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Posts Tagged ‘Food’

Creamy Conchiglie with Gorgonzola & Pistachios

Posted in Food, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 20 March 2011| 2 Comments »

We’ve been away all weekend, so after 2.5 hours in the car we needed a tasty treat: this delivered the goods really well and was quick and easy. The recipe is from our favourite pasta book, The Silver Spoon: Pasta, which never ever fails.

Conchiglie’s great for creamy sauces as all the cheesey goo gets caught in the shells.

Conchiglie con Gorgonzola e Pistacchi – serves 4 but easily halved

  • 50g pistachios
  • 100g Gorgonzola, diced
  • 2 tbsp double cream
  • 300g conchiglie
  • 40g Parmesan, grated

Put the pistachios into a heatproof bowl and pour boiling water over. Leave to stand for 3 minutes. Drain well and rub the skins off with your fingers – don’t burn yourself! Chop the kernels and set aside.

Cook the conchiglie in plenty of boiling, salted water until al dente.

Meanwhile put the Gorgonzola and the cream into a small saucepan and stir constantly over a low heat until smooth. Set aside until your pasta is done.

Drain the pasta and tip into a warm serving dish. Toss with the melted Gorgonzola, chopped pistachios and Parmesan.

Serve right away and enjoy.

Wine Suggestion: If we’d had one we would have drunk a Greco di Tufo with this – a full-bodied but crisp and minerally white from southern Italy. It also has a nutty character which would compliment the pistachios nicely.

 

 

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Healthy Lemony Chicken and Courgette Couscous

Posted in Chicken, Food, Healthy, tagged , , , , , , on 15 March 2011| Leave a Comment »

This is a good everyday recipe and a really nice way to cook boring old skinless boneless chicken breasts.  We’re hoping the leftovers will make nice lunch boxes for tomorrow too.

Chicken with lemon and courgette couscous – to serve 4

  • 200g couscous
  • 400ml chicken stock
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 courgettes, grated
  • 2 lemons, 1 halved, 1 cut in wedges
  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Put the couscous into a large bowl and pour over the stock. Cover and leave for 10 minutes, until the stock has been absorbed.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil and fry the courgettes until softened and starting to crisp at the edges. We used very big courgettes which gave out loads of water – it this happens just drain the water off in a colander and put the courgettes back in the pan to crisp up a little.

Tip the courgettes into the couscous and stir in plenty of seasoning and a good squeeze of lemon juice from one of the halves.

Halve the chicken breasts horizontally and put them on sheets of cling film. Cover with another sheet and beat them out with a rolling pin to make them thinner. We had escalopes in the freezer which worked well without bashing. Season.

Heat the other tbsp of oil in a large pan and fry the chicken for 2 minutes on each side. Squeeze over the juice from the other half lemon and serve with couscous and lemon wedges.

Hardly any fat or calories which can’t be bad either.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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A very happy New Year

Posted in Beef, Food, tagged , , , , , on 2 January 2011| Leave a Comment »

Over the last few years we’ve celebrated New Years by staying in and cooking something really nice and drinking a special bottle of wine; just the two of us! We then go out on New Year’s day to have a big lunch with friends. This year we cooked a rib of beef on the bone: in reality this is a roast beef for 2 people. Perfect with the quality of the beef really shining (we bought some well hung, organic beef from our butcher Tom) because the cooking is so simple.

Jamie’s Ultimate rib of beef with rosemary and garlic roast potatoes – to serve 2

For the potatoes:

  • 600g waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
  • a sprig of rosemary
  • olive oil, or duck or goose fat
  • 5 cloves of garlic, skin on and smashed

For the beef:

  • 3 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
  • zest and juice of  1 lemon
  • a small bunch of rosemary tied together to make a little brush
  • olive oil
  • 1 x 1.2kg rib of beef

Put the garlic, lemon zest and tip of rosemary brush in a pestle and mortar, add a glug of olive oil and bash together. Use the brush to rub half of this marinade over your steak and leave for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.

Put potatoes cubes in a big pot of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Drain immediately in a colander and return to dry pot to dry out.

Crush rosemary leaves and add to a roasting tray with the potatoes, crushed garlic cloves and some oil. Season and toss together until well coated. Put in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden and crispy – give them a shake every now and again.

Heat ovenproof griddle pan on the hob until white hot. Season the steak really well and fry it in the pan without moving for a couple of minutes. Turn it over, baste it with the leftover marinade and put it in the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the steak over every 5 minutes and continue to baste with the marinade. This should cook it to medium. When cooked squeeze over some lemon juice and rest for 5 minutes.

Carve and serve with the roasties – delicious!

Wine Suggestion: treat yourself to a really good Bordeaux.

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