Category: rice

Categories
chicken peppers pork rice stock

paella gabriel

mallorca paella gabriel

I’m fresh back from a week in Mallorca, and besides the balmy weather, powder-fine sandy beaches and beautiful views, one of my highlights was watching an expert cook paella for me up close. I’ve never had any particular technique for paella, throwing things in and waiting for a bit. But this guy, taking his time and enjoying it (and bursting into giggles throughout) had no qualms about cooking a monstrous dish of rice for 30 people.  And he talked about different versions too, of ones specific to Mallorca, a paella negra made with squid ink, and a gutsy paella brut.

I made my version totally identical to his, even going to a Spanish supermarket to get some powdered orange colouring, and it’s really good. Fishy, meaty and completely enjoyable – though you can omit the fish if your family are as picky as mine! I’ve named this version after him as tribute to his demonstration. Make sure you serve it with sangria.

Paella Gabriel (serves 6):

4 cloves of garlic

300g chicken thighs, roughly chopped

300g pork loin, diced

2 peppers, sliced

Some mussels, opened

Some prawns

2 teaspoons powdered orange food colouring

Large splash of brandy

500g green beans, sliced

500g chestnut mushrooms, quartered

Large handful of peas

1 tin tomatoes

1 pint chicken stock

2 handfuls of rice per person

Lemon wedges, to serve

  1. Crush the garlic and mix with the meats. Add a splash of oil and leave to marinate (overnight, if you have time).
  2. Heat some oil in a large wok or paella pan. Fry the peppers and fish on a sizzling heat until the peppers are tender, then remove from the pan to one side.
  3. Add the chicken and pork and continue to fry. Sprinkle a little salt and colouring.
  4. When the meat is browned deglaze the pan with the alcohol. Allow this to bubble for a minute or two before adding the vegetables. Stir well to coat in the seasonings and then pour over the tomatoes and stock.
  5. Once the liquid had come to the boil, tip in the rice. Simmer for a further 15 minutes, or until the rice is cooked. Stir occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking.
  6. When the stock has been absorbed, turn off the heat and stir the fish and peppers back into the paella. Serve with wedges of lemon.
Categories
chicken coconut courgettes peppers rice

thai chicken curry with kung po rice

Having both rice and curry paste in the cupboard to use up, I played with the idea of Thai green curry to create a lifting and tasty midweek meal. Using some Tilda Kung Po stir fry rice and other bits and bobs lying around, I lucked on to something pretty nice.

Thai chicken curry with Kung Po rice:

2 chicken legs

Dark soy sauce

1 courgette, sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

1 packet Kung Po stir fry rice

For the sauce:

1 teaspoon Thai green paste

1 can coconut milk

500ml chicken stock

Fish sauce to taste

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Shake some soy sauce over the chicken legs and rub all over. Pop in the oven for 40 mins until crisp and cooked through. Shred the meat off the bone with two forks.
  3. Put the paste in a pan and sizzle for a minute, then add the remaining sauce ingredients and simmer to reduce.
  4. In a separate pan fry the courgette and pepper in a little oil until tender, then add the chicken meat. Add the rice and cook for a further minute. Combine with the sauce and serve.
Categories
cheese ham rice

smoked cheddar and ham risotto

I’ve just got back from a trip to Suffolk. I managed to sample some great food in the area; the Queen’s Head in Woodbridge, the Old Mill House in Saxtead Green, and I fell in love with the mini Brighton-esque seaside town of Aldeburgh. A particular highlight was Lawson’s Delicatessen, a gorgeous shop stacked with olives, coffee ground to order, home-made pies and cakes, olive oil literally on tap, more cheeses than I can name and more besides. Brilliant, especially when caped off with local-caught cod and chips on the seafront.

The in-laws had advised me of a cracking deli, Emmett’s of Peasenhall. It’s been featured in Rick Stein’s Food Heroes, Delia Smith goes gaga over it, and it’s been around for 190 years. It’s a beautiful shop, bowling you over straight away with a tasting table where you can sample some of their bestsellers. Then you can peruse their pickled veg, the usual suspects of olives, chillis and artichokes. Then on to the confectioneries, where you can browse the chocolate-covered ginger, huge shards of chocolate studded with hazelnuts and many more.

