Spaghetti tetrazzini

From Jamie’s Italy
Serves 6
Ingredients

20 g dried porcini mushrooms
olive oil
4 higher-welfare chicken thighs, boned, skinned and cut into bite-sized pieces
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
350 g mixed fresh mushrooms, cleaned and torn
200 ml white wine
320 g dried spaghetti
300 ml single cream
150 g Parmesan cheese, grated
1 sprig of fresh basil, leaves picked

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Put your porcini mushrooms in a bowl and pour over just enough boiling water to cover them (approx. 150ml/5½fl oz). Put to one side to soak for a few minutes. Heat a saucepan big enough to hold all the ingredients, and pour in a splash of olive oil. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and brown them gently in the oil. Strain the porcini, reserving the soaking water, and add them to the pan with the garlic and fresh mushrooms. Add the wine, with the strained porcini soaking water, and turn the heat down. Simmer gently until the chicken pieces are cooked through and the wine has reduced a little.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions and drain well. Add the cream to the pan of chicken, then bring to the boil and turn the heat off. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the drained spaghetti to the creamy chicken sauce and toss well. Add three-quarters of the Parmesan and all of the basil and stir well. Transfer to an ovenproof baking dish or non-stick pan, sprinkle with half the remaining cheese and bake in the oven until golden brown, bubbling and crisp. Divide between your plates, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese before serving.

After one month of spending weekends in the office, and not having much energy left to do proper cooking, things have quietened down a bit (fingers crossed) and I have managed to get myself back into my cooking routine. What better way to do that than a simple pasta bake.

Recipe uses chicken but I had turkey from Tesco and so I decided to use that instead. If I am not wrong, the tacky version of this uses turkey!

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.

Beef burger with mushrooms and cheddar cheese

Ingredients

For the burger
540g/1lb 3oz minced beef chuck steak
2 tbsp paprika
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 free-range egg yolk
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

12 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
a good handful of grated mature cheddar
1 tbsp butter

To serve
½ iceberg lettuce, shredded
4 ciabatta rolls
1 beef tomato, sliced

Place all the burger ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Using your hands, shape into four equal-sized patties. Leave in the fridge overnight to firm up the patties.

Preheat the grill to hot. Cook the burgers under the grill for 15 minutes, or until cooked through, turning once.

Meanwhile, sauté the mushrooms in butter till cooked. Add the grated cheese and cook till it’s melted.

Before serving, cut the ciabatta rolls in half and toast under the grill on both sides. Top the bottom halves of the ciabatta rolls with the lettuce, followed by a slice of tomato. Arrange the burger on the tomato. Add the cheese mushroom mixture on top of the burger. Top each burger with the other halves of the ciabatta rolls and serve.

Chicken with porcini mushrooms

Revisited this dish by adding diced bacon (left over from yesterday’s Mac and Cheese) to the mushroom mixture. Had it with macaroni, and having it with pasta does tone down the strong taste of the white wine.

 

I first cooked this a few years ago when I bought this Italian cookbook from The Works in Nottingham for my mom. Interestingly, it was also the first time I cooked for an audience; it was a Christmas dinner party at my uncle’s place. So when I took this book, from my mom, back to London, it’s one of the first recipes from it that I wanted to cook from it as I recall it was quite popular at the dinner.

Fry brown 5 chicken thighs (deboned) with olive oil in a frying pan. Remove the chicken and reserve. Add two crushed garlic, stir into the juiices and cook for 1 minute. Pour around 1/2 cup of white wine into the pan and season to taste with salt and pepper. Return to the chicken to the pan. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes. In another frying pan, heat some butter and add 15g of porcini mushrooms (hydrated with boiling water for 20 minutes previously) and 400 grams of mushrooms. Fry for around 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are golden. Add the mushrooms to the chicken. Season to taste, then add 1 tbsp of chopped fresh oregano. Stir together gently and cook for 1 more minute. Serve with rice or pasta.

