Sausage & red pepper Mexican rice - one pot, big flavours!

Some time ago, I received some fairly intense instruction from my lovely friend Deb Barragan on how to make Mexican rice to accompany things like burritos, enchiladas and fajitas.  I think she was fed up with keep seeing potato wedges, chips or savoury rice appearing alongside such things.  *chuckle*

Since having acquired the knack of Mexican rice, I discovered  a brilliant recipe that included grated cheese over the lot.  You can only imagine how much my menfolk approved of that.

So when I was contemplating this week's meals, I remembered that I had a complete shed load of Spanish rice in the cupboard.  Immediately the "plus cheese" Mexican rice recipe came to mind and, instead of thinking of something to go alongside, I began to think about what could go inside.  Bacon was rejected.  I know, but still, it seemed too salty.  Sausages were the next idea - and skinned sausages made into meatballs seemed perfect.

I also wanted to include some sort of vegetable matter in the mix and just happened to have a red pepper going begging.  A bit like the small amount of finely sliced sandwich chorizo that was going begging from the cheddar & chorizo quiche and the end of a chorizo sausage that was also looking for a job to do.  (I skinned and quartered that!).  So in a funny kind of way, the recipe made itself just by thinking about what would go with what - and what I already had in the fridge!

There wasn't enough rice to say that this was risotto-like, but it did have something of a risotto quality to it as the creamy rice grains held everything together and gave it a reason to be there.  The addition of the grated cheese at the end just turned what was a tasty thing into a delicious thing and gave it heaps of appeal where the menfolk were concerned.  I liked it a lot.  We didn't have any accompaniments with ours - we're trying to cut down on portion sizes and definitely cutting down on carbs, so garlic bread was a no:no.  Personally, I think it would have been lovely with a green salad with balsamic dressing, whereas my hubby was after a bit of bread to mop up the sauce with.  So go with what your menfolk and/or conscience decrees!

As for Cook's Tips, there are a couple included in the recipe.  However aside from that, it is worth noting that the Harissa paste I used includes cumin in its recipe so I left that ingredient out.  It's worthwhile checking yours and doing the same, if so.

Another tip involves the tinned tomatoes.  For those of you in the U.K., by far and away my favourite type of tinned chopped tomatoes are from the Tarantella brand.  They are organic and as such a wee bit more expensive than lots - but the flavour and lack of acidity is just streets ahead.

Well, there you are.  All that remains is for me to wish you good cooking and you to make your menfolk very happy.  Oh - and you may want to up the Harissa content if you and/or your menfolk are dead keen on food that makes your nose glow.  *wink*

SAUSAGE & RED PEPPER MEXICAN RICE    (serves 3)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp olive oil
8 pork sausages, skinned and each separated into 4 small meatballs
90g thinly sliced chorizo, cut into ribbons or small pieces
1 red onion, chopped small
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 red pepper, cored, de-seeded and diced small
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp Harissa paste
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp chicken stock powder or 1 chicken stock cube
400g tin chopped tomatoes
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
180g Spanish rice (Paella rice is good for this)
300ml hot water
150g mature cheddar cheese, grated
3-4 slices of Mexicana cheese
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley as garnish.

Method :

Begin by heating the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan or wok (one with a lid) over a high heat.  Once good and hot, add the sausage meatballs and fry until a deep golden brown on at least three sides.  Spoon away and discard a good two thirds of the ensuing oil from the sausages.

Add the chorizo, onion, garlic and red pepper and stir fry - it's quite important to keep the pan contents moving with occasional pauses - until the onion is softened and there is a degree of juice evident.  Add 50ml of water to the pan and cover it.  Continue to cook, covered, for around 5 minutes or so.

Once the peppers have begun to soften, uncover and add the oregano, Harissa, tomato puree, tomato ketchup, cumin powder (if required), chicken stock powder, chopped tomatoes and cherry tomatoes and stir gently to combine.

Reduce the heat to moderate and add the dry rice.  Stir gently to combine and make sure that each grain is covered by the flavoured oil, then add the water and gradually stir it in.  Replace the lid and simmer for approximately 20 minutes until the rice has cooked.  You will need to remove the lid and stir the contents from time to time to prevent the underside from burning.  A little sizzle is good - and to be recommended in Spain - so I tend to leave that until the last couple of stirs.

