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Posts Tagged ‘Recipe’

Bubble n Squeak with Sausages & Onion Gravy

Posted in Food, tagged , , , , , , on 6 March 2011| 2 Comments »

This was delicious. We were a little apprehensive about whether we’d manage to untwist a string of sausages and curl them up like a catherine wheel but it was surprisingly simple. Another roaring success from Jamie Oliver with real depth of flavour.

Bubble and squeak with sausages and onion gravy – Serves 6

  • 750g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 600g mixed winter vegetables (we used Savoy cabbage, carrots and leeks), peeled or trimmed and chopped into equal-sized chunks
  • olive oil
  • 2 knobs of butter
  • 200g vacuum pack of chestnuts
  • 6 good quality pork sausages in a string
  • 6 good quality venison or beef sausages in a string (we just used pork as they were all we could find in a string)
  • nutmeg, for grating
  • bunch of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped fine
  • 3 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
  • a few bay leaves
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 125ml balsamic vinegar
  • 300ml good quality vegetable or chicken stock

Cook the potatoes and mixed veg in boiling water for 15-20 minutes. When they’re cooked right through drain and put aside.

Heat a glug of olive oil and a knob of butter in a big frying pan and add the chestnuts. When they start to sizzle add the potatoes and veg, roughly squash the veg in the pan, mix and then pat into a thick pancake shape. Fry on a medium heat for half an hour, checking every 5-10 minutes. When the bottom turns golden, turn it over bit by bit and mash it back into itself. Pat out flat again and continue cooking.

Preheat oven and a roasting tray to 220C/425F/Gas 7. Unravel the sausage links and squeeze the filling between them until all the sausages are joined together. Pat them to flatten a bit. Drizzle with olive oil and massage in. Sprinkle a pinch of pepper, rosemary and nutmeg. Put one sausage on top of the other and roll up into a wheel. Poke two skewers through in a cross shape to hold them together.

Take the preheated tray out of the oven, drizzle in some olive oil and add the onions. Season, add a knob of butter and stir. Place the sausage wheel on top of the onions and stick a few bay leaves between the sausages. Drizzle with more oil and roast for 40 minutes.

When the sausages are done your bubble and squeak should be done too. You can brown it under a hot grill for 5 minutes for extra colour if you like. 

Remove the sausages to a plate and put the tray with the onions on the hob, over a high heat. Stir in flour, balsamic vinegar and stock. Bring to boil and thicken to a nice gravy, then season.

Take the skewers out of the sausages and cut into wedges. Serve bubble and squeak with a portion of sausages and some onion gravy.

(Original recipe from Jamie at Home)

Wine Suggestion: A southern French red – we had an inexpensive Minervois which worked really well.

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We *heart* Italian Sausages

Posted in Food, tagged , , , , , on 6 March 2011| Leave a Comment »

We were in a local Italian restaurant just after Christmas and tasted these amazing sausages. When we asked where we could get them the waiter said they import them direct from Siena but the chef might let us buy a few. So we now have a stash of them in the freezer and this is the first recipe we’ve tried. If you live near a good Italian restaurant we highly recommend you try and blag some sausages off them. If you can’t get good Italian sausages get the coarsest ones you can find for this. Not exactly virtuous but comfort food at its best.

Baked Savoy Cabbage – to serve 6

  • 1kg Savoy cabbage, cored and cut into strips
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 250g Italian sausages, skinned and crumbled
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 300g mozzarella, sliced
  • 200ml double cream
  • 40g Parmesan cheese, grated

Cook the cabbage in boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain and refresh in iced water. Drain well again and spread out on a tea towel.

Heat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Brush an ovenproof dish with olive oil.

Put the sausages in a saucepan with the oil and heat gently. Stir in the tomato puree and 5tbsp water, season and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes.

Make a layer of cabbage in the dish, season, add a layer of mozzarella, add a layer of sausage, top with another layer of cabbage and season. Continue making layers, seasoning each layer of cabbage, until the ingredients are used, ending with a layer of cabbage.

Pour the cream over the top, sprinkle with the Parmesan and bake for 40 minutes.

Serve with some crusty bread as you will want to mop your plate at the end.

