When is a Risotto not a Risotto?

This dish is, for all intents and purposes, a risotto.  Except it can’t be called a risotto because the technique is slightly different.  Instead of laboriously stirring ladleful after ladleful of stock into the rice, with this recipe you simply dump the rice into the hot stock all at once, and let it slowly absorb as it cooks.  Perfect for when you have neither the time nor the inclination to engage in any culinary heavy-lifting.

Arroz con Gambas y Chorizo

(or Rice with Prawns and Chorizo to you and me!)

Prep Time: 25 mins (or less if you buy pre-prepared prawns)

Cook Time: 35 mins
Serves 4

Ingredients:

Olive Oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 gloves of garlic, finely minced

1 red chilli, finely chopped

75g chorizo sausage, sliced thinly

Small bunch of dill, roughly chopped

Small bunch of lemon thyme, roughly chopped and/or a dash of lemon juice

500ml fish stock

Glug of white wine (optional)

440g tin of chopped tomatoes

250g risotto rice (like arborio or carnaroli)

400g prawns, peeled, shelled and lightly seasoned.

1.  In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, warm a gulg of olive oil over a medium heat.

2.  When the oil is hot, add onions and fry with a little salt until they begin to soften. (ALWAYS use salt when frying onions – it brings out their flavour beautifully)

3.  Add the minced garlic, chopped chilli and chorizo. Cook for another couple of minutes until the chorizo has released its lovely oily red colour and paprika flavour.

4.  Add the tinned tomatoes, herbs and the wine, followed by the fish stock.

5.  Season with salt and pepper.

6.  When the stock/tomato mixture is hot, add the rice and stir well.

7.  Reduce the heat, cover and simmer slowly, stirring occasionally, until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid.

8.  Finally, turn up the heat and add the prawns.

9.  Cook for just a few minutes, until prawns are pink and no longer translucent.

Serve immediately.

Easy Homemade Bread

Despite the proliferation of high-quality, reasonably-priced, artisan breads that are now readily available on most supermarket shelves, nothing quite beats the taste of one’s own homemade bread, straight from the oven, served with lashings of melting butter.

However, most people are quite understandably put off by time and effort it takes to prepare a yeast-based bread – considering the busy lives we all lead, all that palaver involved in waiting for the dough to ‘prove’ is simply too much bother.

However, a solution can be found in the old store-cupboard staple that is bicarbonate of soda. A perennial favourite in Irish kitchens, the humble bicarb provides a pleasing alternative to yeast, not least because it does not require any time to ‘rise’, which means the entire process of bread-making is vastly simplified.

Below is a recipe for a fibre-packed, nutty, wholemeal soda bread, with a white version to follow later.

Wholemeal Irish Soda Bread (Serves 4)

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients:

180g wholemeal flour
50g plain flour
50g pinhead oatmeal*
25g wheatgerm
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon white sugar
1¼ teaspoons salt
280 ml buttermilk
1 egg, preferably free-range

(* Feel free to mix the pinhead oatmeal with other pre-cooked grains such as rye or pearl barley. If you live in the UK, Waitrose stocks a great four-grain mix of spelt, pearl barley, rye and wholemeal grains in their new ‘love life’ range, which works really well in this recipe.)

You will also need a small (1lb) loaf tin, slicked with a little butter.

1. Preheat oven to 190C / 375F / Gas 5
2. Place all the dry ingredients into a large-ish bowl.
3. Lightly beat the egg into the buttermilk.
4. With a fork, combine the buttermilk and egg mixture with the dry ingredients.
5. Spread the mixture into the greased loaf tin.
6. Cook for 50 minutes, until bread is golden-brown and emits a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.
7. Allow to cook on a wire tray, while you enjoy the delicious smell of fresh-baked bread that has filled your kitchen!

It really is as simple as that!

Like most homemade breads, this one should be eaten fresh on the same day – but in the unlikely event that there is any leftover, it makes amazing toast for up to 3 days!

