Spinach with Raisins
Posted: March 25, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: spanish, spinach, vegetables Leave a comment1/3 cup raisins
2 lbs fresh spinach
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
3 tablespoons pine nuts
salt and pepper
croutons, to serve
Put the raisins into a small bowl. Cover with boiling water and let soak.
Rinse spinach well, then shake off surplus water but do not dry the leaves. Into a large saucepan, put spinach. Cover and cook until spinach wilts. Uncover and cook until excess moisture has evaporated. Chop coarsely. Drain raisins.
Heat oil in a skillet. Add garlic and pine nuts and fry, stirring occasionally, until it begins to color. Stir in spinach and raisins, season with salt and pepper and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Serve with croutons sprinkled over the top.
Asparagus with Egg
Posted: March 25, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: asparagus, spanish, vegetables Leave a comment1- 1/2 pounds fresh asparagus
1 hard cooked egg, finely chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove
3/4 cup fresh coarse bread crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Using a small, sharp kitchen knife, cut off woody part at end of asparagus stems. Working from tip to bottom, scrap off scales from stems. Tie stems into 4 bundles with kitchen string.
In a deep saucepan, bring 2 inches of water to a boil. Add asparagus bundles, tips pointing downward. Cover pan with a lid or dome of oil and simmer 8-10 minutes or until asparagus is just tender. Remove asparagus and untie bundles. Drain asparagus on a thick pad of paper towels. Arrange on a warm serving platter, sprinkle egg over stems, cover and keep warm.
Meanwhile, in a skillet, heat oil. Add garlic and fry until lightly browned. Discard garlic. Stir bread crumbs into pan and cook 5-7 minutes, stirring, until crisp and golden. Remove from heat and stir in parsley, then pour it over asparagus, leaving tips uncovered. Serve immediately.
Valencian Orange Salad
Posted: March 25, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: orange, salad, spanish Leave a comment4 large oranges
1/2 spanish onion thinly sliced
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
pinch of sugar
pitted ripe olives, to garnish
With a sharp knife, peel oranges and cut away pith and membrane from outsides. Thinly slice oranges and remove seeds.
Separate onion slices into rings. Arrange orange and onion slices on plate.
In a small bowl, mix together vinegar, oil, salt, pepper and sugar. Pour dressing over the orange and onion slices. Sprinkle olives over the top, cover and refrigerate 30 minutes before serving.
Early Autumn Minestrone (Jamie Oliver)
Posted: March 25, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: italian, soup Leave a comment7. oz cannellini or borlotti bean, fresh or dried and soaked overnight
1 bay leaf
1 tomato, squashed
1 small potato, peeled
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
olive oil
4 slices smoked pancetta, chopped
2 small red onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 sticks of celery, trimmed and chopped
1/2 head of fennel, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
a small bunch of fresh basil, leaves and stems separated
2-14 oz cans of good quality plum tomatoes
2 small zucchini, quartered and sliced
a glass of red wine
1/2 lb swiss chard or spinach, washed and roughly sliced (including stalks)
2 cups chicken, ham or vegetable stock
2 oz dried pasta
extra virgin olive oil
a block of parmesan cheese, to serve
Add your fresh or dried and soaked beans to a pan of water with the bay leaf, squashed tomato and potato. Cook until tender– they must be soft. Drain (reserving half a glass of the cooking water) and discard the bay leaf, tomato and potato. Now season with salt, pepper and a splash of oil.
While the beans are cooking, make your soffrito. Heat a good splash of olive oil in a saucepan and add the chopped pancetta, onions, carrots, fennel, garlic, and the finely sliced basil stems. Sweat very slowly on low heat, with the lid just ajar, for around 15-20 minutes until soft, but not brown. Add the tomatoes, zucchini and red wine and simmer for 15 minutes.
Now add the chard or spinach, stock and beans. Put the dried pasta into a plastic bag, squeeze all of the air out and tie the end up. Bash gently with a rolling pin to break the pasta into pieces. Snip the end off the bag and empty the contents into the soup. Stir and continue to simmer until the pasta is cooked.
If you think the soup is looking too thick, add a little more stock or some of the reserved cooking water to thin it down a bit. Then taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with the torn up basil leaves and with some extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top. Put a block of parmesan and a grater on the table for everyone to help themselves.
Jamie Oliver’s Best Shrimp and Parsley Frittata
Posted: March 25, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: brunch, egg Leave a comment6 large eggs
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/4 lemon
1 heaping tablespoon freshly grated parmesan cheese
6-7 oz fresh shelled medium shrimp
Dollop of butter
Olive oil
Dried red chili, crumbled
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. In a bowl, whisk the eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper, then add the parsley, lemon zest and juice, and the parmesan cheese. Roughly chop half the shrimp, leaving the rest whole, and add all of them to the bowl. In a small, heavy, nonstick, ovenproof pan, heat the butter with a good splash of oil until it begins to foam, the add all of the egg mixture. Slowly move a spoon around the eggs for about a minute on a medium heat, then put the pan into the oven. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until slightly golden (Note: I had to bake mine fo 10 minutes). Sprinkle the chili over it and slide it onto a board. Great served with a simple arugula salad, good bread and a glass of wine.
