Paella

Normally, when you return from holiday, there are a couple of days when there isn't enough food in the house.  The initial run to the local shop for bread and milk sees you through breakfast and you can just about cobble something together from your cupboards for a couple of meals.  We got back from Berlin last Tuesday and although we have shopped, we still haven't carried out a "big shop" so our cupboards are starting to look pretty bare.

There are always somethings that can be relied upon.  We tend to have three or four types of rice on the go at any one time and there is usually a packet of sausages in the freezer.  The decision to make a paella style dish was made by the fact that the sausages that I found in the freezer were pork and chorizo.

Before anybody calls foul and starts asking about the lack of prawns and mussels, that would be a seafood paella.  The original dish from Valencia would have traditionally contained chicken, rabbit, pork and even snails but no seafood.  Don't get me wrong, I love a seafood paella but with the ingredients I had, a sausage paella it was.

Broad Bean Risotto

The Olympic Food Challenge has come to an end.  The summer of discovering new recipes and ingredients is over but I am still learning.  My latest revelation is the fact that I do not like following recipes.  That I have come to this conclusion at the end of following so many recipes shouldn't be so surprising.  But if I'm honest, I have never been a fan of slavishly following quantities and timings, preferring to add my own slant on a "borrowed" idea.

My dislike of recipes has been magnified recently with most of the OFC recipes being web-based.  I am not going to bite the hand that feeds me* but there are many food sites and blogs around and, sadly, they do not all pass muster.  The number of times that I found recipes with missing steps, or mystery ingredients that were not used during cooking, drove me potty.

Now that I am free of the shakkles of poorly written recipes I am once more the master of my own destiny.  I can also cook what I want, without hoping that it comes from a country that I have never heard of.  To get the ball rolling I decided to cook risotto.  Possibly my favourite meal and definitely one that I have missed while discovering new dishes.

Tonight's star ingredient in the risotto was broad beans.  We missed the early broad beans this year so tonight's were of the large, starchy variety.  That said, once they had been blanched and podded they were still delicious in the creamy risotto.  I'm looking forward to embracing my recipe freedom now that I have it back.  I'll still read the odd cookery book for inspiration and new ideas, but you won't find me tied to a book any time soon.

*not that I'm getting paid for any of this blogging nonsense.

Olympic Food Challenge: Libya - Herbed Rice with Cumin Marinated Fish

After yesterday's hangover induced comfort food, I am back in the saddle and raring to crack on with the Olympic Food Challenge.  I was surprised when researching my previous nineteen countries that I hadn't found more fish dishes.  This time around my countries seem to be more interested in their fishing grounds, which suits me fine.

The first fish dish is actually billed as the accompaniment to a traditional Libyan rice dish of Ruz Hoot bil Kusbur or Herbed Rice with Cumin Marinated Fish.  The fact that this is a fish dish is not the only reason that I picked it.  It was the main factor but not the only one; the flavours in the rice were really tempting.  The deciding factor was the marinade for the fish.  I don't think I have ever used a tablespoon of cumin in anything.  It is a spice that can overpower other flavours if not used judiciously, but I went along with the recipe

I am very glad that I trusted Libyan Food because the finished dish was superb.  The cumin, garlic and lemon juice in the marinade combined really well to flavour the fish*.  I don't know if the breadcrumbs tempered the flavours but the result was great.  The rice was also really good.  I didn't have any fish stock so used vegetable stock instead but again the combination of flavours and the addition of whole roasted corriander seeds gave the dish an extra bite.

This is without a doubt one of the best meals we have cooked during the Olympic Food Challenge.  I would go as far as saying it warrants a gold medal.  Libya didn't get any medals during the Olympics and they only have a team of two entered in the Paralympics.  I hope they do well, I'll certainly be cheering them on after this dish.

*I chose coley, you can choose what you want.

Olympic Food Challenge: Lebanon - Dolmas

A long time ago, in a kitchen far far away...

It's hard for me to remember a time before the Olympic Food Challenge started.  All of the researching and cooking new food with new ingredients is starting to feel normal, but that could just be culinary Stockholm Syndrome* setting in.  But there was a time before the Olympics started.  A happy carefree time, when I could cook what I wanted without having to source Fufu.

