Glynelwyn Recipes
This is a new page devoted to passing on a few of the recipes
that we come back to time and time again in making the best of our
home reared produce.
We hope that you enjoy them as much as we do.
Pork
Our pork comes from our own slow reared pedigree Berkshires. The roasting joints are from the leg joints cut into 2 or 3 pieces according to size, and the shoulder boned and rolled. We are then left with chops and belly pork. We use the belly for adding to other dishes, although it can also be roasted.
If we are making sausages we have the shoulder just boned, and then this provides the perfect mix of lean and fat meat for mincing for the sausage mix. If we are making bacon, we ask for the back and the belly to be taken off as a slice for bacon. We can then make both back and streaky bacon. This does mean that you sacrifice the chops!
Roast Pork
Ingredients
- Roasting joint
- 2 medium onions (cut into large chunks)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 sticks celery (cut into large chunks)
- 2 carrots (cut into large chunks)
- Bunch of herbs (sage/rosemary/thyme etc.)
Method
- Score skin with sharp knife
- Place onions, carrots, celery and garlic in bottom of roasting dish with bunch of herbs
- Drizzle with olive oil and place roasting joint on top
- Drizzle joint with olive oil and rub salt and pepper into scored skin
- Place in pre-heated oven on high heat (240°C) then turn heat down to 180°C
- Using a meat thermometer, cook until temperature has reached about 75°C
- If crackling is not fully crisp, then remove and place back in oven till done
- Drain off excess fat from pan and use remainder for making gravy with the meat and veg juices
- Cover meat with foil and rest for 15 minutes before carving
Ideal with Easy Apple sauce recipe, or add 4 peeled, cored and quartered apples to roasting pan after 30 minutes for a delicious alternative apple sauce. The blackened apples will not look appetising, but the taste is unbelievable!
Roast Pork in Cider
Ingredients
- Shoulder joint
- 1 large cooking apple (cut into large chunks)
- ½ pint Cider • Salt and Pepper
Method
- Place foil in baking dish to fold round joint
- Score skin with sharp knife
- Drizzle joint with olive oil and rub salt and pepper into scored skin
- Place joint in foil with chopped apple and cider
- Fold foil around sides leaving rind uncovered to crisp
- Place in pre-heated oven on high heat (220°C)
- Cook for 30 minutes then turn down to 180°C
- Using a meat thermometer, cook until temperature has reached about 75°C
- Remove chunks of apple to make delicious apple sauce
- Use pan juices to make gravy
- Cover meat with foil and rest for 15 minutes before carving
Orange Pork Chops
Ingredients
- 4 pork chops
- 1½ oz. butter
- Ground rind and juice of 1 orange or 2 clementines
- 1 tbsp. dry mustard
- 4 oz. brown sugar
- Seasoning
Method
- Rub the chops with salt and pepper
- Melt the butter in a frying pan
- Add the chops and fry till evenly browned all over
- Transfer to an ovenproof dish
- Mix together the orange juice, orange rind, sugar and mustard
- Pour over the chops and cover the dish with lid or foil
- Put into pre-heated oven at 180°C and bake for 1 to 1½ hours until pork cooked through
- Remove lid or foil for the last 45 minutes of the cooking time
- Serve the chops with the cooking juice
Ideal with the marrow/courgette recipe and sautee potatoes
Dry Cured Bacon
Dry curing is basically using salt as the Cure. Shop bought cures have Sodium Nitrate (saltpetre) added to assist colour, flavour and preservation, but this is not essential, ordinary salt will do.
Sweetness can be added to the Cure in the form of caster sugar/Demerara sugar/brown sugar/honey etc.
When we take our pigs to the abattoir, we ask for the back and the belly to be taken off as a slice for bacon. We can then make both back and streaky bacon. (ask them not to score as this makes it harder to slice afterwards)
Method:-
- Weigh slabs of belly or back pork (cut into convenient sizes if required to fit in fridge or vac packs)
- Measure out cure mix
- Rub cure mix thoroughly into meat
- Put cured meat in non-metallic tray in fridge i.e. plastic or glass containers or vac-packed
- Allow 1 day per ½ inch of depth of meat plus 1 day. Normally streaky bacon on ‘porkers’ takes 3 to 4 days and back bacon 4 to 5 days
- If stacking more than one piece, rotate pieces daily to give even pressure on each one.
