Arancini - Amazeballs

Delicious golden balls

Leftover risotto is never a joy to behold. Cold and congealed, what was delicious and comforting is now,
quite frankly,  a bit gross. Well praise the Italian food gods who invented arancini for this precise reason. The clever folk from Sicily decided that if you are going to go to the trouble of making risotto, you might as well make a bit extra and make something else with it. Something delicious and round and deep fried, AND with an oozy cheesy filling, ohhh yeaaah. Only a fool would make risotto especially for this (that would be me, I've wanted to cook these forever but always forget*) but once you've tried this you'll make risotto by the bucket load, so you can whip up this delightful snackette at a moments notice. Mushroom risotto seems to be favoured for this, but I think any type would work, just make sure it's not too wet and there are no big chunks of anything, you want exactly the congealed, un-appetising stodge you get left over from fresh risotto. I won't bore you with a recipe for risotto, use  this one if you're in need of one, and replace mushrooms with chicken and leave out the tarragon. About 250g of uncooked aborio rice made enough for 15 balls. Yes this recipe is loose, but it's the method which is important.

 Make sure your risotto has been chilled for at least an hour, a few days is fine if it was supper the other night. Stir a beaten egg, two for a really big batch, into the cold risotto. Chill again for ten minutes or so. Take a flat tray/large plate and cover in cling film. Spoon some risotto into your hand and roll into a large golf ball. It's a bit sticky but just go with it. Make an indent right into the middle with your little finger and insert a little cube of some delicious Italian soft-ish cheese. I used Fontina but Mozzarella would be awesome too. Cover up the hole, and roll your perfect sphere in breadcrumbs. Carefully place on your plate/tray and keep going until there is no more rice. You may need to wash your hands half way through as it gets messy. Chill them until you need them, at least half an hour though. When you want to eat them, half fill a medium heavy bottomed saucepan with vegetable oil (you only just need to cover the balls) and heat until anything dipped into the oil goes bonkers. Gently place the arancini in the pan, don't over fill, and let them bubble away for about 3/4 minutes, until golden brown, give them a nudge every now and again to get an even colour. Do them in batches, roll on kitchen roll and keep warm on a rack in a low oven, don't put them on a plate, the rack helps them stay crispy.

When they are all cooked, have fun arranging them artfully, and make sure that you warn the recipients that the middle might be hotter than the sun.

*I've also wanted to do a sweet version with left over rice pudding which would just be shamazing, this will happen soon. Just imagine it for pudding...

Chicken & Tarragon Risotto (Frugal food in disguise)

Risotto may not fill your imagination with excitement and thrills, but suppertime is sometimes more about

something reliable, easy and not bank breaking. You can save your fancy foams and sous-vided zebra for payday. This recipe is definitely not boring, but it is simple, and is a staple 'a couple of days after the roast chicken on Sunday' recipe in my house. Being a texture maniac I love the fresh crunch of aniseed from the shaved fennel on the top, along with the feathery fronds on top of the soft creamy rice. You can omit any crunchy bits for special people like the Boyfriend who doesn't like surprises.

I tend to only cook this after having roasted a chicken, so I use stock I have made from the carcass and the left-over meat stripped after we can't eat any more. It's always a good idea to buy a bigger chicken than you need, simply because you then have nice cold roast chook for recipes like this. Or to dip straight into the mayo jar, illuminated by the glow of the fridge, door wide open. I definitely don't do that.

Quantities can vary to suit you. but allow approx 75g risotto rice per person and as much chicken as you need to use up. This is for 2. You will need approximately a litre of chicken stock. Reserve a third of a fennel bulb and finely chop the rest, saving the green fronds on top. Gently fry this in a saucepan in a splash of olive oil, and when softened add a finely chopped clove of garlic. Fry for another 2 minutes then add the rice. Stir well for a minute, coating the rice in the oil, then add a glass of white wine. Let it cook, stirring most of the time until absorbed, then add hot stock, ladle by ladle, waiting each time for it to be absorbed, until the rice is almost tender but with a teeny bit of bite. Not crunch, bite. Take your time, don't let it bubble away angrily, this is a caaaaalm dish. Half way through add a large tbsp of tarragon (I don't use it often so find dried works perfectly well). Season and add the chicken in shreddy bits. You only need to warm it though. Stir in a handful of grated Parmesan and serve with the reserved fennel shaved with a peeler on top with the chopped fronds sprinkled over.

You might be a bit tipsy by the time you eat this, as the temptation to down a bottle of wine while doing all that stirring can be overwhelming, either way it's a lovely light risotto, and you feel be nice and wholesome in the knowledge that you got the absolute most out of Sunday's chicken.

Coq Au Vin Risotto

Pink risotto, what more could you ask for?

