestershire sauce, turn up the heat and continue to cook for another couple of minutes or until sticky and glazed.

Heat the crème fraîche and mustard in a pan, add the cabbage, heat until piping hot, then season. Spoon the cabbage unto plates and top with the gammon.

(Original recipe by Janine Ratcliffe in Olive Magazine, March 2016.)

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Mushroom, Cider & Blue Cheese Soup

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Soup, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 23 March 2020| Leave a Comment »

Mushroom, Cider & Blue Cheese Soup

We made this soup on the strangest St Patrick’s day ever. There was no parade, the restaurants have all closed down and city streets are virtually empty. There is lots of panic buying going on, the supermarket aisles for tinned goods and toilet rolls have been decimated. We’re not down though, we’re positive we’ll all get through this and hopefully be stronger and better people on the other side. We’re continuing to buy fresh food, there’s lots of it available, and cook nice recipes like this soup by Gill Meller.

Mushroom, cider & blue cheese soup – serves 4 to 6

  • 500g wild and cultivated mushrooms (we used all chestnut mushrooms as it’s not autumn and wild ones aren’t available)
  • 25g butter, plus an extra bit, for frying
  • 1 leek, sliced
  • 1 small potato, peeled and diced
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1 tsp thyme leaves
  • 750ml veg stock or chicken stock
  • 250ml dry cider
  • 100ml double cream
  • 75g blue cheese, plus extra to serve if you like
  • a small bunch of parsley, finely chopped, to serve

Clean the mushrooms with a damp piece of kitchen paper and roughly chop them but keep about 100g over to fry and use as a garnish. The mushrooms for the garnish can be sliced.

Melt the butter in a large pan with a splash of olive oil, over a medium heat. When it starts to foam, add the leek, potato, onion and garlic. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the onion is soft but not browned. Add the mushrooms and thyme and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the stock, cider and some seasoning, then bring to a simmer. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes or until tender. Purée the soup until smooth (or smoothish if you’re using a stick blender).

Add the cream and blue cheese to the soup and gently return to a simmer. Season to taste and keep warm over a very low heat.

Heat a knob of butter and a splash of oil in a frying pan and sauté the reserved mushrooms for 8 to 10 minutes or until well cooked and golden brown. Season the mushrooms.

Serve the soup in warm bowls with the mushrooms and parsley sprinkled over. You can also sprinkle over some more crumbled blue cheese if you like.

(Original recipe from Time by Gill Meller, Quadrille, 2018.)

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Hot Crab Pots

Posted in Food, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , , on 20 March 2020| Leave a Comment »

Hot Crab Pots

This is such a simple starter but really delicious. Couldn’t recommend it highly enough. We made with some fresh crab leftover from another dish and waiting in the freezer.

Wine Suggestion: this is quite rich and we’d suggest pairing it with a fuller, more complex and concentrated sparkling. A good vintage Champagne works, or alternately find a top-quality sparkling made in the same method; tonight it was Dermot Sugrue’s The Trouble with Dreams, one of our favourite English sparkling wines.

Hot Crab Pots – serves 4 as a starter

  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 200ml double cream
  • 100g mixed white and brown crabmeat
  • 50g gruyère, grated
  • butter
  • 1 tsp chopped chives

Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.

Mix the eggs, cream, crabmeat and gruyère together in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Grease 4 ramekins with butter, then divide the mixture between them.

Cook the pots in the oven for about 15 minutes or until just set – we had to cook for a couple of minutes longer.

Sprinkle with the chives to serve. Some sourdough toast on the side would be nice but not essential.

(Original recipe by Victoria Moore in BBC Olive Magazine, March 2013.)

 

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Mushroom Stroganoff

Posted in Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , on 11 March 2020| Leave a Comment »

Mushroom Stroganoff

This is a healthy dish but it tastes really good and quick to cook so perfect for mid-week. We served with brown basmati but you use wild rice (or white rice of course).

