thefoodwife – Page 50 – The Food Wife

Rabbit (or Chicken) with Prunes and Marsala

7th November 20187th November 2018
by thefoodwife

Serves 2-4

We have just come back from a long weekend in the Netherlands, and returned via the ferry from France which allowed us to stock up on various goodies in the French supermarket. I had declared before we went that I was keen to bring back a rabbit (the kind for cooking, you understand) as I had memories of doing so as a child with my parents. This time I managed to avoid bringing back one with the head still attached and instead brought back four pieces, which all happened to be back pieces with the loin either side. Far less traumatic to deal with!

If you are making this at home then you could use a whole rabbit, cut into pieces, or, if rabbit isnâ€™t your thing, then chicken thighs would work well instead.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp oil
4 pieces of rabbit/skinless chicken thighs
2 tbsp seasoned flour
4-5 shallots, peeled, halved and sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed or finely minced
3 tbsp marsala
250ml stock (vegetable or chicken)
10 prunes, halved
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp wine or cider vinegar
Salt and pepper

Step 1: Heat the oil in a casserole dish over a medium high heat. Dust the rabbit or chicken pieces in the seasoned flour and then brown each piece and remove to one side.

Step 2: Soften the shallots in the pan with the remaining oil (add a little more if necessary) and cook for about five minutes. Next add the garlic and cook for a further minute.

Step 3: Deglaze the pan with the marsala and then return the meat along with the prunes, bay leaf and stock.

Step 4: Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 25-30 mins until the meat is cooked through (you do not want to overcook rabbit as it is such a lean meat it will become very dry).

Step 5: Stir in the vinegar and season to taste.

Serve with mashed potatoes or fresh egg pasta and some green vegetables.

Spicy Apple Chutney

30th October 201830th October 2018
by thefoodwife

Makes approximately 1 litre of chutney

With all the cooking apples available at the moment this chutney is the perfect recipe to use up your windfalls. It requires no skill and yet you create the most wonderfully spicy chutney.

This has a good kick from the homemade spice mix but you can always adjust this to taste. You do not have to use the combination of chillies I have suggested; by all means just use chilli flakes if you canâ€™t get your hands on dried ancho chillies, for instance.

I used a spice grinder to blitz them all to a fine powder, but with a bit of hard work you could use a pestle and mortar.

Ingredients:
400g caster sugar
400ml cider vinegar
2 white onions, peeled and roughly chopped
Roughly 1kg apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
2 handfuls raisins or sultanas
1 inch ginger, peeled and finely chopped

Spice mix:
1/2 dried ancho chilli, roughly torn
3 small pieces of cassia bark/cinnamon stick
3 cloves
Pinch salt
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
2 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp all spice

Step 1: Use a spice grinder to blitz all of the spice mix ingredients together into a smooth powder.

Step 2: Combine all ingredients (including the spice mix) in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan.

Step 3: Bring to the boil, and then simmer, uncovered for about an hour and a half To two hours, until the mix stays separated for a coupled seconds when a spoon is dragged through it.

Step 4: Transfer into sterilised jars and keep in the fridge.

This chutney is wonderful with cheese or cold meats. Store in the fridge, especially once opened.

Sweet Pepper Sauce

27th October 201830th October 2018
by thefoodwife

Serves 4-6

Often in supermarkets youâ€™ll find bumper bags of peppers, which are smaller or misshapen and so are sold in bulk at a much cheaper price. Usually there will be a plethora of green peppers in these bags, but the other day I found ones that were full of red and yellow peppers. I knew exactly what I was going to do with them; make a versatile sweet pepper sauce that would be the perfect accompaniment to pasta, or lamb, or a firm white fish.

Here is the recipe; it can be scaled up or down as necessary and it can be portioned up and frozen. We had it stirred through pasta and adorned with pieces of soft goats cheese and fresh basil. It was really delicious. Iâ€™m looking forward to the next time I find such a bag, as Iâ€™ll definitely be making this again!