The dish has a strong white wine taste so if you don’t like such flavour, this dish isn’t recommended.

Layered chicken and potato bake with savoy cabbage

From Chicken – the best ever recipe collection
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless, cut into chunks
1 leek, finely sliced into rings
2 ounces butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon coarse grain mustard
1 carrot, very finely diced
3 cups white mushrooms
2 lbs potatoes, finely sliced
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350°F Heat the oil in a large pan. Fry the chicken for 5 mins or until browned.

Add the leek and fry for a further 5 minutes.

Add half the butter to the pan and allow it to melt. Sprinkle the flour over and stir in the milk.

Cook over a low heat until thickened then stir in the mustard.

Add the diced carrot with the mushrooms and season to taste.

Line the base of a 3 pint / 7 1/2 cup ovenproof dish with potato slices. Spoon one third of the chicken mixture over. Cover with another layer of potatoes.

Repeat layering, finishing with a layer of potatoes. Dot with the remaining butter.

Bake in the oven for 1 1/2 hours, covering with foil after 30 mins cooking time.

Serve hot.

To be honest, I thought the original recipe was too bland for a chicken bake (the third photograph). So with the leftover serving, I added cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese and reheated it in a toaster oven for 15 minutes; the end product is the first photograph.

Also, I forgot to get mushrooms for this dish and so I just added the leftover savoy cabbage from the duck.

Sausages with oregano, mushrooms and olives

From GoodFood 101 More one-pot dishes
Serves 4

Ingredients
450g pack reduced-fat sausages
1 tsp sunflower oil
2 tsp dried oregano
2 garlic cloves , sliced
400g can chopped or cherry tomatoes
200ml beef stock
100g pitted black olives in brine
500g pack mushrooms , thickly sliced

Using kitchen scissors, snip the sausages into meatball-size pieces. Heat a large pan and fry the pieces in the oil for about 5 mins until golden all over.

Add the oregano and garlic, fry for 1 min more, then tip in the tomatoes, stock, olives and mushrooms.

Simmer for 15 mins until the sausages are cooked through and the sauce has reduced a little. Serve with mashed potato or pasta.

Very very simple dish to make. It’s like having sausages with a rich tomato sauce.

Basque chicken

From I Know How to Cook by Ginette Mathiot
Serves 6
Ingredients

1 x 1.2 kg chicken
3 tbsp olive oil
250g tomatoes
6 sweet green peppers
125g mushrooms, sliced
150g smoked ham, diced
Salt and pepper
150ml white wine
2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley chopped

Joint the chicken, dividing the legs and wings into two. Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan and fry the chicken pieces for 5-10 minutes over a high heat until golden, cooking in batches if necessary. De-seed and chop the tomatoes. Cut the peppers into quarters and de-seed.

Add the tomatoes, peppers and mushrooms to the pan with the chicken. Add the ham and season with salt and pepper. Pour in the wine, cover and cook over a medium heat for 40 minutes.

Arrange the chicken pieces on a serving dish. If necessary, simmer the cooking liquid to the desired consistency, then pour it over the chicken. Sprinkle with the parsley.

Penne (fusilli) with wild mushrooms and creme fraiche

From Delia’s Complete How to Cook
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
1 lb 2 oz (500 g) penne rigate
1 lb (450 g) mixed fresh mushrooms (flat, chestnut, shiitake or mixed wild mushrooms, for example), finely chopped
½ oz (10 g) dried porcini mushrooms
9 fl oz (250 ml) crème fraîche
3 tablespoons milk
2 oz (50 g) butter
4 large shallots, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
¼ whole nutmeg, grated
lots of freshly grated Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano), to serve
salt and freshly milled black pepper

First pop the porcini in a small bowl, then heat the milk, pour it over the mushrooms and leave them to soak for 30 minutes. Then heat the butter in a medium frying pan over a gentle heat, stir in the shallots and let them cook gently for 5 minutes.

