Arancini Aromatics

The other week I donned my dark black trousers, cardboard collar shirt, dress shoes, scarf and smart black jacket. In other words it was the look of the middle-aged rock star,

think Mike Rutherford of Genesis on their recent tour and you get the feel of the outfit. Through the rain I travelled and rendezvoused at the Pedlar Market with two people I first met 27 years ago. We marked time by sampling an exotic range of food as the Autumn rain thudded down onto the roof of our executive table. 

Top of the taste list that I sampled comprised of some Quesdillas, of which more on another post, and some Arancini Balls. The last time I had anything remotely similar to this was when I had Mini Kievs as a young Kidd. The ones I sampled at the Market contained Risotto Rice, a few Chicken pieces and golden butter and herb sauce. They were an inspiration for today's blog post.

After the intensity of the week and some intriguing ways getting presented to forward my career that were chucked at me, there was a kind of stillness on the sunny Saturday. While I was waiting on the rain to clear, and my tag team partner to appear, I decided to experiment with the cooking by making some Arancini Balls of my own.

Keeping in line with the Genesis theme I banged onto the player perhaps their most controversial work, 1974's "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway". It was a record that saw the departure of longtime lead singer Peter Gabriel following the supporting tour. There is a feeling throughout the album of the band simultaneously reaching a creative peak as they're about to fall apart. The story that is meant to be told on the album makes no sense, but the music and lyrics have a power and beauty that make this essential listening. 

The first job was to get the ingredients together to make this dish and they are as follows:

For the filling: 

One White Onion, chopped finely after first being topped, tailed and peeled. 

One finely sliced Garlic Clove. 

Three Hundred Grams of Risotto Rice.

One fresh Cayenne Pepper from my garden that was de-seeded and sliced thinly. 

0.1 litres of Red Wine or Port Wine.

One litre of Chicken Stock.

One hundred and thirty grams of Riocah Flavoured Cheddar which I obtained from the ever growing and ever wonderful Stretton Hall Farm Shop | Facebook

For the coating:

Three Beaten Eggs

100 grams of Gluten Free Self-Raising Flour 

100 grams of Gluten Free Breadcrumbs 

The method goes like this:

1. Fry in Sunflower Oil in a deep frying pan or Le Cresceut dish the White Onion. Fry on a medium heat for around fifteen minutes until they are translucent. 

2. Add the Garlic Clove and Cayenne Pepper and fry for another five minutes while stirring.

3. Add the Risotto Rice and stir in for one minute.

4. Add the Red Wine or Port Wine and simmer until the Rice is absorbed by the Wine. 

5. Add the Chicken Stock and simmer vigorously for around twenty-five minutes until the Risotto Rice has absorbed all the stock and the Rice is soft. 

6. Add the Riocah Cheddar and mix in until it has been absorbed by the rest of the mixture. 

7. Leave the mixture to cool. Once cooled shape the mixture into balls a little larger than golf balls.  Put a piece of cheese, I used Arran Cheddar into the middle of each of the balls. 

8. Put the eggs, self-raising flour and breadcrumbs into three separate bowls. 

9. Put each ball into the eggs, then the self-raising flour and then the breadcrumbs so that they are totally covered by the mixture.

10. Fry in a lot of Olive Oil turning frequently for about five to ten minutes. 

The richness of the Red Wine and Riocah Cheese together with the melted Arran Cheddar gave the Arancini a luxuriant taste and the breadcrumb coating, the author's first attempt at making this type of coating, was of a crunchy golden consistency. Thank you to Pedlar and to my friends in inspiring me to make this dish. 

Aubergine d'Genius

It was the week after the cricket season had ended. It had been another memorable one for me with a finish comfortably inside the club's top twenty bowlers in terms of wickets taken and my bowling average and a finish inside the top five for my bowling strike rate. In some ways that first weekend after the end of the cricket season can feel like a bereavement, as with it comes the feeling that shorter days and hostile weather are on their way. In turn with that comes a new way of living until cricket training picks up again in the New Year. 

That's one way of looking at the end of the season. Another way of looking at it is that you can use the weekend to look back at all the memories you've made on the cricket field, and beyond, over the summer just gone. With the arrival from the courier of two Rugby games to play on my PS3 during upcoming the dark nights, a game of snooker at a nearby club and some heavy rain on the Sunday morning, I could quite easily have taken the former view upon the weekend. 

