A Simple Asparagus Risotto
I’ve cooked risotto before, but I had some left-over asparagus and thought it would make good risotto. So I cooked this risotto from Phil Vickery.
The ingredients I used were.
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 200g risotto rice (eg carnaroli or arborio)
- 250mlwhite wine
- 500ml hot vegetable stock – I used Marigold Bouillon
- 4 asparagus spears, blanched, chopped
- 25g unsalted butter
- 75g parmesan, grated
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
These quantities make enough for two, but as I was hungry, I made it for one.
The method was as follows.
- For the risotto, heat the oil in a frying pan and gently fry the shallot and garlic until softened but not coloured.
- Add the rice and fry for one minute, stirring frequently, until coated in the oil.
- Add the wine and simmer until absorbed by the rice.
- Add the hot vegetable stock a ladleful at a time, stirring between each addition to allow the liquid to be completely absorbed, until the rice is cooked and all the stock has been absorbed.
- Add the asparagus, butter and parmesan, season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir well.
I slept well after that last night.
The original recipe also contains details on how to make parmesan crisps. I’ll try those next time.
Chicken, Bacon and Potato Pie
This is effectively a version of Shepherds Pie, that uses pieces of chicken breast and bacon, rather than mince. I made it to clear some chicken breasts out of my freezer and also make my left hand do some work by peeling potatoes.
This simple meal used the following ingredients to make three, two of which I froze after cooking.
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 shallots, finely chopped
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- 4 chicken breasts
- 4 rashers of bacon
- 1 jar Bay Tree Cracked Black Pepper and Mustard Cooking Sauce
- 1 kilo of King Edward or similar potatoes
- Milk and fat to mash the potatoes with
The method was as follows.
- Chop the chicken and bacon into small pieces and fry in the olive oil in a large saucepan.
- When the chicken is brown and the bacon is cooked through, add the shallots and the carrots and continue cooking for perhaps ten minutes, after which you stir in the sauce and simmer for perhaps 10-15 minutes.
- Whilst the chicken and vegetables are cooking, boil and mash the potatoes.
- Pour meat and sauce into an 11-inch by 7-inch baking dish or individual foils for freezing and allow to cool slightly. Top with potato.
- Bake in the bottom of the top oven of the AGA.
For something I made up with what I had available it worked out quite well.
It will be interesting to see how the ones I have frozen turn out, when I eat them in a couple of weeks!
Roasted Duck Fillets with Marmalade and Chilli Glaze
This recipe is from Waitrose and it follows a pattern of meat with a sweet sauce, that are gluten-free.
The ingredients I used were :-
- 1 tsp Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients A Dash of Sherry Vinegar – I used Aspall Cyder Vinegar
Pack of 2 Waitrose Skinless Free Range Duck Breast Fillets
1 orange
4 tbsp Waitrose Organic Seville Orange Marmalade – I used Tiptree
Pinch of dried red chilli flakes
These quantities make enough for two.
The method is as follows :-
- Preheat the oven to 190°C, gas mark 5. I used the top of the bottom oven on the AGA, Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice from one half into a small bowl. Cut the remainder into 4 wedges.
- To make the glaze, combine the marmalade, chilli flakes and sherry vinegar with the orange juice and season lightly.
- Place the duck fillets in a porcelain dish and score the flesh in a crisscross pattern, then spread the glaze liberally over the top of each one. Arrange the orange wedges around the duck and place in the oven for 30-35 minutes (or a little less time if you prefer the duck slightly rare). Baste the duck and orange wedges with the glaze a couple of times during the cooking time.
- Transfer the duck and orange wedges onto 2 plates, drizzle with the glaze and serve with lightly steamed kale or green vegetables.
It does suggest that if you have time,that you allow the duck to marinate for 10-15 minutes to help the flavours develop and that this recipe would also work well with chicken fillets.
But I would prefer duck.
Tuna Steak with Tomatoes and Mushrooms
I found this recipe in a blog called Dining Alone. I know the feeling!
She got it from a book by Robin Miller, so to put it up again may be a bit like overkill. As it is an American recipe it’s all cups and ounces. And you know how I feel about non-Metric units! But Robin does have several recipes for people like me; impatient, bad cooks who like good food.
So I used the basis of the recipe to create a sauce for my tuna steak. It was good.
First I pan-fried the seasoned tuna steak for a couple of minutes either side in a small amount of olive oil and then put it aside.
Then in the same frying pan, I took some very nice chestnut mushrooms that I’d bought in the Farmer’s Market at Wickhambrook and sliced and fried them in the pan with a few chopped shalots. Note that I have one of Delia’s little choppers, which I used for the shalots.
Some dried thyme was then added and stirred in. FinallyI put a small tin of chopped tomatoes, a couple of slurps of white wine and the tuna in the pan and simmered it for five minutes.
It was delicious and to make matters better, all I had to wash up was one small frying pan.
A First Risotto
I like risotto, but I’d never made it until last night.
The problem started because, I only had limited fresh food in the fridge and I needed to conjure together something from a pack of smoked haddock, asparagus, sprouts, tomatoes and spring onions. I found this recipe for spring onion and smoked fish risotto on the BBC Good Food site.
The ingredients I used were.
- 500g smoked haddock, cod or trout
- chicken stock, fresh, cube or concentrate, made up to 1.5 litres
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 450g risotto rice
- 1 bunch spring onions, finely sliced diagonally (green included)
- 150g mature cheddar, grated
These quantities make enough for six, but as I’m only one, I made half and froze the other two packs. Will they be OK? Only time will tell.