(Original recipe from Silver Spoon)

Wine suggestion: We had a glass of Domaine Brusset, Cairanne Blanc 2010 which is dry, savoury and worked well but we thought it might also be nice with a dry Sherry like a Fino or Amontillado.

 

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Irish Potato & Bandon Vale Vintage Cheddar Cheese Tart

Posted in Cheese, Food, Irish Food, Potato, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 5 March 2011| 2 Comments »

It’s another Irish Food Bloggers Association Cookalong and this time the theme is Irish. We were tempted to do an Irish stew but thought that was a bit obvious, we thought about beef and Guinness but that’s not all that original either and then to make things more difficult we invited a vegetarian for dinner.  It was then that we thought about using some Irish cheese as the base for a dish and after eating many variations of cheese and pastry all week we came up with this. Irish potatoes, leeks and a west Cork Cheddar all baked up in a pie. Delicious!!

Serves 4-6

  • 650g waxy potatoes
  • 750g leeks
  • 50g butter
  • 200ml creme fraiche
  • 180g Bandon Vale Vintage Cheddar, grated
  • freshly grated nutmeg
  • 500g puff pastry
  • beaten egg for glazing

Heat the oven to 200C.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into slices. Boil in plenty of salted water until tender (it’s ok if they go a bit mushy).

Meanwhile, throw away the very green bit of the leeks and slice the rest into rings. Wash really well in cold water to get rid of any grit.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the leeks. Cover and cook over low-medium heat until tender – about 20 minutes.

Mix the  leeks, potatoes, creme fraiche and cheddar and season well with salt, pepper and a little bit of nutmeg.

Roll the pastry into two rectangles (about the size of your baking sheet).

Pile the potato mixture into the middle  of one sheet and leave a good rim around the edge. Brush the edges with beaten egg and lay second piece of pastry over the top and press the edges down, pinching firmly to seal. Trim off any excess.

Brush all over with the egg and cut 3 or 4 slits along the width of the top.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden.

(Original recipe from Nigel Slater Tender Vol 1 – A tart of leeks and cheese)

Wine suggestion: A full-bodied white was nice with this. We had a Santenay Blanc followed by an oaked Semillon from the Clare Valley.

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Easy Prawn & Curly Kale Linguine

Posted in Fish, Food, Healthy, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , on 3 March 2011| Leave a Comment »

We debated whether this could actually be called a recipe as it is so simple; it’s more of an assembly job.

To serve 2:

  • 200g linguine
  • 200g curly kale or spring greens
  • olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 red chilli, finely sliced
  • 200g raw prawns

Cook the linguine following the instructions on the pack and add your greens for the last 3 minutes.

Heat a little olive oil in a small frying pan and gently fry the garlic and chilli until soft.

Add the prawns and stir around until they are pink and then season well.

Put the linguine and greens in some bowls and serve the prawns etc over the top.

Drizzle a bit of oil over and you’re done.

Wine suggestion: something light and white and a little aromatic like a Cote de Gascogne. We had a Marsanne/Viognier blend from the Languedoc which was also good.

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20 Minute Pork & Mushrooms

Posted in Food, Healthy, Pork, tagged , , , , , , on 2 March 2011| Leave a Comment »

This literally takes 20 minutes and you will probably have everything you need except the pork fillet and mushrooms. Cheap, tasty, healthy, and perfect for a Wednesday. We had some potatoes and cabbage in the cupboard which complimented nicely.

20-minute pork pan-fry – to serve 4

  • 500g pork fillet, cut on the diagonal into finger-thick slices
  • 1 tbsp plain flour
  • 2 tsp dried rosemary
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 250g chestnut mushrooms
  • a big clove of garlic, finely chopped
  • 300ml vegetable stock

Tip the flour and rosemary into a plastic food bag and add salt, pepper and the pork slices. Give it a good shake to coat the meat.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a big frying pan, add the pork and fry for 3-4 minutes until nicely browned, turning once. Remove it from the pan.

Add the rest of the oil and fry the mushrooms for a couple of minutes until starting to soften. Add the garlic and pork to the pan along with any flour left in your plastic bag. Stir in the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

You could add a splash of wine if you like or just drink a glass with it.