Yeah, you heard me. I love a risotto made with red wine rather than white, but normally I slather it in a sinful dollop of melty blue cheese sauce and feel guilty for, oh, about 5 minutes. This does what it says on the tin. I like coq au vin, I like red wine with my roast chicken and I like risotto. A happy French-Italian partnership. Perfecto! I nearly always make chicken and tarragon risotto with Sunday roast leftovers and it was nice to have a change. I used spring onions instead of normal ones for a slightly different taste and the green flecks looked pretty. And I like pretty.

Genius rice box

Feeds two. Melt a knob of butter and gently fry the white bits of 5 spring onions that have been finely chopped into rounds. Save the green bits. After they have started to soften, add a big finely chopped clove of garlic or two. After a further minute of cooking add approx 2 big hand-fulls of Aborio risotto rice (the packet always says 75g per person but as a greedy mare I don't think this is enough). With risotto I always end up with too much, but far worse things can happen in life. Stir well and make sure all the rice is coated in butter and glistening, and pour in a glass of red wine. You know the rest, let it absorb, stirring all the time, then add hot chicken stock (don't be lazy, make your own, it takes all of 3 seconds after a roast and you end up not wasting anything) ladle by ladle, making sure it is absorbed by the rice before adding more, until the rice is plump and cooked, but not too mushy. You will need about a litre in total, possibly less. About two ladles before it is done, add the finely chopped green parts of the spring onions you were dealing with before. In a separate little frying pan, fry a hand-full of diced pancetta until super crispy and add to the rice (it's crispier this way rather than frying it with the spring onions at the beginning). One ladle before it is finished add shredded leftover roast chicken and some mushrooms if you like (for real coq au vin you need them but they are on the very long list of dislikes belonging to The Boyfriend). Before serving stir in a hand-full of freshly grated Parmesan and top with some chopped parsley and more Parmesan.

Devour, curled up on the sofa and tease The Boyfriend that his has been thrown in the bin due to his lack of presence at dinner time. I would never be that wasteful, but I did make him panic for just the right amount of time which is until he nearly had a hungry nervous breakdown and nearly resorted to a Burger King at Waterloo.

Paella, the clever person's risotto

Paella Valenciana

Why clever you ask? Well, the Spaniards, as opposed to the Italians, in my opinion have the upper hand with their most famous rice dish as you don't have to stand there for 20 long minutes stirring and adding stock, ladle by ladle, patiently waiting until the moment it is cooked perfectly. Which can be easily missed, if like me, you can't cook risotto without adding wine, ladle by ladle to yourself. I would never cook risotto for a dinner party as it's just pointless as you really need to give it lots of attention, you can't just leave it. I always shout NOOO when on Come Dine With Me I see risotto on a menu, predictably the poor starving guests will be left alone while the 'chef just pops to the kitchen to START cooking his main course. Aargh! Risotto is amazing for a comforting supper when timing doesn't matter and The Boyfriend doesn't want to see you until dinner is ready anyway (hmmm that's every night), but Paella on the other hand is a genius dish. Dinner party friendly it can be started in advance, and those plump little grains of bomba rice actually don't like being stirred, preferring to cook all by themselves, leaving you free to fill up wine and forget to put the olives out for your guests.

Not all paellas are full of expensive seafood and I think this one, from Valencia (where I believe Paella is originally from) which is full of land-dwelling beasts instead, namely chickens and pigs, is better suited to being cooked and eaten in the UK when the sun isn't shining. It is an excellent dinner party dish, is a one pot wonder and you get lots of oohs and aahs when you plonk it on the table.

Feeds 6. Take a large pinch of saffron and make a little foil parcel for it, fully enclosing it.  Take your largest frying pan and dry toast the package for 2 minutes then set aside. Turn the heat up to max, sprinkle salt around the edge of the pan and add a splash of olive oil. Brown 6 chicken thighs and 6 pork spare ribs really well. This provides a lot of flavour so do it properly. Stir about a bit and add 2 grated tomatoes*, 1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika and the saffron (not the foil, obviously). Cook for 5 minutes, evaporating most of the water from the tomatoes. Add 2 litres of chicken stock and bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Now add about 2 big handfulls of chopped runner beans and 500g bomba paella rice, and seasoning, making sure it is all evening spread. Cook on a high heat for 12 minutes, don't stir, have another glass of wine instead. The rice will sort of steam itself. So clever. Place a rosemary spring on top, turn to lowest setting and cover with foil for 5 minutes. Then turn the heat off, remove the foil and leave for another 5 minutes before serving.

It's nice to plonk the pan on the table and let people help themselves. No dodgy sangria required.

*Most genius cooking tip I ever read, if you grate a tomato, the flesh and juice gets pushed through and the skin, which you don't want anyway gets left behind, try it!