Next, strain the porcini into a sieve lined with kitchen paper, reserving the soaking liquid, and squeeze the porcini dry. Then chop them finely and add them to the pan, along with the fresh mushrooms and the balsamic vinegar. Next, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Give it all a good stir, then cook gently, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes, until all the liquid has evaporated.

About 15 minutes before the mushrooms are ready, put the pasta on to cook (see How to cook perfect pasta, below). Then, 2 minutes before the pasta is cooked, mix the crème fraîche into the mushrooms with the soaking liquid, and warm through. Drain the pasta in a colander, return it to the hot pan and quickly mix in the mushroom mixture, then place the pasta back on a gentle heat so it continues to cook for 1 more minute while it absorbs the sauce. Take it to the table in a hot serving bowl and hand the Parmesan round separately.

I have been having way too much meat this weekend, largely because of my Friday dinner at Hawksmoor which ended up with me eating almost 800g of steak. Anyways, I decided to tone down the meat intake and just have something vegetarian (fine, it’s not really vegetarian because i added some bacon to it).

I think the trick with cooking mushrooms for risotto and pasta is to balance the sharp taste of the mushrooms, this recipe uses balsamic vinegar to do that and I added some flat leaf parsley to further moderate the taste.

Fettuccine (fuscilli) with sardines and spinach

From Let’s Cook – italian and pasta
Serves 4

Ingredients 120g sardines in olive oil
400g fettuccine
40g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
50g one day old white bread crumbs
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
50g pine nuts
125g chestnut mushrooms, wiped and sliced
125g baby spinach leaves, rinsed
150ml creme fraiche
rind of 1 lemon, finely grated
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Drain the sardines and cut in half lengthwise. Remove the bones, then cut the fish into 2.5cm pieces and reserve.

Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions, or until al dente.

Meanwhile, melt half the butter with the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the bread crumbs and fry, stirring until they begin to turn crisp. Add the garlic and pine nuts and continue to cook until golden-brown. Remove from the pan and reserve. Wipe the pan clean.

Melt the remaining butter in the pan, add the mushrooms and cook for 4-5 minutes or until soft. Add the spinach and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, or until beginning to wilt. Stir in the creme fraiche and lemon rind and bring to the boil. Simmer gently until the spinach is just cooked. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta thoroughly and return to the pan. Add the spinach sauce and sardine pieces and gently toss together. Tip into a warmed serving dish. Sprinkle with the toasted bread crumbs and pine nuts and serve immediately.

Lots of different ingredients in this recipe; but it seems to work well, the key two ingredients is of course the sardines and the pine nuts. I was too lazy to blend my bread into crumbs and I thought a more rustic way of doing it ala Jamie Oliver, is to tear the bread into large chunks and pop it into the oven with the pine nuts until it’s all golden and crispy.

Coq Au Vin

From Saturday Kitchen
Ingredients

1.5kg/3¼lb chicken, jointed
150g/5oz diced bacon or lardons
10 French shallots, peeled
a few thyme sprigs
1 rosemary sprig
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
3 tbsp olive oil
250ml/9fl oz white wine
small knob of butter
350g/13oz mixed mushrooms (such as oyster and chestnut), sliced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
small handful chopped fresh flatleaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 220C/430F/Gas 7. Arrange the chicken pieces in a large roasting tin and scatter with the bacon, shallots, thyme, rosemary and chilli flakes. Season, to taste, with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Drizzle the contents of the roasting tray with two tablespoons of the olive oil and roast in the oven for 20 minutes.When the chicken has been roasted, add the wine to the tin and cook for another 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven.

Heat the butter and remaining tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. When the butter is foaming, add the mushrooms and garlic and fry for 3-5 minutes. Tip the mushrooms and garlic into the tin and scatter with the parsley.

I had coq au vin at a restaurant recently which reminded me that I haven’t cooked this for ages. I decided to try a different way of cooking; by roasting it first instead of browning it in the pan. I think this is actually a much better way of cooking it; it tastes just as good and more importantly it doesn’t require frying, reduces the clean up!