However I took a short walk with the Dogg into my conservatory and then the back garden. The Pumpkins glowed like a dimly lit streetlight in the morning fog, while the Peas and Runner Beans dangled daintily from their host plants. In one corner of the conservatory the Aubergines we had cultivated since the frosts of January had swelled into deep purple and noir vegetables that were ripe for the picking. The Bell Peppers were scrunched and twisted in quirky ways while the Cayenne Peppers were sharply pointed like colourful fangs.

It was looking around the conservatory and garden at the plentiful supplies of fresh vegetables that we had worked hard to prepare over the year that gave me perspective and understanding. It was a realisation that for all the adventures on and off the cricket field over the summer, sometimes it is good to stop and appreciate all that you've achieved and bask on that to make more memories during the Autumn and Winter. 

A way of appreciating the vegetables we had nurtured was for me to take something special for us both to eat and something to share with you all to help inspire you readers in your own cooking recipes over the coming months. I made an Aubergine and Sausage Casserole using the following ingredients:

Four Aubergines, diced and cubed sourced from those grown in my conservatory. 

Two Red Bell Peppers, diced and sliced thinly from the crop grown in my conservatory. 

One Green Bell Pepper, diced and sliced thinly from the crop grown in my conservatory. 

One Cayenne Pepper, diced and sliced thinly from the crop grown in my conservatory.

Five fresh Basil Leaves from my back garden.

Six fresh Marjoram Leaves from my back garden. 

Three Heads of Fresh Parsley from my back garden.

Eight Tomato and Pork Sausages- sourced mine locally from the ever wonderful Stretton Hall Farm Shop. Check out their page at: Stretton Hall Farm Shop | Facebook 

Six Tomatoes cut into small cubes.

Two diced cloves of Garlic.

A tin of Chick Peas.

A White Onion, peeled, topped, tailed and diced. 

Half a pint of Beef Stock. 

A teaspoon of Chilli Powder. 

As I began work on preparing the dish, I slipped onto the player Morcheeba's 1996 offering "Who can you trust?". The album is another one in a long line of memorable British Trip-Hop albums from the 1990s and every bit as good as Massive Attack's "Blue Lines", "Dummy" by Portishead or "Maxinquaye" by Tricky. 

The method goes like this:

1. Shallow Fry the Sausages on a medium heat for around five minutes until they are slightly browned. Then leave to one side. 

2. In a Le Cresceut sweat the Aubergine, , Garlic, Peppers and Onions for around ten minutes or until the Onions are translucent, whichever is the sooner. 

3. Add the Tomatoes and stew for another ten minutes. 

4. Add the Basil, Chilli Power, Marjoram and Parsley plus the Chickpeas and stir these in. 

5. Add the Sausages and stir in with around three quarters of the Beef Stock.

6. Cook in the oven on Gas Mark 3, or 275 degrees Fahrenheit or 170 degrees Celsius, for ninety minutes. 

7. After ninety minutes remove the Le Cresceut from the oven, stir the contents and add the remainder of the Beef Stock. Return to the oven and cook for a further thirty minutes.

8. Remove from the oven and serve.  

From a health fitness point of view the Sausages provided plenty of iron, while the Chick Peas had lots of nutrients and fibre and the Aubergine contained lots of minerals and potassium. From a taste point of view the herbs added much flavour and the homegrown vegetables were much sweeter and tastier than their quasi-manufactured supermarket counterparts would have been. 

One pot to rule them all

 We recently returned from adventures in Arran and the Lake District and brought with us some recipes from our travels. One of the great things about travel is visiting various restaurants and hotels to see how they approach their cooking. That way you can incorporate these skills into your own cooking. It's a little like what Mark Knopfler said about stealing a few guitar licks from other artists he worked with so that he could incorporate these new licks into the music he made with his own bands.

For our stay in the Lake District we stopped at a place marketed as a Vegan Retreat where no non-vegan food, bar that for our Dogg, could be brought onto the premises. We had a lovely stay there and the Dogg loved to run around the expansive back garden. The owners seemed pleasant. However on examination of  surprising public comments made after our departure; they came across, much like characters in a Bond film, as not all that they first appeared.

