Category: Mains

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Mains Recipes

Pearl Barley Risotto

Risotto is a classic Italian dish made with arborio rice – the Italian word for rice is riso and there is a rather large clue in the title of the dish that rice is, er, supposed to be the key ingredient.

However, in this dish I’ve decided to swap in pearl barley instead of the rice. Pearl barley is a nutritious grain making this a healthy, lower carb alternative to the Italian classic. Like a risotto, it is still cooked by simmering it with veg in a broth of chicken or veg stock.

Servings

2 adult portions.

Timings

20 mins to pre-cook the pearl barley, then a further 20 mins.

You Will Need:

  • 70g pearl barley
  • enough boiling water to cover the pearl barley
  • half a red onion
  • 6 – 7 mushrooms
  • half a sweet potato
  • 2 celery sticks
  • half a sweet pepper
  • about 500ml chicken or veg stock
  • a handful of mixed nuts
  • about 30g cheddar, grated
  • a handful of fresh coriander leaves
  • 1 chopped scallion
  • a spoonful of miso (optional)

Method

  1. Place the pearl barley in a saucepan and cover it with boiling water. Bring back to the boil, then simmer for 20 mins.
  2. In the meantme, chop all the veg and place in a wok with some oil, over a reasonable heat. Stir fry all the veg until it is softened and nicely charred.
  3. Drain the pearl barley in a sieve, and tip in to the wok. Stir in alongside the veg, then add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and let the stock reduce for about 20 mins, while the pearl barley continues to cook and soften.
  4. When there is little liquid left, and the pearl barley has softened, add in the nuts, cheese, coriander and scallion. Add in the miso if you wish.
  5. Let the additional flavours soak in for a few minutes, then serve.

Customise it!

Lots of scope to swap in other veg here – mangetout, peas, broad beans and shredded greens all go brilliantly. Grated blue cheese will also be excellent. Use your imagination!

A risotto that doesn’t contain any rice? It’s crazy, man! Which gives me an idea for the next track to add to the ADK Playlist: here’s The Prodigy with Crazy Man.

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Blog Mains

Baked Mackerel Al Fresco

This weekend we spent a few days down in the New Forest in our motorhome. A short cycle ride down to the beach, and along the coast, brought us to Mudeford Quay, a local sea fishing centre and home of a fresh fish stall.

Being a working quay, there is always lots going on to watch and do. Think you can catch a crab with a line and some bait? This is a good place to have a try (see below). Just make sure you don’t fall off that wall into the Solent!

There are views over to the Needles on the Isle of Wight, and a little ferry traversing the strong currents between here and Hengistbury Head.

The sea fish stall is as unpretentious as the rest of this delightfully busy area. Here it is tucked away behind the nets and lobster baskets, its roof heavily weathered by the sea air.

Inside, local catch of the day is sea bass, mackerel and bream. We chose a couple of mackerel, which this helpful lady cleaned and filleted for us, before biking them back to the camp site.

That evening, I wrapped them in foil parcels and cooked them on my Cadac Safari Chef. This is a portable and versatile grill that plugs directly into the gas tank of the motorhome. It makes al fresco cooking a breeze.

As you can see from my photo, it is obligatory at this stage of the process for the chef to have a chilled craft beer alongside 🙂 . Today’s choice is Neck Oil by Beavertown Brewery.

12 minutes later and the foil parcels are opened carefully, revealing the tender flakes of the baked fillets.

Cooked, freshly caught mackerel tastes great, so needs little added – just some lemon and a few twists of black pepper. We ate them with steamed new potatoes and broccoli as the sun was setting. Oh, and with a glass of chilled Pinot Grigio, of course.

From sea to plate in under 24 hours!

So what musical track can I pair with this post? There is such a choice: Hooked on a Feeling? Under the Sea? Maybe Rose Royce with Fishing on a Star? Anything by Fleetwood Mackerel?