Wine suggestion: really good with an earthy red wine and tonight it was off the beaten track, courtesy of a holiday last year to the Jura. Stephane Tissot’s Vieilles Vignes (old vine) Poulsard provided the answer. Lighter bodied but full of character and personality; we’re sorry we don’t see more of these, a thoroughly un-modern and thirst quenching wine.

Mushroom Stroganoff – serves 2

  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 300g mushrooms, chopped
  • 150ml beef stock or vegetable stock
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 tbsp half-fat sour cream – I’m pretty sure we will have just used full fat here, not being fans of half-fat anything!
  • small bunch parsley, roughly chopped
  • 250g cooked rice (you can use one of those pouches if cooked rice if you like)

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion for about 5 minutes to soften. Add the garlic and paprika, then cook for another minute. Add the mushrooms and cook over a high heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes.

Pour in the stock and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to the boil, bubble for 5 minutes until the sauce thickens, then turn off the heat and stir in the sour cream and most of the parsley. Don’t do this over the heat or your sauce could split.

Serve with warm rice and the rest of the parsley.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Baked Salmon Parcels with Ginger, Soy, Honey, Toasted Sesame Seeds & Broccoli

Posted in Fish, Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 7 March 2020| 2 Comments »

Baked salmon parcels with ginger, soy, honey, toasted sesame seeds & broccoli

We love a simple salmon recipe and this one, by Neven Maguire, is particularly handy as it’s all cooked in a tidy parcel in the oven. Serve with steamed rice with a some scallions sprinkled over.

Wine suggestion: delicious with a good, dry Riesling like Weingut Korrell’s Slice of Paradise from the Nahe in Germany which has a delicate dance of fruit, aromatics and a wonderful core of bright acidity and texture.

Soy and honey salmon parcels with tenderstem broccoli – serves 4

  • 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (just toast them gently in a dry frying pan)
  • 2 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp clear honey
  • juice of a lime
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • rapeseed oil, for brushing
  • 4 x 100g salmon fillets, skin and bones removed
  • 250g tenderstem broccoli, trimmed
  • 2.5cm piece of ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
  • steamed basmati rice, to serve
  • finely chopped scallions, to serve

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

Whisk the sesame seeds, soy sauce, honey, lime juice and garlic together in a bowl, then set aside.

Cut out 4 squares of tin foil about 50cm square. Brush the foil with oil and put a piece of salmon in the middle of each one.

Blanch the broccoli for a minute, then drain and refresh in iced water.

Sprinkle the ginger over the salmon, then divide the broccoli between each parcel. Spoon over the soy sauce mixture and drizzle each piece of fish with about ½ tsp of oil. Fold the edges of the foil together to seal and place them on a baking tray.

Cook the parcels in the oven for 10 minutes or until the salmon is just cooked. You can leave it for a bit longer if you prefer your salmon well done but we wouldn’t recommend it.

Serve the parcels with a large bowl of rice sprinkled with the scallions.

(Original recipe from Neven Maguire’s Complete Family Cookbook, Gill Books, 2016.)

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Maple Syrup and Buttermilk Soda Bread

Posted in Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 6 March 2020| Leave a Comment »

Maple Syrup and Buttermilk Soda Bread

This bread recipe by Monica Galetti couldn’t be easier and it tastes delicious. We only attempted it to use up some buttermilk but we’ll be making it again. Great on its own or with soup or cheese and still great toasted days later.

Maple syrup and buttermilk soda bread – makes 2 loaves

  • 250g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 250g wholemeal flour
  • 100g fine oats
  • 100g self-raising flour
  • 3 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 25g softened butter
  • 500ml buttermilk
  • 150g maple syrup
  • 50g honey

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add the butter, buttermilk, maple syrup and honey to make a wet dough. Knead gently for a minute, then shape into 2 rectangles on a lightly floured baking tray. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.

(Original recipe from The Skills by Monica Galetti, Quadrille, 2016.)

 

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