Caper and dill rigatoni

‘A sophisticated alternative to mushy peas.’

If I were inclined towards guilt one of my major guilty pleasures would be come dine with me. a trashy reality tv show where five people have dinner parties and slowly come to loathe each other over a week. In most cases the food is the least interesting part of the show being usually either disgustingly pretentious or just disgusting. However, on two occasions there were dishes that appeared on the show and have, after some experimentation, been added to my repertoire. This is an indulgent main to serve with goats cheese and any kind of beetroot salad or a truly decadent side dish for fish. The mint makes it if you don't have mint make something else, it’s foul without it.

Pea and mint risotto part one (pea pesto)

Frozen peas or broad beans (about 250g, peas if you’re making the risotto)

Parmesan (one wedge from the supermarket)

Mint (as much as you can me arsed to pick)

Lemon (half zest, some of the juice, to taste)

Salt (to taste, always)

Put it all in the food processor and whizz the hell out of it.Salt it after it is all blended because it’s hard to account for the parmesan. Make a lot regardless of how much risotto you’re making this is nice on toast or dip in it like hummus the difficulty is that broad beans work better for dipping and spreading but peas are best for risotto.

Pea and mint risotto part two (risotto base)

This is a fairly generic risotto base but is more acidic than risotto usually is this is necessary due to the sweetness of the peas. Omit the vinegar and peas then go hog wild with adding your own flavours to this.

Risotto rice (most of a pack, 400g)

An onion

Some garlic (to taste)

White wine (or vermouth)

White wine vinegar (or lemon for a different character)

Butter

Vegetable stock (homemade is best, store bought is fine)

Finely chop your onion and mince your garlic and soften them in butter, don't stir too much but don’t allow them to colour. Meanwhile bring your vegetable stock to the boil (if you have mint stalks, and you should if you’re making the pesto, add them to the stock as well as the rind of the parmesan.

Add your risotto rice and cook until translucent and thoroughly coated with the oniony butter.

Add a good glug of vinegar and a small cup of vermouth, or a large cup of wine. The stirring begins. Stir constantly until all of the liquid has been absorbed. Then add the stock one ladle at a time and allow it to absorb stir constantly to release the starch.

When the rice has almost cooked (taste it) add stock aiming for a consistency that would barely flow if you tipped the plate.

Stir the pesto into the rice then taste and season.

Serve in a wide bowl with a rocket (or watercress) and beetroot salad.

Comments

Cheese Souflee

'It's not posh I promise' ok I know its a soufflé and mostly you see them made by extremely high strung cartoon chefs and deflated by loud noises. and I know French food is often seen as fussy and intricate. My experience of French food is quite different. My mum traveled to France as a young woman and waiting at a ferry terminal for a bus to Dijon looked for a cookbook for French foods to cook at her friends farm house. she had the good fortune to pick up an unfussy volume of what was mostly French peasant cuisine. We still eat meals from it (including our now traditional Christmas eve boeuf bourguignon). growing up we used to have cheese soufflé to use up odds and ends of cheese or to 'tart up a salad' mom makes it now with absolutely no measurements of any kind. serve this with French salads (we have a remoulade, a cucumber crème fresh salad, and a grated carrot, cumin and parsley salad here) This is based on the recipe that is in moms cook book, I've bas...

Jerk halloumi, jerk coleslaw and rice and peas (one from the vaults)

‘A spicy treat’ This is a weekend jerk halloumi. Mid week you would just use any commercial jerk rub most of them are pretty good but the fresh is more vibrant. The side dishes elevate this to the level of a feast. Keep adding people until you have a party. Tastes best from a barbecue Jerk halloumi Ginger (a large thumb, don't bother peeling) Honey A bulb of Garlic (equal to shallots in volume) About two Shallots or scallions One Scotch bonnet (hot as hell but cannot be substituted I have to be strict about this, note from future Jake yes you do loose something if you don't use a scotch bonnet but don't let that stop you from making it without ) Thyme (fresh and stripped off the stems, as much as you can be arsed with about one and a half supermarket bunches, also dried thyme works fine) Lime (both zest and juice) Allspice (also known as pimento) nutmeg (a good grating) cinnamon (a sprinkle) smoked paprika (a teaspoon) Liquid smoke (just a dab if you'r...

Roast onion and rice

'this really packs a punch' This is something simple and delicious that has an almost completely unearned veneer of sophistication. the sauce is the trick here it does a lot of heavy lifting, don't be tempted to douse the dish in the sauce because that will end in a salty mess but rest assured that a drizzle would make even just plain rice an indulgent experience. Ingredients shallots 800g (the long thin ones if you can get them) Cherry tomatoes 250g Curry powder (a spare teaspoon) 4 eggs (right on the far edge of soft-boiled) Soy sauce (good soy sauce, this is one of the central flavors of the dish so go premium) Garlic 5 cloves Ginger 1 Bunch coriander Kafir lime leaf (I recommend frozen over dried) Cornstarch Sugar Toasted sesame oil Neutral oil (just a splash) Sushi rice (cooked to packet instructions, does have to be sushi rice) Pickled radish (I pickled mine with beetroot juice but that was mostly aesthetic) Halve ...

JK's kitchen

Search This Blog