I’ve settled on this one: Kayleigh by Marillion. The name of their lead singer? Fish, of course 🙂

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Mains Recipes

Summer Veg with Bacon on Chard

Today’s challenge was to cook up a consignment of summer veg, freshly picked at our local community farm, into a meal for 2. The veg selection included leaves of chard, tomatoes, a courgette, and mange tout. I combined it with a few ADK kitchen stand-bys – chopped mushroom, onion, bacon and crushed garlic into the meal shown above.

Servings

Light lunch for 2.

Timings

15 mins to prepare.

You Will Need

  • 6 leaves of chard
  • 3 slices streaky bacon
  • half an onion
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 2 mushrooms
  • 1 courgette
  • 3 – 4 tomatoes
  • 12 – 15 mange tout

Method

  1. Chop the bacon and fry until crisped. Remove to a plate to stay warm.
  2. Crush the garlic clove and add to the warm frying pan. Chop the mushroom, onion and courgette, then add to the pan. Add in the tomatoes and let them reduce to form a squishy sauce.
  3. Wash the chard and place in a steamer for 5 – 10 minutes. Add the mange tout for the last 3 – 4 minutes.
  4. Remove the chard and mange tout, and pat dry with kitchen roll.
  5. Arrange a bed of chard on each of 2 plates. Top with the tomatoey mix, then place the mange tout and bacon on top. Serve.

Customise It!

You can add or swap in any veg that is seasonal or which you have to hand. Chopped peppers would be fine. I also had green beans to hand so could easily have swapped those for the mange tout. Leave out the bacon and sprinkle with roasted nuts for a vegetarian/vegan option.

Here’s a track I came across recently on my ear buds while out and about in the sunshine. I found myself pacing my walk in time with the beat. Great fun – try it out! This is Overseer with Pump Action.

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Blog Mains

Au Marché

One of the great joys of being a foodie on holiday in France is making a visit to the local market, or ‘marché’. So, while here in the Dordogne Valley, we set out for the local town of Bergerac on market day. Some of the fresh produce we bought inspired our evening meal back at the farmhouse. More of that in a moment.

It was a beautiful warm and sunny morning as we arrived. The market was already well under way, this array of soft fruit was glinting in the sun, and business was brisk.

The market isn’t just about stocking up with provisions for the week, however – there’s a real sense of market day being an opportunity for local people and traders to meet and catch up. In between happily chatting with customers, this chap sold us a bag of his healthy crop of radishes. Simply washed, topped and tailed, they made a light, peppery and crunchy snack alongside cold beers.

A long queue of discerning French shoppers waiting patiently to buy their food is usually a reliable sign of a good market stall. So it was with this charcuterie stand, where beef carpaccio was the ready prepared Plat du Jour. The charcuterie included local merguez sausages, which are long and thin with the texture of chorizo, and which went well later on our barbecue.

All the fruit and veg was seasonal, fresh and presented attractively. The range of tomatoes was something else, and they all looked luscious in the mid-morning sunshine.

Garlic is a staple in French cooking, and I treated myself to one of these wonderful looking purple bulbs to take home. Presentation-wise, I liked the juxtaposition of vivid colours alongside these wedges of butternut squash.

And so to that evening meal. I hadn’t come across white asparagus before, being more used to the green variety we have in the shops in the UK. It is popular in central Europe however, so I decided to try some.

It is essentially the same plant, but is grown underground, which stops it turning green. It has a slightly more intense taste, and requires a little more prep by peeling from the end of the spear tip to the base of the stalk. Like all asparagus, the woody bit at the base needs trimming off also.

I steamed the spears for 20 mins, then wrapped them in local prosciutto, and warmed them on a plate in the oven for 10 mins. They were then served with a knob of melting butter, a squeeze of fresh lemon and a few twists of black pepper.

The dish was enjoyed by our group, with a glass of chilled Bergerac Blanc on our terrace in the evening sun.

Voilà!

Time for some more French-inspired rock. This is The Stranglers with Goodbye Toulouse.

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Mains Recipes

Sticky Sesame Roast Veg

This dish serves chunky roast veg on a bed of brown rice, coated in a thick sweet, sour and spicy sauce. The finishing touch is a fresh crunchy topping of chopped scallions (spring onions) and sesame seeds.

Servings

An adult meal for 2.

Timings

25 mins to make.

