Barbeque ribs

Barbeque ribs.

I marinated a

Some nice meaty ribs in my favourite barbeque sauce, Stubbs. Its made in texas, and if your'e reading this rocky I'd still like that shirt.

Anyway, I marinated them for 2 days so the flavour really penetrated the meat.

Then slow roasted them on a very low oven for 3 hours than basted them with more sauce.

  Uncovered them and turned the heat up a touch to get a nice bark and viola. 

Served them with a bowl of the cooking sauce to dip them in.

Delicious, just needed a baguette.

Risotto

Chicken and Asparagus Risotto.

A bit behind due to various work constraints but last night we had this for tea.

Poached the Woody asparagus stems for stock, then lightly poach the tips and reserve for decoration later.

Then cook the spears until soft then chop them up very fine

Had some finely chopped onion

chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces.

 In a half and half mixture of butter and olive oil, fry these until the onions are  opaque and the chicken lightly coloured. Don't have the heat too high!

When these are ready take them out and reserve.

Put a good dollop of butter ( or 50 / 50 butter and oil ) in the pan ( I use the wok ) and Melt, then put the rice in. Arborio for preference

Toast this for a few minutes, then start adding the stock ladle at a time, again keep the heat quite low.

stir frequently but not too vigorously, after about 10 minutes add the chicken and onion mixture with some chopped Italian herbs, Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper. Keep adding the stock and stirring, this will take about 20 minutes during which time you add the sliced mushrooms and chopped asparagus spears. Then add the sweetcorn, keep stirring and after 10 minutes add the asparagus tips. Taste and check seasoning then adjust accordingly. Continue adding stock and stirring until the rice has lost it's nutty texture. Stir in a small amount of butter and continue stirring for five minutes.

When it has a creamy texture and no too moist, serve.

I like to eat mine with some encona hot pepper sauce but that's just me.

Venison in a red wine jus

For tea tonight I cooked a lovely venison steak and prepared a red wine jus separately, serving it with mushrooms, potatoes and assorted vegetables.

The venison was a shoulder steak that I fried in butter and olive oil.

The ingredients for the jus were: 

• A red wine from bordeux
• Mushrooms
• Onions
• Balsamic vinegar
• Brandy
• Cream
• Italian Herbs
• Oregano
• Worcestershire Sauce

I started by softening the onions and then added the mushrooms,

I then seasoned with salt and pepper, putting in the Italian herbs,

oregano, Worcestershire sauce and wine. I reduced the sauce over a medium heat, stirring frequently over the course of 5-10 minutes. When the jus was reduced I added a dash of brandy, the cream and some juice from the venison.

I served the meat with broad beans, runner beans, boiled jersey potatoes and carrots.

Moules mariniere

This dish took 30 minutes to prepare and cook in total and was enjoyed with crusty baguette during a break whilst fixing the guttering.

Ingredients:

• 1kg of fresh mussels 
• 1/2 of a small onion
• 2 cloves of fresh garlic
• A handful of chopped parsley
• 150ml (I think) of white wine 
• A small knob of butter
• A tablespoon of cream
• Salt & pepper to taste

First I cleaned and prepared the mussels, removing the beard and any extraneous substances from the shells. After cleaning the mussels I went on to finely chop up the onions and garlic which are softened in some butter, I then added a dash of wine and then the mussels & parsley, then seasoned. 

I added the rest of the wine to the mix, covered it and allowed it to steam in its own juices. 

The mussels cooked for 4-5 minutes on a low heat. When the mussels had all opened I strained them and reduced the liquor then whisked in another knob of butter and the cream then served.

Here is the finished dish:

Shavua Tov

Shavua Tov ( שָׁבוּעַ טוֹב )
Pentecost is here  and I haven't blogged for a long time.
So busy with work and the dog settling in.
More changes afoot but The Lord is good.
No pictures or videos to share just now.
Had a very nice curry at the local Indian restaurant. Bombay in Grays, if you are this way I recommend it the service and food are excellent. Celebrating one of the guys 70th birthday.
reminds me of the advance of time.
Shavua Tov.

Hot Dogs with pepperonata & Chipotle mayonnaise

For a quick and easy lunch whilst in the midst of roof-painting I prepared a simple yet delicious snack of hot dogs with peppers, onions and a homemade chipotle mayonnaise. 

First I softened the onions and peppers with a dash of olive oil in a small skillet.

After putting on the (red) onions and peppers I began mixing a blend of smoky Chipotle sauce and mayonnaise. 

I fried the frankfurters in the same pan that was used to sautee the vegetables to give them more flavour. 

After 3-4 minutes of frying the hot dogs were done and I assembled the finished product on a small plate.