Serve with some mash and cabbage or something else green.

Find the original recipe on BBC Good Food.

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Movida’s Adobo de Pollo

Posted in Barbecue, Chicken, Food, Sherry, tagged , , , , , , , on 25 February 2011| Leave a Comment »

Movida is the best Spanish restaurant in Melbourne. We were there last June and just got a table by the skin of our teeth as it is massively popular. It’s up a little cobbled street and if you didn’t know better you would walk right by which would be a big mistake as the tapas are fandabbydosey. They also have a crackin wine list and great staff – our idea of heaven. So book your table before you go!!

Jono’s sister Rachel sent us Movida Rustica for Christmas, the second cookbook to come out of this restaurant and we’ve been dying to get stuck into the recipes.

These barbecue kebabs have a delicious herby flavour with a massive oomph from the smoked paprika and they give off a fabulous sweet smoke when they’re cooking. So if you’re not going to Melbourne or indeed Spain any time soon we suggest you try these.

P.S. M&S are at last doing skinless, boneless chicken thighs but they are in the casserole section rather than the chicken section.

P.P.S. You’re supposed to marinade the chicken overnight but we forgot and just marinated for 1 hour and it was still great.

Adobo de Pollo (or Chicken skewers with paprika and oregano to us Irish folk) – makes 12 tapas

  • 1kg skinless chicken thigh meat, cut into 2.5 cm chunks
  • 2 tbsp smoked sweet paprika
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds, roasted and ground
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp finely chopped parsley
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp saffron threads
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • 125ml extra virgin olive oil

Combine all of the ingredients in a big bowl, cover with cling film and marinate overnight in the fridge (or for as long as you’ve got).

Thread the chicken onto 12 metal skewers.

Heat the barbecue to high and cook the skewers for 5 minutes, or until cooked through, turning often.

Let them cool slightly and serve – we had ours with some herby lemon couscous.

Wine suggestion: Do like the Spanish and drink Sherry – we had a glass of Lustau VORS (Very Old Rare Sherry) dry Oloroso which is exceptionally special but any dry Oloroso or Amontillado will serve you well. Chin chin!

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Italian Vegetable Soup

Posted in Food, Healthy, Pasta, Soup, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , on 21 February 2011| 1 Comment »

We had this every day last week for lunch and it was so tasty we didn’t get sick of it one bit. The pasta makes it really filling and the beans add a creamy texture, add Parmesan and sugar and you get a touch of tomatoey sweetness but really savoury at the same time. Sound strange? You’ll have to trust us and try it for yourselves.

Italian Vegetable Soup – serves 8

  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 4 sticks of celery, chopped
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 2 bay leaves
  • a few sprigs of thyme
  • 3 courgettes, chopped
  • 400g can of butter beans, drained
  • 400g can of chopped tomatoes
  • 1.2 litres vegetable stock
  • 100g Parmesan, grated
  • 140g small pasta shapes – we used orecchiette
  • small bunch of basil

Gently cook the onions, carrots and celery in oil in a large saucepan for 20 minutes or until soft. Splash in a bit of water if they start to stick.

Add sugar, garlic, tomato puree, herbs and courgettes. Cook for 4-5 minutes on a medium heat.

Add beans, tomatoes and stock and simmer for 20 minutes (you can freeze it at this stage if you want).

Add half the Parmesan and all the pasta and simmer until your pasta is cooked.

Sprinkle basil and the rest of the Parmesan over to serve.

Tasty!

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Josh’s Mediterranean Chicken

Posted in Chicken, Food, tagged , , , , , , on 16 February 2011| 2 Comments »

Here’s a recipe from my friend Josh. I was a bit confused when I read it – I’m all for easy recipes but chucking it all in a pot and sticking it in the oven made me think there was a step left out. Anyways apparently not. So chuck the following ingredients in a casserole with a lid and put it in the oven for 1 hour at 180C (don’t add the olives until 10 to 15 minutes before the end). Very tasty and easy-peasy. It can also survive waiting for half an hour in the oven if someone arrives home late…. can’t it Jono?

