Risotto of the Orient

The covers were wrapped around me; my eyes opened briefly and then closed again like shutters opening briefly to release the intense nervous energy that had built up over the short days in the run-up to the Christmas Break. I briefly remembered my dog barking in my face and then letting her out onto the garden before feeding her and heading back to bed.

Suddenly; it was 10.30am. I'd not slept in so long for nearly two years. However I felt refreshed in some way and excited as in the preceding days I had survived emotional family encounters and made them memorable. I found myself waking in that strange hinterland between Christmas and New Year where nobody really knows what day it is. What I did know was that my dining partner was returning North and the following day I would be cooking us our very own Christmas Dinner.

In the meantime I walked my dog to a snowy landmark many metres above sea level. For tea I settled on a recipe partly inspired by a Vietnamese Restaurant in a nearby city and my dining partner's penchant for making "fusion" dishes. These dishes are ones that feature ingredients from a number of cultures, such as a Chinese Curry that contains Chinese and Indian Ingredients for example.

With this in mind I settled on an Oriental themed Risotto. Of course Risottos are more often associated with Italian Cooking but I decided to see what it'd be like to mix them with Oriental Ingredients. The ingredients of this dish were:

Half a large Butternut Squash peeled and cut into cubes.
A Spring Onion peeled, topped and tailed and sliced thinly.
A Green Pepper de-seeded and cut into small squares.
A teaspoon of Soy Sauce.
A teaspoon of Powdered Ginger.
A teaspoon of dried Basil.
A teaspoon of dried Coriander.
Two pieces of Star Anise.
Ten Ounces of Risotto Rice.
Eight Ounces of Quorn Chicken Pieces.
Half a pint of Chicken Stock.

On the player was Jethro Tull's seminal 1978 live record "Bursting Out". This lively album sees the band on fine form and full of confidence during their tour in support of their agricultural themed masterpiece "Heavy Horses".

The first job was to pour some Olive Oil into my Le Cresceut and add the vegetables and spices. I stirred them all together and put the lid on the Le Cresceut. I then sweated them for twenty minutes on a medium heat while stirring occasionally.

Next I took the lid off the Le Cresceut and stirred the rice in for around two minutes. Then I added the Quorn Pieces and half the Chicken Stock and stirred them in for twenty minutes on a medium heat. The reason for doing this was to ensure the Risotto Rice absorbed a lot of the stock.

After that I added the other half of the Chicken Stock and simmered the ingredients for another twenty minutes; by this time the rice was soft enough to be edible and the dish was ready.

I served it and on eating it found that the Risotto Rice went well with the more Oriental ingredients and flavours. Of course long-grain rice is regularly used in Oriental Cooking and so adding the Risotto Rice to this dish wasn't a great leap. It was however different enough to create a unique and flavoursome dish that give me a much-needed energy boost in midwinter.

Stir it up- the dish shortly after the addition of the Risotto Rice and the Quorn Chicken Pieces. 

The meal on a plate ready to eat and decorated by pieces of Star Anise that served to provide a sweet and Aniseed-like taste. 

Solstice Tart

It was the first Sunday in December, the low winter sun shone brightly and illuminated the hills overlooking my two up, two down semi. The day before my dining partner and I helped a local charity flog mulled wine at a Victorian Market in the local County Town. An added bonus of a great event was seeing one of my best mates and his parents during the course of Market. All three were on good form.

After the Dogg and I had been our usual walk, she chose to curl up on the sofa while I focused on a festive cookery project. On the player for this one was Rod Stewart's 1984 blockbuster "Camouflage". If you're a child of the eighties with a soft spot for albums driven by synths and top-heavy drum kits, then this record is right up your street. It contains a massive hit in the form of "Some Guys Have All the Luck" as  well as a stonking cover of Free's 1970 blockbuster "All Right Now". Admittedly the record is not up there with his early classics such as "Never a Dull Moment" or "Gasoline Alley" but it still packs a punch.

I had not made a pudding for a time and recalled a recipe for a Mincemeat Tart that my mum had discovered some five years previously. The recipe is essentially a giant Mince Pie which, instead of being topped by pastry, is topped by a sheet of Marzipan.

The ingredients are as follows:

For the Shortcrust Pastry:

13 ounces of Plain Flour.
6.5 ounces of Unsalted Butter.
2 tablespoonfuls of Almond Milk.

For the filling:

One large jar of Mincemeat.
The juice juice of one Orange.
One teaspoon of Nutmeg.
One teaspoon of Cinnamon.
One teaspoon of All Spice.

For the topping:

One pound of ready to roll Marizapan.

