Jan 09 - Hot Stuff!
This month I've chosen two dishes which are tasty but not too heavy. They are spicy and warming and I have selected a spicy red to accompany them..My wine of the month to accompany this meal is Olivares Jumilla,
Spicy Tapas.
Garlic Prawns - Serves 4
For this simple Spanish recipe you really need fresh raw prawns which absorb the flavours of the garlic and chilli as they fry. Have everything ready for last minute cooking so you can take it to the table still sizzling.
Ingredients,
1lb large raw prawns
2 red chillis halved and deseeded
5tsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic - crushed
salt and ground black pepper
Method:
Remove head and shells from the prawns, leaving the tails intact.
Heat the oil in a flameproof pan and add prawns, chilli and garlic to the pan, cook over a high heat for approx. 3 minutes, stirring until the prawns turn pink. Season lightly with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Chorizo in Olive Oil - Serves 4
Spanish Chorizo Saussage has a deliciously pungent taste, its robust seasoning of garlic, chilli and paprika flavours the ingredients it is cooked with. Frying Chorizo with onions and olive oil is one of its simples and most delicious uses.
Ingredients
5tbsp extra virgin olive oil
12oz Chorizo saussage sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
roughly chopped flat leaf parsley to garnish
Method,
Heath oil in frying pan and fry chorizo over a high heat until beginning to colour. Remove from pan with slotted spoon.
Add onion to pan and fry until coloured. Return the saussage to the pan and heat through for a further minute.
Tip mixture into a shallow serving dish and scatter with parsley. Serve with warm bread.
Feb 09 - Melting Moments.
My recipe this month is a perfect match for the Philippe Herard Blanc de blanc. It is also part of my special "Stay In with Corks Out" valentine menu, which I created to compliment our Valentine gift pack.
Ingredients:
40g Butter
2 Finely sliced stalks of lemon grass 1tsp olive oil
6 scallops
A squeeze of lemon juice
Method:
Melt the butter over a low heat in a small pan and add the lemon grass. Leave to infuse over a very low heat (you don’t want the lemon grass to fry).
Meanwhile, heat a frying pan until very hot, add the oil and season. Add the scallops, smooth side down. Cook for 2 minutes, pressing down so they caramelise evenly. Turn and cook for 2 minutes more.
Add a squeeze of lemon juice then serve with the lemon grass butter and a glass of Fizz! Superb.
March 09 - Catch the Pigeon
My wine selection this month is the Vouvray Les Coteaux Des Tuffiers Demi Sec. This Chenin Blanc from Loire works wonders with food, in particular earthy foods such as game or paté. It is so versatile, it could also be brought out with the cheese board at the end of the meal.If you like your white wine medium, this is a great choice. Go on - Give it a go!
Pan Fried Pigeon Breast With Potato Rosti & Caramalised Onions.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
2-4 Pigeon Breasts
1 Onion
1 Large Potato
1 tsp brown sugar
Dash Balsamic Vinegar
Method:
Peel the potato and grate into a bowl.
Cut onion in half and grate into the same bowl. Season with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt.
Place the mixture in a clean cloth and squeeze out the excess moisture.
Place a metal cutter or mould in a frying pan and add a little oil. Push half the mixture into the ring and cook until golden brown on one side, then turn over.
Fry onion in a little oil, add a dash of balsamic vinegar and a tsp of brown sugar.
Heat heavy based frying pan until almost smoking. Add a dash of oil, place pigeon breasts skin side first into the pan. Turn after 3 minutes and cook for a further 3 minutes.
Serve with onions and rosti and plenty of Vouvray!
April 09 - Rose of Virginia
I have chosen the Rosé of Virginia from Charles Melton because it is a fantastic tasting rosé from the Barossa valley that would work wonders on it's own or with grilled mediterranean vegetables and cous cous.This rosé is not sickly sweet but rich in raspberry and strawberry flavours.
Serve alongside Antipasto. There's no right or wrong when it comes to antipasto, more like what ever takes your fancy! The big supermarkets do stock a lot of what you need, but if you're near a good deli I'd pay them a visit as I find the produce is usually a higher quality!
To go with your Antipasto or to eat with Crudité I have revealed my special Houmous Recipe.
Quick Houmous
You will need:-
200g/7oz canned chickpeas
the juice of a lemon
3 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tbsp water
100ml 3 1/2 fl oz tahini (sesame seed paste) optional
1tsp paprika
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt
Method
Drain and rinse the chickpeas thoughly.
Place all the ingredients into a food processor holding back the oil and blitz ( you can always use a hand blender if you don't have a food processor).
Add more garlic, cumin or lemon juice if required.
Finally, drizzle olive oil over the hummus and enjoy.
Serve with warmed pita bread.
May 09 - English Fizz!
In England we produce some very good sparkling wine. One reason for this is the soils, which are very similar to that of the Champagne region in France. Another is that grapes used in the production of sparkling love our cool climate.The result leaves a clean, crisp and minerally taste and finish, making the wine ideal with seafood, oysters or fresh summer salads. On that basis, my recipe for this month is a fantastic seafood risotto.
