Category: Recipes

Here is my recipe for a delicious mushroom and rocket risotto.

I’d recommend getting a good selection of different types of mushroom, fresh or dried (if dried, keep the rehydration liquid for stock), though it does work well with common button mushrooms if you can’t get anything else.

You will need the following ingredients…

• 300g Arborio Risotto Rice
• 750ml Chicken or Vegetable Stock
• 150ml White Wine
• 1 Small Onion
• 2 Cloves of Garlic
• 100g Wild Rocket
• Lemon Juice
• 50g Butter
• Splash of Olive Oil
• Parmesan Cheese
• Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 20 or 30 Mushrooms roughly chopped

The main thing to remember with any risotto is that when you add the stock, the stock must always be hot, else you bring down the temperature of the risotto and the dish doesn’t cook properly. I keep my stock simmering in a pan next to the risotto as it cooks.

1. Finely chop the onion and garlic.
2. Melt the butter with the olive oil, and cook the onion and garlic with a good splash of lemon juice on a gentle heat until soft.
3. Add the rice and cook until the edges start to go translucent.
4. Turn up the temperature, add the wine and cook for a couple of minutes while stirring continuously.
5. Turn down the temperature again, and add a bit of stock, stirring until absorbed.
6. Keep doing this until the stock is used up and the rice soft, probably 20 to 30 minutes time.
7. Just before the last stock goes into the rice, fry off the mushrooms in a splash of olive oil
8. When the rice has cooked, add the mushrooms, rocket, a good grating of parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and another splash of lemon. These are all to your taste so add what you like here.
9. Once the rocket has wilted into the risotto, serve it up.

This dish should serve between 2 and 4 people, depending on how hungry everyone is.

Here is my recipe for delicious stir fried pork on a bed of wilted pok choi. It takes about 15 minutes to prepare and cook, so is perfect for a quick after work meal.

You will need the following ingredients…

• Rice (white – half cup)
• Pok Choi (2 or 3 heads cut in half)
• Lean Pork (I use one loin steak)
• 1tsp Sugar
• 1tbsp Light Soy Sauce
• 3tbsp Oyster Sauce
• Pinch of Ground White Pepper
• Garlic (1 clove – crushed and finely sliced)
• A few Chilli Flakes
• Groundnut Oil

Now, here’s how to put it all together.

1. Cook the rice. For perfect white rice, use one part rice to two parts water. I use about half a cup of rice to one cup of boiling water. Cook covered on a gentle heat for 10 minutes, before removing from the heat and leaving to steam for a further 5 minutes. Don’t remove the lid of the pan during this time.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the marinade by mixing together the sugar, light soy sauce, ground white papper and 1tbsp of the oyster sauce.
3. Thinly slice the pork and add to the marinade. Leave for about 10 minutes.
4. Heat the groundnut oil in a wok on a high heat until smoking, then add the marinated pork. Spread over the wok’s cooking surface and leave for about 15 seconds to seal on one side. Then stir fry until cooked (about 2 minutes).
5. Remove the pork from the wok and add some more oil to the wok.
6. Sprinkle a few chilli flakes into the hot oil, then add the pok choi. Leave for about 30 seconds, then add the crushed garlic and stir. After about a minute the pok choi will have wilted, turn the heat off and add the remaining 2tbsp of oyster sauce – mix well.
7. Add the pok choi to a serving dish, placing the pork on top. Serve with the rice.

I enjoy this dish after a hard day at work. i hope you find it as tasty and delicious as I do.

As it was Easter yesterday, and I don’t really like Hot Cross Buns, I decided to make variant of them, simple Sticky Buns. It’s more or less the Hot Cross Bun recipe, but without the fruit and peel.

You will need

• 400g plain flour
• 50g of strong white flour (though you can just use all plain if you want)
• 50g caster sugar
• 50g melted butter
• 1 pack of dried yeast (the sort that doesn’t need activating in water first)
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• half tsp ground ginger
• half tsp salt
• 150ml warm water
• 50ml warm milk
• 1 beaten egg
• Also, 1tbsp of caster sugar for glaze

1. Sift together flours, cinnamon, ginger and salt.
2. Mix in sugar and dried yeast
3. Pour in water, milk, egg and butter and mix well
4. Knead the dough on clean work surface for between 5 to 10 minutes until elastic
5. Put in an oiled bowl, cover, and leave in a warm place to rise for about an hour
6. Knock back the dough and seperate into 12 small balls. Place these on greased baking sheets
7. Cover and let them rise again in a warm place for 30 minutes.
8. Preheat over to gas mark 7, 220C, 425F
9. Bake for 15 minutes
10. When they come out, glaze with a mix or 1 part sugar to 1 part water melted in pan, then brushed over the surface.
11. Enjoy!

These will only last about a day before going stale, but you probably won’t run into that problem as they are to delicious to leave that long.

Delicious, simple to make scones, that go just right with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. This recipe only takes about 20 to 30 minutes to complete.

You will need…

Scones go off very quickly so eat them within a few hours of baking. They are lovely when still warm!

UPDATE: I originally recommended 225g of plain flour, but I have since increased this to 250g as I found the dough too wet to shape sometimes.