Risotto with Mushrooms & Brocoli in a Balsamic Reduction

(Forgive the Pretension - I've been reading Heston)

Serves 2

For the Risotto:
3/4 cup Arborio Rice (or your favorite risotto rice. Long grain will not do).
3/4 pint chicken stock, made up from 2 oxo cubes if nothing better (I used the oxo)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
About 1/3 small pot double cream. (50ml ?)
A little Parmesan, flaked (about 1 inch of the thin end of a wedge)
Olive Oil
1 cherry tomato

For the Veg
1/2 head of broccoli, florettes only - small florettes at that.
8 mushrooms, chopped
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Lea & Perrins
Splash of Red Wine
Lemon Thyme
Oregano


Fry up the onion, in hot oil until starting to turn transparent. Do not let it brown! (A couple of minutes - less than normal if chopped fine enough)
Add the rice, and stir together for a minute or two.
Add about 2/3 of the stock, stir in, and leave to simmer
Top up the rice when it's starting to look like it's getting dry.
(Should take ~ 20 mins all told - see pack of rice)

Meanwhile,
Fry up the mushrooms in a little olive oil over a high heat. Keep throwing them around in the pan; keep them evenly coated with oil / juices and don't let one side over cook while the other goes unloved.
Once the mushrooms are showing signs of starting to brown, take them out of the pan and set aside.

Turn the heat off.
Add a little more olive oil, then add in the lea & perrins, wine & Balsamic Vinegar. Beware! will likely start spitting!
Mix together using the heat of the pan only.
Add the herbs.
Return the mushrooms to the pan

Also,
Steam the Broccoli for 5 mins. Once done, tip into the pan with the mushrooms and stir through. Leave until end.

Finale;
When the rice is done, turn off the heat and leave for a minute.
Turn the heat back on the veg, to warm through.
Add the Parmesan and the cream to the rice, stir through as little as possible to get a good mixture.

Serve;
With half a cherry tomato on the rice to give it a centerpiece.

Thai Style Prawn Red Curry with egg fried rice.

Peeled, shelled large prawns. 1-2 small packs per person.
1 large onion
Lemongrass (from a jar)
3 cloves garlic
4 tomatoes, roasted & marinaded in chili oil (from a jar)
1 small tin of coconut milk.
1 Fish Stock Cube
Thai Fish Sauce
Rice Wine
Sweet Chili Sauce
Green Chillies (really lazy)
Thai 7 spice
Lea & Perrins

1 egg
rice
soy sauce


Chop the onion roughly and fry in oil slowly until transparent.
Add the garlic (crushed) and the tomatoes (chopped). Fry for a bit longer. Add enough rice wine to cover the base of the pan, and cook for another minute. Add a splash of Worcester sauce, the stock cube made up in ~100ml of boiling water, the chillies, a little 7 spice and a teaspoon of the sweet chili sauce. Set aside to cook while doing the rice.

Cook the rice as per packet. When almost done, break the egg into a wok and mash it up with a spatula. Keep mashing and moving it about while it cooks, so the white and yolk are thoroughly mixed in. Add the rice to the wok, and splash in the soy sauce (not too much). Fry up for a few minutes.

Add the prawns and coconut milk to the curry and cook it hard - the aim is still a liquid sauce, but does want a hint of thickness. And everything needs to be warm.

Serve the curry over the rice so that the liquid soaks through the rice.

Serves 2.

Tomato & Garlic Pasta Sauce

Dead easy, and quick.

4 Large Cloves of Garlic
1 Tin Chopped Tomatoes
1/4 small basil plant
2 heaped teaspoons of green pesto
Lea & Perrins
Tomato Ketchup
Butter

Melt the butter in a pan. Crush the garlic into the pan and fry for about 1 minute. Add the tinned tomatoes. Roughly tear the basil leaves and stir them in. Add everything else, stir while cooking.
Let it reduce down to however thick you want it.