James' Seafood Risotto - serves 2.
I’m cheating a little here but this will save time and money for you in the long run It was in my local German/Scandinavian low priced supermarket that I found a bag of mixed seafood in the deep freeze. It contained mussels, squid rings, king prawns and scallops (but not many). With this at your disposal and a good quality fish stock cube, risotto rice and an onion you're away!
Ingredients:
1 medium onion diced
450ml fish stock
250g risotto rice
175g mixed fish (frozen weight)
100g frozen peas
1 wooden spoon
1 heavy bottom medium sized saucepan
Method:
* Add a drizzle of olive oil to the pan over a medium/high heat and add the onions. Cook the onions until opaque.
* Add the rice to the onions and keep stirring for 2 minutes until all the rice is coated.
* Risotto needs cooking by adding the stock ½ a ladle at a time almost as if you’re feeding the rice, all the time stirring so the rice doesn’t stick. This takes about 7-10 minutes.
* When all the stock is in the pan, it’s time to add the fish and peas, both of which are cooked so you're now only heating them up. This takes about 5-7 minutes.
Once perfected this will be a dish you’ll come back to again and again. You get a great sense of satisfaction once you’ve cooked a risotto form scratch.
Enjoy with the sparkling and let me know how you got on.
James.nixon@corksout.com
June 09 - This month I'm drinking Soave Classico made by the Pieropan family.
The Pieropan family have been making wine in the Soave region since 1890. Their knowledge has been passed down the generations until now and is currently in the very capable hands of Leonildo.
To control yield and improve quality of the fruit the vines are pruned in the growing season to give the grapes intense flavour and lasting character. The Garganega and Trebbiano grapes used to make this Soave are treated to only the finest organic fertiliser. This well balanced wine is full of flavour, has great acidity and makes a great accompaniment to my recipe for Saltimbocca.
Veal Saltimbocca
Saltimbocca translated into English means 'Jump in the mouth', and that's exactly what happened when I first tried this dish at my local Italian restaurant. This is an easy dish to prepare and cook. If veal is not your thing then not to worry, it can be swapped for chicken, pork or even turkey for the low fat version! Serve along side boiled Jersey royals and steamed broccoli.
Ingredients - Serves two.
• 2 Veal escalopes (150g each)
• 2 slices of good quality prosciutto ham
• 4 fresh sage leaves
• a little flour to lightly coat the veal
• 2 slices of lemon
• 200ml dry marsala (dry sherry will also do)
• olive oil for cooking
Method:
Place the veal between two pieces of cling film, using a rolling pin flatten out until 5mm thick.
Lay the prosciutto ham on top of the meat followed by the sage and finally the lemon. Secure with a cocktail stick to keep together.
Lightly coat the veal with the seasoned flour and fry for 3mins on each side in a hot pan until golden brown and cooked through.
Finally add the marsala to the pan and reduce by half.
Serve with the Jersey royals and broccoli.
Enjoy. Keep cooking. James.
August 09 - I’m sure the good weather we were promised for the summer is just around the corner!
If it doesn’t get here then this recipe and wine will sure help to brighten your day. To go along side my wine choice I’ve gone for a traditional Sicilian Arrabiata sauce.Used locally for an accompaniment to fish why not give it a go. Simply poach or grill a meaty fish and serve with the sauce and some boiled new potatoes.
To accompany this I’ve chosen this great rosé made by the iconic Charles Melton. This almost legendary wine maker from the Barossa valley pulls no punches when making this wine, it’s based on a southern Rhone blend rosé made in a new world way, full of fruit and sunshine.
A superb example of a full, rich bodied rosé, this one’s not just for girls! It gets its dark colour from longer than normal period of time the skins are in contact with the pressed grape juice.
The wine has a long lasting dark cherry quality that will marry happily with the spiciness of the Arrabiata. Serve around 9°c to get the most flavour out of this wine, any colder and the wine becomes closed and will start to loose some of it’s delicate flavours.
Arrabiata Ingredients & Method
½ tbsp Light Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion, finely chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
2 Fresh Red Chillies, de seeded for a milder flavour, finely chopped
1 tin of chopped Tomatoes
1tsp Balsamic vinegar
1tsp Tomato puree
Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion, garlic and chilli.
Cook over a med/high temp until the onion becomes tender but not coloured.
Add the tomatoes, puree and vinegar.
Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered until the sauce begins to thicken.
This sauce will last in the fridge for two to three days or placed in the freezer up to three months.
Enjoy keep cooking James
Oct 09 - This month I'm drinking a Domaine Gibault Sauvignon Blanc.
This is a great value wine from Touraine in the Loire Valley, France.
The wine is fresh vibrant and has bags of fruit. Not as flinty as a lot of wines from this area such as Sancerre, Pouilly Fume or Mentetu Salon, it is closer in character to that of a New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon.
