Spanish Prawns with Red Rice and Chorizo

23rd May 201823rd May 2018
by thefoodwife

Serves 2 as a main meal or 4-6 as a tapas

Smoky paprika, pungent garlic and the zing of lemon adorn sweet and juicy prawns and meaty chorizo in this wonderful meal inspired by Spain. The addition of red rice adds a deep nuttiness to the dish, but a brown basmati rice would be a good alternative as you will also be flavouring it with a simple but gutsy sofrito.

Ingredients:

For the rice and sofrito:
140g red rice/brown rice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, small dice
1 red pepper, small dice
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 dried chilli, crushed or 1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
Salt and pepper to taste

For the prawns and chorizo:
1 tbsp olive oil
80g chorizo, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp smoked paprika
150-200g raw king prawns
1/2 lemon (juice only)
1 tbsp chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

To serve:
1/2 lemon (cut in to wedges)

Step 1: Cook your rice according to the packet instructions.

Step 2: Make the sofrito; heat the oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Add the onion and pepper and soften for five minutes. Add the garlic and stir for a minute.

Step 3: Add the tomato purée and cook out, stirring for a minute or two.

Step 4: Add the chilli and paprikas and stir on a low heat for two minutes. Turn off the heat until you are ready to add your cooked rice.

Step 5: Add the cooked rice to the sofrito and stir thoroughly so everything is combined and then season to taste. Keep on a low heat whilst you cook the prawns and chorizo.

Step 6: In a separate pan, heat the oil on a medium heat and fry the chorizo to release its oils for a few minutes.

Step 7: Add the garlic and paprika and stir to ensure they do not burn, then add the prawns, stirring frequently and cooking until they are no longer translucent.

Step 8: Squeeze over the juice of half a lemon and stir in the chopped parsley.

Serve the prawns and chorizo on a bed of the rice, with a wedge of lemon on the side to squeeze over. It is lovely with a green salad.

Meatballs

26th April 201827th April 2018
by thefoodwife

Serves 6

What carnivore doesn’t love a good meatball? There is something so comforting about a big plate of pasta coated in a rich and spicy tomato sauce studded with succulent meaty morsels.

I’ve made many different types over the years and have learned a few things I’d like to share. A meatball made of only lean meat is too dry. A combination of meats is the way to go. Baking them before adding to the sauce results in a far tastier end product. And the addition of fennel seeds to the tomato sauce just makes it all the more delicious and, well, Italian.

My most recent meat combination has been half pork stuffing (heavily laden with herbs) and half lean mince meat. I’ve tried this recipe with lean (5% fat) beef mince and also lean ostrich mince. It may sound like a strange meat to use, but I would really recommend giving it a try. It’s incredibly lean and high in protein. This, coupled with the fattier pork, results in a really tasty meatball. But don’t worry, if I haven’t convinced you, beef is ~~nearly~~ just as good.

Ingredients:

The meatballs:
300g lean mince e.g beef or ostrich
340g herby pork stuffing mix/sausage meat (ensure this is without gluten if you are making it gluten free)

The sauce:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, diced
4 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
1 litre passata
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

To serve:
500g Pasta (gluten free if necessary)
Parmesan (leave this out if you are making it dairy free)
Fresh basil

Step 1: Start by making your meatballs by simply combining the two meats in a bowl and mixing well (although messy you’ll get the best results by using your hands, which are going to get messy in the next step anyway!)

Step 2: Roll small amounts of the mix between your two hands to make balls (the mix will make about 35 small balls although you can make them bigger if you wish).

Step 3: Place the balls on a baking tray and put in a preheated oven at 200c for 25 minutes (bear in mind if you make bigger balls they’ll take longer).

Step 4: Whilst the meatballs are cooking, make your sauce. On a medium heat, add your oil to a pan and your red onion, garlic and red pepper. Soften for 3-4 minutes, stirring every so often, to make sure the garlic and onion do not burn. Add your fennel seeds and chilli flakes (if using) and stir for a minute or two, before adding your passata and balsamic vinegar. Season to taste. Cook the sauce on a low heat for 10-15 minutes. Whilst this is simmering cook your pasta according to the packet instructions.

Step 5: Remove your meatballs from the oven and add to your sauce.

Step 6: When you are ready to serve, add cooked pasta to the sauce and coat evenly. Use some of the pasta cooking water to loosen if necessary.

Step 7: To serve, sprinkle Parmesan and torn fresh basil leaves over the pasta and meatballs.

These meatballs freeze well; freeze them separately to the sauce once they have been baked in the oven. They can be defrosted and then added to a sauce to heat through whilst the pasta is cooking.