Although their plush luxury coupled with subtle and not so subtle attempts to convert us to be vegan failed, they certainly gave us some food for thought to try a variety of new vegan recipes. Those of you who have followed this blog for a time will know that I write about, and cook, a lot of vegetarian, fish, meat and vegan recipes. My outlook on life is that a balanced diet is the most important thing and not all vegan recipes I have seen give enough protein to be standalone meals. They are better as side dishes.

When we arrived at the Vegan Retreat, we took the opportunity to eat out at places that had ostensibly Vegan dishes on the menu so as to immerse ourselves fully in the experience we had signed up for on the two days at the end of the holiday. On the first night of our stay we went down town with the Dogg; she conquered her nerves to allow us to relax at a restaurant called the Round. Together with its sister restaurant Fellpack, of which more later, it offers quality dining alternatives to meat dishes. In this case we had a burger made entirely of Beetroot while I relaxed my nerves and kept in holiday mode by consuming a large can of Hawkshead Pale Ale. 

The next night we were outside at the Fellpack itself as the clouds battled and bled lukewarm rain onto us occasionally. Having quickly polished off a bottle of Keswick Gold, these days I will only drink the finest craft beer, cask ale, real Whisky, Gin and good wine the world has to offer, it was time for our main meal. 

The Fellpack specialises in Fellpots and these are essentially a local take on Onepot recipes. This and more from the menu can be glimpsed at: Fellpack - Fellpack 

I quickly consumed their Lentil Mixed Bean chilli that also contained Quinoa and enough protein to create a full main meal. The sour cream and chive mixture was livened by strong Jalapeno Chillies which were extinguished by another stein of golden bitter. This filling recipe inspired me on my return home to make a meal inspired by this dish. 

On the player was some newly discovered mellow trip hop in the shape of Morcheeba's excellent "Who can you Trust?" from 1996, which alternatively floats, bites, stings and impresses with its range of sounds that make it a lost classic. 

The ingredients for the recipe were as follows:

One White Onion, peeled, topped, tailed and then diced. 

One Spring Onion, this one was homegrown, tailed and cut into thin pieces. The leaves should be used as well. 

One Green Sweet Pepper, this one was homegrown too, topped, de-seeded and sliced thinly.

Two Hundred and Twenty Five Grams of Quinoa.

A tablespoon of Cajun Seasoning. 

One Hundred Grams of Quorn Mince. 

A tin of Red Kidney Beans in Chilli Sauce. 

The method goes like this:

1. Simmer the Quinoa in a saucepan of boiling water for around twenty-five minutes then drain and leave to one side.

2. In a Le Cresceut with some vegetable oil gently fry the Onions, Pepper, Cajun Seasoning and Quorn Mince. Do this for around twenty five minutes.

3. Add the Red Kidney Beans in Chilli Sauce and the Quinoa to the Le Cresceut and warm through before serving. 

The key to a good Vegan Dish is Protein and more Protein coupled with Spice and extra Spice. That way the dish is lifted above being a simple side dish. In this recipe the Quinoa and Red Kidney Beans give the requisite protein, although I would substitute Quorn Mince for Pui Lentils next time to give more genuine protein. The Chilli Sauce, Cajun Seasoning and homegrown produce meanwhile make the flavour rise above the ordinary.

Chard Remains

During the longest Saturday of the year I was sitting watching the river flow, after some weeks of action packed adventures away, meetings with remarkable people and captaining the cricket team. I had also been tending to my vegetable garden and noticed that there was plenty of Swiss Chard that had been growing now for quite some time.

I was inspired to make a Swiss Chard Flan from a vegetarian cookbook from the 1970s my parents had that contained a Swiss Chard recipe.

Bob Dylan, the man who wrote the song "Watch the River Flow", was on the player in the shape of his dark, brooding 1997 masterpiece "Time out of Mind". The record was Dylan's first set of original songs for seven years and showed why it was wise for him to wait to make the record until he had enough superior songs. Everything on this disc is top-notch with highlights such as "not dark yet" and "make you feel my love" that was later covered by Adele. It's worth checking out at: Bob Dylan - time out of mind album - YouTube 

The ingredients to make this flan are as follows:

Short Crust Pastry made from 250 grams of Plain Gluten Free Flour, 125 grams of Unsalted Butter and some milk to bind it together while kneading it.