Once the rice is cooked and the liquid has reduced, turn off the heat, sprinkle the grated cheese over the rice, lay the Mexicana on top and don't stir for the next 5 minutes.

Serve onto warmed plates and garnish with the chopped parsley.  You can either serve it as it is, or with bread to mop up the sauce, or even with a green salad.

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Chorizo & saffron baked cod

First of all and before I say anything else, let me just say how much I love this dish.  We thought it up during one of our brainstorming sessions and I liked the idea immediately.  It has everything I could like about a fish dish - it's simple, it only needs a few ingredients and it involves a fillet of fish rather than some broken up pieces in a sauce.

It's hard to imagine, but once upon a time I despised fish.  Couldn't bear the smell of it and certainly wouldn't eat anything more than a fish finger. Although, the seeds were there because I would happily tuck into a fillet of rock salmon (Huss) in batter from our local chippy.  However, all that changed when I fell pregnant with our son (who adores fish of all kinds) and suddenly I was craving fish.  Weird but true.  Since then, the liking for fish has thankfully stayed with me and since we've started shopping at Lidl stores, I have discovered an affordable source of proper fish fillets.  Yay!

As Lidl had their extra large packs of cod fillet on special offer it seemed rude to not take advantage of that, hence we thought up this lovely recipe. 

I reckon that as winter is coming to a close here, that might explain why my culinary head was concentrating on sunnier recipes from warmer climes and I was thinking along Spanish lines, although I do hear tell that this is very much a Portuguese recipe in spirit.  Atlantic or Mediterranean, it's all good to me.

As I've said, I loved this dish.  The cod is beautifully cooked and the en papillote (in a bag) cooking retains all its moisture.  The lovely tasty oils from the chorizo and saffron bathe the fish and just add that extra bonus to the flavour.  Inevitably, there will be some cooking juices from the fish that amalgamate with the oils and provides a perfect light sauce so if you enjoy your fish, you're going to love the simplicity and unfussiness of this recipe.

Again, I don't have many Cook's Tips for you.  Most importantly is not to be scared and cook the fish for too long.  It's far better to open the package and then have to put it back in the oven for another 2-3 minutes, than to overcook and dry the fish out.

Now I know that saffron can be quite expensive, however this recipe isn't asking for a lot so if you can devote some saffron threads to it you'll benefit from the improved flavour.  However, if all you've got is ground saffron, don't sweat it - it'll be fine.  Just add a small amount.

So, there we have it.  This cod dish would go well with paprika roast potatoes and any kind of Mediterranean vegetable, but I served it with Nigella Lawson's rapid roastinis (to which I added some dried rosemary), petit pois and green beans, which were very good indeed.  Now, onwards to the recipe!

CHORIZO & SAFFRON BAKED COD   (serves 3)

Ingredients :

3 good sized, chunky and skinless cod fillets
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots, diced finely
70g finely cut chorizo slices, cut into fine strips
a small pinch of saffron strands
10g salted butter
a pinch of ground black pepper
a small pinch of sea salt.

Method :

Firstly, cut a long strip of silver foil or greaseproof paper that is twice as long as your pieces of cod when laid in a row.  Fold it in half and lay it onto a baking tray, opening up the top layer.

Take the cod pieces and starting from the folded end, lay them along the centre of the foil right side up, then set aside.

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a small frying pan over a moderate heat.  Add the shallots and fry for 3-4 minutes, until they have softened.  Then add the chorizo strips and the saffron and cook for another 5 minutes or so or until the chorizo has released some of its tasty oil.  Reduce the heat to low and add the butter, pepper and sea salt and stir to combine.

Spoon the chorizo mixture evenly across the top of the fish, making sure to use all the flavoured oil.  Quickly fold up the sides of the foil package, folding each side at least three times, to secure it well.

Place the fish into a pre-heated oven (180degC/350degF/Gas4) for 20-25 minutes, a little bit less if your fillets aren't of the chunky kind.  When the fish is cooked, the foil package will be puffed up like a balloon.