You Will Need

  • 1 aubergine
  • 1 courgette
  • 1 red or yellow pepper
  • 100g brown rice
  • 2tbsp each of Worcester sauce, fish sauce, cider vinegar, honey and olive oil
  • 1 tbsp oil for frying
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 red chilli
  • 2 – 3cm piece of root ginger
  • 500g carton of tomato passata
  • 2 scallions, chopped
  • sesame seeds to sprinkle

Method

  1. Cut the aubergine, courgette and pepper into large chunks and roast on a metal dish in the oven for 25 mins at 180C.
  2. While the veg is roasting, tip the brown rice into a saucepan of boiling water. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 25 mins.
  3. Combine the Worcester sauce, fish sauce, vinegar, honey and oil in a screw top jar. Shake to mix.
  4. Crush the garlic and put in a saucepan with some oil over a medium heat. Finely chop the chilli and ginger and add in. Let cook for a few mins, then pour in the sauce from the screw top jar. Add in the passata and give it a good stir. Leave to simmer – it will slowly reduce to give a thick, sticky sauce.
  5. When the rice is cooked, drain it and spread out to form a bed on each of two plates. Place the roast veg on top, and then pour over the sauce. Top with pieces of chopped scallion and a sprinkling of sesame seeds (see photo).

Customise it!

Lots of scope here. My choice of veg reflects what’s in season in the shops at the moment, but you can swap in any other veg that roasts well, such as sweet potato, butternut squash or parsnip. For the sauce, keep the vinegar and honey, which give it a sweet and sour base, but wine vinegar will be fine. Soy sauce can replace the Worcester or fish sauce if that’s what you happen to have in the cupboard.

This week I’ve been to a party at my Bowling Club, where everyone nominated a track for a jukebox-style playlist. The tracks were then played on shuffle, while everyone ate and drank. It was a fun evening in good company, with some great choices of music. Here’s the track I nominated: The Clash with London Calling.

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Mains Recipes

Firestarter Rice with Chicken

Ever find yourself with a spice jar left over from a previous dish, that you’re unsure how to use up? This happened to me recently, with half a jar of shop-bought cajun seasoning lurking towards the rear of the spice rack in the ADK kitchen. I decided it was high time it was put to good use.

In this dish I’ve combined it with some leftover roast chicken, chicken stock, veg and brown rice to make a tasty bowl of sticky, fiery deliciousness. You can see from my photo above that I’ve garnished it with chopped red chilli and scallions, and a slice of fresh lemon.

Some like it hot, they say, and I purposely gave this dish a good dose of cajun kick. Mind you, I also had some sour cream on hand which, when stirred in, acted like a fire extinguisher in the mouth. If that degree of heat is not for you, however, just tone down the amount of cajun seasoning in the recipe, and omit the fresh chilli garnish.

Servings

4 adult portions.

Timings

35 mins to make.

You Will Need

  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 2 tbsp cajun seasoning
  • 1 red pepper, chopped
  • 1 sweet potato, cut into 1cm cubes
  • 200g brown rice
  • 750ml chicken stock
  • some boiling water
  • leftover meat from the wings and legs of 1 roast chicken
  • 1 red chilli, chopped
  • 2 scallions, chopped
  • 1 slice of fresh lemon
  • sour cream to stir in (optional)

Method

  1. Combine the garlic, onion and cajun seasoning in the oil, in a wok over a medium heat.
  2. After a minute or so, stir in the red pepper and sweet potato.
  3. After another few minutes, turn down the heat and stir in the rice. Add in the stock and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer.
  4. Flake in the leftover chicken and let the dish simmer for around 20 mins. Test a grain of rice to see if it is cooked. If it needs more time, top up with the boiling water, until the rice is cooked and the liquid is absorbed, leaving it with a sticky coating.
  5. Spoon into bowls and top with the chilli, scallion and lemon garnish. Serve with some sour cream to douse the flames, if required!

Customise it!

The jar of cajun seasoning I used is a convenient, ready made mix of chilli powder, cayenne pepper, allspice, black pepper, coriander, ginger, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and cardamom. However, if you wish to make your own mix from these core spices then that should be fine.

