Oven baked risotto

1tbsp oil

1 chopped onion

300g risotto rice

100ml white wine

400g tin chopped tomatoes

200g roasted peppers

500ml veg stock.

good hadnful of parsley chopped

Heat the oven to Gas6.

Heat the oil in an oven proof pan, fry the onion until soft. Turn up the heat, add the rice and stir in the wine until absorbed, then pour in the tomatoes, peppers and 440ml stock.

Cover and bake in the oven fr 25mins until the rice is tender and creamy.

Stir in the remaining stock, parsley and scatter with Parmesan.

Pea Risotto

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion (about 8 oz.), peeled and finely chopped

2 cups Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

About 5 1/2 cups chicken stock

8 oz shelled fresh peas

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper
Pour olive oil into a pan over medium-high heat; when hot, add onion and stir often until limp, about 5 minutes. Add rice and stir until opaque, about 3 minutes.
Add wine and stir until absorbed, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 5 1/2 cups stock, about a cup at a time, stirring after each addition until almost absorbed, 25 to 30 minutes total; stir in peas with the second cup of stock. If risotto is thicker than desired, stir in a little more broth. Stir in cheese and add salt and pepper to taste.

To make this totally vegetarian use a good vegetable stock.

Sausage and Guinness casserole

Ingredients
1 tbsp vegetable oil
12 good-quality pork and herb sausages
2 large onions, sliced
2 celery sticks, chopped
12 rashers smoked streaky bacon, chopped
2 tbsp plain flour
1/3 carton passata
330ml bottle Guinness
300ml beef stock, hot
250g chestnut mushrooms, halved

Heat the oil in a large casserole or deep, wide frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the sausages and cook for 6-8 minutes, until browned all over. Remove and set aside.

Add the onions, celery and bacon to the casserole and cook, stirring, for 6-8 minutes, until softened. Stir in the flour and tomato passata and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the Guinness, bring to the boil and cook for 2 minutes, until reduced. Add the stock, bring back to the boil, then return the sausages to the casserole with the mushrooms. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, and season to taste.

Not really what I was expecting to be making on a Sunday in August, but it was delicious and the accompanying vegetables were at least home grown!

Berry Slump

100g butter

100g caster sugar

100g SR Flour

2 eggs

2tsp vanilla extract

600g mixed summer berries

In a mixer, whizz together the butter, sugar, flour, eggs and vanilla, until smooth. Lightly grease a baking dish and tip in the summer berries.

Dollop over the cake mix, cover the fruit.

Cook for 45 minutes in an oven Gas 4. Serve warm with custard, vanilla ice cream, or extra thick cream.

Cherry Clafoutis

When everytime you pick up a cook book, magazine or recipe card, you can't help but wonder if your being "told" to try something. When it then appears on the TV and on websites you frequent, you know you must. This is the case with Cherry Clafoutis.

300g cherries, unpitted (although I did pit mine!!)
300ml milk

3 eggs

60g caster sugar

60g plain flour

Half-tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

Half-tsp vanilla extract

Icing sugar for serving

Method:

Heat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Remove the stalks and arrange the cherries in a single layer in a shallow, lightly buttered 22cm glass or porcelain baking dish. In a food processor, combine the eggs and sugar and beat until smooth. Add the milk, salt and vanilla extract, and whiz briefly. Sift in the flour and baking powder and blend for one minute until smooth. Pour the batter over the cherries until just covered (you may not use all the batter) and bake for between 30 and 40 minutes, or until puffed, golden, and set. Rest for ten minutes (it will sink slightly), then dust with icing sugar and serve warm, straight from the dish.

I will admit this was not to my taste and a great dissappointment. I have also come to the conclusion that whilst I love cherries, I do not like them cooked. I had some difficulty in getting my clafoutis to set whilst baking, and this could account for the slightly rubbery texture.

Egyptian Tomato Salad.....sort of

1 Shallot chopped

1 glove of garlic minced

Black pepper (ground)

750g approx of tomatoes (use at least three varieties)

good squeeze of lemon

handfull of fresh chopped parsley

2tbs olive oil

Slice the tomatoes, amd layer in a flat serving dish.

Mix the shallot, garlic, lemon juice in a small jug. Pour over the tomatoes, add a generous grind of pepper and a good pinch of sea salt.

Leave to steep for a few hours. Serve at room temperature.

Just before serving add the parsley, and toss everything together to mix up the tomato varieties.

Coffee and Walnut Cake

175g butter

175g unrefined golden caster sugar

65g walnut pieces

3 large eggs

175g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp very strong coffee

200g butter

400g icing sugar

2 tbps very strong coffee

You will also need 2 x 21cm loose-bottomed sponge tins or a 2lb loaf tin, which is what I used.

Beat the butter and sugar till it is light, pale and fluffy. Set the oven at 180°C/gas mark 4. Meanwhile, line the base tin with greaseproof paper and chop the walnuts. Crack the eggs into a bowl, break them up with a fork and add them a little at a time to the butter and sugar, beating well after each addition.

Mix the flour and baking powder together and mix into the butter and sugar gently, with the mixer on a slow speed or by hand, with a large metal spoon. Stir in the coffee to the mixture. Chop the walnuts and fold gently into the cake.
Pour the cake mixture into the cake tin, smooth lightly, and bake for 40 minutes. If your using 2 round tins this will probably reduce to 25 minutes.

To make the frosting, beat the butter till soft and pale with an electric beater, then add the sugar and beat till smooth and creamy. Stir in the coffee mix it into the buttercream. Decorate with walnut halves.