To serve, simply make an incision across the top of the foil package and using a fish slice, plate up each piece of fish onto hot plates, making sure to capture as many of the chorizo pieces as you can, placing them on top of the fish.  Drizzle with the cooking juices.  Serve with roast potatoes, or rosemary fried gnocchi, along with a few vegetables of your choice.

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Sweet Potato & Chorizo soup - a smooth and exotic spoonful

A few weeks ago, I spotted a recipe for sweet potato and chorizo soup and I liked the idea of that combination.  However, the recipe I saw didn't seem to have enough depth of flavour for a really tasty and satisfying soup.

I spent the next couple of weeks - on and off - thinking about the soup and how I could add more flavour to it, without detracting from the main two components.  Ultimately, I didn't adjust the recipe radically - just added carrot, celery, rosemary and thyme, all of which served to round it out and add a few extra layers of flavour.

By the way, for those who are baffled by the mention of a "donkey" carrot, think of the kind of carrot that a donkey would like to receive.  A great, big, chunky fat carrot not less than six inches long and preferably longer.  Now THAT is a donkey carrot.

The original method underwent a bit of a re-think as well and the roasting of the sweet potato and carrot was a great idea.  The original recipe had them cooked in the stock, however the roasting added an intensity to the flavour that you couldn't hope to gain any other way.

The use of olive oil instead of the original vegetable oil helped the flavours along, too.  In fact, between the sweet potato, herbs and olive oil, if it wasn't for the Chorizo, it would have been a disgracefully healthy soup!  *Phew*  Thank goodness for Chorizo, eh?

I served this as a dinner soup and it was easily enough for the three of us.  As a starter, it would definitely make sufficient for four.

As ever, if you are not using low salt stock, be careful about how much salt you include when seasoning.  Far easier to add later, you certainly can't take it away!

Hubby pointed out that this soup would make a wonderful November soup for supping around a bonfire, or for warming cold hands around a hearty mugful.  It certainly has got all the hallmarks for that!  However or whenever you decide to sample it, I'm sure you'll love it as much as we did. 

SWEET POTATO & CHORIZO SOUP    (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

1kg sweet potato, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 large donkey carrot, peeled and cut into large chunks
1-2 tbsp olive oil
sea salt & black pepper
200g cooking Chorizo sausage - 100g cut into quarters, 100g cut in half
1 red onion, diced finely
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 stick of celery, diced finely
1 tsp dried rosemary
half tsp dried thyme
750ml hot water
2 tsp chicken stock powder (low salt) or 2 chicken stock cubes (low salt).

Method :

Place the sweet potato and carrot chunks onto a baking tray and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil.  Season with sea salt & pepper and put into a pre-heated oven at 200degC/400degF/Gas 6 for 30 mins or until softened and just beginning to caramelise.

Remove from the oven and set aside.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan and fry the quartered Chorizo until crispy.  Remove from the pan onto a plate and reserve to keep warm.  This Chorizo will form your garnish.

Add the halved Chorizo to the pan next and fry until lightly coloured.  Remove from the pan onto a plate and set aside.  

Decrease the heat under the pan and remove some of the oil to a small dish.  Reserve the oil in case you need to replace any - and you can use a little of the remainder to garnish once the soup is served.

Add the onion, garlic and celery to the pan, along with a pinch of salt and a good helping of black pepper.  Fry until softened but not coloured.  Part way through, add the rosemary and thyme.

Once softened, decant the contents of the pan into a large saucepan, add the sweet potato, carrot, hot water and chicken stock powder.  Heat through and taste for seasoning but before simmering point blitz with a hand-held blender until smooth.  Add the halved Chorizo and stir through.  Simmer, without boiling, to heat the soup through.  Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary - I found my soup needed more black pepper at this stage.

Serve in warmed bowls and add a spoonful of the quartered Chorizo and a swirl of Chorizo oil as garnish and warm crusty bread (or fresh baked American biscuits) for dipping.

Canadian apple & cheddar biscuits - yum!

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Chicken and chorizo Jambalaya

Before we go any further, I have to put my hands up and admit that the bulk of this recipe came from the Slimming World online recipe book - and you can see the original recipe here.