London’s Burning! (The Baker Did It!)

On this day (September 2^nd) in 1666, the Great Fire of London sparked into life.

The fire, which would wipe out 80% of the city, was ignited in a bakehouse in Pudding Lane, a short work from London’s famous Tower Bridge. The proprietor of the bakery, who regularly supplied bread to the king, was Thomas Farriner – but the culprit was one of the bakehouse workers, who failed to dampen the oven properly.

When the bakery went up in flames, Farriner and his family fled across the maze of rooftops that surrounded the building. The only member of the household to remain behind was a maid, who was too paralyzed from fright and shock to run. Unfortunately for her, the flames soon engulfed the entire building, and the fire claimed its first victim.

The fire was to rage for 3 days, until it finally burnt out on September 5th. The famous diarist, Samuel Pepys, chronicled the progress of the flames in his journals, which have since become an invaluable historical record.

Unlike many of the London's inhabitants, Samuel did not attempt to move his belongings out of the city as the flames drew closer to his home. Instead, he came up with an ingenious way to protect his most treasured possessions, as this diary entry will attest:

"I did dig another [hole], and put our wine in it; and I my Parmazan cheese, as well as my wine …”

Truly, a man after my own heart!

(In the end, Pepys and his buried cheese and wine escaped unscathed.  Although the fire spread to his street, it died out before reaching his house.)

Apple, Apples and More Apples

Autumn is finally upon us, which can mean only one thing – APPLES!

In the UK at least, this year’s harvest has been bountiful, with trees laden down with a bumper crop.  And thanks to an unseasonably warm spring, this autumn's offerings have ripened earlier than usual.   So, what better way to take advantage of this seasonal glut than to don the apron and get baking?!

One of my all-time favourite apple recipes is Eve’s Pudding.  This dessert has declined in popularity in recent years, although I have no idea why!  Every time I bake this dish, the beautiful warming aroma transports me back twenty years to my grandmother’s kitchen.  This recipe is worth the effort, if only for the nostalgia it evokes!

Eve’s Pudding, at its most basic is simply stewed apples topped with a light-as-air sponge mixture.  And it is so simple to make, even the most inexperienced cook could tackle it with ease.

My Grandmother’s Eve’s Pudding (Serves 4)

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

For the apple base:

3 - 4 large cooking apples, like Bramley

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp cold water

2 tbsp caster sugar

20g unsalted butter

Sprinkle of ground cinnamon (optional)

For the topping:

100g self-raising flour

100g caster sugar

75g unsalted butter (at room temperature)

2 large eggs (preferably free range), lightly beaten

Tiniest pinch of salt

You will also need a lightly greased pudding or gratin dish (preferably ceramic or Pyrex), with a capacity of 900ml and 5cm / 2in deep.

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

2. Peel, core and slice or chop the apples.

3. Put in a heavy-bottomed saucepan with lemon juice, water and cinnamon if using. Cook over a medium-to-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until apples soften (but are still retaining their shape).

4. Reduce the heat slightly and the add butter and sugar.  Cook for another minute or two.

5. Pour into pudding dish and spread the mixture around the bottom.  Allow to cool, while you get on with the topping.

6. Cream the butter and sugar, either by hand or with a hand-held mixer, until fluffy and light in colour.
7. With the mixer stilll going, slowly add the eggs.
8. Sift the flour and salt into the mixture and carefully fold in until fully incorporated.

9. If the mixture is very stiff, add a spoonful of hot-to-boiling water.

10. Spread the topping over the apple base and bake for 30-35 minutes until sponge is fluffed up and golden brown.

Serve warm with a sprinkle of icing sugar and a sizeable dollop of vanilla ice-cream.

Enjoy!

By the way, if you were so inclined, you could also include blackberries in this recipe.  Simply stir a handful of ripe berries into the cooked apple mixture, before transferring to the baking dish. (But if you chose this method, it's probably best to leave out the cinnamon).

(With apologies for my poor photography skills!)