Category: carrots

paella

…Or it might be jambalaya. I’m not sure what the criteria is. It’s rice ‘n’ stuff in one pan, anyway.

My old chum chorizo makes a special guest appearance, but it’s the vegetables that do the work in this one. I fried the chorizo a bit to char the edges and encourage their spicy-sweet juices to leak out, then put them to one side. Then in go the veg: red onion, celery, carrot. After they’ve tenderised a bit, in go a courgette, some garlic and a pepper. After a couple of minutes I added some basmati rice and tossed that around to get up to heat. I wanted an alcoholic flavour so I added some Cinzano of all things at this point – slightly bitter, slightly sweet.

Then the chorizo went back, along with a pint of veg stock, some saffron and some paprika. Lid on, and left it for 20 mins or so. I came back to find a pan full of sticky rice and tender veg. Garnished with a little fresh parsley and shovelled away heaped spoonfuls at a time. Dinners in one pan rock!

beef blackberries carrots food

autumnal stirfry

Seasonal is the name of the game here; everything’s bursting with readiness. Using my stirfry principles as per Yaki Soba, I add strips of beef, then put to one side. Then I fry carrots and red cabbage until tender, then add beansprouts. Now come fruits: blackberries and a sliced plum. Then the beef goes back in and it’s all pulled together with a slosh of honey and balsamic. It’s interesting and colourful – very Autumnal.

Tags jun tanaka

carrots food lamb potatoes

hot pot

Not mucking about now – this is proper winter food.

It’s very simple and fills like few other dishes. I use lamb neck fillet, which I’ve espoused the glory of before. It’s diced and layered here with onion rings, sliced potatoes (sod peeling), and diced carrot. Each layer is seasoned and dashed with chopped rosemary. Finally lamb stock is poured over and allowed to mingle between the bits. Then I leave it in the oven for about three hours, so everything gets a chance to soften and develop.

It comes out of the oven as pure wholesome warming comfort food. As a total flavour contrast I pair it with pickled cabbage out of jar, which gives you a real mouth-puckering tang against the savoury meatiness.

Tags rick stein