- Take cured meat out of fridge and wash off cure mix in cold water
- Pat dry and slice
(NB For larger ‘bacon weight’ pieces then refrigerate for 2 days to allow to dry before slicing)
Eat and Enjoy, and freeze for later
Cure Mix Quantities
Cure mix is 5% of meat weight, i.e. 50g per 1000g meat
If sweetener added, then it is 6%, i.e. 60g per 1000g of meat and
should be 10% of total cure mix i.e. 1000 g meat is 54g of cure mix
and 6g sweetener
(for added sweetness use caster sugar/Demerara sugar/brown
sugar/honey etc.)
Lamb
Our grass fed lamb and mutton provide us with another wonderful choice of meat.
Slow cooked Shoulder or Leg
This is our favourite way to make the most of the flavour of our legs or shoulders of lamb.
Ingredients
- Leg or Shoulder of lamb
- 1 head of garlic
- 2 bunches of fresh or 1tbsp dried rosemary
- Olive oil
- Salt and ground black pepper
- Flour
- Stock
- Red wine/vinegar
- Fresh mint or 1 tsp. mint sauce
Method
Break up a head of garlic and place on bottom of oven proof dish. Add a couple of sprigs of fresh or a generous helping of dry rosemary.
Slash skin of lamb, place on top of garlic and rosemary and drizzle with olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper.
Pour a little red wine over lamb and cover with lid or foil. Place in really hot oven and immediately turn down to 150°C. Leave for 4 hours or until meat breaks up easily with a fork. Keep warm while preparing the sauce.
Sauce
Drain all but 2 tbsp. oil. Put on hob and stir in flour. Add stock and wine or wine vinegar. Stir and thicken. Add fresh chopped mint or 1 tsp. mint sauce and stir. Pour over lamb when serving.
Lancashire Hotpot
Ingredients
- 15 to 20 lamb chops
- 2 lamb's kidneys
- 25g butter
- Olive oil
- 1 large onion (sliced)
- 750g potatoes
- 1 bay leaf
- 50g seasoned flour
- 2 large carrots
- 3 anchovies (chopped)
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
- 500 ml lamb or vegetable stock
- Seasoning
Method
- Melt the butter and a lttle oil in a pan and lightly fry sliced onion until soft then remove from pan
- Peel and slice potatoes and divide into 2 piles
- Add the onion to one of the piles and layer in bottom of ovenproof dish with bay leaf
- Season with salt and pepper
- Reheat pan used for onions and add a little more oil if necessary
- Dust chops with seasoned flour and brown evenly both sides
- Repeat for kidneys
- Place chops over potato/onion mix and add chopped kidneys
- Add thickly chopped pieces of carrot
- Scatter the chopped anchovies on top
- Season with salt, pepper and Worcestershire Sauce
- Evenly layer remaining potato slices on top and season with salt and pepper
- Pour on stock until just covering potatoes
- Cover the dish and place in pre-heated oven at 200°C
- After 20 minutes turn heat down to 140°C and cook for 1 to 1½ hours
- Remove lid and turn up to 200°C for about 30 minutes to brown potatoes, removing or adding stock as necessary to just expose potatoes
- Serve helpings of lamb, potato/onion, carrot and kidney pieces
Shepherds Pie
Ingredients
- 1 lb. minced lamb
- 1 large onion (chopped)
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 oz. mushrooms (sliced)
- 2 carrots (sliced)
- 1 oz. plain wholemeal flour
- ½ pint stock
- 1 tbsp. tomato puree
- Seasoning
- 1½ lb. potatoes
- 1 oz. butter
- 4 tbsp. full cream milk
- 2 oz. Lancashire cheese
Method
- Dry fry the lamb, bay leaf, chopped onion, sliced mushrooms and sliced carrots for 10 minutes
- Add the flour, stir and cook for 1 minute
- Gradually stir in stock and tomato puree until mixture thickens
- Cover and simmer gently for 25 minutes, then remove bay leaf and season to taste
- Pour into ovenproof dish
- Cook the potatoes in salted water for 20 minutes until tender
- Drain well and mash with the butter and milk
- Cover lamb mix with the potato, crumble Lancashire cheese on top and dot with butter
- Place in pre-heated oven at 200°C for 15 to 20 minutes till top golden brown
- Serve with French Beans or similar
Cawl
This is a traditional Welsh dish and is a cross between a broth and a stew, full of colour and flavour. It is best made over 2 days or even more to give more flavour.