However, having got that out of my system, I can tell you that my version of the recipe is heaps better.  LOL  No, seriously!

Okay, it doesn't accord with the Slimming World ethos - but then it was never meant to.  What I was after, was to take a recipe that had been produced with slimming in mind - and gee it up a bit with additional flavours and textures.  The end result should be that it remains a healthy meal, but has all the good things that an ordinary (a.k.a. not diet) meal would have, such as variety, flavour, texture and substance.

Well, blow me down with a feather, but it only worked.

I'm not sure how much of a "Jambalaya" it was - never having had a strictly traditional Jambalaya - but it had rice, tomatoes and chicken, not to mention heat from spice and full bodied character.  What a result.  Even better was that I liked it - which doesn't happen often with Cajun or smoked paprika dishes.  It has been a while since we've had anything with chorizo in it - and I've found myself lusting after meatballs in tomato sauce with chorizo sizzling alongside, which I took as a hint that maybe I'd come round to the idea.  While I was slicing up the chorizo - as is required of the chef - I had a little taster to establish just how spicy/hot the flavour was.  I could easily have carried on and eaten best part of the entire sausage, it was that good.  Who knows, maybe my taste buds have matured where smoked paprika is concerned!

I knew that hubby would require his Jambalaya to taste Cajun - so added the pinch of red chilli flakes, the smoked paprika and ordinary sweet paprika.  I also wanted the dish to be substantial, so added the cherry tomatoes and mushrooms.  The biggest change was the addition of the chorizo.  I just couldn't imagine a Jambalaya type dish without something big to hold it all together - and the Quorn sausages in the original recipe just wouldn't do it for me.  Not to mention that I think Quorn is disgusting.  (Sorry Quorn manufacturers!).

The final dish was really tasty - and worked out to just under 500 calories per portion - so I didn't do too much damage to the original recipe with my additions!  Whether on a diet or just plain hungry, I recommend this one to you.  It'll keep the wolf from the door, that's for sure.

Now there's a couple of "cook's tips" for you :

-  make sure you start off with an enormous, deep, frying pan.  I used my 22" Ceracraft pan and only just managed to get everything into it.  If you have something deeper but that is reliably non-stick, I'd advise using it!

-   you need your pan to be non-stick, as when it comes to the point of putting the lid on and letting it chuckle for a while, it does have a nasty habit of trying to burn the underside of the food.  Hence, a non-stick pan helps no end with reducing the likelihood of any burning - but do remember to stir and turn the contents regularly!

- using a powder chicken stock is by far and away the better approach.  A chicken stock cube will do the job, but in 200ml of water it can have problems dissolving.  A teaspoonful of chicken stock powder, however, can go into the pan with 200ml of water without any trouble whatsoever.  I recommend Essential Cuisine's chicken stock powder - it's only £3.99 a tub - and the tub last for ages.

So there we have it!  This dish would be perfect for cooking in advance, then heating up in the microwave for Bonfire Night.  I can just imagine being out in the garden with the fireworks, keeping my hands warm around a mugful of this Jambalaya and oohing and aaahing in between forkfuls.  Perfect.


CHICKEN & CHORIZO JAMBALAYA  (serves 4)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, finely sliced
100g chorizo sausage
a pinch of red chilli flakes
2 sweet peppers, your choice of colours, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 courgette, quartered and diced
4 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 large mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
half a tsp paprika
zest and juice of half a lemon
400g can chopped tomatoes
250g long grain rice 
200ml low salt chicken stock
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a handful of fresh parsley, chopped.

Method :

1.  Heat the oil in a huge deep frying pan (it needs to be big, because there's a lot to fit into it!) and fry the chopped onion until softened, with a pinch of sea salt to bring out the moisture.

2.  Increase the heat under the pan and add the chicken, chorizo and chilli flakes. Cook until the chicken has lost all evidence of pinkness.

3.  Add the thyme, smoked paprika and paprika and stir to combine.

4.  Add the peppers, courgette, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, lemon juice and zest. On the same high heat, cook but stir gently so as not to break up the vegetables, until the vegetables have begun to soften and reduced in size.

