Risotto Primavera with herby glazed chicken

The emphasis of this recipe is on the Risotto Primavera, as I will admit to having used a shop bought chicken glaze.  Now don't you go telling me that you never use such a thing, I refuse to believe it.

The glaze we used was one of the Maggi range of "So Juicy" cook-in-a-bag products.  In fact, it was really not bad at all.  We tried the mixed herbs one, which seemed to have a significant amount of tomato in its mixed herbs, but with no artificial colours, flavourings or Aspartame in its ingredients, we were prepared to give it a go.

Owing to the cooking method, which involves your cooking the chicken sealed into a cook-in bag, the chicken comes out the other end enticingly moist and tender.  I'd definitely give others of the same range a go.

As a fairly foolproof and easy way of obtaining a very acceptable chicken dish, I recommend it to you!

Now the big question was what to put with it.  I'm always on the lookout for interesting and easy vegetable dishes that can be use as a side to a meat dish, for just these moments.

We had a number of meals planned that included potatoes already - and owing to hubby's antipathy towards the 'umble spud, I needed to find something else to use as the carbohydrate in this dish.

Hubby suggested vegetable rice, but son & heir isn't always terribly keen on that.  As hubby was the one who was going to be cooking this meal, I suddenly hit on the idea of a risotto.  Well, he is the Risotto Cooking King!  I remembered that I had picked up a baked Risotto Primavera recipe from a magazine, but knew he wouldn't be struck on the idea of doing a baked risotto (being a newly crowned risotto purist, and all that).  So we just used the recipe as a guide for the amounts and types of vegetables to use - and he made a straight, cooker top, in a saucepan, ordinary risotto - but using frozen peas, asparagus, fine green beans, tenderstem broccoli, mint, chives and parsley instead.

The combination of the highly flavoursome chicken and the clean, fresh flavours of the risotto with its herbs, were just perfect together.

Hubby even reserved a few asparagus spears for decoration, which was good because although it is great in a risotto, I do love the flavour of asparagus and it was a treat to have some to enjoy on its own.

I'll have to remember to use vegetable risotto in this context again in future.  I have used Risotto Milanese (saffron risotto) in this way in the past and it worked exceptionally well there, too.  The light and springlike flavours were a lovely break from the somewhat heavier mid-winter flavours that we've been enjoying before and since, thanks to the awful weather.  Hopefully, we'll get a chance to put them to the test in another combination very soon!

RISOTTO PRIMAVERA  (Serves 3)

Ingredients :

150g asparagus spears

2 handfuls of frozen peas

150g tenderstem broccoli

50g fine green beans

3 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil

2 banana shallots, very finely diced

25g butter

300g Arborio or Carnaroli rice

100ml of white wine

1.5 litres of vegetable stock (we used Essential cuisine vegetable stock powder)

10g fresh chopped parsley

10g fresh chopped chives

10g fresh chopped mint

50g grated parmesan

sea salt and finely ground black pepper.

Method :

1.  Bring a saucepan of salted water to a rolling boil and prepare the asparagus by snapping at the weak point (around one third of the way up the stem from the cut end).  Retain the woody ends for use in the stock and blanch the tipped ends for 60 seconds.  Drain (retaining the water) and then plunge into bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process.

2.  Repeat with the frozen peas, tenderstem broccoli and green beans - blanching for 3 minutes and adding them to the same iced water.

3.  Prepare the stock by adding the stock cube or powder to the cooking water and add the woody ends of the asparagus, cut lengthwise.  Bring up to a simmer and keep the stock over a very low heat until required, not allowing it to boil.  Remove the asparagus pieces just before use.

4.  Heat the olive oil and butter gently together in a large pan.  Add the shallots and cook until they are soft and transparent, not allowing them to brown.

5.  Add rice to the shallot mix and stir well to coat with the oils, then turn the heat up as hot as you dare - without burning - before quenching the pan with the white wine.

6.  Cook until the wine has reduced by two thirds and add a ladleful of the vegetable stock (minus the asparagus pieces).  Reduce heat to a simmer.

