Mexican rice - another aide memoire!

I have found the recipe for Mexican rice to be so useful - we have it a lot as accompaniment to all different types of protein - that I thought it was about time I gave it the credit it deserves and blogged the recipe!

Here's some examples of where I've used it ....

with Quorn Southern Fried (which get baked) flavour nuggets ...

with sausage incorporated into it ...

with a Mexican style baked lime chicken and side salad ...

with fajitas ...

and even with a fried egg & avocado, for lunch!

As you can see, it's a great accompaniment to all kinds of Mexican inspired dishes.  I love it - and it can be taken up a few notches with the addition of beans, or mushrooms, or peppers, anything you like really!  I tend, these days, to add a red or yellow pepper as a matter of course, anything to increase the vegetable intake of the menfolk.  They love the spicy flavours and the Mexicana cheese that melts on top, so any additional veg tends to just get eaten along the way.

If you can't find Spanish rice, paella or short grain rice is an acceptable substitute.  Oh and interestingly (well you might not find it interesting, but I thought it was!) and while we're talking about rice, I discovered today the difference between Mexican and Spanish rice dishes.  For ages I've thought they were one and the same, however it seems that the Mexican is red (because of the tomato) and the Spanish is yellow (because of the saffron and no tomato).  So there, now you know.  You'll thank me one day when you're at a pub quiz and that question comes up.  LOL

MEXICAN RICE   (serves 4)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 red onion, chopped finely
1 bell pepper (any colour), diced
10g butter
150g Spanish or Paella style rice
1 tsp hot chilli powder
1 tsp dried oregano
half a tsp ground cumin
half a tsp garlic granules
1 tsp chicken stock powder
half a tsp vegetable stock powder
freshly ground black pepper to taste
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
two thirds of the empty tomato tin of hot water
100g of Mexicana cheese, sliced finely
3 spring onions, sliced finely on the diagonal, as garnish.

Method :

In a deep saucepan or wok (non-stick is great), heat the rapeseed oil and add the onion and pepper.  Fry over a medium heat until the onion is soft and the pepper has begun to soften.

Add the butter and rice and continue to cook, so as to achieve a toasted effect on the majority of the rice.

Add the chilli powder, dried oregano, ground cumin, garlic granules, stock powder and black pepper and stir through.

Add the chopped tomatoes and a two thirds of a tomato tin of hot water and stir through.  Cover the pan and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, over a slightly reduced heat, until the rice is 99% cooked and the liquid has reduced and thickened.  You may find you need to add a little more water before the rice is finally ready for the next stage.

Turn the heat off and lay the Mexicana cheese on the surface of the rice.  Sprinkle the spring onion over the top and replace the lid.  Some 10 minutes later, once the cheese has had time to melt, serve.

Printable version

Bockwurst & Bean Pasties : a Germano-Mexicano-Cornwallo fusion!

Okay, so - think of a Cornish Pasty.  Now instead of the usual filling, when you bite into this pastie, you get a rich combination of baked beans, red kidney beans, black eyed beans and pinto beans, plus slices of Bockwurst, all carried by a gently barbecued, tomatoey sauce that has a hint of chilli warmth.

Doesn't sound quite so odd now, does it?  Or does it?

I'll be perfectly honest with you and say that I was extremely dubious about this one.  Extremely dubious.

To begin with, it committed the most heinous of crimes which is to include something else with a Bockwurst other than a kartoffelsalat.  Now that is a cardinal sin, in my book.

Secondly, it put Bockwurst with baked beans.  Now that is getting way too close to "Heinz Beans & Sausage" territory for me.  Not that I dislike said beans and sausages, I just have to be in the right mood for them - and it rarely happens.

Thirdly, it involved a barbecue sauce.  Now I'm not the best person to be faced with a barbecue sauce.  Take Macdonalds barbecue sauce - I dislike it intensely.  Hubby loves it.  I have yet to enjoy any of the "cook-in" sauces that involve barbecue and actively dislike Heinz barbecue baked beans.  So maybe you can understand my caution.

However - and prepare to be as amazed as I was - I really liked these pasties.  I know!  Who knew, eh?

In making the contents of the pasties, I took a large can of the abomination that is Heinz Barbecue Beans and added a half a can of chilli bean mix (not one that was in sauce).  I heated this combination up and included a knob of butter (which hubby reliably informs me, creates a "refried beans" type of texture), a half a teaspoon of smoked paprika, a good quantity of freshly ground black pepper and a flat teaspoon of chilli powder.

Once all those flavours had married up, I added the Bockwurst slices and hoped for the best.

The end result tasted (amazingly) as though I'd added a heaped teaspoonful of ground cumin - but I hadn't, honest!  In the saucepan, I continued to be extremely dubious about the wisdom of this combination but hubby seemed content with the flavours (although he did comment that I'd been a bit heavy handed with the cumin!  See?  I told you it tasted like I'd added some!).

So, once it had all cooled down a bit, I sallied forth and put the pasties together.

Ready for baking - awsome egg colour!

As you'll see from the "ready to bake" photograph, the egg yolk that I used to glaze them with was an amazing colour!  You honestly would think that I'd used a Burford Brown or other exotic breed of egg, but no.  The egg came from the box of 24 free range eggs of mixed sizes that all the other (normally coloured) eggs came from.  The shell gave no indication that it would be so glamorous, either.  I can't wait to see whether there are going to be any others like that in the same box!