5.  Add the tinned tomatoes, stock cube and 200ml of water. Stir to combine and bring to the boil.

6.  Add the rinsed rice, stir through and bring back to the boil. Place a lid on the pan and reduce the heat to a simmer.  Cook gently - stirring occasionally to prevent any burning underneath the mixture - until the rice has cooked and is tender.  Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

7.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

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It's never a meal plan? Yes - it is!

There you are, you see .....

We have been planning our meals all through the Christmas and New Year period - it's just that the meal plans have very regularly gone to pot as we've been either too poorly to make the things we've planned for, or just didn't fancy what we'd planned to have.

As a result, I've not been posting up the meal plans as it would be too confusing to try and follow what happened to various dishes that never saw light of day.

I have got to admit, though, that this situation hasn't improved much.  I reckon that for the seven meals that we plan, probably between 4-5 have been made just recently.  Last week was one of the better ones, but even then we've only managed five out of the seven!

... we have been eating - and rather well, too!

We're setting off on this week's meal plan with determination to see it through.  Whether this determination lasts, depends on whether either of us parents go down with the sore throat that is currently keeping son & heir from his studies at school.  We whisked him down to the doctor this morning, just to make sure that it wasn't tonsillitis he'd got - which it wasn't, thank goodness.  He's now all sorted out with antiseptic gargle and penicillin, so fingers crossed it won't last long.

Hence, of necessity, the meals for the beginning of the week are non-confrontational and designed to be easily swallowed.  So what's on the agenda?

Tues : Bacon & leek pasta

Weds : 2 sausage paella

Thurs : Lamb & mozzarella stuffed aubergines with a side salad

Fri : Gammon steak, cheesey champ, courgettes, mushrooms & peas

Sat : Pork, aubergine & porcini ragu with pasta

Sun : Beef & beetroot curry with rice

Mon : Chicken pie and vegetables.

The bacon & leek pasta is there because it is one of son & heir's favourite dinners - and just in case he might need some tempting.  It is very easy to eat and just slips down with the minimum of bother, so shouldn't be too challenging for a boy with a sore throat.  Fingers crossed!  Of course the fact that it is one of our favourite "go to" quick dinners doesn't hurt either.

Wednesday's 2 sausage paella is an idea borne of having the remaining half of a very nice chorizo sitting in the fridge looking for a home.  Hubby is planning on putting it together with some good pork sausages, red pepper, mushrooms etc. into a paella type rice dish.  Sounds like it will be lovely - and again, easy to eat for son & heir.

The Lamb & Mozzarella Stuffed Aubergines is a Peter Gordon recipe from the Good Food channel.  We're going through a bit of an aubergine (hubby's favourite) patch at the moment and as soon as hubby clapped eyes on this recipe, he was as keen as mustard to try it.  It uses Sumac, which is a new spice for us - but we have liked the little we've tried of it so far.  The recipe also makes use of all our favourite spices along with lamb mince (my favourite) and mozzarella cheese (son & heir's favourite), so as you can see, it just had to be done.

Friday's gammon steaks with cheesy champ (mashed potato with spring onion) is entirely down to a certain Mr Rod Tucker of the Good Food Good People Facebook page.  He recently posted a couple of photographs of his gammon steak dinners that made my mouth water so much, I just had to include gammon in this week's list.  We've a few spring onions that needed using up, so mashed potato became Champ, then migrated into Cheesey Champ - the idea of which is making me very hungry.  I'll make my creamy courgette & mushrooms which will provide some lovely moisture to the combination, along with some peas for colour.

Saturday is another of hubby's recipes, where he's planning a rich minced pork ragu using smoky griddled aubergine and soaked porcini mushrooms.  The combinations sound delicious and this should be really good.

Sunday is a curry recipe that I found in the BBC Good Food Magazine.  The sheer idea of marrying up beef with beetroot and curry spices is intriguing me and I can't wait to find out how it will be.  I can imagine it will prove to be sweet, earthy and rather gorgeous.  I may very well do a small vegetable curry to go with it, along with the rice.

Monday's chicken pie and vegetables is a meal that has (so far) been moved along from the Monday spot for three weeks in a row.  You never know, we might even get to eat it this week!