7.  Continue adding ladlefuls whenever the mixture runs dry, stirring well and keeping it moving to avoid catching on the bottom of the pan.

8.  Continue in this way until the rice is cooked al dente.  You may find you have stock left over, which is normal as different rices require different amounts of liquid.

9.  Drain the vegetables from the iced water and add them to the risotto to warm them through, stirring gently so as not to break them up.

10.  Add the parsley, chives, mint and grated parmesan, reserving a small amount of parsley for garnish.  Stir gently through and taste for seasoning.

11.  Serve and garnish with shaved parmesan and chopped parsley.

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Spiced vegetable and lentil soup from Bill Granger

I expect you all know, by now, how much I like to find good soup recipes that can be used in place of the main course.  There are so many "meat and vegetable" combination meals out there, that it is nice to find a good hearty soup recipe to ring the changes every now and then.

I was attracted to this vegetarian soup (or it would have been, if I hadn't have used chicken stock) from Bill Granger (via the Good Food Channel website), because it involves oven roasted veggies of your choice.  Now this is a real change from most recipes, that direct you to use this vegetable or that vegetable, do this to this one, do that to that one - and you get your meal.  With this recipe, you could choose to use whatever you liked from within the winter vegetable category and so long as it could be oven roasted, you could make the soup.

Of course, oven roasting vegetables always intensifies their flavour - which is perfect for soup making.  After all, nobody likes a weak flavoured soup that is more water than flavour!

Aside from the vegetable aspect, I also liked the sound of the "spiced" in the name.  Using chilli, cumin, coriander and paprika just heaps flavour upon flavour and the addition of red lentils puts heart into the dish, so all the elements were there promising a cracking bowl of soup.

I opted to use carrots, parsnips, celeriac and turnip along with the butternut squash, tomatoes and garlic.  The end result was warming and delicious, with the added interest of the yoghurt, sumac and coriander sprinkles that were absolutely essential to the flavours.  It's not often that I say the additional garnish is essential to a dish, but in this case the yoghurt gives the creaminess which together with the citrus sharpness of the sumac and freshness of the coriander brings alive the sweet earthiness of the basic soup.

Hubby wasn't as in love with this soup as I was, which I think was entirely down to the lack of a meat ingredient.  He liked the flavours, but was left thinking "well that was good for starters, now where's my dinner?" - which is never a good thing.  Son and heir enjoyed his soup and was satisfied by it - as was I.  The leftovers (because it really does make a lot!) I ate for lunch throughout the week and as is often the way, the flavours just got better as the soup aged.

Upon reflection, I think maybe this soup would be better served just as a lunchtime soup, or as a starter - in rather less quantity.  However, you can't argue with its lovely flavours, each of which were distinct and detectable.  I would definitely make it again.

SPICED VEGETABLE AND LENTIL SOUP from Bill Granger  (Serves 3-5)

Ingredients :

1kg mixed winter vegetables (such as carrots, parsnips, celeriac) peeled and cut into 3cm cubes
500g butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and cut int o 3cm cubes
750g tomatoes, quartered
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 small carrot (if you've not included carrot in the winter vegetable mix), chopped
4 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
chilli flakes to taste
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp paprika
1.25 litres vegetable or chicken stock (I used Essential Cuisine chicken stock)
180g red lentils.

To serve :
plain yoghurt - 1 heaped teaspoonful per bowl
sumac for sprinkling
chopped coriander leaves, for sprinkling
warm crusty bread.

Method :

1.  Preheat the oven to 180degC/350degF/Gas 4.  Put the vegetables into a large bowl and drizzle with the oil.  Add the spices and season with a little sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Toss to coat the vegetables liberally with the flavourings.

2.  Turn out onto a large roasting tray lined with silver foil (or two, if necessary, to give the vegetables room to breathe as they cook).  Cover and roast for up to an hour, or until the vegetables are soft.  You can reduce the amount of time required for roasting by cutting the veggies into smaller chunks.

