Breakfast Burritos with Avocado, Tomato and Chorizo

TLI and I ate burritos at the weekend to fortify ourselves before tackling the allotment on Saturday, and again on Sunday to fortify ourselves before tackling Sunderland at home... They are his concoction really, not mine, a take on an American Breakfast Burrito, or a Mexican Burrito. The combinations of filling can be swapped, changed, left in, left out, whatever you fancy really. Filling being the operative word however, they will keep you going all day long and more... I like the combination of avocado, tomatoes and herbs with chorizo in this version, it seems a little bit more fresh than the more traditional Mexican Burrito filled with beef, refried beans, cheese and sour cream...
 

A little left over rice is preferable, but as I didn’t have any I cooked a handful of white long grain rice in some salted water. Chop some cherry tomatoes, a handful of coriander and dice up some chorizo. Just make as much as you fancy, hunger levels and numbers of people depending. One packed burrito is enough for me, TLI can polish off two...

Mash an avocado with a pinch of salt, a little splash of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Heat your tortilla wraps in the oven, wrapped in tin foil to stop them drying out. They only take about 10 minutes in a medium oven. Fry off the diced chorizo and lightly scramble 2 large free range eggs while the wraps heat up.

Then simply assemble, a little rice, some eggs, topped with chorizo, tomatoes, avocado and coriander, down the middle of the tortilla. Fold the end up a little, then fold each of the sides inwards to form a wrap... I really like the colours in each of the bowls, it's a pretty meal, a little kit of parts laid out on the table that you have to assemble yourself. The freshness of the tomatoes, coriander and avocado is delicious with creamy eggs and spicy chorizo. Make sure you are pretty hungry before embarking on these little fellas...

Cauliflower and Mascarpone Risotto with Spicy Chorizo

I have spent the weekend travelling the length of the country... It was a packed trip full of friends and family, parties and trips round the beautiful countryside. We drove round the grounds of Woburn Abbey on Saturday, it was very pretty, even in the rain, with huge herds of deer roaming all over the place. Unfortunately they huddled under the trees and we huddled in the car, as the torrential rain began to batter us with some force... Woburn is a beautiful little Georgian village in Bedfordshire, where we made a run for cover to a cosy little country pub, and ate and drank until the sun came out...

On Saturday night we danced around a cricket club to old Whitney hits at a lovely little birthday party. Add in constant eating, different cakes every day, quite a bit of wine, many different friends to visit and it all adds up to a bit of a tired Monday... It's a comfort food situation I think. There's been a few of them recently. After researching my article for Appetite magazine I have been cooking a lot of pies, slow stews and risottos. This one is a creamy mascarpone laced risotto with soft cauliflower and spicy hot chorizo scattered over the top.

To begin finely chop one medium onion and soften in some olive oil on a low heat until soft and translucent. Then add the risotto rice, I used 200g of arborio rice which served two people and a little for left overs. Add the rice to the onion, turn the heat up a little and cook for a few minutes until it starts to turn translucent at the edges. Then add a glass of white wine, anything old or new will do.

The wine will bubble and hiss as soon as you add it to the hot pan, so just stir until it's absorbed. Then begin to add the stock, a ladle at a time, stirring each until it is absorbed. I used chicken stock about 500ml, but just use water if it runs out. After the first ladle of stock chop half a small cauliflower into little pieces like peas and add to the rice.

Continue to add stock until the rice is creamy and cooked, but still has a little bite to it. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to suit. Finally add 2 tablespoons of mascarpone and 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese and stir everything together. Turn the heat off and put a lid on it, allowing it to sit for 5 minutes.

While it sits quickly dice up a handful of picante chorizo per person and fry off until hot and sizzling... Serve the creamy risotto in bowls and sprinkle over the chorizo with a little of its oil. The little spicy porky chorizo squares work perfectly with the creamy cheesy risotto and the earthy delicious cauliflower. I can't wait to grow more of my own this year...