If you wish to speed it up a little then use white long grain or basmati rice instead of brown.

Here’s a legendary track that kind of sums up my first few mouthfuls of this dish, as I reached for the nice, cooling sour cream to stir in: The Prodigy with Firestarter.

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Mains Recipes

Asparagus Risotto

Yay – it’s the time of year when fresh asparagus appears in our shops. I came across the beautiful bundles of spears shown below in a shop on a vineyard this week, while visiting the New Forest.

They were grown just over the Solent on the Isle of Wight, so very few food miles have been travelled in getting them to my plate!

Asparagus has a unique and delicate taste, and is quick and easy to prepare and cook. Nutrition-wise, it has a lot to say for itself, packing high levels of Vitamins A and C, potassium, iron and calcium.

I decided to make it the main feature of this dish, supported by a mild tasting vegetable risotto. You can see the finished article in my main photo at the top of the post.

Servings

A meal for 2.

Timings

15 – 20 mins to prepare and cook.

You Will Need

  • 1 red onion, chopped
  • 1 red pepper, chopped
  • 6 – 7 small chestnut mushrooms, chopped
  • 100g risotto rice
  • 500ml chicken or veg stock
  • 8 fresh asparagus spears
  • 2 – 3 scallions (spring onions) chopped
  • some blue cheese to crumble in

Method

  1. Heat some oil in a saucepan and fry the onion, pepper and mushrooms for a few minutes.
  2. Add the rice and turn the heat down while you stir it in. Then pour in the stock and bring to the boil.
  3. Wash the asparagus, and trim/discard about 1cm from the end of each spear. Place the spears in a steamer basket on top of the saucepan. Reduce the temperature to a simmer and let the risotto cook, and the asparagus steam, for about 10 mins.
  4. Remove the steamer basket and set to one side to stay warm.
  5. Turn up the heat under the saucepan if necessary to reduce the risotto to the right consistency – there should be minimal liquid left and the grains should be a little sticky with the coating.
  6. Stir in the chopped scallions and crumble in the pieces of blue cheese. Stir to combine so that the cheese is just melting in the residual heat.
  7. Spoon the risotto into two bowls and top each with 4 spears. Serve.

Customise it!

Feel free to add in any other fresh veg you have to hand – chopped celery, carrot, peas or green beans will all go well. I didn’t use garlic as I didn’t want to risk drowning out the delicate flavour of the asparagus. Avoid chilli or any strong spices, though some gentle fresh garden herbs torn in should be fine.

Spring is definitely in the air now, and daytime radio is starting to brim with those classic tracks I love to hear in the good weather, played driving along with the windows down, of course.

Lauren Laverne played this one on 6 Music this week, while I was out in the car, and it had my fingers tapping on the steering wheel. I especially like the dreamy guitar track, once famously sampled by Ice Cube. I still prefer the original however. Here it is to share: The Isley Brothers with Footsteps in the Dark, Parts 1 & 2.

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Blog Mains Recipes

Giant Filled Yorkshire Pudding

What to eat on a visit to South Yorkshire? Why, Yorkshire Pudding, of course!

No sooner am I back in the UK, than I am off on my travels again. This time it is a trip with my brother, Jim, to the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

We have been a number of times over the years, and I always enjoy it. Sheffield is a great city, with a special festival atmosphere for the spring fortnight each year when the snooker is here.

The World Snooker is an established fixture in the UK sporting calendar, with every frame being televised live by the BBC as the drama unfolds over 15 days. Holding the sport’s premier competition and season finale in a working theatre is an inspired decision. Each year the tournament throws up tension, twists and turns befitting a venue named after Arthur Miller’s classic 1953 play.

This is an intimate setting to watch professional sport, with the spectators close to the players and action. The house lights go down, and the silence descends when a match is under way, as the world’s top players try to outsmart each other in a game of great skill and strategy.

On the night before we travelled up to Sheffield, Jim served up for me the Giant Filled Yorkshire Pudding shown in my main photo at the top of the post. It is filled with a roast chicken and sausage dinner, which was delicious. I’m pleased to say he agreed to share his recipe for posting here on A Different Kitchen.