That said, there was always a part of me that was determined to discover new things.  There had to be or the Challenge would never have been born.  Back in June I had planned to make my own stuffed vine leaves as part of a Mezze that I was cooking for some guests.  By the time I had managed to find some vine leaves in Leeds I didn't have enough time to fill and cook them, so I opened a jar of ready made Dolmas.

Having drawn Lebanon as my penultimate Olympic Food Challenge country I knew I had to finally have a go at Dolmas.  I know that stuffed vine leaves are common throughout the Middle East but I first encountered them in a Lebanese restaurant, so to me they will always represent Lebanon.

Rather than trusting the internet I turned to my bookshelf as I knew there was a Stuffed Vine Leaves recipe in Sarah Maxwell's Meze Cooking.  On paper it didn't take too long, a couple of hours, but that didn't take into consideration the hour it took me to separate and rinse the packet of brined vine leaves.  This put us back a while and we had already been delayed by having a little too much fun at the Huddersfield Food and Drink Festival.

Once we finally sat down to eat the Dolmas they were just as tasty as any that I have eaten from delis or restaurants.  To me the mixture was a little light on rice and heavy on pine nuts and raisins but I can always change the quantities next time we cook them.  Who am I kidding?  Unless I was cooking a feast and feeling time rich and wallet poor, I will be going back to shop-bought Dolmas.  As nice as the were, they can be added to the list of things which life is too short to do; making puff pastry from scratch, boning an ox tail etc.

*Stockpot Syndrome perhaps.

Olympic Food Challenge: Uzbekistan - Kovurma Palov (mutton pilaf)

Tonight's instalment of the Olympic food Challenge comes from Uzbekistan.  The Uzbek team is 32 strong and they have medalled*, with a bronze in Judo.  That said, it's quite a poor show from their athletes, as they have walked away with a good handful of medals in the last two Olympics.

When faced with the issue of what to eat from Uzbekistan I seemed to have little choice.  The food of Uzbekistan is varied but the pilaf rules the roost.  I decided upon Kovurma Palov (mutton pilaf) for tonight's meal, mainly because we haven't had any mutton for a long time and I really like mutton.

I used the recipe as a guide but changed the quantities dramatically, there are only two of us after all.  However, I should have made a better stab at the spice quantities.  The finished pilaf was great but could have taken a bit more punch from the seasoning.  Will we be returning to Uzbekistan in the future?  Yes, I think we will.  This slow cook method for a rice dish was good, especially if you are feeding a large crowd.

*For the record, I am one of those people that can't stand medal or podium being used as a verb!

Paella

My Mum arrived today for a week's holiday.  She has come to see R, not me or Z, but I'm happy with that.  As she only arrived this afternoon, I didn't want to spend the night tied to the stove, so I decided the one pan wonder Paella was the way forward.

Once R was tucked up in bed I cracked on with some judicious chopping.  Onions, garlic, peppers, carrots, chorizo and turkey breast were all fried before rice, white wine and stock were added to the pan.  This was then left to simmer until the rice had absorbed all of the stock and was cooked through.  All that was left to do was to stir through some fresh parsley and serve.

As with most dishes, I am 100% certain that the way I cook paella is not authentic, but it works and it tastes good, so I'll keep doing it.

Stir fried Pork with Egg Fried Rice

Having roasted a pork joint yesterday and not eating it, due to a large lunch, we are tucking into pork again tonight.  We're keeping with the oriental theme from yesterday too.  To keep yesterday's meal light we had a Japanese pork and miso soup.  Tonight we're having a Chinese inspired pork stir fry.

We are lucky in Leeds to have a couple of decent Chinese supermarkets.  We use them both for basics like soy sauce and noodles but we often go off piste and buy something just because it looks interesting.  This is a method of shopping that can go either way.  We have faced the horror of mystery Chinese sausage and almost lost our taste buds to a Thai curry paste that was so hot it made our tongues sweat.