I daren't even make the tiniest suggestion of other makes or bakes - probably best not to tempt fate, don't you think?

 

Lemony Prawn & Chorizo Rice - a fab quick one pot supper

Just before Christmas I took out a subscription (very nearly put "prescription" - totally different thing!) with the BBC's Good Food Magazine.

Now I know that the majority of the recipes that appear in the magazine also appear online, but I just enjoy having the pictures right there - up close and in front of me - when I am sitting in the living room and there's something dull on the t.v. (or there's nothing on the t.v. - which is more like it, these days!).  No, I'm afraid I don't possess a laptop - it's a desktop or nothing, for me.  Comes of being a very swift touch typist - I really hate the restriction of a laptop's keyboard.  Either that or I'm just plain old fashioned - which could easily be it, I'll admit.

Anyway, back to the magazine.  To save having great teetering piles of magazines lurking around the flat, I've taken to cutting out the recipes that attract my attention and keeping them in a concertina file.  I'll then consult the file when I'm putting together the week's menu's - and a very good system it has proven to be.

All of which was a fairly long-winded way of saying that this recipe originated in the BBC Good Food magazine for February!

Hubby loves chorizo, all of us love prawns and son & heir particularly enjoys one pot, no side dishes, type meals.  Add to those good points the extra positive point that it is relatively low in fat, which is something I'm very keen on, these days and you've got a winner of a dish.

Mmmn, yummy! Who'd have thought it'd be good for you?

I tweaked the original recipe a little, adding twice the amount of chorizo (which apparently still wasn't enough - hubby could have had lots more!) and using vegetable stock instead of just water for the rice.  I also used cooked peeled prawns instead of raw, basically because they're easier to get hold of and cheaper.

I also tweaked it slightly in retrospect, as both chaps found the lemon to be too dominant.  Now I like lemon in this context, but it must be a girl thing, as neither of the chaps do.  Hence, if your family like lemon then add the zest as well as the juice and maybe increase it back to the one lemon in the original recipe.

I found the dish to be lovely and light, with plenty of interest from the mix of chorizo and prawn.  It also contains turmeric - and any dish that does that, is immediately in my good books.  Son & heir completely cleared his plate, which was something of a surprise as I'd expected to at least find strips of red pepper left.  From that, I'd say that you could class this dish as being "teenager friendly", if nothing else!

Edited to say : time has moved on and it's now 10 April 2013.  I've just made this recipe (see photo above) and swapped out the vegetable stock for the beautiful Essential Cuisine fish stock.  I also added two chestnut mushrooms, sliced.  The end result was really, really good and I recommend it to you. 

LEMONY PRAWN & CHORIZO RICE    (feeds 3)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, sliced

2 small red peppers, deseeded and sliced

100g chorizo, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 red chilli, chopped & deseeded if you don’t like it too hot

½ tsp turmeric

250g long grain rice (I used Basmati)

500ml boiling low salt vegetable or fish stock (I use Essential Cuisine stock)

200g cooked peeled prawns, defrosted if frozen

100g frozen peas

juice of ½ lemon.

Method :

1.  Heat the oil in a shallow pan (or frying pan) with a lid.  Add the onion, peppers, chorizo, garlic and chilli and fry over a high heat for 3 minutes.

2.  Reduce the heat to medium, and add the turmeric and rice, stirring to ensure the rice is coated in the cooking juices.

3.  Pour in the stock, stir then cover and cook for 12 minutes or until the rice is nicely al dente.

4.  Uncover and stir in the prawns and peas.  Add a splash more water if the mix is looking a little dry and cook for as long as it takes for the peas to defrost and cook and the prawns to be heated through – around 2 minutes or so.

5.  The rice should now be tender, so stir in the lemon juice and serve.

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Chilli Chorizo Beans - not exactly a hit!

I found this recipe care of the daily email from One Recipe Daily and knowing that Hubby tends to enjoy dishes cooked with a) chorizo and b) chilli together with beans forming a good part of his diet, thought it had the potential to be a hit.

The recipe is one of Antony Worrall Thompson's and it's amazing how the majority of his recipes that I've tried, we haven't liked for one reason or another.