Ingredients
- Bones from shoulder of lamb (or chops can be substituted)
- 2 onions
- 2 carrots
- 2 sticks celery
- 3 large leeks
- 3 Maris Piper potatoes
- 1 medium swede
- 4 bay leaves
- Bunch of parsley
- fresh thyme, mint or sage
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- Seasoning
Method
- Place 2 litres of water and 2 teaspoons of salt into a large pan
- Peel and add the whole onion and the lamb
- Bring to the boil, then use a spoon to skim away the scum from the surface
- Simmer for a further 10 to 15 minutes, or until cooked through
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the meat from the pan and leave to cool
- Strip the meat from the bone, then return the meat to the pan
- Peel and cut the swede into 1cm chunks
- Add to the pan and bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tender
- Peel the carrots and slice at a slight angle into 1cm chunks, then add to the pan
- Bring to the boil, then simmer for a further 15 to 20 minutes with the lid on, or until tender
- Peel the potatoes and cut into quarters so they're all roughly the same size
- Once the carrot has softened, add the potatoes to the pan and repeat the process until tender
- Strip and discard the outer leaves from the leeks, then cut into 1cm slices
- Add most of the leeks to the pan and bring to the boil
- Simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on, or until tender
- Season to taste then add the remaining raw leeks
- Cover and pop in the fridge to chill overnight (or for up to 3 days for even tastier results)
- When you're ready to serve, gently simmer the cawl until warm. Ladle into serving bowls, then serve with lots of black pepper, a wedge of mature Caerphilly cheese and a thick slice of buttered bread
For a more filling meal, make some dumplings and place on top of cawl and cook in oven till top of dumplings nicely browned
Mousaka
This recipe is a spicy meat dish with a wonderful cheese sauce topping.
Ingredients
- 1 large aubergine, sliced into 1cm slices
- 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
- 600g minced lamb
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground corriander
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 (400g) tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon tomato puree
- 200ml/7fl oz red wine
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 500g/1lb 2oz Maris Piper potatoes, peeled, sliced into 1cm/½in slices
White Sauce
- 250ml milk
- 25g butter
- 25g flour
- a pinch of grated nutmeg
- 380g grated cheddar cheese
- 1 egg
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas 4
- Sprinkle the aubergine with salt and leave for 30 minutes (draws out bitter juices). Then rinse aubergine in a colander and squeeze out excess liquid. Dry well with a kitchen cloth. Add to roasting tin and add 1 teaspoon olive oil. Mix to give a good coating. Roast for 30 minutes
- Cook the potatoes in boiling water for five minutes, then drain in a colander under running water until cold
- Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add mince, break up with a fork till browned. Add garlic, cayenne, cumin, cinnamon and coriander, stir for 1-2 minutes. Add herbs, red wine, tomatoes and puree. Stir. Turn down the heat to very low and simmer, covered for 30 minutes
- Meanwhile, melt butter in pan, then remove from heat and add flour and mix, return to heat and slowly mix in the milk. Stir over a medium heat until thickened. Season and add cheese, stir. Leave to cool
- In an ovenproof dish add a third of the lamb mixture, followed by half the aubergine, then potatoes, then lamb, then aubergine, finishing with the rest of the mince (you can layer less or more according to dish size but make sure top layer is lamb)
- Lightly whisk egg in a separate bowl and then stir into white sauce. Top with white sauce and bake in oven for 50 minutes
Goat
A recent addition to our meats is Goat. Although we have had goats for quite a number of years, it is only been in the last 2 years that we have found ourselves with billy kids that have not been sold for breeding or as pet wethers. Goat is a really tender meat when slow cooked.