Red Peppers stuffed with Rice, Raisins and Pine Nuts

We had some lovely friends visiting from London this weekend so a little get together was in order, some friends, some food, some wine... I even printed out little menus for everyone. It took a while to settle on a menu as the little blonde is a vegetarian and the Twinings hunk doesn't eat dairy... but Claudia Roden had the answers, as she often does...

A Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Caramelised Onions and Chestnuts, some Turkish Stuffed Peppers full of herby spiced rice, pine nuts and raisins and some buttery couscous with toasted almonds. Something for everyone I hoped, they looked like they enjoyed it anyway...

We started with little Leek Fritters with a herby yoghurt dip and some Cannellini Bean Hummus with Toasted Cumin and pittas to dip. It was lovely to catch up, chatting in the kitchen while I threw toasted almonds around and served food later than planned as ever...

We finished with an Apple and Cardamom Tart, which I will have to tell you about soon, because although it may be gauche to say, as I made it myself, was totally amazing. The aromatic, dusky flavours of the cardamom were lovely with the sweet sugary apple and warm buttery pastry. Delicious.

The peppers were pretty simple to make, but so full of flavour and not 70s dinner party at all... This will make 6 stuffed peppers. Start with the filling by slowly frying a large chopped onion in 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, until it is soft. Then add 250g of risotto rice, I used arborio, and stir until it is coated with oil and turning translucent. Add 450ml of water, some salt and pepper and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Stir this well and then simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed, but the rice is still slightly undercooked.

When it is ready stir in 3 tablespoons of pine nuts, 3 tablespoons of raisins, 1 large tomato chopped into pieces, a handful of chopped mint, a handful of chopped dill, a handful of chopped parsley, a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, half a teaspoon of ground allspice, the juice of a lemon and 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. You can see where all the flavour comes from with this lot all hanging out together...

Now take 6 red peppers and cut a circle round the top to remove the lid and scoop out any seeds from inside. Fill the insides of the peppers with the rice mixture and pop the lids back on. Arrange them in a baking tray side by side, I had to slice a little bit off the bottom of some of the peppers to keep them steady. Pour about 1cm of water into the bottom of the tray and bake in the oven at 190°C for 50 minutes. Be careful when you take them out that the peppers don't fall apart, be very gentle...

They are lovely warm, allow them to cool a little before serving, they are also good cold with a salad and some yoghurt. The warm spices and fresh herbs are delicious with little bursts of sweet raisins and creamy pine nuts all in a sweet roasted red pepper. I've just had a little one for lunch that was leftover... I'm glad I made too many...

Chorizo, Broad Bean and Mint Risotto

While I've been off gallivanting around Cornwall the allotment has really come on. The cauliflowers are huge with tiny curds, the cabbages have come up, the wall of sweet peas is in full bloom. The broad beans are covered in pods, as are the peas and the runner and french beans have shot up their canes. The courgettes and squashes are coming along well, still small but surviving. It looks like a proper vegetable garden, I'm really quite pleased. There are still hundreds of weeds but I just keep on pulling them up over and over in the hope that one day I will be in control of them...

This is my first dish with my own broad beans, and you can really tell the difference, they are soft and sweet, compared to the big sometimes bitter supermarket ones. Broad beans love chorizo and vice versa, the mild sweet creamy beans go so well with the spicy salty sausage. So I decided on a simple risotto for the beans first outing. With shredded mint to finish, another great friend of the broad bean.

We listened to quite a lot of radio on our 15 hour round trip to Cornwall and back, part of which was Angela Hartnett on Radio 4 cooking red wine and chorizo risotto, I took her advice and made the simple risotto first and then topped it with the ingredients instead of cooking them through it.

Heat a pan of chicken stock through, I used about 600ml of stock reserved from poaching a chicken. I keep it in the freezer in old soup pots labelled with the type of stock and when I froze it. It makes me feel incredibly organised... my freezer is probably the most organised aspect of my life actually!