Serves 2

Hunter's Sauce

½ large onion (or, I suppose, a medium onion)
½ pack of chestnut mushrooms (~60g, I think)
1 sm glass red wine
1 beef stock cube made up in ~100ml boiling water
Sauce (Fine) Flour
Lea & Perrins
Tomato Ketchup
Garlic Italian Seasoning
Oil for frying

Chop onion into fine slices. Cook over a medium heat until starting to go translucent
Chop mushrooms into medium-thin slices (3-5mm) Add to the onion, and continue to cook over a medium heat. Mushrooms will produce liquid, the aim is not to boil it off at this stage.
After about 5 mins or so, dust with flour and add red wine and stock. Add a fair sprinkling of seasoning, a good squirt of ketchup (or dollop if you still have a glass bottle), and a generous dash of Lea & Perrins.
Cook over a low heat for 15-20 mins, stirring occasionally, or until it reaches a good saucy consistency.

Serve with Steak & Chips.

Serves 2-3.

Creamy Chicken with Beer

12 Chicken Thighs, boneless
2 Large Onions
4 cloves of garlic
2/3 small tub of double cream (1/3 pint, I think.)
1 glass Belgian Beer – I used Leffe Blonde, but most should do well.
2 Chicken Stock Cubes
Lea & Perrins
Thyme
Sauce (Fine) Flour.

Chop the onions and fry them up in a large casserole for 10-20 mins, until almost transparent. Stir often to avoid sticking to the bottom and burning. Towards then end, crush the garlic and add. Remove everything from the casserole and set aside.
Brown the chicken in 2 batches.
Remove everything from the casserole, and add in the beer. Scrape around a bit to get as much of the gunge on the bottom of the casserole. Add the onions and chicken back in. Dust with flour.
Make up the stock cubes in about 1 pint water and add to the dish. Add a generous helping of Lea & Perrins, and a fair bit of Thyme.
Chicken should be covered by the liquid – just. Add more beer (or water) if not enough.
Cook over a high heat for ½ hour. Keep stirring it to minimise it sticking to the bottom. Should be quite thick once done. Turn of the heat and allow to cool for a minute. Add the cream, stir in and return to the heat, although a medium – low heat this time. Cook for another 5-10 mins until the sauce is a nice consistency.

Serves 5-6 with mash, peas & sweetcorn.

Shredded Spicy Chicken

6 Legs of Chicken (with skin & bones)
3 Bell Peppers
1 ½ Large Onions
5 Red Chillies
Cajun Seasoning
Thyme
Lea & Perrins
Soy Sauce
Tabasco Sauce (chipotle)
1 chicken stock cube
6 Roast Tomatoes (from a jar)
¾ bottle cheap white wine
Olive Oil

Cover the base of a casserole dish with olive oil. Place the chicken in. Chop up the onions, peppers and chillies and place over the chicken. Put the Tomatoes in.
Cover liberally with Cajun seasoning & thyme. Splash in Lea & Perrins and Soy sauce (be generous). Tabasco to taste, but be generous again. Crumble the stock cube over the lot. Cover with more olive oil (I used the oil from the jar of tomatoes here).
Add the wine until it just covers everything. Stir the veg into the gaps between the chicken.
Leave overnight in the fridge.

Cook on low heat (150 C) for 4-5 hours. Add water (or more wine) if it looks as though it is drying out.

Take the chicken out of the casserole, remove the skin and bones. Tear the chicken into small pieces with a fork. Put everything into a large frying pan and cook on the hob for another 10-15 mins. Make sure there is enough oil in the pan.


Serves 6

Onion and Mustard Gravy

This one to go with sausages. Good, quick gravy.

3/4 Large Onion
2 beef oxo cubes
Splash sherry
Garlic Italian Seasoning
Mixed Herbs
Lea & Perrins
1 large teaspoon dijon mustard

Chop the onion into thin strips. Gently fry in oil until translucent.
Boil up 1/2 - 3/4 pint water, and add the oxo cubes.

When onion ready, splash in the sherry. Let it reduce down to almost nothing. Add the oxo stock, the Lea & Perrins and the herbs.
Cook over a med-hot heat until reduced down to the consistency you want it.
Stir in the dijon, and cook for a minute or so. Should lighten the colour and go a bit creamy.

Serve with real sausages and mash.