  • tin chopped tomatoes
  • 2-4 chicken breasts or thighs (leave them whole or cut them in two like I did)
  • 8-10 shallots
  • chopped sun-dried tomatoes (to taste – I used a small handful)
  • 200-300ml chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1 onion, grated
  • basil and oregano (I used a tsp of dried basil and a tsp of dried oregano)
  • salt and pepper
  • a big handful of olives

Serve with something starchy – rice, pasta, potatoes – whatever takes your fancy.

Thanks Josh!

Wine suggestion: We had a glass of a Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend from Bordeaux (Le G de Chateau Guiraud – a dry wine from the famous chateau making gloriously sweet Sauternes) and it worked well or if you fancy a red you could try a nice Italian Barbera.

Julie

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Chinese side dish: Broccoli with Cashews & Oyster Sauce

Posted in Asian, Food, Healthy, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 15 February 2011| 4 Comments »

Stir-fried broccoli with cashews & oyster sauce – serves 6

  • 1 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 100g unsalted cashews
  • 2 heads broccoli, cut into small florets (we cut up the stalks too)
  • 3 tbsp oyster sauce, or more if you like

Heat a little bit of the oil in a wok and toast the cashew nuts until they start to turn golden. Tip them out of the pan, then add the rest of the oil.

Stir-fry the broccoli for a couple of minutes until it turns bright green. Add a splash of water, then cover with a lid and steam for about 4 minutes or until the stems are tender – watch that it doesn’t dry out!

Push the broccoli to the side of the pan and pour the oyster sauce into the other side. Bring to the boil and stir into the broccoli. Toss in the cashews and serve with Chinese food (we had spring rolls and prawn toast).

Original recipe from BBC Good Food.

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Sunday steak with two good sides and a nice Italian red

Posted in Food, Italy, Side dish, Vegetarian, Wine, tagged , , , , , , , on 13 February 2011| 1 Comment »

BBQ Steak

We don’t need to tell you how to do this, but we used sirloins which tend to be tastier than fillets and our trusty barbeque – I don’t know how we could live without it!

Root Vegetable Mash (serves 4)

This is really tasty and a nice change from the usual mash. We’re using the leftovers for bangers and mash tomorrow night.

 

  • 2 large baking potatoes, cut into chunks
  • half a turnip, cut into chunks
  • 3 carrots, diced
  • 25g butter

 

 

 

Put the potatoes, turnip and carrots in a large pan of salted water and bring to the boil.

Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, then drain and mash.

Add butter and plenty of salt and pepper.

 

Roast field mushrooms (serves 2)

  • 8 field mushrooms
  • 1 small clove garlic, crushed
  • a few sprigs of thyme
  • a few drops of Worcestershire sauce
  • olive oil
  • a squeeze of lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley

Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C.

Put the mushrooms in a small roasting tin and top with garlic and thyme.

Sprinkle over the Worcestershire sauce and a little oil.

Cover with foil and roast for 15 minutes.

Discard the foil and toss the mushrooms around in their juice. Return to oven for another 20 minutes.

Season and add lemon juice and parsley.

Wine Suggestion: This worked great with this Barbera from Italy: Tenuta Olim Bauda Barbera d’Asti Superiore, Nizza, 2007.

From what is regarded as the best vineyard area for Barbera in Piedmont, Italy (the home of the grape) this wine has good depth and really nice personality.

Aromas and flavours of dark cherries, chocolate, menthol, nuttiness, pencil shavings and tobacco. The medium body works well with the depth of flavours and the lovely freshness of acidity, which is common in Italian wines. A wine of charm and thoroughly enjoyed by us.

Available from The Lighthouse in Whiteabbey Village, Newtownabbey for just over 20 pounds and well worth it.

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Kerala Lamb Stew

Posted in Food, Indian, Lamb, tagged , , , , , , on 8 February 2011| 5 Comments »

This is the first recipe we’ve tried from Madhur Jaffrey’s Curry Easy.

Be warned… it’s little bit unusual. In our picture it looks kind of like an Irish stew weirdly paired with rice. In fact it is very like an Irish stew except it has Indian spices and coconut milk in it (so not actually very Irish at all).