The method to make this one is:

1. Put the Flour in a mixing bowl and add the Butter after first cutting it into small cubes.

2. Rub the Flour and Butter in until it resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Gradually add the Almond Milk and stir it in.

4. Knead the Pastry into a ball and then roll it out until it forms a circle nearly a foot in width.

5. Use the Pastry to line a greased pie dish around a foot in width and three centimetres deep.

6. Add the Mincemeat, Spices and Orange Juice to the pie dish and spread them about evenly using a butter knife.

7. Roll out the Marzipan so that it is flat enough to cover the top of the pie dish.

8. Place the rolled Marzipan on top of the pie dish so that it covers the filling and the edges join with the pastry. Use any spare Marzipan to make a decorative pattern on the top of the Tart.

9. Cook the Tart for 35 minutes on Gas Mark 5.

When the Tart came out of the oven it was slightly browned on top, a little like a Simnel Cake, and it was steaming. During the week I indulged in it as a superb comfort food; it helped take the edge off the short days and surplus darkness. The spices and the Orange coupled with the Mincemeat served to re-ignite positive memories of classic Christmas Holidays. The Marzipan meanwhile reminded me of Christmas Cakes that my Gran used to make, for Christmases long since gone, before she began her slow walk into the sunset.

Cross o' the Pan- the extra Marzipan made an excellent star-crossed pattern atop the Tart. 

Two Pear Soup for Autumn

A windy day ensued, nothing to do with what I'd eaten the night before, it was a Thursday in November and a day away from the office. My dining partner was coming over later in the day and I wanted to cook something fresh, flavoursome and healthy.

On the player was Cat Stevens' 1974 record Buddha and the Chocolate Box. This album contains the excellent hit "Oh Very Young" and plenty of earnest singer-songwriter material that is very listenable. The album's title came from a plane trip Stevens took and he noticed that, when looking down at what he held in his hands, if the plane had crashed all he had with him were the two items that form the title of the album.

I had been inspired to make a soup featuring Pears, Limes and Celery in an attempt to make something that was quite liquorice like in taste. The Pears were sourced from an excellent independent fruit and vegetable shop that contains a great choice of fresh, seasonal produce and pleasant staff.

The ingredients for this recipe were:

A teaspoon of Fennel Seeds
Two teaspoons of Ground Cumin.
A teaspoon of Black Pepper.
Two teaspoons of Oregano
Three Bay Leaves.
The juice of two Limes.
One Chinese Pear cubed, de-cored but not peeled.
One Conference Pear cubed, de-cored but not peeled.
One White Onion topped, tailed and finely sliced.
One Sweet Potato topped tailed, peeled and sliced width-ways.
Two tablespoons of Tomato Puree.
Two sticks of Celery finely sliced width-ways.
Half a pint of Chicken Stock.
One Avocado de-stoned and peeled.

The method for the soup was:

1. I fried all the herbs and spices, the Lime Juice, the Pears, Tomato Puree and Vegetables for 30 minutes on a medium heat in Olive Oil in my Le Cresceut with the lid on the Le Cresceut.
2. I then added the Chicken Stock and simmered everything for 20 minutes with the lid off the Le Cresceut.
3. I removed the Bay Leaves.
4. After leaving the mixture to cool away from the hob for an hour, I then blended it and served it in bowls with slices of Avocado on top  of the soup.

Rich Autumnal tastes abounded in this soup, partly due to the inclusion of the Pears. My dining partner said the soup was very flavoursome. It was also something she'd have paid for in a nice restaurant. It was also one of the best soups she'd ever had and wasn't too creamy. For my part I was aiming for a soup as good as one I'd had during a recent visit we made to a top restaurant. One way I sought to achieve this was by pureeing the ingredients as much as possible, perhaps this was one reason for the kind and positive comments.

Pureed Shores: a sea of soup with a small island of Avocado in the centre. 

Cider Bread with memories.

23 November 2017; exactly twenty-one years to the day since a party in the ruins of a stately home for an erstwhile classmate's birthday. It was also almost nineteen years to the day since a party in the same location, for the same reason, with, largely, the same people in the winter of '98.

On the player during cooking of today's recipe was the deluxe version of "Back to Black" that I had acquired from my dining partner. She has a good taste in music. In light of the fact that the album's author sadly joined the '27' club in 2011, a listen to this modern classic signposts exactly why this happened. Indeed, the lyrics to songs such as the timeless "Rehab", the capital title track and the raw hurt of "Addicted" proved to be grimly prophetic. The album is certainly one that proves the theory that great art does not spring from contentment.