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil and add a finely chopped onion and a pinch of salt, cook until the onion is soft and sweet, add a finely chopped clove of garlic half way through. You don't want them to brown so keep them on a low heat. When the onions are ready turn the heat up a bit and add 200g of arborio rice, this is enough for a modest sized serving for two people, add a bit more if you're really hungry. Allow the rice to heat through with the onions, this starts its cooking process, after a few minutes add a glass of white wine or a small glass of vermouth. Allow the alcohol to bubble off for a few minutes before you start adding your stock. You then need to continue adding the stock a ladle at a time, stirring slowly as you go until all of the liquid has been absorbed. You want the rice to be creamy, but still have a slight bite to it. It will take about 20 minutes.

When it is almost ready blanch a couple of large handfuls of broad beans in boiling water. I only left mine for about 2 minutes as they were small and very fresh, some of the larger supermarket ones may take 4 or 5 minutes. Fry off about 150g of diced chorizo in a frying pan at the same time until it begins to crisp up.

Finally stir a handful of grated parmesan and a knob of butter through the risotto and ladle it into bowls. Divide the chorizo and broad beans over the rice, drizzling over a little of the cooking oil too. Then add a handful of shredded mint over the top of everything. It really is delicious, especially knowing they were my own broad beans planted from a few little seeds all those weeks ago.

Leek and Goats' Cheese Risotto

After a week relaxing in the Lake District the allotment had resumed its 'jungle' status. I spent quite a few hours tidying and weeding last night. Most of the grass is now cut, as it was beginning to take over. I've planted the sunflowers out, so hopefully they will survive. I can imagine my allotment neighbours talking about me in disgust when I'm not there, so it is embarrassment that drives me to be better, neater and more efficient in the world of allotmenting...

We made some interesting things in the Lakes that I still need to tell you about, a French Apple cake, an Orange, Lemon and Olive oil cake, a delicious Terrine and the Chicken, Bacon and Caper pie again, but this time with home grown leeks in it... I think it was the best one yet...

Last night I picked a few more of my leeks and made a little Leek and Goats' Cheese Risotto. The leeks smell amazing as soon as they come out of the ground. They are much more colourful and tasty than any I have had from a supermarket.

To start I chopped the leek into small rounds and cooked it slowly in some butter, olive oil and a pinch of salt. Leave it until all the leeks are soft and buttery, about 10 minutes I think. At the same time finely chop 3 or 4 baby onions, or one medium one and soften this in some olive oil on a low heat. Add a finely chopped clove of garlic when the onion is soft and cook for a few more minutes. Then add the risotto rice, I used 250g of arborio rice for two people, it was a bit much perhaps if you're not hugely hungry... Next time I'll go for 200g.

Add the rice to the onion and garlic, turn the heat up a little and cook for a minute or two. Then add a glass of white wine, anything old will do, you should save the ends of bottles or leftovers as it doesn’t really matter how old it is for these purposes. Or... open one and drink the rest with your lovely risotto?

The wine will bubble and hiss as soon as you add it to the hot pan, so just stir until it's absorbed. Then begin to add stock, a ladle at a time, stirring each until it is absorbed. I used chicken stock, you can use vegetable also. Keep adding until the rice is creamy and cooked, but still has a little bite to it. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to suit.

A minute before the end, stir through the leeks. I then added some hard goats' cheese, some soft goats' cheese and a handful of parmesan. About 60g of the goats' cheese, but you could easily add more if you wanted it quite cheesy. The buttery leeks go really well with the tangy, salty, hard goats' cheese.

Aubergine, lemon and basil risotto

My blossom is out and it's been really warm and lovely for the past week or so, a bit cold again this week but no complaints. I'm having a bit of trouble at the allotment... Someone has been pecking at the broad beans and the lupins, so I have had to construct emergency netted structures and bean houses, otherwise known as plastic bottles. I didn't have the allotment this time last year so am still learning as I go, but have broad beans, peas, sweet peas, poppies, rhubarb and sunflowers in so far. Fingers crossed that I will beat the invaders...

This is a really springy risotto that I came across, I wouldn’t usually think to put lemon and basil and aubergine together with creamy rice but it was lovely. I free styled a bit with the amounts of things and didn’t get it quite right, I think it needed more cheese and more aubergine... and perhaps less lemon. That will teach me to start changing things the first time I make them. I will tell you what I should have done and I think you will end up fine.