Quesadillas

19th April 201822nd April 2018
by thefoodwife

Makes 4 small/2 large

I love Mexican food. It’s so fresh and zingy with spices. One of my favourites to batch cook is the Jamie Oliver recipe ‘Chilli con Jamie’ which is sweet, smoky and deep with the flavour of chillis, enhanced by coffee. It is slow cooked with chunks of beef that are then shredded into the sauce, and it makes for a much more satisfying chilli than one made with mince.

This evening we were going to have fajitas but I decided to mix things up and so decided we’d have quesadillas. I decided to make my own fajita spice mix, but you could always use one from a shop. I made my quesadillas with free range pork, but they would be good with free range chicken or beef too. Likewise, if you wanted to try a veggie version, why not replace the meat with some roasted diced butternut squash or sweet potato; their natural sweetness will go well with the spicy seasoning.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
1 onion, small dice
1 pepper, small dice
300g meat (e.g. pork/chicken/beef) cut in to 1/2 cm dice
1 portion of fajita spice mix
Juice of 1/2 a lime
2 tbsp chopped coriander
8 small wraps/4 large wraps
200g grated cheese that is good for melting e.g. mozzarella
Oil for frying e.g. Frylight

Step 1: In a frying pan on a medium heat, add the oil, onion and peppers and fry for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until they are softened and browned slightly.

Step 2: Whilst these fry, combine the fajita spice mix and the diced meat in a bowl and stir to ensure that the meat is evenly coated.

Step 3: Increase the heat and add the meat, fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure all sides of the meat are being cooked.

Step 4: Add the juice of half a lime and cook for a further couple of minutes to allow the meat to finish cooking through, and to evaporate the moisture to leave a dry mix.

Step 5: Remove from the heat and stir through the chopped coriander.

Step 6: Place a separate, non stick frying pan on a medium heat and spray with Frylight or wipe a small amount of oil on the pan. Place 1 small tortilla wrap in the pan, and top with about 1/8 of the cheese, followed by 1/4 of the cooked meat mixture, another 1/8 of the cheese and finally another wrap. Use a fish slice to press the quesadilla down and cook for 1-2 minutes until the bottom layer of cheese has begun to melt and the bottom wrap should have crisped up and turned golden brown. Spray the top wrap with a little more oil and then use the fish slice to flip the quesadilla and cook for a further 1-2 minutes on the other side. Turn the quesadilla out and keep warm whilst you repeat the process with the remaining wraps and mixture.

I would serve two of these (small) quesadillas per adult for a main meal, served with a salad (try mixing lettuce, spring onion, avocado, chopped jalapeños from a jar, and dress with the juice from the remaining lime and a little olive oil).

Asian Pork Belly and the Instant Pot

7th April 20187th April 2018
by thefoodwife

The Instant Pot; the current culinary craze which I succumbed to in the summer. Six months later and I have only recently braved using it! I’m so pleased I have. I’ve been experimenting and have come up with two mouth-watering Asian pork belly dishes – the sort that would take at least a good hour and a half with regular interference from the cook, but I’m able to prep in five minutes, let the Instant Pot do its work for 20 minutes or so, and we’re having meltingly soft (I could cut it with a spoon!) juicy pork belly.

So, here are my two dishes; one Chinese, the other Korean. Both require pork belly cut into one-inch cubes (or thereabouts). As much as you would like although bear in mind that this fatty meat is rich. I went for about 300g for two people. Both recipes require high pressure for 20-25 minutes. I was eager to eat so did quick release however you could let it depress naturally.

The Korean recipe requires 1 tbsp gochujang paste added to the pot, then using the Instant Pot cup measure (160ml) fill it to 1/4 with half dark soy sauce and half rice wine vinegar. Add 4 tsp caster sugar and a tsp of sesame oil. Fill the rest of the cup with water and add to the pot. Add another half cup of water. Add the cubed pork belly and set the pressure to high and cook for 20-25 minutes. Once it is cooked and the pressure released, remove the lid and switch to sauté mode. Add 2 tsp of slackened cornflour and stir until pleasingly thickened.

Serve with rice and steamed greens.

The Chinese version is based on the favourite dish of Chairman Mao, red braised pork belly. For this you will need to add 3 tbsp dark soy sauce to the Instant Pot cup and top up with water. Add this to the Instant Pot along with an inch of diced root ginger, 3 star anise, 1 cinnamon stick or piece of cassia bark, 2 tsp of chilli flakes and 2 tbsp of caster sugar. Add the cubed pork belly and set the pressure to high and cook for 20-25 minutes. Once it is cooked and the pressure released, remove the lid and switch to sauté mode. Add 2 tsp of slackened cornflour and stir until thickened.

Serve with rice and steamed greens.