Fifteen Swiss Chard Leaves, shredded into small pieces. I used some picked from my garden. 

Three Duck Eggs, beaten and mixed with quarter of a pint of Almond Milk or Cow's Milk if you prefer.

Tablespoon of Nutmeg.

Grated Cheese of your choice..

The method to make this recipe goes like this:

1. Knead together the Flour and Butter together to create a breadcrumb mixture and then add some milk if necessary to bind the mixture together to make a dough. 

2. Roll the dough out and add the pastry to a flan tin, lining the tin evenly with the pastry. 

3. Add the Nutmeg, Egg and Milk Mixture and the Chard pieces to the pastry tin and space the mixture of ingredients evenly in the flan tin.

4. Grate the Cheese over the top of the mixture. I used a Cheddar flavoured with Rioja Wine.

5. Bake in the oven for thirty minutes on Gas Mark 5.

This recipe felt reasonably healthy with the fresh Swiss Chard while the Nutmeg added a sharp feel to the taste. The only thing I will do different next time I make this dish is use Cow's Milk in the Egg mixture as the Eggs bind together much better with Cow's Milk than with Almond Milk which left the dish a little watery.  I later made it with Cow's Milk and got a much thicker mixture, as shown below, which enhanced the taste.

D'Yer Mak'er

The first weekend in July was quite tropical both in temperature and the number of wet storms that took place. It was enough to cancel my game of cricket on the Saturday, albeit that hardier teams in our club still played their matches. Still it left some time for experimenting with new recipes.

The day before we had visited a new Steakhouse that's opened in a building that once housed a rough and ready boozer. A link to their website is at: (2) BIG JIMS BBQ Steakhouse | Facebook Their owner, who was a classmate of mine for 11 years at Primary School and then Secondary School, has created a recipe roster of first class steaks and the best chicken goujons that I've had since I stopped at a diner in Massachusetts in 1990. Chatting to him, in person for the first time in twenty years, and hearing his business plans made it clear he's got the drive and the focus to succeed spectacularly. 

On the player, as I flicked through some recipes online for my own inspiration, was the Band's 1971 double record "Rock of Ages" that shows they were a force to be reckoned with onstage. The edition I have also features a cameo by Bob Dylan during his "retirement" period between 1971 and the start of 1973. 

I was inspired by Big Jim's example to make an exciting and new meat dish with some low budget minced beef the Tag Team Partner had unearthed from the bargain bin earlier that week. The dish is a Jamaican Dish and the ingredients are as follows:

For the chilli Minced Beef:

500 grams of Minced Beef.

Some Chilli Flakes.

A teaspoon of All Spice.

A teaspoon of Jerk Seasoning.

One Red Pepper cut into small squares.

A grated Carrott.

A tin of Red Kidney Beans in Chilli Sauce. 

For the Minty Sweetcorn

A tin of Sweetcorn.

Some chopped fresh mint, around two tablespoons worth. 

An Orange Pepper cut into small squares.

Two diced Tomatoes. 

For the Coconut Rice

125 grams of Rice.

A small Tin of Coconut Milk.

50 grams of Creamed Coconut sliced into pieces. 

To make the mince mixture first fry on a medium heat the mince with the spices for around ten minutes. Then add the Red Pepper pieces and fry for around another ten minutes. Add the Red Kidney Beans and stir them into the mixture to make a thick sauce. 

The Minty Sweetcorn is made by frying it with the Orange Pepper for ten minutes on a medium heat and then adding the Tomatoes and frying the ingredients for another fifteen minutes. Lastly add the fresh mint in readiness to serve. 

The Coconut Rice is made by adding the Rice to a frying pan then covering it with some boiling water. Simmer it on the hob for around ten minutes, stirring regularly to stop the Rice getting stuck to the pan. Then add the Coconut Milk and the Creamed Coconut and let it cook on a low heat for another five minutes to create a creamy rich rice. 

This dish was a good mix with the fieriness of the Chilli Minced Beef getting quenched by the minty Sweetcorn and the Sweetness of the Coconut Rice. An enjoyable leap into the unknown which may see a few more Jamaican Recipes on this blog. 