Servings

This will make 1 giant pudding, suitable for 1 adult. Simply multiply the ingredients up to make more for each guest.

Timings

10 mins to make the batter, which should be left to rest for 30 mins to 24 hrs. Then 10 mins to heat the oven and 25 mins to roast.

You Will Need

  • 1 large egg
  • 35g plain flour
  • 50ml whole milk
  • 1 tbsp oil

Method

  1. Crack the egg into a jug and sieve in the flour.
  2. Whisk until smooth, while gradually adding in the milk. At this stage, add salt, pepper and herbs if you wish.
  3. Leave for at least 30 mins but no more than 24 hours to use. Normal room temperature is fine, but if it’s hot or if in any doubt, place in the fridge.
  4. Heat an oven to 210C (230C if not a fan oven). Drizzle the oil into a 20cm diameter roasting tin.
  5. Place the roasting tin in the oven when up to temp, for 10 mins to get it nice and hot. Then pour in the batter – it will spread out across the bottom of the tin. Place back in the oven for 25 mins. Do not open the door during this period, or it will collapse!
  6. After 25 mins, check that the pudding has a good brown colour around the edges (which will have magically climbed up the sides of the tin to the rim!) and feels firm and dry.
  7. When ready, take from the oven. Top up with the filling of your choice and serve.

Customise it!

Jim’s giant pudding is filled with sausages, roast chicken pieces, roast potatoes, carrots, peas and gravy. You can use other fillings – a spicy curry might be nice. Just be wary of putting in a filling that is too liquidy, or it will soak and soften the pastry. In my photo of Jim’s, you will note that the gravy is used sparingly and is poured over the other ingredients first, rather than straight on to the pudding.

The World Snooker is now approaching the latter stages, with the Final taking place over 35 frames this coming Sunday and Monday. We won’t be in the Crucible for that, but will be at home, glued to the action on TV. If you plan to watch also, then why not treat yourself to a Giant Filled Yorkshire Pudding, like we did ? You won’t regret it.

Choice for the ADK playlist this time comes from those famous sons of Sheffield, the Arctic Monkeys. This is from their 2022 album The Car – the beautifully orchestrated Mr Schwarz.

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Mains Recipes

Eggplant Parmigiana

After several weeks on the road around Australia, the time has come to travel back to the UK. We have had a brilliant time. Thanks to every one of you who has followed my posts along the way – I hope you’ve enjoyed the food, the photos and the fun, along with some great new sounds. As my tagline says: Good Food, Great Music.

One of the things I am looking forward to is getting back in the kitchen and working on some new dishes, fully armed with the ideas and inspiration I’ve taken from the food we’ve enjoyed on our travels. I have actually had a first attempt this week, from the kitchen at our temporary home in Melbourne, to prepare a meal for some guests.

Influenced by our stay in the Blue Mountains, I was keen to create my own version of the Eggplant Parmigiana dish I enjoyed there (and which you can see a photo of by following the above link).

Parmigiana is eaten widely in bars and cafes in Australia. There are various ways in which it is served, probably the most common being as a topping over a fried chicken breast, sometimes flattened as per a schnitzel. Based on an Italian pasta sauce recipe (brought here long ago by some of the many European settlers who have made Australia their home), it isn’t difficult to see why it’s so popular, being tasty and filling.

I’ve made a few changes in mine from the vegetarian version I ate in Leura: rather than serving crusty bread alongside, I have broken the bread down into croutons, mixing these with the parmesan and mozzarella to give it a crispy, toasted cheesy topping. I’ve also added black olives, which I always think go really well with a rich tomato sauce.

I’m respecting the Aussie lingo in this recipe, so stick with me as I talk about eggplant (a.k.a. aubergine) and capsicum (a.k.a. red pepper). No worries, mate.

Timings

20 mins to prepare, 30 mins in the oven at 180C.

Servings

4 adult servings.