I should say that the Waitrose risotto rice was a month past its sell-by date and I had to cut the mould off the chess. But then if you are a non-driver in the middle of nowhere, you have to be thankful for small mercies.
The method was as follows.
- Put the fish in a large frying pan. Pour over enough chicken stock to cover, bring to a simmer and cook for 4 minutes. Allow the fish to cool a little in the stock, then skin and flake it. Add any leftover chicken stock to the poaching liquid and keep hot. (If you’re using trout, just skin and flake it and heat the stock).
- To make the risotto, cook the onions in a little butter then add the garlic and risotto rice, stirring well to coat in the butter. Add the hot stock a ladle at a time, stirring each time to bring the starch out of the rice and give the risotto a creamy effect. When the rice is almost cooked, stir in the fish and spring onions. Stir in an extra knob of butter and the cheddar and serve.
The rice took 20-25 minutes to cook, but it was worth it. It wasn’t very difficult to get right either and it used just one frying pan. The latter is always welcomed.
The out-of-date food had no effect either.
Whether the frozen risottos are any good, I do not know.
A Quick Caserrole
On Saturday night, a quick meal was in order, so we took a tray of vegetables to be baked in the oven from Waitrose and put two small lamb steaks in it and then livened it up with a slurp of red wine. It took forty minutes in the AGA and was delicious.
A Useful Cook Book
I bought a cook book called “One Pot – low-fuss food for busy people” from Waitrose for £5.99. It is actually published by the Australian Women’s Weekly. The ISBN is 978-186396793-8, but I can’t find it on Amazon.
It is quite simple and although not specifically gluten-free, most recipes seem to be so or are easily modified. I’ve already cooked one recipe for Beef and Mushrooms in Red Wine. It was good and I froze three portions for later.
The only problem is that some recipes talk Australian and use terms like pizza-cheese and smoked ocean trout.
Gluten-Free Pasta with Broccoli, Feta and Puttanesca
This recipe is a modified version of one from Waitrose.
I basically changed the pasta for Doves Farm gluten free penne and doubled the quantity, so it served four. It fact, I miscounted as there were five and a half for dinner, but it stretched OK with the addition of a salad.
The ingredients were.
- 100g feta, cubed
- 300g of Doves Farm gluten free penne pasta
- 400g purple sprouting broccoli, cut into short lengths. I actually used broccoli florets cut into small pieces, as I bought the wrong sort. But you can use cauliflowers as well. Perhaps try them mixed.
- 180g jar Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients Puttanesca Mix
- 50g pine nuts, toasted
- Grated zest of lemon
The method was as follows.
- I cooked the pasta according to the instructions on the packet in a large saucepan, until it was just tender. It was then drained and kept in the pan.
- The broccoli was cooked at the same time. But don’t stew it.
- Add the broccoli, feta, puttanesca mix, pine nuts and lemon zest to the pasta. Toss all together thoroughly and serve on warmed serving plates. I did cook it for perhaps a minute on the low hob of the AGA.
As I said earlier, I served it with a green salad.
I was the only coeliac at the table, but no-one complained about the pasta. So perhaps, gluten-free pasta isn’t always that bad.
I do think though, that of all gluten-free penne works best. After all Carluccio’s serve this type on their gluten-free menu. I think too, that it worked extremely well with the broccoli in this recipe.
Spring Onion Chicken
The basis for this recipe comes from Group Recipes, although I’ve modified it slightly to make it gluten-free.
The ingredients were.
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoons of gluten-free soy sauce – I used Life from MH Foods.
- 3 stalks of spring onion
- some root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- a clove of garlic, crushed
- 1 tablespoon of dry sherry
- 2 teaspoons of Demerara sugar
- 1/4 cup of chicken stock
The original used rice wine, but I substituted dry sherry as I had a bottle to get rid of. Does anybody drink sherry these days?
The method was as follows.
- Cut the chicken into pieces. Marinate with dark soy sauce and set aside for about 15 minutes.
- Heat up 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a wok. I used a large flat frying pan, as AGAs don’t do woks well. While doing so, cut spring onion in the bias into one and a half inch pieces. Finely chop the ginger.
- Stir fry the garlic and chicken until chicken changes colour. Set aside on a hot plate.
- Stir fry the ginger and spring onions until fragrant. Add chicken, sherry, sugar and chicken stock. Mix well, cover and allow to braise over low heat for about 10 minutes.
I served it with rice.
Grilled Pepper and Sausage Penne
This is one of what Waitrose call an Everyday Recipe. That’s a bit naff, but the Everyday tag seems to be working for them.
I modified it to make it fully gluten-free and my version used the following ingredients.
- A pack of 6 Musks gluten-free sausages.
- 280g Cooks’ Ingredients grilled pepper in olive oil
- 1 smalll essential Waitrose onion, finely chopped. It might have been one of Sainsbury’s.
- 400g can essential Waitrose plum tomatoes in natural juice
- ½ x 25g pack fresh basil leaves, shredded
- Dove’s Farm gluten-free penne
The method was as follows.
- Cut the sausages into thick slices. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil from the peppers in a large pan and add the onion. Cook over a medium heat for 3 minutes until softened. Add the sausages and brown on all sides.
- Drain the peppers from the oil and add them to the pan. Cook for 2 minutes then add the tomatoes, breaking them up with a spoon. Season and simmer for 15 minutes until the sausages are cooked through and the sauce is thickened. Stir in the shredded basil.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to pack instructions until just tender. Drain and toss with the pepper sauce. Serve with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
It was good.
The Anonymous Widower 