3.  While the vegetables are roasting, add the stock and lentils to a large saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.  Spoon out 2-3 spoonfuls of the lentils and reserve.

4.  Once the veggies are done, keep two or three of each vegetable cube back and place the rest into the saucepan.  Using a hand blender, whizz until smooth.  You can add a little more stock or just some water, if the soup becomes too thick.

4.  Take the reserved cubes and cut them into bite sized pieces and add them to the soup along with the reserved lentils.

5.  Heat through - without boiling - to bring back up to temperature.

6.  Serve in warmed bowls with a blob of yoghurt, a sprinkling of sumac and coriander - and some warm crusty bread.

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Pasta Ratatouille Bake and how time flies!

I woke up this morning with two priorities in mind.  One was to bake some Muffins involving Quince in some way.  The other was to blog on the Ratatouille Bake we ate for dinner last night.

So far, it's got to 1.50pm and I've had a shower, had breakfast, been to Sainsbury's (extra-curricular trip, for flour), returned and caught up with my email whilst having a coffee, then had lunch, then had an extra-curricular trip to the Ashley Road to drop hubby off.  Only now, am I getting to one of those priorities.  Does this happen to everyone, or is it just me?

Yes, I could have got out of bed before 9 a.m. but I have been so totally dog-tired for the last two days that having a bit of a long sleep through was getting to be vital.  I'm always scared to become too tired, just in case - one day - my brain decides to melt as it did some 2 years ago when I had a mini stroke.  Don't want that to happen again, just in case next time it decides not to be mini!  Anyway.  Enough rambling about not having time - let's get on and tell you about the Pasta Ratatouille Bake.

I had tripped over this recipe on the Good Food Channel's website and it appealed to me for the following reasons :

1.  It provided three of your five-a-day vegetables in what appeared to be extremely palatable form;
2.  It used pasta, so was potentially a good alternative to using potatoes in a dish;
3.  It was oven baked with cheese melted over the top, which is very palatable for young Son.

I knew Son wouldn't enjoy the courgettes, but they were big enough for him to avoid.  I had hope that he would enjoy the broad beans, as they were a relatively new vegetable for him and, coming in frozen form, were easy to keep handy.

As it turned out, the dish was delicious and baked well with the pasta.  I used Spirali instead of the classic macaroni, largely because we already had some Spirali in the cupboard.  I also used Thyme instead of Basil, as my Basil plant had died over the last two days of sharp overnight frosts.  Even being kept in the kitchen didn't help it.  I admit that I also added a tablespoon of tomato ketchup to the sauce, just to add that little tang that the fresh tomato wasn't providing.  The last adjustment was that I grated over some sharp Cheddar cheese as well as the Parmesan, in order to up the cheese quota so as to appeal to Son.  The recipe makes a fair amount - way more than would feed 4 people - but nil desperandum as it made a lovely lunch the following day.

PASTA RATATOUILLE BAKE  (feeds 5-6)

Ingredients :

200g pasta (Spirali or Macaroni are good)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 courgettes, sliced (you may need 3, depending on how many you're feeding & the size of the courgettes.  Mine were big!)
200g broad beans (fresh, frozen or tinned)
1 tbps tomato ketchup
125ml vegetable stock (from a cube is fine, just don't add too much extra salt)
25g parmesan cheese, grated
10g sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Method :

1.  Preheat the oven to 180deg c/gas mark 4.

2.  Cook the pasta according to the instructions given on the packet and drain.

3.  Meanwhile, in a deep frying pan, heat the oil and cook the onion for 5-10 mins, until it's tender and golden.

4.  Add the garlic for the last 2-3 minutes and cook through.

5.  Stir in the herbs, tomatoes, courgettes, beans, stock, tomato ketchup and seasoning and simmer for 5 minutes.

6.  Combine the pasta with the vegetables and stir gently, then decant into a warmed casserole dish.

7.  Grate the cheese over the top, then oven-bake for 30-35 mins.

Excellent served with Sausages, Gammon, Pork Chops.