Courgette Leek and Spinach Risotto

Risotto is a dish whose origins lie with the poorer working classes of Italy. Originally, it was just rice cooked in a broth with whatever other ingredients were available and was used as a means of a cheap stomach filler. This was definitely not a dish favoured or eaten by the nobility. It only began to appear on the tables of the upper classes during the 19th century when the method of toasting the grains before slowly adding hot liquid was more widely practiced and a national dish was born.

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Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

½ leek, finely chopped

Pinch chilli flakes

1 courgette, diced

200g arborio risotto rice

1 x 125ml glass white wine

150ml hot chicken stock

75g spinach, roughly chopped

25g butter

salt and freshly ground black pepper

fresh chives, to garnish

method:

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan with a lid, add the leek and chilli flakes and fry gently until softened. Add the courgette and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring frequently, for 1-2 minutes, or until the rice turns translucent.

Add the wine, turn up the heat and boil for 1-2 minutes. Add the stock one ladleful at a time and stir continuously until all the stock has been absorbed and the rice is cooked.

Stir in the spinach and the butter, remove from the heat, cover and set aside for a few minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

To serve, place the risotto into serving bowls and garnish with the chives.

Fruit and Vegetables in March

A lean month, often wild and windy, March should herald the approach of spring with its promise of good things to come.

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March, so the saying goes, comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. The weather may not always bear this out, but the vegetable markets usually do: this is the in-between month, too late for many of winter’s glorious root vegetables and brassicas, too early for the fresh, cheering arrivals of spring. It’s often a case of making do if you’re a stickler for home-grown produce, or of relying on imported produce. There may still be good root vegetables around, though you should check carefully for signs of softness that can indicate a spongy, watery interior; parsnips in particular may be good. Potatoes, of course, should be fine whether from the UK or abroad; new potatoes from Cyprus are especially good choices now.

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Curly kale, a member of the cabbage family, is a good choice among greens, as are broccoli imports from Spain. At the beginning of the month, spinach is likely to come from overseas, but UK crops will start appearing as March heads towards April. In the absence of a wide vegetable choice, don’t forget the humble onion – tasty small new crops should be coming into the market, and enliven just about any dish. Bake or braise them on their own, or use them in dishes like Caramelised Onion and Feta Tart or Onion Soup. Finally, take advantage of the wonderful leek, which is one of the months few vegetable stars.

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Leeks are a member of the allium family, which also includes onions and garlic, but they have far less smelly qualities that may cause a tricky situation for people who worry about what their breath smells like after eating. Most leeks sold in March are grown in the UK, though you might find some imports from France, especially the ‘baby’ leeks, which are hardly worth the price they command. As the home-grown leeks get to the end of their season, which they do in March, they can be so large that the core becomes tough and woody, making them inedible. Those that still stand up to cooking will probably have an unusually strong flavour. Look out for small to medium specimens without too much of the green tops as these are best in March. The green tops are not suitable for eating, but make good ingredients for soups, stews and stocks.

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Leeks have a reputation for being difficult to clean. Some recipes may suggest removing the green tops and cutting a slit down the centre of the leek before running water into the separate layers, but most leeks come into the market today free of grit in the edible white sections and can be cleaned just by cutting off the green part. Small leeks can be successfully grilled or stir-fried, but generally speaking they are better cooked in a moist environment – steaming, poaching, braising or cooking in a casserole or stew – as well as using them in stocks and soups.

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For fruit, there’s essentially nothing but imports to rely on. Oranges from Morocco remain a good buy as do exotic travellers from the southern hemisphere such as mangoes, passion fruit, and pawpaw or papaya. Grapes are another good bet, especially the green South African varieties, which are available in March. And don’t forget about the end of the season’s forced rhubarb.

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Sirloin Steak with Brandy Cream Sauce

This is my take on an old favourite known as “Steak Diane”.

When I was young and innocent – food wise – this is the main course I’d always look for on the menu when going out to eat at a ‘Posh Restaurant...

It holds some sweet memories...

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Ingredients:

50g unsalted butter

2 x 175g sirloin steaks

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

3 shallots, finely diced

10ml Dijon mustard

15ml Worcestershire sauce

50ml red wine

50ml beef stock

15ml brandy

50ml double cream

15ml chopped fresh parsley

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Method:

Heat half of the butter in a large frying pan.

Season the steaks with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then place into the got pan to fry for one minute on each side. Remove the steaks from the pan and keep warm.

Reduce the heat and add the remaining butter to the pan with the shallots. Cook over a gentle heat for 8 minutes to soften the shallots.

Add the Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce and stir well.

Add the red wine and stock and bring to the boil. Boil until the sauce has reduced by a third.

Add the brandy and carefully set it alight to burn off the alcohol.

Allow the flames to subside, then add the cream and boil over a high heat for about 3 minutes until the sauce is the thickness of single cream.

Fold in the parsley and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Return the steaks to the pan and warm through but do not boil.

T o serve, place each steak on a warmed plate, top with the sauce.

Serve with chips or potato salad.

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Sweet Lamb Sausages

It might appear strange to combine red meat with a sweet flavour,

but lamb, mint, honey and mustard are a marriage made in heaven.