Goulash
Ingredients
- 1 kg diced goat
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 3 medium onions cut into 12 wedges
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 teaspoons hot smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 beef stock cube
- 600ml water
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato puree
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 red pepper
- 1 green pepper
- 1 orange pepper
- flaked sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C/Fan 150°C/Gas 3½. Season the goat
well with salt and freshly ground
black pepper.
Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish. Add the
goat and fry over a high heat until
nicely browned all over, turning regularly. Tip the onions into
the pan and cook with the beef for
5 minutes until softened. Add the crushed garlic and cook for a
further minute, stirring regularly.
Sprinkle both kinds of paprika over the meat and crumble the
beef stock cube on top. Add the
water, tomatoes, tomato purée and bay leaves. Season with salt
and pepper, stir well and bring
to a simmer. Cover with a tightly fitting lid and transfer the
dish to the oven. Cook for 2 hours.
While the goat is cooking, remove the core and seeds from
each pepper and chuck them away.
Cut each pepper into chunks of about 3cm. When the goat has
cooked for 2 hours, carefully
remove the dish from the oven. Stir in the peppers, put the lid
back on and put the goulash back
in the oven for a further hour and a half or until the goat is
meltingly tender.
We like to serve this with Cummin Rice
Poultry
Roast Turkey
Once a year we rear our own Bronze Turkeys that free range until near Christmas time, ready to provide us with a special Christmas roast. As we always have a much larger bird than we can eat, we carve off a breast and a leg, wrap in foil and freeze for Easter. Once thawed, it carves perfectly and is just as tasty as when fresh.
We prefer not to stuff the bird, but to make stuffing separately. This means that the bird will cook quicker and the home made stuffing can be made more dry and crunchy
Method
- Remove giblets and save for gravy
- Slide knobs of butter and 4 or 5 bay leaves under skin as far as you can manage pushing butter from outside skin to reach as far as possible
- Place a peeled onion and a pierced lemon into the cavity along with a good measure of thyme and mixed herbs
- Rub the turkey in butter and sprinkle with Herbes de Provence or similar
- Line a roasting pan with foil width wise and length wise making a 'cross' large enough to wrap around the turkey
- Place turkey into foil, add ½ pint of white wine and loosely wrap foil over turkey to form a 'parcel'
- Place in pre-heated oven at 220°C for 20 minutes, then turn heat down to 180°C
- Roast for between 1½ to 3 hours depending on size until juices run clear when pierced with skewer.
- Turn heat up to 200°C and fold back foil to allow skin to brown off
- Take out of oven, cover with foil over and allow to rest for 15 to 20 minutes before carving
Special Home Made Stuffing
Ingredients
- 2 oz. butter
- 8 oz. chopped onions
- 4 sticks celery cut into ½ inch chunks
- 1 lb. sausage meat (or sausages cut into ½ inch chunks)
- 6 oz. white bread cut into ½ inch cubes
- 8 oz. Bramley apples cored and chopped
- 4 oz. walnuts, chopped
- 3tsp thyme
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- ½ tsp. ground mace
- 2 tomatoes, cut into chunks
- Seasoning
- 1 egg, beaten (optional)
Method
-
Melt butter in large frying pan and lightly fry chopped onions, celery and sausage meat until golden
-
Tip into mixing bowl and mix in all other ingredients and season
-
Place in pre-heated oven at 180°C and cook until nicely browned
Vegetables
Roast Marrow / Courgettes
A glut of courgettes and running out of how to use them produced this winner of a recipe. Goes well with the Orange Pork recipe and roasts and pasta dishes alike.
Ingredients
1 small marrow or 6 courgettes • 1 small red pepper, de-seeded and roughly chopped- 1 yellow pepper, de-seeded and roughly chopped
- 4 medium onions, peeled and sliced into thick wedges • 2 large cloves garlic, chopped or sliced
- 1 handful fresh rosemary sprigs • 3tbsp olive oil • 450g (1 lb.) cherry tomatoes
- Salt and ground black pepper
Method
Either preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F, gas mark 7) or heat oil in large frying pan.
