Portugese Cabbage Soup

From The Hairy Bikers

Ingredients
2 fat onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
60ml/2¼fl oz olive oil
1 chorizo sausage
6 large potatoes
1.5 litres/2 pints 13fl oz good vegetable or chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 bay leaves
large bunch of greens or cabbage
smoked paprika and olive oil, for dressing
Preparation method
Gently fry the onions and garlic in the olive oil until softened and translucent.
Chop the chorizo into small chunks and add to the pan with the onion.
Fry the onions and sausage for a few more minutes and then add the diced potatoes. They will absorb all the flavour from the sausage.
Transfer the mixture to a large pan, add the stock, seasoning and bay leaves, and cook until the potatoes are soft.
Meanwhile, very finely chop the cabbage (alternatively, buy a cabbage-shredding machine from the market as we did).
When the potatoes are ready, mash them into the broth to make a thick base. Blanch the greens in boiling water for one minute to take off any bitterness, drain, then add to the simmering broth.
Add as much cabbage as the broth will support – if you want heavy soup add loads of greens, if lighter, add less.
Simmer for a few minutes. The soup will go the colour of jade.
Mix the smoked paprika with some olive oil to make a dressing, and swirl this red magic into the vibrant green soup. Serve with some rustic country bread.

Ham with madeira sauce

From The Best Ever French Cooking Course cookbook by Carole Clements & Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen
Serves 4

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter
4 shallots (finely minced)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon tomato puree
6 tablespoons madeira wine
4 ham steaks (6-7 oz each)
salt & freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

Melt half the butter in a heavy med-sized saucepan over med-high heat. Add the shallots & cook for 2-3 min till just softened, stirring frequently.

Sprinkle over the flour & cook for 3-4 min till well-browned, stirring constantly. Whisk in the stock and the tomato puree and season to taste with salt & pepper. Simmer over a low heat till the sauce is reduced by nearly half, stirring occasionally.

Taste the sauce & adjust seasoning as desired. Add the Madeira wine & cook for 2-3 minutes. (The sauce can be made up to 3 dys in advance, chilled & then rewarmed to serve.).

Snip the edges of the ham steaks to prevent curling. Melt the remaining butter in a large frying pan over a medium high heat. Add the ham steaks & cook 4-5 mins (turning once) till the meat feels firm to the touch. Serve immediately with the sauce.

Special Cassoulet by the Hairy Bikers

From Hairy Dieters – How to Love Food and Lose Weight
Serves 6

Ingredients
½ tsp sunflower oil
6 sausages, at least 85% meat
4 celery sticks
3 carrots
2 onions, halved and sliced
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 450g/1lb)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
200g/7oz piece smoked lean gammon, trimmed and cut into 2cm/1in cubes
2 x 400g/14oz cans chopped tomatoes
150ml/5fl oz red wine (or water)
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 bay leaf
4-5 bushy sprigs fresh thyme
400g/14oz can cannellini beans in water, drained and rinsed
400g/14oz can butter beans in water, drained and rinsed
freshly ground black pepper

For the garnish
handful fresh flatleaf parsley
½ large orange, zest only, finely grated

Brush a large non-stick frying pan with the sunflower oil, using the tip of a pastry brush. Add the sausages to the pan and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes, turning every now and then until nicely browned on all sides.

Meanwhile, trim the celery and peel the carrots and cut them into diagonal slices about 1.5cm/½in thick.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Add the onions to the frying pan and cook with the sausages for 6-8 minutes, stirring regularly until softened and lightly browned.

Trim the chicken thighs of any visible fat – we find a good pair of kitchen scissors does the job well – then cut the thighs in half.

Add the garlic and chicken pieces to the pan with the sausages and onions and cook for 3-4 minutes, turning the chicken twice until coloured all over.

Transfer everything to a large flameproof casserole dish.

Stir in the gammon, celery, carrots, tomatoes, red wine and 300ml/½ pint cold water, then sprinkle over the caster sugar and chilli flakes. Stir in the bay leaf and thyme and season with lots of ground black pepper.

Bring the cassoulet to a simmer on the hob, then cover with a lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for 45 minutes.

Take the casserole out of the oven and stir in all the beans. Cover with the lid again and put the dish back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

Just before the cassoulet is ready, prepare the garnish. Chop the parsley roughly and toss with the orange zest in a small bowl.