Jamie’s Italy p 44
San Francisco Cioppino
Posted: January 27, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: california, fish, soup Leave a comment2 TBSP olive oil
1 large onion – chopped
1 medium green pepper – chopped
1 garlic clove – minced
1 28oz can tomatoes
½ cup white table wine
¼ cup chopped parsley
1 TBSP salt
¼ tsp basil
1-1/2 pounds dungeness crab
1-1/2 pounds clams (little neck – about two dozen)
1-1/2 pounds striped bass fillets, cut into serving size pieces
1 pound shelled deveined shrimp
About 45 minutes before serving; in hot oil, cook onion, pepper and garlic till tender (about 5 minutes) stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and their liquid, wine, parsley, salt and basil; heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Increase heat to med-high, add crab and clams, cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add fillet pieces and shrimp and cook 5 more minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork and shrimp is pink.
(Note: Double first nine ingredients for extra sauce – good with french bread.)
Oxtail Stew from Cooksister.com
Posted: January 15, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentTWICE-COOKED OXTAIL STEW (serves 3)
Ingredients:
1 large oxtail cut into about 9 joints (this should provide 3 substantial, 3 medium and 3 small joints)
1 large white onion, thickly sliced
60ml cooking oil
3 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped into thick rounds
1 stick of celery, roughly chopped
3 whole cloves (or about a teaspoon of ground cloves)
juice of one lemon (I think this was too much– too acidic)
a dash of Worcestershire sauce (I think I used too much)
30ml tomato paste (I think I used too much)
2 cups of beef stock or water
salt and freshly milled black pepper to taste
45ml brandy
Method
In a large heavy-bottomed frying pan, heat about 2/3 of the the oil then brown meat quickly over high heat together with the onion. On another plate, start warming the rest of the oil in a large stew pot. I started with the smaller pieces of meat and transfered them to a large stew pot when they were browned. Add the carrots, celery, bay leaves, garlic, cloves, lemon juice, tomato paste, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Add enough stock (or water) barely to cover the meat. If you are using stock, you may want to go easy on the salt, but if you are using water the salt will be necessary.
Allow the oxtail to simmer with the lid on over low heat for about four hours. By this time the liquid will have reduced but not by a great deal. Remove from the heat, allow to cool, and if possible, put the whole pot in the fridge overnight. The following day (or even the day after that), remove the pot from the fridge for about an hour to bring it towards room temperature. Stir in the brandy and put back on the stove at low heat to bring it to the boil. Allow to simmer for as long as you can – I gave mine another 3 and a half hours! If desired, you can also add some potatoes about an hour before you want to serve, to make this a complete one-pot meal. But I chose to leave out the potatoes and served mine on brown rice with steamed broccoli on the side. I also thickened the gravy slightly with thickening granules (less tricky than cornflour!), but that’s a matter of personal preference.
Chocolate Meringue Pie
Posted: November 28, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: dessert, south african Leave a commentCrust:
6 oz short crust patry
Line a 7″ pie dish with pastry and back blind (do not prick)
Filling:
6 tbsp cornstarch
2 dessertspoons cocoa
1/2 pint milk
1 oz butter
2/3 c. castor sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2 egg yolks
Blend cornstarch and cocoa with a little water. Put remaining milk, sugar, butter and vanilla essence into saucepan. When hot, pour over blended cornstarch and cocoa. Return to saucepan, bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Boil 2-3 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before adding yolks. Pour into base.
Meringue:
2 egg whites
1/2 c castor sugar
Whisk egg whites until stiff and fold in sugar. Pile on top of filling. Sprinkle with sugar and brown lightly in 325 F oven for 20 minutes.
Cheese Log
Posted: November 24, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: appetizer, cheese Leave a comment2 8 oz packages cream cheese
1 package smoked beef
3 chopped green onions
1 1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp accent
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
pecans
Soften cream cheese. Mix all ingredients together. Roll ball or log in pecans and parsley. Refrigerate 2-4 hours. May also be frozen and served later.
Monkey Gland Steak
Posted: November 24, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: beef, entree, south african Leave a comment1 tbsp chutney
2 tbsp worcester sauce
1 tsp prepared mustard
2 tbsp tomato sauce
2 large onions
2 tbsp vinegar
2 tsp bovril
2 lbs sliced steak
pinch salt
Cut up onions very finely and mix together with worcester sauce, tomato sauce, vinegar and prepared mustard and bovril. Wipe steak and allow to stand in this mixture for a couple of hours, turning the steak from time to time. When required, take steak from mixture and fry in hot pan greased with oil. When steak is done, place in hot dish. Heat sauce mixture in pan and pour over steak.
robynsrecipes 