Top and tail the marrow/courgettes then cut into large bite-size chunks.
Put the marrow, peppers and onions in a large roasting tin or large frying pan. Sprinkle with the garlic, rosemary and seasoning. Drizzle the oil over, then mix thoroughly to coat everything.
Roast on the highest shelf of the oven for 15 minutes. Stir the cherry tomatoes into the vegetable mixture then return to the oven or frying pan for a further 15-20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and turning golden brown at the edges. Serve straight away or cover and keep warm in a low oven.
* Can also be frozen and goes well with a variety of roasts, meat and vegetable dishes.
Sauces
Easy Apple Sauce
Love to have apple sauce with roast pork, and this recipe is so quick and easy to do
Ingredients
- 1 lb. cooking apples
- 3 tbsp. water
- Large pinch salt
- 2 level tsp. caster sugar
- ½ oz. butter
Method
- Peel, core and slice apples and put in pan with the water
- Cook gently until soft
- Puree with wooden spoon in pan
- Add salt, sugar and butter and gently heat and stir to mix
Tomato Sauce
This recipe was one that we used for a glut of tomatoes in the polytunnel, and the frozen batches lasted nearly a year when used in pasta dishes and other recipes calling for tomato sauce. Using home grown tomatoes and basil, and celery when it is cheap to buy make this a winner.
Ingredients
- 1 medium celery stalk
- 1 medium carrot, peeled
- 1 small onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 lb. 10 oz./750g fresh tomatoes, skin on, roughly chopped into large pieces (see note above)
- 1 cup/large handful flat-leaf parsley
- 1 cup/large handful basil leaves
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
Method
Chop the celery, carrot, onion and garlic into tiny pieces (⅛ inch/ 3mm), roughly all the same size.
Place the tomato pieces in a large casserole. Place the carrot, then the celery, the onion, garlic and finally the herbs on the top. Pour the olive oil over and cook for 1 hour, on a medium heat without stirring but just shaking the pan to prevent it from sticking.
Put the contents through a food processor but do not over blend, the sauce should be thick and quite chunky and you should should be able to see tiny bits of the vegetables within the thick sauce.
Add the butter and further reduce the sauce until it has thickened slightly, about 10 minutes. Leave to cool.
* Freeze in batches for use in pasta dishes or any that require tomato sauce
Cheese Sauce
Love pasta dishes like cannelloni, lasagne etc. and a good béchamel/cheese sauce is a key ingredient
Ingredients
- 1 oz. butter
- 1 oz. flour
- 10 fl. oz. full cream milk
- 3 oz. Cheddar cheese
- ½ tsp. dry mustard
- Seasoning
Method
Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in flour to form a smooth paste
Gradually stir in milk and bring to boil and cook until sauce
starts to thicken
(we now have béchamel sauce for use in lasagne etc.)
Stir in grated cheese, mustard, salt and pepper
(we now have cheese sauce to pour over canelloni etc.)
Sweet Chile Sauce
Got fed up with buying bottles of sweet chile sauce so decided to make my own. Very easy, very cheap and freezes well.
Ingredients
- ½ cup white vinegar
- ½ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tbsp. fish sauce
- 2 tbsp dry sherry
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ to 1 tbsp dried crushed chili
- 1½ tbsp cornflour dissolved in 3 to 4 tbsp cool water
Method
Place all ingredients - except the cornflour/water mixture - in a sauce pan and bring to a rolling boil.
Reduce heat to medium and let boil for 10 minutes, or until reduced by half. (Note that the vinegar will be quite pungent as it burns off.
Reduce heat to low and add the cornflour/water mixture. Stir to incorporate and continue stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens (about 2 minutes)
Remove from heat and taste-test. You should taste "sweet" first, followed by sour, then spicy and salty notes. If the sauce isn't sweet enough, add a little more sugar. If not spicy enough, add more chili.
Pour sauce into a small bowl or jar and serve as a condiment with chicken, fish, and seafood, or as a dip with finger foods such as chicken wings, shrimp, or spring rolls. Also makes an excellent marinade for grilled chicken, fish, or seafood.