Serve large portions of the cassoulet in deep plates or wide bowls with a good sprinkling of the zesty parsley garnish on each one.

Cassoulet (French pronunciation: ​[ka.su.lɛ], from Occitan caçolet [kasuˈlet]) is a rich, slow-cooked casserole originating in the south of France, containing meat (typically pork sausages, goose, duck and sometimes mutton), pork skin (couennes) and white haricot beans.
The dish is named after its traditional cooking vessel, the cassole, a deep, round, earthenware pot with slanting sides.

Winter soup with bacon, lentils and pasta

Waitrose recipes
Serves 4
Ingredients
200g Waitrose Free Range Smoked Dry Cured Lardons
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 carrot, diced
2 tomatoes, chopped
200g Waitrose Love Life Green Lentils
1.5 litres hot chicken stock
100g Waitrose Orzo
25g pack flatleaf parsley, chopped

1. Cook the lardons, chopped onion, garlic, celery and diced carrot in a large saucepan for 5 minutes until the bacon lardons begin to crisp – there should be enough oil in the lardons so you won’t need to add more.

2. Add the chopped tomatoes, cook for 1-2 minutes or until pulpy then stir in the lentils and stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Add the orzo pasta and cook for a further 8-10 minutes until both the lentils and pasta are tender. Stir in the parsley then ladle into bowls and serve with plenty of black pepper.

Chinese BBQ Pork

Ingredients

1 lb boned loin pork
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs sherry
pinch of MSG

Cut the pork into strips about 2 inches in length and 1 inch in width (cut with the grain of the meat and not across as normal). Mix the seasonings and sugar, rub into the meat. Then rub the sherry and soy sauce into the meat and allow the meat to absorb the flavour for at least 2 hours.

Roast in a moderate oven 350F or gas mark 4 for 10-15 minutes. Raise the oven temperature to high 425F or gas mark 7, turn and baste the pork well for another 10-15 minutes.

The gf has gotten her hands on her great grandmother’s handwritten recipe book, and we are now happily going through them to cook and experiment. The pork from this recipe is very tender and flavoursome, and it reminds me of Chinese home cooking…

Just to point out that I didn’t use msg…and I think it’s already very good without it!

Red wine risotto with bacon and mushrooms

From BBC GoodFood
Serves 4

Ingredients
450-500ml/16-18fl oz chicken or vegetable stock, more if needed
85g butter
1 medium onion , chopped
200g round grain risotto rice , such as arborio or carnaroli
500ml red wine , a merlot is ideal
grated Parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), to serve

Heat the stock in a saucepan and keep it warm at the side of the stove. Melt half the butter in a shallow saucepan or casserole, add the onion with salt and pepper and sauté for 5-7 minutes until soft, but not browned. Stir in the rice and sauté it, stirring constantly, until it absorbs the butter, about 2 minutes.

Stir in about half the wine with a little salt and pepper and simmer, stirring, until the rice starts to dry, 5-7 minutes. Add a couple of ladlefuls of hot stock and continue simmering, stirring gently but constantly. When the rice dries again and needs more liquid, add the remaining wine.
Continue cooking, stirring all the time and adding more stock in batches. At the end of cooking, the rice should be tender, still slightly al dente (chewy) and creamy from the starch that has begun to leach from the grains. This will take 25 to 35 minutes and don’t hesitate to use plenty of stock.
Take the risotto from the heat, add the remaining butter in pieces, and stir it into the rice as it melts. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve the risotto in shallow bowls or on deep plates with a sprinkling of Parmesan. It is best served at once, though it can be kept warm for a few minutes. If necessary, soften it with a little more stock just before serving.

The gf is finally here with me to do her studies, and one of the first things she’s ask her is mushroom risotto. Also she mentioned that she has never tried red wine risotto before and so I decided to make a red wine mushroom risotto for her. So what I have done is to combine my mushroom risotto recipe with this red wine risotto recipe i.e. instead of using white wine, I used red wine instead. The difference between the two is that the red wine risotto is much more robust in terms of flavours.