It was against this soundtrack that I decided to make some bread, as I had yet to subject my dining partner to my bread making skills. The ingredients for the bread I chose to make, which was a Cider, Apple and Wensleydale Bread, were as follows:

For the dough:

Fifteen Ounces of Wholemeal Bread Flour.
One teaspoon of Yeast.
Two teaspoons of Dried Rosemary.
One teaspoon of Mustard Seeds.
One Russet Apple, without its core, top or tail.
Ten Ounces of Wensleydale Cheese.
Half a pint of Cider.

For the topping:

One teaspoon of Sesame Seeds.
One teaspoon of Nigella Seeds.

The method to use is as follows:

1. Mix the Flour and Yeast together in a mixing bowl.
2. Add and stir in the Rosemary, Mustard Seeds, Apple and Cheese.
3. Gradually add the Cider while mixing it in gently.
4. Once it's all mixed together, knead vigorously into a flat circle.
5. Top it with the Sesame and Nigella Seeds by spraying them widely on top of the bread.
6. Leave to rise in a warm room by the window, preferably south-facing, for two to three hours.
7. Bake it in the oven for twenty-five minutes on Gas Mark Six.

The taste of this bread was very moist due to Apple and Wensleydale, while the Mustard Seeds and Rosemary gave it a distinctive and warm flavour.  My dining partner concluded it was a healthy and easy to digest, compared to supermarket bread, and a bread recipe that she'd make herself. She also believed it to be nutritious,flavoursome and unique.

The weather was so warm that we had the bread as part of a picnic on the last Friday in November. Funnily enough we ate it on a bench in the grounds of the stately home I had visited for those parties nineteen and twenty one years earlier. As the sun shone down on us I reflected on the parties and regaled my dining partner with stories of my first taste of lager, the guests (one of whom is no longer with us), and midnight walks round the ruins- all things that took place during these parties.

Open Sesame- the bread topped with Sesame and Nigella Seeds cooling down after a spell in the oven. 

African Eggs

It was a Friday in mid-November. I had the day off and the sun had glistened on the high hills above my home during the morning dog walk. Prior to cooking my lunch, which is the subject of today's recipe, I had bumped into a mate in the local greengrocer. I'd shared some epic nights out on the town with her and others from our crowd over the years. Things had changed for us both since those times as she is now a mother of two while I have a house to run. Later on in the day, as the sun set, I wandered around a nearby County Town with a bag of fresh laundry. As I approached a towering Mock Tudor Building I saw my old boss, still wearing the same waistcoat and trousers combo as he did when I worked with him, framed in the bay window of his office. It was heartening to see him still working away. These two experiences made it a day of memories.

A further memory rose to the surface of my present in the choice of dish for my lunch. I remembered it was a little over three years since I had taken a trip to Fuerteventura. I went there in circumstances that will not happen again. One of the breakfast dishes at the hotel I stayed at was Poached Egg with Tomato and Herb Sauce. I decided to make a similar dish in the shape of Fried Egg and Tomato Sauce. I decided to use Moroccan Herbs and Spices in the Sauce in light of Fuerteventura's fairly close proximity to this North African Country.

Perhaps I was trying to mark time with my choice of dish, the experiences I had that day and even the choice of music while I cooked. I chose Rod Stewart's 1975 effort the excellent "Atlantic Crossing". The album saw Stewart leaving his homeland, for reasons of finance and romance, to settle in the USA. In a more low key way three years earlier, almost to the day, I had left the County Town I'd spent a lot of my early adult life working in and went to work in the City for similar reasons.

The Sauce recipe comprised of:

Four diced Shallots
Two Sliced Tomatoes
One Birds Eye Chili
One teaspoon of Basil
One teaspoon of Ras El Hanoi Seasoning
One teaspoon of Black Pepper
One tablespoon of Tomato Purée with Chili

I stewed all these ingredients in three tablespoons of Olive Oil in my Le Cresceut on a medium heat, while stirring them constantly, for a period of 25 minutes. 

Towards the end of the cooking time for the sauce I fried two Eggs in two ounces of melted and Unsalted Butter and two tablespoons of Olive Oil in a frying pan for five minutes. In frying the Eggs for just five minutes I ensured they were not under cooked but I also ensured the yolks were not dry and were runny. That way when consuming them with the Sauce I could mix the yolks with the Sauce. 

When the Eggs and Sauce were ready I first served the Sauce by spreading it evenly on the plate and then placed the two Eggs on top. Tomato and Basil are always an irresistible combination. They were enhanced in this meal not just by the runny yolks of the Eggs, but also the sharp and exotic flavour the Ras El Hanoi Seasoning. This spice served to rekindle memories of breakfasts underneath Palm Trees and cloudless blue skies at the start of the Autumn Equinox of 2014. 

Two Egg On: the Runny Eggs sit atop a Spicy Sauce.