Freezes well.
Soups
Mushroom
We often have a plentiful supply of goats milk and if there are
mushrooms available, then this recipe makes a tasty mushroom soup
Ingredients
- 8oz mushrooms
- 1 medium onion
- ½ pint chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 oz. butter
- 1 oz. plain flour
- ¾ pint full cream milk (in our case milk from our goats)
- Seasoning
Method
- Slice mushrooms
- Roughly chop onions
- Add to stock and cook for 30 minutes
- Cool and puree in blender
- Melt butter and add flour and mix to smooth paste
- Add milk and stir until thickens
- Add pureed mushrooms and onions
- Cook for 30 minutes
- Season and serve with thick slices of home made bread and butter
Chicken
We produce our own meat birds which are so meaty and tasty that we
treat ourselves every month or so. Not wanting to waste anything we
ensure that we make best use of the carcass to make soup and
leftover meat also goes into chicken and mushroom/leek pies
Ingredients
- Chicken carcass
- 1 medium onion
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 clove
- 1 pint milk
- 1 tbsp. corn flour
- ¼ tsp. nutmeg
- ¼ lb. chopped cooked chicken
- Seasoning
Method
- Break up carcass and put into pan
- Chop onion and add with bay leaf and clove
- Pour in milk and also stock cube if required
- Simmer slowly for 20 minutes
- Strain and pick off any meat
- Mix corn flour to smooth paste with cold water and add to strained liquid
- Heat pan and stir till liquid thickens
- Add nutmeg, seasoning and cooked chicken pieces
- Leave, covered, to simmer for 15 minutes
- Serve with thick slices of home made bread and butter
French Onion
We use onions in various dishes all year round and they make a cheap, satisfying soup
Ingredients
- ¾ lb. onions
- 1½ oz. butter
- 1½ pints beef stock
- 1 or 2 tsp. dry sherry (optional)
- Seasoning
Method
- Thinly slice onions
- Melt butter
- Gently fry onions till softy and golden
- Stir in beef stock
- Add sherry and seasoning as required
- Simmer for 45 minutes
- Ladle into heat proof dish and place 1" thick slices of home made bread on top, sprinkled with grated Cheddar cheese.
- Place under hot grill to melt cheese
Potato/Leek Soup
A satisfying warming hearty soup for Winter lunches
Ingredients
- 2 pints chicken stock
- 2 lb. potatoes (or 1 lb. potatoes and 1 lb. leeks)
- 2 oz. butter
- 2 oz. flour
- 2 onions
- Pinch nutmeg
- Pinch thyme
Method
- Melt butter in saucepan
- Add diced potato or diced potato and sliced leeks
- Stir and cook to soften
- Add flour and gradually stir in stock
- Add nutmeg and seasoning, and simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes
- Puree in blender
- Heat and serve
Rice Dishes
Cumin Rice
This is great with chile con carne and goat goulash
Ingredients
Serves 2
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1½ cups water
- 1 tbs sunflower oil
- 2 tsps cumin seeds
Method
Soak rice for 30 inutes in cold water, then drain in a sieve and rinse with cold water.
Heat the oil to medium/high heat and add cumin seeds till they start to 'pop', giving their wonderful aroma. Add the rice and give a quick stir to coat in the oil and then add water.
Bring to boil, then turn down to low heat with lid on for 8 to 10 minutes till rice is cooked but not too soft (It may take some experimentation when using different types of rice to get quantities and timings exactly right)
White Wine and Parmesan Risotto
On the very few occasions we dine out, we normally go for fish. On one such occasion we had a dish of deep fried scallops served on a bed of white wine and parmesan risotto. We just had to try this risotto at home! It works really well with adding large cooked prawns and frozen peas with a salad and a warm bowlful of prawn crackers.
Ingredients
- 1 litre stock, chicken, fish or vegetable as appropriate
- 1 small knob of butter
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- ½ head celery, finely chopped
- 400 g risotto rice (I have basmati, so used this!)
- 2 wineglasses dry white wine
- Salt and Pepper
- 1 knob of butter
- 90 g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Method
As I use basmati rice, I soak for 30 inutes in cold water, then drain in a sieve and rinse with cold water first.