Still if you’re prepared to try something a bit different, this is actually really nice with a sauce which is not overtly spicy . More mild and warming and perfect comfort food for a cold night. I suspect this is much more authentic than the rich sauces we have come to associate with Indian food.

Kerala Lamb Stew – serves 4

  • 4 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 0.5 tsp whole black peppercorns
  • 10 cloves
  • 10 cardamom pods
  • 1 large red onion, finely chopped
  • about 20 curry leaves, torn (you can buy these in asian shops and this recipe suggests 10 fresh basil leaves as a substitute if you can’t get them. Don’t be fooled by the dry ones you can buy in supermarkets though as they are not a good substitute.)
  • 2 tsps very finely grated ginger
  • 900g stewing lamb
  • 450g potatoes, pelled and diced into 2.5cm cubes
  • 4 medium carrots, cut into 4cm chunks
  • 1.75 tsps salt
  • 0.25 to 1.5 tsps cayenne pepper
  • 300ml coconut milk (shake the tin well before opening)

Heat the oil in a large, heavy pan over a medium-high heat.

Add the cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, cloves and cardamom and sizzle for a few seconds.

Add the onion and stir until it turns light brown.

Add the curry leaves and ginger and stir for a minute.

Add the lamb and stir it around for a few minutes.

Add 1 litre of water and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the potatoes, carrots, salt and cayenne pepper and bring to the boil.

Cover and cook gently for 40 minutes, or until the meat is tender.

Add the coconut milk and crush a few of the potato pieces against the side of the pan to thicken the sauce.

Bring to a simmer and serve.

 

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Healthy Egg and Chips

Posted in Food, Healthy, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , on 2 February 2011| 4 Comments »

We realise that we’ve been cooking lots of healthy stuff lately, but please don’t think that what we post is tasteless – if it doesn’t work, or IS tasteless, we don’t post it. This was really good and just as satisfying as the fried version. Only 5 ingredients in this one and we had all of them in the cupboard already.

Oven egg and chips (to serve 2)

  • 450g floury potatoes, cut into thick chips – we used Roosters
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 4 fresh rosemary sprigs
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 eggs (or 3 if you have a greedy person)

Preheat oven to 220C/gas 7/fan 200C.

Tip the chips into a roasting tin (non-stick if you have it) and scatter the garlic and rosemary leaves over. Drizzle with oil, season well and toss to coat.

Roast for 35-40 minutes until just cooked and golden – give the tin a shake every now and again.

Make gaps in the chips and break your eggs into the gaps.

Put back in the oven for 3-5 minutes or until your eggs are cooked.

Wine suggestion: we mention below that eggs can be hard to pair with wine. I think we’d go for a glass of cold beer with this instead.

 

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Smoked fish cakes with poached eggs

Posted in Fish, Food, Healthy, Wine, tagged , , , , , on 1 February 2011| Leave a Comment »

It’s another healthy one but not lacking in flavour at all. Haven’t had eggs for ages so poached eggs were a nice treat on the top. Don’t think we’ve ever had mushrooms in a fish cake but they definitely added good flavour and texture so we’ll throw a few in next time too.

Smoked fish cakes with poached eggs (serves 4)

  • 250g potatoes, peeled (and halved if big)
  • 300g smoked haddock
  • 100g button mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
  • 1-2 tbsp plain flour
  • 2-3 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 4 medium eggs
  • cooked frozen peas, to serve

Boil the potatoes for 10 minutes until tender but firm. Put the haddock on top, flesh side down, then cover and simmer gently for 4-5 minutes.

Remove the fish, roughly flake and get rid of any skin and bones.

Drain and roughly mash the potatoes, and season.

Dry-fry the mushrooms in a non-stick pan until golden.

Mix the mash, mushrooms, fish and parsley together in a bowl and leave to cool.

Shape the mixture into four fish cakes with floured hands.

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and gently fry the cakes for 6-8 minutes, turning once.

Meanwhile, poach the eggs and cook your peas.

Top the fish cakes with the eggs and serve the peas on the side.

Original recipe from BBC Good Food.