The pasties baked up beautifully and we served them with some shop bought potato wedges, for simplicity's sake.

It's only a shame that I forgot to get a photograph of the filling for you to see, which would have given you a far better idea of how the combination worked.  I'd made sure that the sauce was quite thick before using it as a filling, so there wasn't runny sauce escaping everywhere.  The pastry seemed to mute the barbecue flavour a tad, but the Bockwurst was still able to be heard, in amongst all the other flavours.

On the whole, I'd make these again.  Maybe not on a regular basis (after all, just look at the amount of pastry involved!) but when we've got a Bockwurst glut, they'll definitely feature.

Oh, and speaking of pastry - have you seen how much the price of pastry has escalated just recently?  Unreal!  We found the two packs of puff pastry that were required in the money off section for 60p each as they were about to go out of date - the same amount in frozen pastry would have cost a quite ridiculous £2.25.

I can't help but think we're going to have to learn how to make rough puff in the future!

BOCKWURST & BEAN PASTIES  (makes 3-4, depending on size)

Ingredients :


1 x 390g can of Baked Beans in barbecue sauce
half a 400g can of mixed beans in water, drained
a knob of butter
half a tsp of smoked paprika
a good quantity of freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
a flat tsp of chilli powder
5 Bockwurst sausages, sliced
1kg puff pastry
an egg, separated, yolk retained - for glazing.

Method :

1.  Into a small saucepan, empty the barbecue beans.  Add to them the half a can of mixed beans and stir to combine.

2.  Begin to warm the beans through, on a low heat.

3.  Add the knob of butter and the smoked paprika, black pepper and chilli powder and stir gently to combine.

4.  Add the sliced Bockwurst and continue to heat and stir.

5.  Do not let the mixture boil, but if it appears very juicy, simmer until the consistency is correct as a pasty filling.

6.  Allow to cool while you sort out the pastry.

7.  Pre-heat your oven to 180degC/350degF/Gas4.

8.  Divide the pastry up into four (or however many you want) evenly sized pieces, then roll each out until 2mm thick.  You will probably find it easiest to do the next few stages individually, rather than try to deal with them all at once.

9.  Cut a circle out the size of a tea plate (I use a tea plate and press it into the pastry to give me the shape).


10.  Brush a little egg around the edge of the pastry, then place spoonfuls of the filling into the centre.


11.  Quickly fold one side of the pastry over the filling and press down around the edges to create a join and prevent any filling from escaping.


12.  Either run a fork around the edge, pressing down, so as to "cement" the join, or crimp the edges as you would for a Cornish pasty and cut two lines into the top, to let out the steam.

13.  Place onto a baking tray and brush each pasty with some egg wash.

13.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the pastry is puffed and golden.

Serve.

Chicken & Cauliflower Curry

The recipe for this curry was entitled "North Indian Chicken Curry" by Anjum Anand, however, as I have no idea whether the inclusion of some cauliflower still renders it qualifying for the term "North Indian", I've left it off of the title.

I had had a break from making curries and we'd been sampling hubby's curry making skills (which are legendary).  However, I'd found myself hankering for another go, particularly a go where you build the curry flavour from scratch - as opposed to making use of a jar of curry paste.  The one challenge I had was to ensure the curry had a "curry" flavour - as opposed to being just a highly spiced casserole.

This curry certainly met that challenge and was downright jolly successful.  I served it with plain basmati rice, some Peshwari naans and a home-made raita.  I found the raita went together with the curry perfectly - the combined flavours were gorgeous and I'd definitely make a raita to go with it again.  Oh, and don't be scared of the four garlic cloves - you don't notice them!

So, here's the recipe :

CHICKEN & CAULIFLOWER CURRY

Ingredients :

4 tbsp oil
2 cloves
1 stick cinnamon, or 1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 green cardamom pods
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 medium onion, chopped
1.5 tbsp grated ginger
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
0.5 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp ground coriander
0.5 tsp chilli powder
4-5 tbsp tomato passata
500g chicken breast, diced large
5-6 cauliflower florets, sliced
1 handful coriander leaves, chopped.

Method :

1.  Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan until it is quite hot, but not smoking.  Add the cloves, cinnamon (if a stick), cardamom pods and cumin seeds and fry for about 20 seconds until aromatic.

2.  Add the onion and cook for around 10 minutes until golden brown, stirring often to prevent it burning.  Stir in the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, for 40 seconds before adding a pinch of salt and the ground spices (included cinnamon, if the ground variety) and stir for 15 seconds or so.

3.  Pour in the tomatoes and cook over a medium heat for around 10 minutes or until the liquid in the pan has dried off and the oil leaves the side of the dry masala.

4.  Add the chicken and brown (or white!) over a medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes.  Add the cauliflower and stir to make sure it is covered in sauce.  Add enough water to almost cover the chicken, bring to the boil and then cook over a low heat until the chicken is cooked through.  I cooked it with a lid for around half the cooking time, to ensure that the chicken and cauliflower cooked, then turned the heat up and reduced the sauce until it reached the consistency we prefer.  The slower it cooks, the better it tastes - so try not to rush it!

5.  Once you're happy with the consistency and the chicken and cauliflower are cooked and tender, mix in the coriander leaves and serve.

Delicious!