You need two aubergines, each prepared in a different way. These amounts make enough for four people. I made it for two so just cut the aubergine in half. Char the first aubergine on your hob. Place it directly on the flame and keep moving it and turning it for about 15 minutes until the whole thing is charred and smoky and the inside is soft. Scoop out the insides when it is cooled and chop them roughly. The smell of this smoky charred aubergine is one of my favourite things. I make a side dish for bbq's where you char it on the bbq in the same way then scoop out the middle and mix it with yoghurt and lemon juice...

Dice the other aubergine into cubes and fry it in 80ml of olive oil until golden and soft, make sure it is cooked right through. Then place it in a colander to drain and sprinkle salt over it.

Then you need to make the risotto. Dice an onion and crush 2 cloves of garlic and soften them slowly in 50ml of olive oil until translucent. Turn up the heat and add 300g of risotto rice and fry it for 2 or 3 minutes. Add 150ml of white wine, it will hiss and bubble, stir until it is absorbed into the rice. Now you need to start adding 800ml of vegetable stock a little at a time, stirring all the time, adding more as each ladle full is absorbed.

When all the stock is absorbed add the zest of half a lemon, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, the grilled aubergine flesh, 20g of butter, 50g of parmesan and a good pinch of salt. Leave it to sit for 5 minutes. Finally taste and add more salt and pepper if you need to, stir through the diced aubergine and 10g of shredded basil. Sprinkle the top with a little more parmesan and lemon zest.

This is an Ottolenghi recipe, from the book Plenty, and really delicious. The smoky aubergine with lemon and cheese and perfumed basil is lovely when you get the right balance. I need to make it again and add a bit more aubergine and cheese next time to correct my mistakes...

Smoked mackerel and spinach kedgeree with cardamom rice

I am suddenly busy constantly, most evenings I can remember back, and loads I can think of forwards. It seems people have decided that the early year hibernation is over and there is a new flurry of birthday parties, ballet outings, supper with friends out, supper with friends in, engagement parties, family gatherings... Spring is in the air, they are saying... The sun is out and the crocuses too, hopefully it will warm up soon.

So I need something for the sister to eat when she comes to visit; something warming with a hint of spring for tonight, and something long and adventurous to try when we have some time at the weekend.

We had all the ingredients for the Mackerel and horseradish salad, but I think it needed to be a little bit more warming than that, perhaps with a bit of rice and some spices. I found a lovely recipe for kedgeree, it had smoked mackerel flaked through it, wilted spinach, rice perfumed with cardamom pods and a soft boiled eggs on the top, this is based around that recipe. These amounts will serve two people.

Thinly slice half an onion and cook it on a low heat for about 10 minutes in 25g of butter, until it is soft and golden. When it is, add a teaspoon of medium curry powder and cook for another 3 minutes.

While the onion is cooking bring a small pan of water to a simmer and lower in 2 eggs, let them continue to simmer for 6 minutes. You're aiming for a soft yolk and a just done white, mine were a little bit under so I couldn't cut them up on the top, more of a very careful balance... When they are ready run them under a cold tap so you can handle them and gently remove the shell. You should be able to cut the into quarters... unlike me...

Put 120g of basmati rice in a small pan with 10 cardamom pods and a good pinch of salt, add 225ml of boiling water and let it simmer with the lid on for 8-10 minutes, or until the water has gone; then turn the heat off and allow it to sit for 10 minutes continuing to steam with the lid on.

Finally put 4 or 5 handful of spinach, about 120g, into the onions and allow it to wilt, then add the cardamom fragranced rice, with the pods removed. They taste of a shot of perfume if you accidentally bite into one... not nice... Flake in 180g of smoked mackerel fillet in bite sized pieces and allow everything to warm through. Add salt and pepper to your taste and a good squeeze of lemon.

Finally place the quartered soft egg on the top and serve. The mixture of curried onions, cardamom rice and smoky fish is really lovely.