At the other end of the scale, we have discovered the best black bean sauce known to humanity and we came across the sweet vinegar sauce that we used for tonight's meal.  A couple of tablespoons of the sauce were added to fried pork and vegetables to make a sweet/sour glaze.  I served this on a mountain of the best egg fried rice that I have ever cooked.  If I wasn't so full I could happily have eaten the whole thing again.

Chilli Con Carne

Last night, whilst roasting the vegetables for our meal, Z kept herself busy by making a chilli con carne for tonight's meal.  There are two main reasons why she did this.  The first was the fact that she was in the kitchen anyway and once the vegetables were in the oven she had some time on her hands.  The second is that chilli always tastes better the following day.

Beef mince, onions, celery, peppers, mushrooms, kidney beans and a tin of tomatoes made up the bulk of the chilli.  The spice came from dried chilli, smoked hot paprika and Tobasco*.  Dried oregano was also added for its depth of flavour.  By the time Z came to reheat it for tonight's meal it had come together to form a delicious meal which had a chilli heat that grew with every mouthful.  The day's rest really helped the flavours come together and Z cooked so much, we now have left-overs for the freezer!

*other hot sauces are available

Beef and Vegetables in Black Bean Sauce

Having cooked two joints of beef over the weekend, we are now faced with a bit of a cold meat mountain to deal with.  This won't cause us too much of a problem as it's safe to say that we can deal with leftovers better than fresh ingredients.  Tonight's meal is one that has featured on this blog before.  That is because it's tasty and fast to prepare.

The ingredients, beef, green beans and white cabbage were all sliced while some rice was happily cooking away.  Five minutes before the rice was ready to eat, the meat and vegetables were stir-fried together with a good table spoon of my favourite chilli and black bean sauce.  I know cooking sauces are a cheat but this one is so good it would be on my desert island list.

Pork and Aubergine Satay Kebabs

We had decided yesterday what we were going to cook this evening.  I had something akin to a craving and as Z was going shopping anyway, I dispatched her to Leeds Kirkgate Market to raid the stalls of Fish Row.  Sadly I had completely forgotten that mussels are now out of season* so a rethink was in order.

I had planned to make a Thai style mussel dish and serve some satay vegetables on the side.  It didn't take much to elevate the satay from side dish to main event.  We had already bought the sauce from Taste on Vicar Lane.  We also had onions and a green aubergine in the fridge so all that was needed was some pork.  The kebabs were marinated with lime juice and light soy sauce before grilling.  This was a million miles away from the food I was craving, but it was great.  I'll just have to wait until September before I can have the mussels I wanted.

*Only eat mussels when there is an R in the month.

Paella

The relaxation of the last few days continued today, all be it with a couple of hours at work thrown in for good measure.  There isn't much better than a sunny afternoon, spent in a beer garden, catching up with a mate who you haven't seen for ages.  While I was catching the rays and sinking a few suds Z went shopping for the ingredients for tonight's meal.

We had decided on Paella, mainly because we discovered that we had quite a lot of chorizo in the house*.  Back home, a little worse for wear, I tended to the paella while Z kept an eye on Eurovision.  I have a love hate relationship with Eurovision.  It takes itself far too seriously and the voting is always rigged but for a couple of hours a year it's a bit of a giggle, with this year's high/low-light being the Russian grannies.

The chorizo was cooked off to get some of the flavour into the pan before onion, garlic and a red pepper were added.  Once everything had begun to soften I added the rice and stock to the pan and left the paella to bubble away.  Right at the end of cooking I added a handful of frozen peas and the prawns that Z had bought earlier.  Washed down with a bottle of Cava, it was like we were back in Barcelona. We must go back soon.

*never a bad thing.

Chicken Risotto

Another week of late finishes is stretching out in front of me.  It's not too bad, apart from listening to the Zumba class two times a week.  Z is taking the real impact.  Her evenings include; rushing our of the office, picking R up from nursery, getting him home, fed, washed and in bed.  All before starting to sort out our evening meals.  Tonight she excelled herself.  Not only did she cook Tonight's Menu but she also made a huge in-road into tomorrow's.

