Tag: recipe

Balsamic Brussels Sprouts

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Last night we had a pretty simple dinner: some rump steak with vegetables and potatoes. But I think even with simple fayre, it’s important for it to be delicious, and so I dressed the stir-fried sprouts in a hot balsamic vinaigrette. They were very excellent. Here’s how I did it.

Serves 2

Ingredients

150 g Brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon rice bran oil
2 pudding spoons olive oil
3 pudding spoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and black pepper

Begin by bringing a pot of water to the boil and adding some salt. While waiting for the water to boil, slice the sprouts in half lengthways, then add them to the water and boil for four minutes (you could steam them for four minutes instead, but I used the same water to parboil potatoes, so it made more sense to boil them).

While the sprouts are boiling, whisk together the olive oil and balsamic vinegar with a good pinch of salt and a grinding of black pepper until you have an emulsion. Don’t stress about how emulsified it is: you’ll have to whisk it again anyway. Then set a wok of an appropriate size over a high heat (if you don’t know what an appropriate size is, I’m going to assume you only have one wok, so use that one. If you don’t have a wok, you can use a big frying pan).

Once the sprouts have had their four minutes, drain then and let all the steam come off them. You want them reasonably dry. Then heat the rice bran oil (or any oil you have really) in the wok, and add the sprouts. Stir fry them for about two or three minutes or until they start to go a bit black (but stop before they turn to charcoal), and then pour in the vinaigrette (after giving it a final quick whisk). Continue to toss the sprouts about until the vinaigrette has bubbled and reduced and turned a bit syrupy. Add some more salt and pepper if it needs it, then tip the whole lot out onto a warmed serving plate, and serve immediately.

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Kedgeree with smoked herrings

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Kedgeree is great. It’s a breakfast dish but you can have it any time. It’s quick and easy and a very good recipe for one, but it is also good when you have an overnight guest who you want to impress with breakfast, and because my version mostly uses tinned ingredients, it’s an ideal camping dish.

This recipe serves one.

Ingredients

  • 200 g can of smoked herrings (in brine, please; not tomato sauce)
  • 60 ml basmati rice (or any long-grain rice, but I insist on basmati)
  • half an onion, diced (I use already diced frozen onions)
  • half a small can of mushrooms (I like the ones in butter sauce)
  • One hard boiled egg, roughly chopped
  • A big pinch of curry powder (I use Clive of India Hot curry powder – this is an outrageous colonial dish after all!)
  • About half a teaspoon of turmeric, for color
  • Salt and pepper
  • Butter

Method

In a small-ish frying pan over a medium heat, fry the onion in butter until it is soft and slightly brown, then turn the heat up to high. Stir in the curry powder and the turmeric until it’s combined with the butter and coated the onions, then add the rice to the pan. You want to toast the rice for about a minute, and keep it moving so that the rice picks up the color and flavor of the curry powder.

Once everything is a lovely orange color and nicely fragrant, pour in 180 ml water and bring to the boil. Once it’s boiling, cover the pan (if you haven’t got a lid that fits, just use foil), turn the heat right down and let it barely simmer for about fifteen minutes, or until the water has been absorbed and the rice is cooked.

In the meantime, pour yourself a glass of wine (if you are making this for lunch or dinner) or champagne (if you are making this for breakfast) and take some photos of the cooking process for your Instagram.

Once the rice is cooked, fluff it up a bit with a wooden fork (I had trouble finding a wooden fork in Sydney when I first moved here, and was even told by a shop assistant in a cookware shop that they did not exist and I had conjured up the concept of a wooden fork in my head, but it turns out that someone at Ikea also conjured up the concept of a wooden fork in their head, so you can get one there). Use the wooden fork to break up the herring fillets (which you have drained, of course!) a bit, but not too much because you want chunks rather than flakes, and stir the into the rice, along with the chopped egg and the mushrooms. Do it gently otherwise you’ll break up the fish and egg too much and you’ll end up with mush. Just turn it over with the fork until everything is combined and heated through. Season with salt and pepper. I’m an absolute fiend for salt, but you probably won’t need that much because of the herrings.

If you’re doing this for Instagram, and are particularly interested in likes and comments, then this looks nice sprinkled with some cayenne pepper (I don’t do this because I don’t like the flavor) and some parsley arranged on the top (you could use coriander, of course, which might be a better flavor combination, but wouldn’t be in the spirit of colonial cuisine).

Then, of course, you eat it.

Notes

If you want a vegetarian version, leave out the fish and double the mushrooms, and you could maybe use some lentils or some smoked firm tofu or tempeh or something that will have a bit of a bite and a smoky or smoke-adjacent flavor. If you want a vegan version do that and leave out the egg (and use some kind of vegetable oil or other instead of the butter).

If you’re making this for more than one person (which you probably are if, as suggested, you’re making this for breakfast to impress last night’s shag your overnight guest), then increase the quantities of everything accordingly (use a 1:3 ratio of rice to water), and serve it on a platter, rather than individually, so people can help themselves.

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Pea & garlic soup

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I make this soup from time to time because it’s really quick and easy to make (it takes ten minutes!), it’s super cheap, and – most importantly – it’s delicious. I think it’s a perfect weekend lunch for one.