Duck & Red Wine Risotto with Chard

Sooooo it's ok if I have a fat boy bagel for lunch because I'm going to the gym tonight and then I'm having dinner with my gorgeous friend who is preggers, so I won't drink and it will all be saintly. Erm no. She had to cancel, I DEFINITELY didn't want to go to the gym (something about a particularly hard day at work makes me really anti-exercise) and as I stopped and started on the normally reliable train service between London Waterloo and Surbiton, I became fixated with red wine risotto with duck. I don't know why but I did. Maybe there was some Derran Brown style subliminal messaging weirdness going on but that's what I wanted and that was what I was going to cook. After fantasising about crispy fat laden pan fried duck breasts (what else would you fry it in duh?!) I remembered the pounds I'd popped on during the holiday food and wine fiesta, and remembered I was back on the weight watchers (YES I KNOW, SHUT UP!) and I went for some skin free (boo) mini fillets instead. I also grabbed some chard which I love, which ended up making the dish.

Feeds 2: Fry 1 finely chopped onion in a splash of olive oil for 5 mins and then a couple of finely chopped garlic cloves. Add approx 150g aborio risotto rice and stir around, coating in oil for a minute. Add a glass of red wine (I was like a sulky child, un-willing to share, until I remembered it was my dinner...) and it's the usual risotto ritual: add a ladle-full of hot stock at a time, stirring almost constantly (stopping only for wine glass re-fills) until the liquid has been absorbed, and then add another one.You'll probably need about 1ltr stock in all. Repeat until the rice is cooked but still with a slight bite. Not crunchy. While all this is going on, (it will take 25 minutes or so) plonk about 300g sliced duck breast/mini fillets into a bowl with a decent splash of red wine and plenty of salt and pepper. Also take a big handful of chard and remove the very bottoms, and then cut the white bits off. Wash the green tops and white stalks. Chop a big clove of garlic and a small red chillie, and then dry-fry 2 tsp caraway seeds until toasted an fragrant. When the risotto is done, stir in a big handful of Parmesan and seasoning and set aside with the lid on. Get both a frying pan and a biggish saucepan on the heat. Into each pan slosh a bit of olive oil. In the saucepan add the garlic and white parts of the chard and into the frying pan add the duck and it's juices. Keep the duck moving, you just want to sear it, when you think it's done, just turn the heat off. After a few minutes of stir frying the white bits of the chard throw in the chopped chillie and the green bits of the chard. Squeeze half a lemon over it and add the caraway seeds. Season and pop the lid on for a minute, it won't take long for the green bits to wilt. When they have wilted give them a stir, also stir the risotto. Plate up by spooning a big blob of risotto onto each plate, top with the duck and the chard on the side. Sprinkle the duck with chopped flat leaf parsley and make suggestively rude noises while gobbling it down.

If that sounds a bit involved, it isn't, each bit is super simple, and the excitement from the chard totally makes it, just be organised. Just don't get too pissed while stirring your rice...yeah, easier said than done. Hoever, I definitely had more fun than I would have had in the gym.

Nasi Goreng - Breakfast/Lunch/Brunch of Kings

So often at the weekend we wake up, eventually pull ourselves out of bed, and by the time we've showered and made ourselves presentable for the day it's that weird in-between meal time, kind of too late for breakfast, but then do you wait and have lunch in half an hour? NO! You have brunch of course. Nasi Goreng is a brilliant dish to whip up on such an occasion, I had it for the first time in Bali, where it hails from (we ate it every day for 7 days in a row, sometimes having two orders of it, it was that good). It's a bit like an egg fried rice thing, the genius of the dish is that it uses up left overs, I had planned to use left-over rice from the Chinese feast from the night before, but had somehow contaminated it with god knows what in the chaos of the party, it was probably gin. Anyway, this meal is very quick and fills you up perfectly until you get to the in-between lunch and supper bit. My food-clock gets properly messed up at the weekend but isn't that an excuse to eat all day?! The following recipe is admittedly a bit of a bastardisation, and will never be as good as pool-side in Bali, but it's pretty good when starving at 11.30 on a Sunday morning in Surbiton.

Feeds two. Gently fry a chopped onion with some garlic in a large frying pan or wok. An optional meaty addition is chopped pancetta/bacon which you should add at this point if using. Once this softens a bit add a finely chopped carrot and some finely sliced Chinese cabbage (or whatever veg you have loitering in the fridge), stir fry for a few minutes and then mix in a squirt of tomato ketchup (seriously), a tbsp soy sauce and chilli sambal to taste (I didn't have any but used my new discovery and best friend chilli bean paste). Once combined, throw in a couple of big handfuls of cold, cooked rice. Now keep stir frying until piping hot throughout and the rice has taken on the colour of the sauces. When nearly ready fry a couple of eggs in another frying pan, dish up the rice, top with an egg each and scatter a bit of chopped coriander over the top.