Tonight, using some of the leftovers from yesterdays roast chicken, she knocked up a great risotto.  Bacon, onions, celery and white wine at its base.  The rice was then slowly cooked as stock was added, ladle at a time, before the risotto was finished with butter and parmesan cheese.  With all of that cooking* and the start of tomorrows meal** Z really had her chef's head on.  She even fried some sage leaves to garnish the plates.

*you never really leave the pan when cooking risotto.
**no spoilers

Szechuan Beef

I'm back working on the late shift but that is no excuse to stop posting our evening meals.  Z has wonderfully stepped up to the hot-plate and is taking the toddler-wrangling and husband cooking duties in her stride.  I'm not neglecting my duties.  Between us we've planned the evening meals for the week so that, where possible I will have prepared part of the meal before I set off for work.

Tonight that meant defrosting some steak from Swillington Farm and making sure the kitchen was clean for Z to work her magic unimpeded.  A stir fry is such a quick meal to cook that making sure that you have everything prepped in advance is vital.

By the time I got home Z had marinated the beef in crushed szechuan and black pepper corns, with a little oil and some rice wine vinegar.  She had also sliced an onion and some pak choi and was ready to fry.  Within minutes we sat down to eat and finally spend some time together.

Risotto

If you have been paying attention you will have noticed that we eat risotto quite often.  In fact, I'm surprised that this is only the 5th time that I've cooked risotto since November.  To me it is one of the greatest comfort foods around.  It's the oozy creaminess that gets me every time.  That and the fact that you can put anything into a risotto, the only limitations are your imagination.

I didn't have to use too much imagination as the ingredients suggested themselves.  We had half a cob of sweet corn and the end of our mange tout mountain in the fridge, both of which were in danger of not being eaten.  These were added towards the end of the cooking time.  I also fried off some smoked, streaky bacon to add a salty crunch to the dish*.


*not all garnishes are herbs.

Simple Paella

You may, or may not have noticed a couple of my favourite foods include anything Spanish and risotto.  The simple paella that I cooked for tonight's menu combines the two.

Start by frying finely chopped onions and celery in olive oil until soft then add your rice.  If you can get hold of some, use Spanish rice.  It is a short grain rice, like arborio, but it doesn't leach out as much starch during cooking so you end up with a much cleaner dish.  Once the rice is coated in the oil add chopped garlic and chorizo.  Stir this briefly so that the flavours start to mingle and the oils start to come out of the chorizo before adding peppers and stock.

So far this is very similar to how I make a risotto and it's where the two take separate paths.  With a risotto you stand over the pan, lovingly stirring and gradually adding more and more stock as each ladle-full is absorbed.  This is the secret to a really creamy risotto.  With paella you add all of the stock in one go and then leave the pan alone.  The next time you stir the paella will be moments before you serve it.

As with most dishes there are purists that will tell you that paella needs a raft of ingredients before it can truly be called a paella. These range from chicken, rabbit and snails to prawns, mussels and squid.  Personally, I'd be happy with any of the above but tonight I have none of them. Tonight I have good bread, good wine and good company.

Piri Piri Pork Chops with Savoury Rice

Last week I made piri piri chicken for our Friday Night Take-away.  It was great but it has left me with a jar of marinade sat in the fridge.  Although I could quite happily tuck into spicy chicken on a regular basis, we don't happen to have any more chicken in the house.  What we do have is a couple of pork chops.

To my mind the largest piri piri franchise in Britain are missing a trick.  I've often wondered why the chain in question don't serve free range chicken.  I have even asked this of an employee and the response, straight out of the corporate feed was "we sell too much chicken to use free range."  I pondered at the time why they didn't use other meat, as well as chicken, to ensure that the highest animal welfare was maintained.  The answer was along the lines of "because we do chicken".  I've not been back since.

Our chops were marinated for a couple of hours and then grilled.  This is exactly the same process I would use for chicken.  In an ideal world I be slapping the meat on a barbecue but we don't have the space outside.  Savoury rice is a really simple accompaniment.  Fried vegetables, what ever you have to hand, are stirred through boiled long grain rice.  We had sweet peppers, spring onions, peas and sweetcorn.