Then there’s the glory: the cold meats counter. They smoke and cure their own meats onsite and take an awful lot of pride in their work. Something I went back for a couple of times was their Suffolk Black ham, all treacley and rich with a powerful cure flavour. Absolutely divine and worth a detour for. To take home with me I grabbed a couple of things: smoked Montgomery cheddar and ham offcuts. Contrary to the picture you get a great chunk of leftover bacon for just £1. So good.

I could just snack on both of these, but I wanted to do something that would celebrate both of these princely ingredients. So I settled on risotto, and boy did it do them justice: a smoky and rich risotto, packing a punch every mouthful. Great stuff.

If you ever find yourself passing through this area, pop in. You’ll be at least £50 worse off but you’ll take home a clutch of great stuff for the larder.

Smoked cheddar and bacon risotto:

200g smoked bacon lardons

1 onion, diced

200ml white wine

1 sprig of rosemary

4 handfuls of arborio risotto rice

500ml vegetable stock

50g smoked Montgomery cheddar, grated

½ teaspoon sesame oil

  1. Get the stock on to boil in a small pan. Fry the bacon in a little oil until coloured on all sides. Remove to one side for later.
  2. In the same pan as the bacon add the onion and fry over a gentle heat with the rosemary until the onion has softened.
  3. Add the rice and turn the heat right up. Keep tossing the rice around to get a lovely toasted edge to it. After a minute, add the wine and bubble away until the liquid has disappeared.
  4. Turn the heat down to medium and add a ladleful of stock. Push the rice around until the liquid is absorbed. Keeping adding a ladleful of stock at a time, allowing it to reduce until the rice has a lovely al dente texture. Discard the rosemary.
  5. Add the bacon back to the pan and stir the cheese through. Check for seasoning – probably won’t need any! – and serve with a swirl of sesame oil (not too much), grating a little extra cheese over.
Categories
carrots chicken courgettes food rice stock

thai rice soup with chicken

It was one of ‘those’ Mondays; very little in the cupboard and mouths to feed. What I did have however, was some Tilda Stir Fry Thai Green rice and one of Jo Pratt’s recipe cards from a recent cookalong. Using that as a starting point I knocked up a ten min din which was slurpy, filling and had that tickle of heat rolling through your mouth and leaving you with a warm feeling in your belly.

The Tilda rice helpfully skips all the pastes and mounds of herbs and spices, which gives it a real authentic taste. It may sound like a complete shill but I believe in the product – we’re all busy people and these kinds of ethical prepared foods give us handy shortcuts. Sometimes you have the time, and you can bash down a Thai paste and simmer the ingredients gently. Sometimes you don’t and that’s where these come in.

I decided to use a yaki soba style sauce to enrich the broth, and yanked courgettes and carrots from the garden for veg. However my coriander was looking decidedly ropey and attempting to go to seed, so rather than use the leaves I went for a coriander “bouquet garni”, tying some stalks together and leaving it in the soup to give out flavour as it cooks. I’d prefer to use the greenery but it’ll do in a pinch.

(PS. Note the oversize teacup serving dish. I really must get around to buying Chinese style soup bowls – I have the spoons but no bowls!)

Thai rice soup with chicken:

2 chicken breasts, diced

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1 litre chicken stock

1 tablespoon chilli dipping sauce

1 pack Tilda Thai Green Rice

1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks

1 medium courgette, cut into matchsticks

Bunch of coriander stalks, tied into a bundle

1 small red onion, cut into rings

Sesame oil

For the yaki soba sauce:

100ml light soy sauce

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

  1. Get the yaki soba sauce on: put all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Whack down to low and allow to reduce gently until syrupy. Put to one side.
  2. Heat a little oil in a wok until smoking and add the chicken. Stir fry quickly until the chicken is white all over, then add the garlic. Fry for another 30 seconds and add the stock and chilli sauce.
  3. After bringing the stock to the boil add the carrot and rice. Continue to cook for another minute and then add the courgette, ½ the yaki soba sauce, coriander bunch and rice. Bring back to the boil and simmer for another few minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Taste to see if it needs more yaki soba sauce (if not this can be kept refrigerated for another day).
  4. Remove the coriander and serve in bowls, garnished with onion and a few drops of sesame oil.
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