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, peeled, halved and finely sliced
Approx. 700g peppers, halved, deseeded, cut into thin strips
3 cloves garlic, crushed/minced
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp sweet paprika
3 tomatoes, cut into small dice
1 tin of tomatoes, chopped
A pinch of sugar
1 tsp red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

Step 1: Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the onion. Cook gently for five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 2: Next add the peppers and continue to cook and stir for 20 minutes.

Step 3: Stir through the garlic, herbs and spices and cook for a further five minutes.

Step 4: Add both types of tomatoes, along with the vinegar, sugar and seasoning and cook for 10 more minutes.

Carrot and Cumin Soup

15th October 201830th October 2018
by thefoodwife

Serves 3-4

This is a low calorie, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan soup and itâ€™s delicious. Naturally sweet, gently spiced and perfectly warming for an autumn or winter lunch.

Itâ€™s quick to prepare and then cooks with little interference so why not make up a bigger batch and freeze for a quick and easy lunch!

Ingredients:
Oil
1 white onion or 4 shallots, roughly chopped
500g (about 4 decent sized) carrots, peeled, topped and tailed and cut into 1/2 cm rounds
2 tsp ground cumin
1 litre vegetable stock
Salt and pepper
Nigella seeds (optional)

Step 1: Heat a little oil (I used a few spritz of a spray oil) in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium heat and add the diced onion or shallot. Cook for a few minutes until softened but not browned.

Step 2: Add the carrot and stir, along with the cumin. Cook gently for a couple of minutes to begin to toast the spice and then add the stock. Cover with a lid and simmer for 20-30 minutes until the carrots are soft.

Step 3: Carefully blitz the soup (I used a stick blender) and then season to taste. If you like, serve with a sprinkling of nigella seeds over the top of the soup.

This soup freezes well and can be defrosted over night in the fridge and then reheated. If you are not keeping this dairy-free and/or low calorie you could add some single or double cream to make it a richer, more luxurious treat. Serve with some crusty bread (gluten-free if required).

Japanese Pork

13th October 201830th October 2018
by thefoodwife

Serves 2-4

This is ready in 20 minutes and packs a punch with its sauce. Iâ€™ve said this serves 2-4, because it is a very rich sauce so Iâ€™ve decided that weâ€™ll get four portions out of it (Iâ€™m sure the Food Husband would much rather it was just two!) so by all means decide for yourself. But essentially this recipe is just for a meat sauce; the idea is to serve this with white basmati rice or a sushi rice and some green vegetables such as pak choi.

The combination of ingredients in the sauce leaves a wonderfully savoury flavour. With the soy and fish sauce the result is salty though, thus only needing to be seasoned with pepper at the end.

Ingredients:
1 heaped tsp (coconut) oil (or use 1 tbsp of a liquid oil such as rapeseed)
1 white onion, finely diced
2 inches of ginger, peeled and finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, finely diced
1 large red chilli, finely diced
500g lean pork mince
3 tbsp shao xing cooking wine
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp white miso paste
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
200ml vegetable stock
2 heaped tsp cornflour, slackened in a little cold water
Ground white pepper

Step 1: Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for two-three minutes.

Step 2: Add the ginger, garlic and chilli and cook for a further two minutes, stirring frequently.

Step 3: Add the pork mince and increase the heat slightly. Cook until the mince is browned and the pan is dry (about 10-12 minutes).

Step 4: Mix the wine, soy sauce, fish sauce, miso, sesame and sugar together and then stir into the pork. Cook for a couple of minutes and then add the vegetable stock. Add the slackened cornflour and stir until the sauce is thickened. Season to taste with some ground white pepper.

I served this with sushi rice and sprinkled the top with sliced spring onion and red chilli, along with some slices of fried garlic. On the side I stir-fried some pak choi with garlic and a squeeze of lime.