Every ingredient – except for the peas – is optional, and I never go out and buy anything specifically to make this, so it’s very much a storecupboard recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1 small clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp vegetable stock powder (optional)
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Put the peas and the garlic in a small saucepan with the stock powder; cover with boiling water from the kettle so the peas are just covered. Simmer for 7-8 minutes before blending in a blender with a slug of olive oil and a decent drizzling of balsamic vinegar. Season well with salt and pepper, then eat it immediately.

(Serves one)

Chickpea & mushroom spiced stew

SuperCroup2 Comments

I threw this together last night because I was looking for something super-cheap, nutritious, and very tasty for dinner. It was successful on all counts: easy to make and it cost about $4 (AUD) to make. Aside from the onion, everything came out of cans or packets too, which makes it a perfect last-minute thing, and you could easily make it on a camping trip. Vegan & vegetarian friendly.

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Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 1 small onion, sliced into half moons
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 400 g can chickpeas
  • 1 400 g can whole champignons, drained
  • 2 400 g cans chopped tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup red lentils
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp hot Madras curry powder
  • 1 tbsp canola oil or similar

Method

  • Over a medium heat soften the onion and garlic in the oil with a good pinch of salt for around ten minutes.
  • Turn the heat to high, add the curry powder and the spices, turning them over in the onion for about a minute until they become fragrant.
  • Pour in the tomatoes, and about a can’s worth of water, using it to rinse out the cans before adding.
  • Bring to the boil, then add the drained champignons, and the chickpeas with their brine
  • Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes
  • Turn up the heat to medium-high add the lentils, simmering more robustly for a further 15-20 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the lentils have gone mushy. Scrape the bottom from time to time to ensure the lentils do not stick.

Serve with rice.

Pea Risotto with Chicken, Pancetta and Cep Mushrooms

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A lot of people think that risotto is terribly difficult to make. But like most things that are commonly viewed as difficult, risotto is surprisingly easy. It does require patience and a lot of attention: turn your back for a moment and it could be ruined. But risotto is one of those dishes that is as comforting to cook as it is to eat. Rich, creamy and sensual, and you can definitely taste how much care has been put into the preparation.

The most important ingredient in any risotto is the stock, and here you can’t get away with using a stock cube as you so often can. The rice is cooked entirely in the stock and it will soak up the flavor, and stock cubes are notoriously lacking in real, wholesome flavor. That said, there are some options available if you haven’t made your own stock, and these include the concentrated jellies that you can buy, as well as ready-made stocks.

A note on stock: it is surprisingly easy to make. I use a lot of chicken stock, and I keep a bag of chicken bones in the freezer and keep adding to it. With planning, you can make your stock in advance (say, the night before) and keep it in the fridge, ready to use.

You can add anything you like to your risotto. It’s simply a base of arborio rice and onion cooked in stock, with whatever you fancy added at the end. In my mind, peas are mandatory, but it really is up to you!

Pea Risotto with Chicken, Pancetta and Cep Mushrooms

Serves 4

300 g arborio rice
700 ml home-made chicken stock, heated
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
4 chicken thigh fillets, skin off
200 g cubetti de pancetta
1 small packet dried cep mushrooms
A handful of frozen peas
2 glasses white wine
A few sprigs of rosemary
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp groundnut oil
Salt and pepper for seasoning

Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan over a high heat and quickly seal the chicken thigh fillets on each side. You don’t want to brown them, just seal them so they don’t fall apart. Add one glass of the wine and enough stock to cover the chicken, together with the bay leaf and the rosemary. Lightly season with a little salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and turn the heat right down, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked.

While the chicken is cooking, soak the mushrooms. Put them in a bowl and cover them with boiling water and leave to stand for ten minutes. Once the chicken thigh fillets are cooked, remove them with a slotted spoon, but retain the liquor, and reduce it to about 100 ml. Cut the chicken into small pieces.

In another large frying pan or saucepan, cook the pancetta over a high heat. There is enough fat in the pancetta, so you will not need to use any oil. transfer the pancetta to a plate and add 1 tbsp of the butter and 1 tbsp of the oil to the pan and turn the heat to medium. Fry the soaked mushrooms for a few minutes until they are cooked, and transfer them to the plate to join the pancetta and the cooked chicken.

Melt the rest of the butter in the same pan and turn the heat down to low. Add the onion and soften for about five minutes. Turn the heat back up to high and add the arborio rice, turning it over in the buttery juices. Toast it for two minutes or so, but don’t let it brown, then pour in the other glass of wine, and start stirring.

The trick now is to make sure the liquid is fully absorbed before adding any more. Rush, and you’ll end with soup. Once the wine has been absorbed, add the reduced liquor that the chicken was cooked in and turn down the heat a little. Keep stirring constantly. Again, allow the liquid to absorb fully, and you can start adding the hot stock. Add the stock a ladle-by-ladle and make sure to keep stirring. You don’t need to wait for the liquid to be absorbed completely, but you should wait until your spoon leaves a clear wake behind it before adding the next ladleful. It should take about 20 minutes to add all the stock.

By this time the risotto should be of a creamy consistency, and you can stir in the cooked chicken, pancetta and mushrooms. Season well and dot a few knobs of butter over the top before covering with a lid, or kitchen foil. Leave it to stand for five minutes to allow the flavors to intensify. Stir in the frozen peas (no need to cook them first) and allow to stand for another minute or so to allow the peas to warm through.

Serve immediately with a grating of Parmesan cheese and lots of freshly ground black pepper.