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Ingredients:

500g lamb mince

20-30 ml honey

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 slice of white bread, made into crumbs

50ml chopped fresh mint

5ml Dijon mustard

1 egg

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

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Method:

Place all the ingredients except the bread crumbs in a large bowl. Knead and massage together to blend. Mix in the breadcrumbs and continue to knead until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball. Divide the mixture into 8 and shape each piece into a sausage.

In a wide frying pan heat a little oil and gently fry the sausages for 6-8 minutes until cooked through, turning to brown on all sides.

Sweet Brisket Bredie

Bredie is an old South African Cape name for a dish of meat and vegetables stewed together so that the flavours intermingle. The gravy is rich, thick and full-bodied, and is obtained by using meat with a fair amount of fat, like brisket or chuck. It is rolled in flour and browned before the vegetables are added. The flavour improves if left a day or two before eating. The addition of honey gives the vegetables an amazing hint of sweet earthiness. For a richer, more full bodied stew, use a blend of red wine and stock, rather than plain beef stock. Dried fruit may also be added to a bredie; I like to add brandy soaked sultanas, but this is optional.

Brisket is a beef cut taken from the breast section beneath the first five ribs. It is an inexpensive boneless cut that requires long, slow cooking to break down the collagen in the connective muscle tissues, which achieves tenderness. The long piece is cut in half for marketing. You'll find it sold as a flat cut or a point cut. The flat cut is leaner, but the point cut has more flavour due to a bit of extra fat. With a little bit of time and gentle cooking, even the toughest piece of meat can be made palatable. Brisket is one of the least tender cuts of beef, but it can be made tender and the flavour is hard to beat.

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Ingredients:

50ml flour

5ml “Steak and Chop seasoning”

500g Beef Brisket, cut into inch cubes

50ml vegetable oil – or more if needed

1 onion, roughly chopped

2 carrots, roughly chopped

2 leeks, roughly chopped

1 parsnip, roughly chopped

30ml honey

500ml beef stock

2 bay leaves

2 large potatoes, cut into chunks

Freshly grated nutmeg

125ml sultanas, soaked in 30ml brandy and a covering of boiling water (optional)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season.

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Method:

Place the flour and “Steak and Chop seasoning” in a plastic bag, add the beef cubes and shake well to coat the meat.

Heat the oil in a large pan and brown the meat on all sides over a medium to high heat. This ought to be done in batches as adding all the meat at one time causes it to steam, rather than brown. When the meat is well browned, remove from the pan and set aside.

Fry the onion on a medium heat in the same pan used for the meat, adding more oil if needed. Once the onion is caramelised, but not burnt, add the carrots, leeks, parsnip, honey, beef stock and bay leaves. Stir to blend well. Return the meat to the pan.

Cover the pan with a lid and simmer the bredie over a very low heat for at least two hours. This can also be done in a low to moderate oven if you prefer – oven temperature about 150C. The longer the bredie cooks, the better it will taste.

About 20-30 minutes before the bredie is ready, add the potatoes, nutmeg and sultanas. If the potatoes are added with the other vegetables, their shape could be lost and they may breakdown to mush. Once the bredie is done, allow it to stand for 10 minutes to rest. Check the seasoning before serving, adding sea salt and freshly ground black pepper if required.

American-Style Potato Salad

Potato salad makes a wonderful accompaniment to any meal.

As a family, we enjoy it the traditional way with mayonnaise,

but adding a runny mustard and gherkins to the sauce

gives it such an interesting flavour.

Ingredients:

4-5 medium waxy potatoes,

30ml milk

50ml hotdog mustard sauce

5ml vinegar

5ml liquid from a jar of gherkins

5ml sugar

125ml homemade mayonnaise

1 gherkin, chopped

1 hardboiled egg, chopped

2-3 rashers of streaky bacon,

Method:

Cut each potato into 8 pieces and cook in salted boiling water until tender. Drain and set aside to cool slightly.

Mix the milk, mustard sauce, vinegar, pickle juice and sugar together in a small bowl to make a dressing.

Fry the bacon until it is cooked and crispy. Cut the rashers in half lengthwise and snip into 1 inch pieces.

When the potatoes have cooled, pour over the dressing and toss to coat the potatoes. Add the mayonnaise, the chopped gherkin, egg and bacon and blend through the potato mixture. Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.

Homemade Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise is an ingredient you always need to have available.

I can't abide the ready made shop bought mayonnaise;

it always tastes like plastic.

Here's a quick and easy recipe for this wonderful classic

that you can have ready for when you need it.

If you prefer to have vinegar in your mayonnaise,

leave out the lemon juice and use about 30ml vinegar to replace it.

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Ingredients:

2 egg yolks

2 eggs

15ml Dijon mustard

Juice of half a lemon

5ml caster sugar

200ml vegetable oil

200ml olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

Method:

Blend all the ingredients except the oil in a food processor for 10-15 seconds, or until well combined. In a glass jug, blend the two oils. While the motor is running, pour the oil into the food processor very slowly until well combined and the mixture is thick and glossy. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Store in a sterilised glass jar in the fridge for up to a week.