Dig in and kiss your hangover goodbye.

Nice Day For a Royal Wedding (and kedgeree)

Fit for a Princess, or a Duchess

Having previously tutted at the monumental hysteria caused by the Royal Wedding, I squealed with excitement all the way through, with my friend Pip fromt eh comfort of the sofa. I think our invites got lost in the post. Bloody Royal Mail. We oohed and aahed our way through the ceremony on BBC One, sipping on pink Cava and generally getting very silly with it all. Not to mention tipsy before midday. I had invited her over for bubbles and brunch, after hearing her boyfriend had chosen golf over Royal nuptials, what an outrage! The previous night, swimming in Sauvingnon Blanc, my sister gave me the idea to make kedgeree, perfect. I even had smoked haddock in the freezer, it was meant to be. Just like Wills and Kate.

Kedgeree is a slight faff, especially when you've just woken up, but oh so worth it. This feeds four. Hard boil four eggs. Poach two smoked haddock fillets by laying them skin side up in a big frying pan, cover with boiling water, add a bay leaf and a few peppercorns, and just simmer very gently for about 7 minutes. Then discard the water and let the fish cool a bit before peeling the skin off (should come away very easily, if not, it's not ready), flake and set aside. To make the magic sauce, fry a finely chopped onion in a big knob of butter until softened. Grind a tsp each of cumin and fennel seeds in a pestle and mortar, and add a clove of garlic and give that a good bash too. Add to onions and fry for 3 minutes. Squirt in a tsp tomato puree, add a tsp each of tumeric, curry powder, a pinch of saffron, a bay leaf and 150ml water and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes and season. Cook your rice (if I bother measuring I use half a cup per person). Now just combine everything, stir the sauce into the rice, gently stir in the fish without mushing it up, peel and quarter the eggs and top each bowl with them and some chopped parsley. Serve with a wedge of lemon.

This made a very suitable wedding breakfast, I'm pretty sure the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would have approved.

A Risotto Mama wouldn't be proud of

I don't like people who moan about the weather, this is England, this is winter. It is going to be cold and dark, and sporadically wet, usually all at the same time. However, it is even starting to get to me, I consider myself very pro-England, I like the change of seasons and our beautiful countryside, and I genuinely believe if we had amazing weather all the time then we wouldn't appreciate Mr Sun putting his hat on, however briefly over the summer months. Not wanting to get out of bed in the morning for fear of freezing to death when I run down the death stairs (v. steep and shallow even with my size 4.5 feet) into the shower is getting tedious. I will ignore the fact that I am equally reluctant in the warmer months...

One advantage of all this cold weather is that I can take food out of the freezer and leave on the side to defrost, without the niggling worry of the possibility of it getting a bit warm and harbouring some nasty bugs, which I do think about in summer months. I can never remember to swap freezer for fridge before bed, so always take the gamble. But in winter, I don't know why we bother with a fridge its so cold. I returned from work to find the little bit of smoked haddock on the side, and on discovering a slightly manky leek at the back of the fridge (leeks are cool, you can keep peeling until no longer manky) it had to be smoked haddock and leek risotto. I even had chicken stock from Sunday's roast ready. Euurgh how prepared? The following recipe serves 2.

Half and slice one leek (washing to remove any soil etc) and cook gently in butter and olive oil until softened. At the same time place a piece of smoked haddock (approx 200g, you don't need much) in a dish, cover with boiling water and cover with cling film for 10 minutes. When fish is cooked, removed from the water, remove skin, flake, and put aside. When leeks are really soft add risotto rice (approx 75g per person, I don't normally measure things but with this I have to as its not great cold) and stir to cover in the oil and butter. Add a glass of white wine and stir until absorbed. Then add hot chicken stock, a ladle at a time, until each measure is absorbed. After doing this for about 20 mins it should be done, with a bit of bite, i.e. not mushy but definately not crunchy. I like it a bit juicy too. Season and stir in the haddock with the juice of half a lemon. I added half a sliced cabbage, already blanched, and it worked really well, and had it quite soupy for extra lush factor but it's supposed to have just chopped chives on top which is also delicious. I don't think Mama would approve of this not particularly Italian dish but its not half a good way to deal with a manky leek.

Due to it still being January when I cooked this, I was having a booze free night. Eurgh. The cooking of any risotto is hugely improved by an accompaniment of lashings of wine for the person chained to the hob, resigned to stirring for half an hour, one ladle of stock for the risotto, one glass of wine for chef. The risotto is cooked when chef can't stand up any more.