You Will Need

  • 2 eggplants (aubergines)
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 capsicum (red pepper)
  • 2 tbsp oil, with more to drizzle
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 500g tomato passata
  • 16 – 18 pitted black olives
  • sprinkling of dried mixed herbs
  • a few twists of black pepper
  • about 1/3 of a crusty baguette
  • 50g grated parmesan cheese
  • 50g grated mozzarella cheese

Method

  1. Switch on the oven to warm up to 180C. Find a shallow casserole dish and set on one side for the moment.
  2. Cut the eggplants into diagonal slices, about 1cm thick. Fry for several minutes on each side in 1 tbsp of the oil, until softened.
  3. While the eggplants are cooking, warm the rest of the oil in another saucepan. Crush the garlic and chop the onion and capsicum, adding it all to the pan.
  4. After a few mins, pour in the passata and sprinkle in the mixed herbs and black pepper. Give it a good stir and let it simmer for about 5 – 10 mins.
  5. The eggplant slices should have softened by now. Scrape them into the tomato and veg sauce where they will continue to cook. Chuck in the olives.
  6. While you are making the sauce, you can also prepare the crouton topping. Cut the baguette into slices, and then cut each slice into roughly 1cm cubes. Put in a large bowl and sprinkle over the grated cheeses. Mix in with your hands so the cheese is nicely imtermingled with the bread.
  7. When the oven is up to temp, and the sauce is looking red and rich, it is time to assemble the parmigiana. Pour the sauce into the casserole dish, and sprinkle over the crouton topping. Drizzle a little oil over, and place in the heated oven for 30 mins.
  8. Remove from the oven. It should be looking something like mine in the photo below, and is ready to serve.

Customise it!

Serve with some boiled or steamed green veg of your choice. Add another cheese if you want – some grated blue cheese would give it another interesting taste. Keep the parmesan though, as that’s what gives the dish its name. As ever, some fresh herbs would go well – I only had dried mixed herbs to hand when I made this.

This is me signing off from Down Under. Thank you Australia, you’ve been great, and left us with lots of wonderful new memories, many of which I have shared through my recent posts. We now have an appointment with a Qantas Boeing jet to Heathrow that will last all of 24 hours! See you in a few days, with a new post from back in Good Old Blighty (jet lag permitting 🙂 ).

I’ve loved discovering many new Aussie bands and adding them to the ADK Spotify Playlist. I’ve been especially impressed with These New South Whales, so here is another from them: Cholesterol Heart (God Bless Ya).

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Blog Mains

Asian Fusion

Today I’m featuring some dishes from our visit to Light Years Asian Bar and Diner in Noosa, Queensland. We were a party of four, and we chose a variety of plates to share. I always enjoy doing this at a restaurant that has an interesting menu, as it means each member of the group can savour and experience so many more new tastes.

The menu at Light Years (and before anyone asks – no, it has nothing to do with Buzz of the same name 🙂 ) is what I would call Asian Fusion, bringing together the sights and tastes from culinary traditions in India, Thailand, Korea, Indonesia, China and Japan in new and innovative ways.

We began with some steamed dumplings, brought to the table in a bamboo steamer basket and served with a type of hoisin dipping sauce. Here is one, up close. The filling is wild truffled mushrooms, with black vinegar, sesame and chilli.

Next up is Firecracker Chicken. The menu describes this as Mee Goreng spiced fried chicken, with hot firecracker sauce and Thai basil leaves. I don’t exactly know the make-up of that firecracker sauce, but it certainly brought some heat to the table (and our mouths).

This dish is Cumin Spiced Fried Cauliflower, with creamy coconut, dill and mint. The menu is somewhat coy about this dish, merely saying it comes with “strange flavour sauce” and “crunchy things”. Hmm, not giving away any culinary secrets there, guys!

My overall fave dish was Miso Caramel Eggplant, shown in my main photo at the top of the post. This consisted of chunks of roasted aubergine coated in a sticky sauce, topped with spliced snake beans, coriander and sesame.

As with other trips to restaurants on our travels around Australia, this has given me some more ideas to try out when I get home. I will definitely be having a go at the chunks of roasted aubergine in that sticky miso “caramel” sauce.

Time to hear from another great Aussie band. This is Deadstar with Deeper Water.