Heat the stock. In a separate pan, heat the olive oil and butter, add the onions, garlic and celery, and fry very slowly for about 15 minutes without colouring. When the vegetables have softened, add the rice and turn up the heat.
The rice will now begin to lightly fry, so keep stirring it. After a minute it will look slightly translucent. Add the wine and keep stirring - it will smell fantastic. Any harsh alcohol flavours will evaporate and leave the rice with a tasty essence.
Once the wine has cooked into the rice, add your first ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of salt. Turn down the heat to a simmer so the rice doesn’t cook too quickly on the outside. Keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring and almost massaging the creamy starch out of the rice, allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. This will take around 15 minutes. Taste the rice - is it cooked? Carry on adding stock until the rice is soft but with a slight bite. Don’t forget to check the seasoning carefully. If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, add some boiling water.
Remove from the heat and add the butter and Parmesan. Stir well. Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes. This is the most important part of making the perfect risotto, as this is when it becomes outrageously creamy and oozy like it should be. Eat it as soon as possible, while the risotto retains its beautiful texture.
Read on for a Lemony Prawn Risotto:-
Ingredients
- 300g rice
- 1 red chilli, deseeded, half sliced and half finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- glass of white wine
- 1½ pint chicken stock
- 1 tbs fish sauce
- 240g raw king prawns
- 75g frozen peas
- 50g freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 2-3 knobs of butter
- salt and black pepper
- zest and juice 1 lemon
Method
Peel the prawns, keeping the heads and shells. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan and fry the prawn shells and heads with the sliced chilli until they have toasted and changed colour. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan with a knob of butter. Gently fry the garlic and onion over a medium heat, until the onion is softened and translucent.
Add the rice and coat with the olive oil, garlic and onion mix. Cook for 2 minutes.
Pour in the white wine and cook until the liquid is absorbed.
Once absorbed, add a ladle of the simmering stock and cook until
absorbed. Continue until all of the stock is absorbed and the rice
is al dente. Stir in the remaining butter, the parmesan cheese,
prawns and peas and seasoning. Cook gently for a minute or so to
warm the prawns and cook the peas.
Stir through the chopped chilli, lemon juice and remaining olive
oil. Let the risotto rest for a few mins, then serve, topped with
the lemon zest.
* This recipe can also be used for Crabmeat and Smoked Trout Risotto, adding the crabmeat instead of prawns, along with the flaked smoked trout.
Miscellaneous
Elderflower Cordial
For
hot summers with a plentiful supply of elderflowers, this recipe
makes a delicious refreshing drink. Pick only the heads where the
flowers are just opening and use straight away for best results.
Can be kept chilled for a week or two or frozen in plastic bottles
for later consumption
Ingredients
- 20 elderflower heads
- 2½ pints boiling water
- 3½ lbs. sugar
- 1 sliced lemon
- 2 tsp. citric acid
Method
Put all the dry ingredients into a clean pan and pour boiling water over them.
Stir until sugar is dissolved.
Skim off the surface scum and cover with a cloth or lid.
Stir twice daily for five days, then strain through a muslin cloth and then bottle.
Breakfasts
Nothing as satisfying as cooked breakfasts with home grown produce, eggs, bacon and sausages
..... and for a special treat Smoked Salmon and Scrambled Eggs!
..... and we always start the day with this 'Smoothie'
Home grown kefir smoothie with home grown blackcurrants, and of course our own Anglo-Nubian goats milk
Dinners
Local pheasant with home reared bacon
#
Chicken and leek pie with home reared chicken
Canneloni
Quiche with Pancetta and Cheese twists
Salad with local dressed crab
Sausage Rolls with home reared sausage meat
Desserts
Blackberry and apple pudding with hedgerow blackberries
Blackberry and apple pie with hedgerow blackberries
Rhubarb pie with home grown rhubarb
Gooseberry pie with home grown gooseberries
Elderflower wine from locally foraged elderflowers, accompanied by
home made goats cheese
Home made fudge and Christmas puds
Cakes