Now I have to say that I thought that this recipe was okay.  Not earth shattering or delicious, but just okay.  I found it hard to wade my way through because I didn't have any bread to eat it with - which I suspect would have made it easier.

Hubby found it incredibly salty - which surprised me because unless the salt came from the chorizo or the three rashers of bacon, I am mystified where it came from - as I didn't add any and didn't opt to use any stock, so we can't even blame it on that.  He also said that he would have found it easier to eat had it have been accompanied by rice instead of bread, as the rice would have calmed down both the salt and the acidity of the tomatoes.

Son & heir ate all his chorizo pieces & bread, then ate as few of the beans as he thought he could get away with.

I think it comes down to the fact that the dish was unbalanced.  The acidity of the tomatoes isn't controlled by the muscovado sugar and when you add chilli to the mix, it tends to accentuate both acidity and saltiness.  I suspect I could titivate around with the recipe and balance it up so as to be acceptable, but the end result just didn't seem to be worth it.

So, on the whole, I won't be repeating the recipe here.  I have to say, that my end result looked nothing like the photograph of the dish on the recipe.  Either I did something cataclysmically wrong (and having re-read the recipe, I can't see where) or there's something intrinsically not right (for us - not necessarily for everyone) with the recipe.

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Pizza Tart - or Chorizo, Mushroom & Mozzarella Tart, if you like!

We were in the mood for some tart, last week.  We hadn't had one for quite a while and, although pastry is on the no-no list for my diet, I hoped that I'd be able to offset it a little bit with the other ingredients.


Being Pizza Tuesday, I was able to craft the tart to please just hubby and I - which obviously meant mushrooms!


Aside from that, however, I had been having difficulty with chorizo just lately.  I am not all that taken with the taste of a lot of smoked paprika, which of course, makes chorizo very difficult.  I like a little smoked paprika in dishes, but find it becomes almost medicinal in quantity - which isn't very nice.  However, our local Asda has begun to stock some cooking Chorizo, as well as the "ready to go" version.  I thought it would be worth giving it a try, so used it in the filling for the tart and was pleasantly surprised.  I certainly would be willing to use it again, so it can't have been all that strong!  Hubby used the last Chorizo sausage in the Chilli Con Carne later in the week, and it was crackingly good in that.


Something else that's worth noting, is that I used the Jus-Rol Low Fat Puff Pastry for the first time.  Now I know that "low fat" and "puff pastry" seem like a contradiction in terms, but it worked perfectly!  You must bear in mind, though, that I wasn't looking for a well risen pastry for this tart, but something that would give a lighter effect than shortcrust - and in that context it worked just fine.  I'll be using it again, as every little ounce of fat that can be gained, is all to the good.


So.  What did I do?  Well, I unrolled the pastry rectangle and placed it on a baking tray, then because it was a bit big (ordinarily I'd run a knife around the outside to create a crust), I rolled up the edges to form the crust of the tart.  After copious amounts of pricking to prevent it from puffing up hugely, I then part baked it for 10 minutes at 200degC.


Next, I took a pizza sauce (yes, shop bought. I was interested in a tart that was easy to prepare!  If you want to make a pizza sauce, then by all means be my guest.  I know they aren't difficult to make, but it was one step further than I wanted to go, that night) and put a coating of that over the pastry.

Next job was to slice the chorizo very thinly and add that to the tart base, followed by the sliced mushrooms (which in the recipe, below, I have sauteed first - it will remove a lot of the water that they carry) and topped off by the slices of mozzarella and a small sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese over the lot.


That done, it went into the oven for 25-35 minutes, or until the mozzarella was melted and browned on top and the filling was obviously heated through.


I served it with the Zesty Beetroot Salad on top of some mixed salad leaves.  Oh, incidentally, I used a pack of beetroot that had been marinated in honey & ginger for this - and it was gorgeous.  That's something else we'll be having again!


The salad was just lovely with the tart and provided that nice freshness to counteract all the rich flavours of the tart.


Totting up the Inflammation Factors, the end result is -356 per serving, so as you can see, I failed miserably where offsetting the pastry is concerned.  *sigh*  I was SO sure that beetroot was anti-inflammatory, but it turns out it's anything but.  Hey ho.  Back to the drawing board!