Pork chop hot pot

Taken from “Let’s Cook – Italian & Pasta”

Ingredients

4 pork chops
Flour for dusting
225g shallots, peeled
2 garlic cloves, peeled
50g sun-dried tomatoes
400g can plum tomatoes
150ml red wine
150ml chicken stock
3 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp dried mixed herbs

Preheat oven to 190 degrees, 10 minutes before cooking. Dust the pork chops with a little flour and reserve. Chop the garlic and slice the sun-dried tomatoes

Heat olive oil in a large casserole dish and cook the pork chops for about 5 minutes, turning occasionally during cooking, until browned all over. Using a slotted spoon, carefully lift out of the dish and reserve. Add the shallots and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Return the pork chops to the casserole dish and scatter with the garlic and sun-dried tomatoes, then pour over the can of tomatoes with their juice.

Blend the red wine, stock and tomato puree together and add the mixed herbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then pour over the pork chops and bring to a gentle boil. Cover with a close-fitting lid and cook in the preheated oven for 1 hour or until the pork chops are tender.

Adjust the seasoning and serve.

Serves 4

Normally the recipes I have used go for a white wine/tomatoes mix, but this goes for a red wine/tomatoes mix. The latter has a much richer flavour and very appropriate for pork.

Fennel sausages braised with lemony potatoes and bay leaves

From Rick Stein’s Mediterranean Escape
Serves 4
Ingredients

450g/1lb luganega sausages (available from specialist Italian or Continental grocers), or other nice meaty pork chipolatas
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
750g/1½lb small waxy potatoes, peeled and each cut into quarters
½ lemon, pared zest and juice only
4 fresh bay leaves
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
120ml/4fl oz water

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Twist the sausages into 7.5cm/3in lengths and separate them into individual sausages.

Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a 26cm/10in shallow flameproof casserole dish. Add the sausages and fry until nicely browned all over. Lift them onto a plate and set aside.

Add the onion, garlic and another tablespoon of oil to the casserole dish and fry until soft and lightly golden. Stir in the potatoes, browned sausages, lemon zest and juice, bay leaves, half the chopped parsley, ½ teaspoon salt and ten turns of the black pepper mill.

Pour over the rest of the oil along with the water, cover tightly with the lid and bake for 30-40 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

Remove the lemon zest and sprinkle with the rest of the parsley before serving.

Note to self. Do not put stoneware on stove. They crack. Good thing my sausages were not blown onto the ground.

Pork chops with creamy bacon cabbage

From BBC – Something for the Weekend
Serves 4

Ingredients
For the smoky potatoes
2 baking potatoes, cut into 2.5cm/1in cubes
4 tbsp olive oil
100g/3½oz unsalted butter
1 tbsp smoked paprika

For the pork chops
4 x 200g/7oz pork chops
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the creamy bacon cabbage
300g/10½oz smoked bacon lardons
1 head Savoy cabbage, shredded and blanched
125ml/4fl oz double cream

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the potatoes. Parboil for 4-5 minutes until just tender. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, snip vertical cuts in the pork chop fat at 2cm/1in intervals to stop the chops curling up when cooking. Rub the chops with the oil and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Heat a griddle pan until hot and griddle the pork chops for about six minutes on each side, or until cooked through.

Meanwhile fry the bacon lardons in a frying pan until crisp. Add the shredded and blanched cabbage to heat through before adding the cream. Mix well to coat the cabbage and bacon with the cream.
For the smoky potatoes, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the parboiled potatoes until crisp. Add the butter and paprika and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
To serve, spoon the creamy cabbage onto four serving plates, top with a pork chop and serve the smoky potatoes alongside.

I am in love with cabbage.

Farfalle with chicken and cherry tomatoes

Ingredients
12 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
4 Tbs. Italian dry vermouth
2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
3 1/2 oz. diced salami (optional)
2 1/2 C. dried farfalle (bow tie) pasta or pasta of your choice
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 14-oz. can cherry tomatoes
pinch of dried red chilies
salt and pepper to taste

Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl, pour in the vermouth, and sprinkle with half the chopped rosemary and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion, garlic and salami, cooking over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently so garlic does not burn.

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions.

Add the chicken and vermouth to the onion and salami, increase the heat to high, and cook for 3 minutes, or until the chicken is white on all sides.

Sprinkle the vinegar over the chicken. Add the cherry tomatoes and dried chilies. Stir well and simmer for a few minutes more until the chicken is cooked. Taste often and adjust seasoning.

Drain the pasta and combine it in the pan with the chicken and tomatoes. add remaining rosemary toss the pasta and sauce together.

My fridge isn’t working and so I am trying to clear my fridge of food. Had half a chorizo sausage left and so decided to make this pasta dish with chorizo as a substitute for salami (I prefer chorizo anyway).