Getting in Tuna

Gardening leave from a game of cricket one Saturday gave me some thinking time. It made me realise that one of the things the game has lost as a result of the Covid Pandemic is the Cricket Tea. Cricket teas have advanced in my time involved in the game from being a simple affair of a glass of squash, some custard creams and a bag of corner shop crisps, to more exotic fare of Hummus and well-crafted sandwiches.

While I had time on my hands I decided to make a quiche that included homegrown and locally sourced ingredients and would stand fit to make it onto a spread for a cricket tea. 

The ingredients for this quiche are as follows:

Shortcrust Pastry made from 200 grams of Plain Flour, 100 grams of cubed, unsalted butter with around a tablespoon of Almond Milk to thicken the pastry.

240 grams of Tinned Tuna. 

2 Duck Eggs, beaten.

1 Chicken Egg beaten.

A quarter of a pint of Skimmed Milk.

50 grams of Fresh Dill- I used some that I'd grown from seed in the conservatory. 

25 grams of Fresh Parsley- I used some that I'd grown in my garden. 

100 grams of strong cheese. For this recipe I used Isle of Arran Cheddar however plain Cheddar, Red Leicester or, for the Pro Europeans amongst us, Gruyere will do. 

On the player was a classic band, who I only knew from a few listens during the dying days of my A-Levels, called Santana. The album on the player was their recent offering Santana IV which saw some of the original members return and successfully rekindle the Latino swing- rock that made them so famous in the first place. 

Now to the method of this quiche. I first prepared the pastry by rubbing together the Flour and the Butter in a bowl until they formed something with the consistency of breadcrumbs. Then I added the Almond Milk and kneaded the mixture with some forceful punches until I had a pliable dough.

Next I rolled the pastry out and used it to line a circular cake tin that I had previously greased to avoid the pastry sticking. 

I distributed the Tuna, Dill and most of the Parsley evenly throughout the cake tin. I cut the Arran Cheddar into pieces and spread them as well.

Then I beat the eggs together in a measuring jug before adding the Skimmed Milk and whisking thoroughly to create a golden paste in the measuring jug. I poured this into the cake tin and watched it distribute widely to cover and flood the Tuna, Cheese and Herbs. After that I added the final piece of Parsley in the centre of the Quiche to provide some decoration. 

The Quiche was then cooked in the oven on Gas Mark 3, or 160 degrees for an electric oven, for 45 minutes. 

After it was cooked, some of the Tuna atop the quiche had a smoked feel to it and the fish itself contained plenty of protein. As did the Eggs, especially the Duck Eggs which tend to be larger and richer than the eggs of chickens. The Dill and Parsley meanwhile gave this one a real freshness and bite that would help fill anybody's stomach between innings in a game of cricket. 

New Baconcy

 White Fish and Bacon are a combination that traditionally goes together very well. Recently we acquired some back Bacon Rashers from the wonderful local farm shop at Stretton Hall, see their website at: (2) Stretton Hall Farm Shop | Facebook for more about them. 

Prior to making to dish we had prepared the garden and set out the seeds we were going to grow for this summer's vegetable garden project. On the player was the downbeat, claustrophobic thud of the Manic Street Preachers 1994 offering "The Holy Bible". It can be heard at: Manic Street Preachers The Holy Bible (1994) - YouTube . It's the last album to feature contributions from guitarist Richey Edwards who vanished in mysterious circumstances not long after its release. 

To make this dish you need the following ingredients:

Six Rashers of Back Bacon.

Two Hundred Grams of Samphire.

Three Mooli Radish, peeled, topped and tailed and sliced thinly. We used some that had been freshly grown out of my garden. 

Two Cod Fillets.

A head of Broccoli, cut into small florets.

This one is a simple recipe to make and it goes like this. 

1. Layer the Broccoli florets across the bottom of a steaming pan. 

2. Put the Cod Fillets on top of them. 

3. Steam for thirty minutes.

4. Meanwhile fry the Mooli Radish and Samphire on a medium heat for ten minutes. 

5. Add the Bacon and continue to fry lightly for another ten minutes.

The moist and succulent feel of the Cod offsets the sharp taste of the Mooli Radish and salty texture of the Samphire and the Bacon making this a tasteful combination for all.