I've chosen a pork and apple casserole to accompany the sauvignon blanc as I think the combination of the two works well.
Ingredients
• 600g (1lb 5oz) pork tenderloin, trimmed, cubed and tossed in seasoned flour
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and cubed
• 2 leeks, sliced
• 300ml (10fl oz) dry cider
• 1tsp dried sage
• salt and pepper to season
Method
One of the beauties of this dish is its simplicity. Once all the ingredients have been prepped it's pretty much plain sailing.
* Brown off the pork in a large heavy-based pot and then transfer to one side. Using the same pan, fry off the onions adding more oil if required, add the garlic and cook down until the onions are soft.
* Return the meat to the pan then add all of the other ingredients.
* Cover and allow to simmer gently for about 1hour 15mins until the pork is cooked and tender.
* Season to taste.
Serve with creamy mash or suet dumplings.
Told you it was easy!?!?!?
Enjoy James
Putting on the beef - Nov -09
The heating is on its winter setting, (I hate waking up cold), and the nights are drawing in fast. I'm already thinking about what I'm going to do for Christmas and what type of biscuits I'm making for the family.
On a lighter note I met the owner of the Paxton vineyard last week as he and his wife were on a visit to our Corks Out shops to show us his wine.
What David showed was the Paxton Quandong Farm Shiraz 2007 and the Paxton Chardonnay 2007 both of which were fantastic!
The Chardonnay has been part barrel aged in French oak and then blended back, this allows a hint of vanilla to come through the peach and tropical fruit flavours. A great accompaniment to fresh fish, chicken with a cream sauce or crudités and dips if you’re having a party.
Sorry got carried away my wine of the month is the Quandong Farm Shiraz 2007, after I had tasted it all I could think of was a good quality home made steak and ale pie. So here goes, this dish may take a while to prep and cook but as I have said in the past good food is worth the wait.
You will need:
• 900g/2lb stewing steak
• 50g/1oz butter
• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 500ml/17fl oz beef stock
• 400ml/14fl oz good-quality ale
• 150g/5½ button mushrooms
• 300g/10½ oz ready-made rolled puff pastry
• A little seasoned flour for coating the steak
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 egg beaten
Method:
Fry the flour coated meat in a large pan in approximately half of the butter. Sear all the meat pieces (ensuring they are all well covered in the butter) until golden brown. The trick is to not have the pan too hot or the butter will burn.
Add the vegetables and bay leaf; pour in the ale and the stock. Bring to a simmer, cover and allow to gently simmer for 1½hours.
Heat your oven to 220˚c/425F/Gas 7
When the stew is cooked season with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Carefully pour the stew into a large ovenproof pie dish.
Roll out the pastry using a little flour if necessary. Place on top of the pie dish to make a lid for the pie. Cut off any excess pasty from around the edge of the dish.
Brush the lid of the pie with the egg mix and then place onto a baking tray. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the pastry is golden in colour. Serve
Enjoy with a horseradish mash; honey roasted parsnips and green beans pan fried with smoked bacon bits, oh and most importantly a large glass of the Quandong Farm Shiraz 2007 or two. A combination that’s out of this world.
Enjoy, James.
James' Recipe Blog - December '09
Scottish Trifle with orange-whisky cream.For all those people out there that don't like a traditional Christmas dessert, here's something a tad lighter with just as much flavour. Plus, if you have never tried dessert wine this is the time of the year to do so. You will have good company, great food and now the ideal pud to accompany it.
I'm sure this recipe has chopped and changed over the years in many different kicthens so please feel free to do the same.
Serves 6-8
You will need:
1 packet of amaretti biscuits
100g good raspberry jam
250g fresh raspberries
150g good quality bought flapjacks
1 orange
50ml whisky
50g icing sugar plus extra for dusting
300ml double cream
Method:
• You will need a trifle dish approx. 20cm round with a depth of at least 7cm. Place the Amaretti biscuits in the base of the bowl making sure they fill the bowl to about 2cm.
• In a seperate bowl work the jam with a wooden spoon untill smooth, stir in the raspberries leaving some aside for garnish.
• Spoon the raspberry mixture over the Amaretti biscuits. Break up the flapjacks and scatter over the raspberry mix.
• Using a fine grater, grate the orange rind then squeeze and strain the juice. You will need 100ml.
• Whisk the orange zest and juice with the whisky and icing sugar. Take a hand held electric whisk and slowly add the cream to the mixture, continue to whisk until light and fluffy consistancy of softly whipped cream.
• Smooth the whisky cream over the trifle. cover with clingfilm and chill overnight (the cream will firm up, and the juices will permeate the sponge).
• Just before serving decorate with a few raspberries and dust with icing sugar.
This month I'll be treating myself to the Late Harvest Dessert wine by Concha Y Toro, for this I've matched it with a Scottish trifle with orange-whisky cream.
Enjoy, James.
Last updated: November 30, 2009