Wine Suggestion: eggs can be difficult to pair with wine but we had a glass of easy-drinking lemony sauvignon blanc from Bordeaux which did the trick nicely.

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Healthy satay stir-fry

Posted in Food, Healthy, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 26 January 2011| Leave a Comment »

This tasted way too good to be this healthy but it’s true and we have the calorie count to prove it (286 if anyone’s interested). Can all be thrown together in 15 minutes tops which is great on a week night.

Satay stir-fry to serve 4

  • 3 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
  • 3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 300g pack straight-to-wok noodles
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • thumb of fresh root ginger, finely chopped
  • 300g pack stir-fry vegetables (we used M&S aromatic mix and added some sugar snap peas and sliced red chilli)
  • handful of basil leaves
  • 25g roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Mix the peanut butter, chilli sauce, 100ml water and soy sauce to make a smooth satay sauce (it will look a bit gross but don’t panic it works in the end).

Put the noodles in a bowl and pour boiling water over them, stir to separate and drain.

Heat the oil in a wok, then stir-fry ginger and the harder bits of veg for 2 minutes. Add the noodles and the rest of the vegetables and stir-fry on a high heat for another minute or two or until just cooked.

Push the veg and noodles to one side of the pan and pour the sauce into the other side, tilting the wok. Bring the sauce to boil and then mix everything together. Sprinkle basil and peanuts over to serve.

Eat and then lick the bowl.

Original recipe from BBC Good Food.

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The last Turkey recipe … for a while!

Posted in Chicken, Food, Healthy, Soup, tagged , , , , , , , on 24 January 2011| Leave a Comment »

The turkey in the freezer is finally finished. We actually feel a bit sad… no more free food! So once again, if you have any leftover turkey from Christmas, here’s something else to do with it.

Inspired by Vietnamese Pho broth, which is usually made with beef. The recipe comes from BBC Good Food.

Asian noodle & turkey soup (feeds 4)

  • 1.5 litres turkey or chicken stock
  • a thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
  • 2 star anise
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 3 cloves
  • 200g dried rice noodles, any sort
  • 2 limes, one juiced, one in wedges to serve
  • 2-3 tbsp fish sauce
  • 400g roast turkey, shredded
  • 100g bag of bean sprouts (we used a bit more than this)
  • bunch of coriander
  • bunch of mint
  • 4 scallions, thinly sliced
  • 2 red chillies, sliced (seeds in or out whatever you prefer)

Heat the stock in a large pan and add the ginger and spices, then simmer for 10 minutes.

Soak or cook your noodles according to what it says on the pack, then drain and rinse.

Add the fish sauce and lime juice to the stock and taste for seasoning – add more fish sauce if you think it needs it.

Divide the noodles between 4 bowls, then top with the shredded turkey, beansprouts, herbs, scallions and chillies. Ladle the hot stock over the bowls and serve with the lime wedges.

Hey presto!

Wine suggestion: Go for a simple, fruity Sauvignon Blanc. We had a leftover glass from Trentino in Italy, which is better known for its Pinot Grigio, and it went perfectly.

 

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Creamy baked Brussels sprouts with stilton

Posted in Food, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 23 January 2011| 5 Comments »

Each time we see this recipe in Nigel Slater’s Tender Vol. 1 we salivate. We had almost forgotten about Brussels sprouts after having so many over Christmas. Just as well we caught them while still in season cause we definitely weren’t prepared to wait another year to try this. Stick a dish of these down in front of someone who doesn’t like sprouts and we defy them not to like them.

These were perfect with our barbecued striploin steaks (as ever from Tom in O’Toole’s in Glasthule village) though Nigel suggests they could also be served as a main with pasta – Jono has already swiped the leftovers to try with pasta for his lunch tomorrow!

A rich dish of sprouts and cheese for a very cold night (serves 4 as a side dish)

  • 750g Brussels sprouts
  • butter
  • 180g blue cheese – we used Colston Bassett Stilton
  • 1 tbsp grainy mustard
  • 400ml cream
  • 100ml milk
  • a handful of finely grated Parmesan

Prep your sprouts and cut them in half. Bring a large pot of water to a fast boil, salt lightly, and drop in the sprouts. Bring back to the boil and time for 3 minutes. Drain well and place them in a lightly buttered, shallow, ovenproof dish.