PIZZA TART  (Serves 2-3)


Ingredients :


350g puff pastry
3-4 tbsp tomato pizza sauce
a tsp of olive oil
3 cooking chorizo (4" links), sliced finely
3-4 mushrooms, sliced finely
2 balls of mozzarella, sliced finely
a small amount of parmesan cheese, grated.


Method :


1.  Pre-heat your oven to 200deg C/350deg F/Gas 4.

2.  Roll out (if home-made) your pastry to form a rectangle which will fit your baking tray, then using the tip of a knife, score approx 1" in from the edge a line around the inside of the pastry, to form the crust.  Alternatively, (if shop bought) simply unroll the pastry onto your baking tray and score - or if slightly larger than your tray, roll up the edges to form the crust.


3.  Using a fork, prick the inside of the pastry all over, then place into the oven for 10 minutes.


4.  While the pastry cools slightly, in a frying pan, add the teaspoonful of olive oil together with the chorizo and cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes or so, until the oil has changed colour.  Add the mushrooms and cook on a fairly high heat until they have given up their water.


5.  Next, coat the inside of the pastry with the pizza sauce, then add the chorizo & mushroom mixture, levelling off as you go.


6.  Lay the slices of mozzarella on top, then sprinkle the parmesan over and place back into the oven for 25-35 minutes or until the mozzarella is browned and bubbling.


7.  Allow 5-10 minutes for the tart to cool once removed from the oven, then serve with a salad.


.

New denomination of Bagel!

Just feast your eyes on this little hoop of deliciousness ...

it's the new denomination of Bagel from the Artisan Bagel Baker (or hubby, as he's also known) - the Sundried Tomato, Roasted Red Pepper and Chorizo bagel.  Which shall also be known as "the pizza bagel", according to our son. *beam*

Think it looks delicious?  Well, it tasted even better than that.  *grin*

Chorizo & Red Pepper Risotto

The kitchen lights have lent it a rather more orange glow than in actuality!

I have to say, right from the start, that this lovely risotto recipe is one conjured up from the creative mind of my dear hubby.  Well, he is - after all - the Risotto King (not just the Artisan Bagel Baker), in this house.

There we sat, debating what to put on this week's menu list, when we both had a Risotto thought.  Mine went along the lines of "risotto .... mmmmn, good idea!", hubby's went along the lines of "what if we had a risotto ... with maybe chorizo ... and red pepper ... and probably peas ... and ..." and so the Chorizo & Red Pepper risotto was born.

The added benefit to this lovely risotto is it's extreme child-friendliness.  If your child is old enough to chew chorizo pieces, then they're going to love this risotto. 

CHORIZO & RED PEPPER RISOTTO (feeds 3)

Ingredients :

500g Arborio rice
1 litre pork or vegetable stock
2 large shallots, diced small
1 red pepper, finely sliced
25g butter or olive oil
1 level teaspoon smoked paprika (or more to taste)
20g grated Parmesan (with shavings to garnish)
225g thinly sliced Chorizo
200g frozen peas, defrosted and warmed
1 small wedge of lemon.

Method :

1.  Gently cook the shallots and red pepper in the butter (or oil) for five minutes or until the shallots are soft, but not browned.

2.  Add the smoked paprika and chorizo and cook for a further few minutes before turning up the heat and adding the rice.

3.  Once all of the grains of rice are thoroughly coated in the spiced oils and the pan temperature is high, add a splash of stock to 'release' the pan.

4.  Continue adding the stock, a ladleful at a time in the usual risotto method until it has been absorbed, the rice is cooked and the risotto is 'oozy'.  A little extra boiled water or stock should be kept on hand in case the rice is especially thirsty.

5.  Stir in the warmed peas, grated parmesan and a small squeeze of lemon before removing from the heat for a quick rest (the risotto, not the cook).

6.  Serve in warmed bowls, garnished with the parmesan shavings.

Note:  Do not add frozen peas, as this will kill the cooking process and make the ooze go all runny!

Accompany with warmed bread or a side salad.  Delicious!