Lunchtime Kick

The weather is still foul here; gusty winds and horizontal rain, just horrible. On the positive side however, it is always good to turn to some classic dishes for comfort, this morning I made one such classic to help warm the coggles at lunch time, Penne alla Arrabiata with chilli and fennel sausages.

Yet again, this was a very quick dish to put together, taking the time it took the water to boil and cook the pasta. We got some delicious italian style sausages from our local supermarket bursting with fennel and chilli, they are very very special. I started off by frying the sausages wit some olive oil before turning my attention to the sauce….

I very simply chopped some garlic and onion and added to some passata. I then added 1 tsp of sugar and a whole chilli with all the seeds. I do love chilli, especially when the wind and rain are battering the windows. I cooked the sauce together for around 7-8 minutes as the sausages fried and the pasta boiled.

Once the sausages were done, I cut them into nice chunks and added them to the sauce. A few minutes later and my pasta was nice and al dente. Needless to say I couldn’t stop thinking about my inch all day and it did not disappoint. The mixture of fennel, chilli and tomato together with the delicious al dente pene, it was very special. I just love pasta, and garlic, and chilli and tomato sauce, and fennel haha.

Thank you to all who have visited my blog, I really hope you are enjoying my ramblings on food and do continue to keep in touch. There is no better way to interact with people than through food.

As always, happy eating everyone! Remember that so long as you have food on your plate, you have solved all problems for the time being!

J

Hug in a Bowl

Emily has been under the weather today, it has been very cold here! So for dinner, there was only one thing for it, French Onion Soup. This is a simple yet delicious soup, silky smooth and a good defence against the cold.

Add a large knob of butter to a large sauce pan and once melted, add the onion. Toss over 2 tbsps of sugar and cook the onions until they are soft. Pour over enough beef stock to cover the onions and simmer for an hour.
You can also aff lovely, light and fluffy dumplings. Simply add 100g of flour with 50g of Suet. Add a pinch of salt and, if you want, 50g of fresh herbs. Add 5 tbsps of water to the dry mix and stir well to form a dough. Once combined, roll the dough into balls and add to the soup to cook for 25 minutes, they will double in size and will be deliciously fluffy.
I have also sliced and toasted some read, rubbed with garlic and topped with some melted cheese. Out this at the bottom of the dish if using, and pour the soup over.

This really is a favourite of mine, and one of my mums many soups I remember eating when I was a little boy. The onions melt in the mouth and the sweetness combines really well with the fresh, fluffy dumplings. 2 clean dishes later, and Emily is a happy girl, so job well done!

French Onion Soup with dumplings

Braised beef in red wine

So, you all had a little sneak peak at dinner tonight, a topside of beef sitting, marinating, in a bottle of red wine. If you didn’t, here it is again…..

This produced one of the most flavoursome dishes I have ever made. Cooked at a low heat for 4 hours, the beef fell apart and melted in the mouth. The combo of different flavours as well; bay leaf, rosemary, fennel, tomato and of course wine was just out of this world. This is not a dish I would cook every day but I would thoroughly recommend putting this one together if you have people coming round! You will grin with pride as they all tuck in, using bread to mop up every last bit of sauce.

First of all, we are at Emily’s family home in Northern Ireland and we have 5 other people to feed! We are back to meet Emily’s gorgeous new niece Arya, a family occasion that called for good food. To begin with, something so simple and completely stress free, an antipasti platter. A selection of cured meats; prosciutto, bresaola & salamis served with olives, sweet peppers, and another Mediterranean mix, crusty bread and red wine, is there a better way to get a lovely family feast started?

So, you dice 1 large white onion, 3 large carrots, 3 sticks of celery and 2 cloves of garlic. Season the beef joint well with salt, pepper and fennel seeds and place in a large bowl. Add the vegetables, some rosemary sprigs and several bay leaves and then pour the complete bottle of wine over everything. Leave to marinate for an hour or so.

Once well marinated, take the beef out and fry in some olive oil until brown all over. Set to the side and then add your vegetables. Return the beef to the pan and add the wine, brining to the boil for around 10/15 minutes. Add 3 tbsps of tomato puree with 6 tbsps of water and mix to get a runny sauce and add to the sauce along with 1 tbsp of sugar. Reduce the heat to a light simmer and leave for 3 hours, turning the beef around from time to time until the sauce has reduced and the beef is very tender. At this stage, the smell coming off this was filling the house…

Once cooked, divide amongst your guests and I felt no need to decorate this dish with a side dish, just some crunchy bread to soak up this delicious red wine sauce. The beef melted in the mouth and the sauce was just bursting with flavour. I will definitely be getting my friends and family round to my house to make this again soon. For later on tonight, Emily is making a blueberry and pear crumble. She has already made the crumble mix and it promises to be delicious. Please check out her blog at Emily Clarke Food for the result and for other delicious recipes, she is terrific! I will of course report back to you with the verdict tomorrow!

A big thank you once again to Genaro Contaldo for bringing this dish into my life. I hope you try this; it is very simple, the ingredients do all the work for you and you will be mega proud of watching your loved ones mopping up their plates.

Happy eating to everyone

J

Tuscan Soup

Soup is so underrated. For some reason when one puts in a lot of effort they are wanting more of an impressive end result than a bowl of soup. And let’s face it, it is just so easy to buy a tin of soup for pittance to throw in a microwave and you have a satisfying meal in minutes.

However, just like yesterday’s pork (see yesterdays post) this meal was notched up and enjoyed within half an hour. The soup I cooked was Minestra Garfagnina di Farro (or in English, soup from the mountainous Garfagnana region of Lucca, Tuscany with Farro, an Italian pearl barley).

The soup is a blending together of vegetables: carrot, celery, onion, garlic (which are to be found in most italian dishes)sage and a tin of borlotti beans. I’m all for fresh ingredients, but buying tinned beans saves me a great deal of time! First of all, bring a pan of water to the boil, add salt, pepper and 2 tbsps white wine vinegar and then a good handful of farro, or pearl barley. Fry the vegetables in olive oil until sweating, then add the borlotti beans and a ladle full of hot water. Cook for several minutes, then transfer to a blender and blend until smooth.

Once smooth, return to the pan, add some chopped smoked sausage and cook off for another minute whilst you drain off the water from your Farro. Farro, which is really high in protein and rich in vitamins, takes 10 minutes to cook, it should be al denti: soft on the outside and a bit if bite in the inside like risotto rice. Ooh, whilst on the subject, I am a huge lover of risotto so expect one on here in the very near future!

Pour the soup into a bowl, top with a few tbsps of farro. Scatter on some chopped rosemary and add a drizzle of olive oil. This is a thick soup so is very hearty, perfect to combat the cold outside. The smoked sausage is heavenly, and reminds me of my mums mushroom soup, the best soup on the planet! I will blog about it at some point, but I first need to gain the courage as I fear I will never be able to do it justice! Failing that I will just ask mum to cook some and i can just enjoy it, then blog about it. The rosemary gives this a little freshness, and we enjoyed this with some of Emily’s Oat and Linseed bread. A perfect dinner, and the best soup I think I have ever produced. Wow I am getting used to cucina povera (food of the poor)!

That’s it for today folks, happy eating!

J