Crumble the blue cheese over the sprouts.

Put the mustard in a bowl and stir in cream, milk and a good twist of black pepper. Stir and then pour over your sprouts. Scatter the Parmesan over the top and bake at 180C/gas 4 until lightly coloured and bubbling (about 15-20 minutes).

Yum!!!!

 

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Whiting Dugléré

Posted in Fish, Food, France, Wine, tagged , , , , , , , , on 20 January 2011| Leave a Comment »

Jono picked up this Whiting for just over €3 for 500g – the challenge then was finding a recipe to use it with. This one is from “I Know How to Cook” (the French Silver Spoon) which we got at Christmas but hadn’t used yet. The sauce is delicious and the fish cooks just right. Next time you see some bargain whiting, grab it!

Whiting  to serve 6 (we only used half the amount of fish but kept the quantities for the sauce)

  • 1/2 an onion, chopped
  • 3-4 shallots, chopped
  • small handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 250g tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and torn up small
  • six fillets of whiting (or whole whiting, scaled and cleaned)
  • 400ml white wine
  • 50g butter, plus a bit more to grease the dish
  • 30g flour
  • juice of a lemon
  • 2 tbsp creme fraiche

Preheat the oven to 220C and grease a flameproof dish with butter.

Mix onion, shallot, parsley and tomatoes together in a bowl and season. Spoon into your greased dish.

Put the fish on top and pour the wine over everything.

Bring to the boil over a high heat and then cover with buttered greaseproof paper.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, soften the butter slightly (if its come straight from the fridge) and mix to a paste with the flour.

Transfer the fish to a serving dish and keep warm (but don’t put it back in your hot oven at this stage or it will over cook).

Boil the juices in the pan and reduce.

Gradually stir in the paste, making sure each bit is fully blended in before you add more.

Stir in lemon juice to taste, add the creme fraiche and adjust seasoning.

Pour the sauce over the fish and put some more parsley over the top.

Serve with some steamed baby spuds.

Wine suggestion: Kelly from the wine shop in Harvey Nichols (Dundrum) suggested La Griffe Bernard Chéreau, Muscadet Sevre et Maine (€15)  and it was a great match: honeyed, minerally and rounded. I know we always suggest Muscadet with white fish but it goes!

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Hands up who still has Turkey in their freezer!

Posted in Food, Healthy, tagged , , , , on 19 January 2011| Leave a Comment »

We still have some even after this – so expect another turkey post next week. We were finding it hard to get excited about cooking more turkey until we caught a whiff of this cooking. It tasted so good that Jono had to restrain himself from having two dinners (he just had one and a half in the end). It’s another healthy one too.

Turkey, tomato and coriander curry to serve 3-4 (or less if Jono is over)

  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • small knob of ginger, grated
  • 2 tbsp of balti curry paste (we like Pataks)
  • 400g of leftover turkey, shredded
  • 310ml vegetable or chicken stock
  • 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 3 tbsp natural yogurt
  • 25g fresh coriander, chopped

Heat oil in a medium pan and cook the onion until softened. Stir in garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds before adding curry paste; stir for another 30 seconds.

Add turkey, stock, tomatoes, cinnamon and a big pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for about 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and stir in the yogurt and coriander.

Serve with steamed basmati if you want it to look like our pic.

Wine suggestion: we actually had an off-dry Pinot Gris from New Zealand and it went perfectly (Te Mara from Central Otago) or you could have any off-dry aromatic white like Riesling.

 

 

 

 

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Jamie’s 30 minute mushroom risotto and spinach salad

Posted in Australia, Food, Riesling, Vegetarian, Wine, tagged , , , , , , , , on 16 January 2011| 13 Comments »

This was our first attempt at a Jamie 30 minute meal but we didn’t really try to do it in 30 minutes as we like to relax when we’re cooking. We didn’t bother with dessert either. The result was pretty good – very nice risotto and a fabulous salad which we’ll definitely do again with other dishes. We found the recipe quite confusing to follow and it’s particularly difficult if you’re not cooking the entire meal (dessert included). We’ve given you the recipes below but they’re in old-fashioned format, i.e. prep first and cook second, so sorry if that’s not your style but we find the traditional format easier.

Mushroom risotto to serve 4

  • 1 large white onion, halved and peeled
  • 1 stick celery
  • 15g dried porcini mushrooms
  • 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
  • 300g risotto rice
  • 1/2 a glass of white wine
  • 1 vegetable or chicken stock
  • 1 litre boiling water or stock (we used Marigold swiss bouillon)
  • 500g mixed mushrooms, wiped clean and torn (we used a mixture of chestnut, shiitake and oyster mushrooms)
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • a small bunch of thyme, leaves picked
  • a large knob of butter
  • 40g Parmesan, grated
  • juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Put the onion, celery and dried porcini into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

Heat a large saucepan on medium and add a good lug of olive oil. Scrape in the processed mixture and cook for a few minutes.

Throw in the chopped rosemary and rice; stir well for a minute. Pour in the white wine and crumble in the stock cube. Stir until the wine is absorbed and then season.

Add a couple of ladles of the stock or water and stir in well. You need to then keep coming back to the risotto every minute for about 16-18 minutes – stirring in a bit more stock each time. Add half the mushrooms after a couple of minutes.

Heat the grill.

Heat a large ovenproof frying pan and add a couple of good lugs of olive oil, the remaining mushrooms, garlic, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir for a second, add half the thyme and take off the heat. Add the remaining thyme to the rice.

Put frying pan of mushrooms under the grill to crisp up, turn the grill off when they are golden and crispy.

When the rice is al dente stir in the butter and most of the Parmesan, add lemon juice and taste for seasoning.

Stir in half the parsley and throw the rest over the grilled mushrooms.

Put the lid on the risotto and let it rest for a minute or two – you could dress the salad at this point.

Ladle the risotto onto plates and spoon some grilled mushrooms over the top with some extra Parmesan.

Spinach salad to serve 4

  • 100g pinenuts, toasted in a non-stick pan
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • 200g baby spinach, sliced roughly into 1cm thick strips
  • 3 large sprigs of fresh mint, leaves picked
  • 5 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, roughly chopped
  • 1 medium cucumber, halved and sliced on an angle about 1cm thick

Put balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper into a large salad bowl and add the pine nuts.

Add the spinach, mint leaves, sun-dried tomatoes and cucumber. Don’t toss until the last minute.

Serve with the risotto (or anything else you fancy a nice salad with).

Wine suggestion: we had a really nice Riesling from Mount Horrocks in the Clare Valley, South Australia. If you come across anything from Mount Horrocks it is well worth a try as everything we have tasted has been really special (Jono got a bottle of their Semillon, which is barrel fermented, for a Christmas gift and we loved it!). Also has a nice label if such things matter to you.

 

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Garlic, Thyme & Lemon Chicken

Posted in Chicken, Food, Healthy, tagged , , , on 12 January 2011| 2 Comments »

Super easy and quick: this was on the table in under 15 minutes and tasted great! It’s also another healthy recipe for all of you January dieters (us included!). This serves two people.

  • 2 skinless Chicken breast fillets
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • Thyme leaves from 2 sprigs
  • Olive oil
  • 1.5 lemons – 1 juiced and half cut into wedges
  • 2 slices of crusty bread, toasted (we used ciabatta)
  • rocket to serve

Make a cut in the side of each chicken and open them up like a book. Cover in cling film and flatten out evenly with your hands.

Mix garlic and thyme with 2 teaspoons of olive oil and spread over the chicken.

Heat a non-stick frying pan and cook the chicken for 2 minutes on the first side and 1 minute on the other. We needed to do them separately as our frying pan wasn’t big enough for two (and the pan is big). Put both chicken breasts back in the pan when done, pour over the lemon juice and season well. Make sure you turn them over to pick up the pan juices and tasty bits.

Serve each chicken breast on a slice of toast and top with the rocket and a wedge of lemon.

Wine suggestion: something lemony like an unoaked Semillon or a Gavi di Gavi (unfortunately we just had a glass of water)

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