Farmersgirl Kitchen

Sunday, 10 May 2015

Seafood Risotto and an Italian Deli experience

Of all the countries I have visited, my first choice would always be Italy. I first visited with my parents when I was 15 years old and immediately fell in love with the markets, the architecture and the art. It took until 2009 before I was able to return and found it was even better!

Montalcino

Of course, for me, food is a really important part of my holiday and it's lovely to try to recreate dishes that you have tasted on holiday. Getting the right ingredients makes all the difference when making dishes from another country. I was delighted when UFUUD contacted me to try some products from their extensive selection.

An Italian Deli in Montalicino

UFUUD is the UK’s place to buy Italian food online, it is synonymous with high quality and tradition. As the number one portal in the UK to purchase traditional products, they offer a wide array of exclusive goods that come from 60 local producers throughout 16 regions of Italy. Some of their most popular products include cold cuts, pasta, ready-made sauces, oil, rice, vinegar and sweets, to name a few. At UFUUD they have the passion to satisfy the tastes of everyone looking to savour the tastes that are the foundation of our country’s gastronomy.

Here is what I ordered from UFUUD :

The website it easy to use and each product comes with detailed information about the product including the ingredients (where appropriate) conservation information and chef's advice. Search the site by FOOD, DRINK, ORGANIC OR PROMO.

The products in the photo collage above were used in the Seafood Risotto. The carnaroli is a lovely quality, creamy but it didn't disintegrate when cooked in the risotto. I loved the big soft chunks of long fin tuna, quite unlike those I usually buy in a tin, it was much more like real fish. The marinated anchovies were soft and delicious and not overly salty. The Romaniae Terrae Pecorino caused some comment from the family who asked why I had a 'roll' in the fridge! The cheese is semi-hard and has a good strong flavour. I found the wheat berries a bit of an annoyance as they are too hard to eat. I dare say they add flavour to the cheese. The other ingredient is my wild garlic pesto.

Seafood Risotto
Serves 4-6

1 tbsp olive oil from the Long Fin Tuna
1 onion, finely chopped
250g Carnaroli risotto rice
900ml fresh fish or vegetable stock, hot
4 tbsp wild garlic or other green pesto
180g Long Fin Tuna, drained
40g Marinated Anchovies
240g prawns
100g Romaniae Terrae Pecorino

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.
Add the rice, stir for 1 minute, add a 50ml of stock and simmer until evaporated then add 400ml of the stock and simmer again, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes, until most of the stock has been absorbed.
Add the remaining stock and repeat, cooking for a further 10-12 minutes, until the rice is cooked but still has a slight bite to it.
Stir in the pesto and cook for 1 minute.
Remove from the heat, stir in 60g of Pecorino finely chopped or crumbled and season to taste.
Add the tuna, anchovies and prawns and gently stir into the risotto.
Serve with the remaining 40g of Pecorino in finely shaved slivers over the top.

Other dishes that I have made with the goodies from UFUUD are Taragna Polenta for my Mackerel with Madeirean Special Sauce.

I used a little of the left over chocolate pastry from the Double Chocolate Tartlets to make some mini tartlets and filled them with a mixture of cream cheese, double cream, some of the juice and chopped up cherries from the Sun-Cooked Morello Cherries and, of course, a cherry on top, absolutely gorgeous. The only thing about these cherries is they have the stones in, so you do have to be careful of your teeth!

The Cinnamon Chocolate Bar is rather gritty in texture, but has a really good chocolate flavour.

This little jar of Mostarda, Spicy Fig Mustard, undoubtedly stole the show. I just loved the contrast of the sweet, jammy fig chutney and the spicy mustard. At £9.00 it's expensive for 160g so definitely a special treat. It would be possible to buy substitute products at a much lower price, but it is precisely the quality of the products that UFUUD stock that makes them worth having. Not everything is expensive, many of the products such as the pastas and polenta are good value, as well as good quality. But there is no doubt that UFUUD provide an authentic deli experience and I certainly will be visiting again.

Labels: chocolate, long fin tuna, marinated anchovies, morello cherries, mostarda, pecorino, Pesto, Polenta, prawns, risotto, Seafood, UFUUD, Wild Garlic

Monday, 23 June 2014

A Local Tasting Tour South of Morris Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia is really easy to navigate. When I met up with my blogging colleagues, Karen, Helen and Aoife, later in the trip, they were amused by how I knew my way around (well most of the time!). It helps that there is a hill behind you leading down to the waterfront and the streets are in a grid pattern, so you can quickly get our bearings, and Halifax is a definitely a place where walking is a good way to get around.

I walked down from Citadel Hill to the waterfront boardwalk and enjoyed seeing the ships, restaurants and the stunning view across to Dartmouth and Fort George.

Fort George

I was heading to the Halifax Seaport Market to meet with up with Emily Forrest proprietor of Local Tasting Tours and my guide Elena Cremonese, who was ready to take me on the SOMO (South of Morris Street) Food Tour. "Local Tasting Tours highlights the local side of Halifax cuisine, from the unique culinary style of local chefs, to the diverse dishes offered in locally owned ethnic eateries, to fresh Nova Scotia-grown produce and dishes inspired by our local bounty" The tour includes visits to six local eateries in the area 'south of Morris Street' to taste dishes prepared especially for you by award winning chefs.

Norbert's Good Food is Halifax’s first and only farm to table eatery sell their own produce grown at their own organic farm, Selwood Green. Norbert's was the first stop on my Food Tour, it's located at the Seaport Farmers’ Market. I had a very tasty salad topped with sprouts and dressed with a simple oil, vinegar and honey dressing.

A short walk along the waterfront and we arrived at Sugah, a store full of chocolate, toffees, sweets, ice cream and Rum Cake! All of Sugah 's products are crafted by hand in Nova Scotia using traditional methods and using fresh butter, cream sugar and nuts. The sweets are cooked in the old-fashioned copper kettle and worked on the marble slabs. The chocolates feature finest Belgian Chocolate and as well as some traditional flavours there are great ideas like the Kracken Krunch, blended with Nova Scotian Seaweed; The Brew Bar made with a unique combination of fruit, nuts and spices and the Fog Burner which combines chocolate with Fog Burner coffee grounds. I brought home quite a few bars of Sugah chocolate as gifts, they really are unique flavours.

I was offered samples of the S'mores chocolate which was far too sweet for my taste, I preferred the 'Tall and Dark' Brew Bar. The Bacon Praline was also good, but not a patch on the one made by Wee Sweetie, her praline is just packed with bacon and much more robust than the one at Sugah (I've been spoiled!). Sugah is owned by The Uncommon Group who also run the Uncommon Grounds coffee shops in Nova Scotia.

Next I returned to The Halliburton (read about it in The Bridge, The Bison and the Four Poster Bed ) and was presented with this beautiful plate of 'Pan seared, rice paper wrapped sea scallops, ginger sesame vinaigrette', oh my goodness what a delight! I also had a chance to speak to the chef and compliment him on the meal I had eaten the evening before.

Just up the road from the Halliburton on Morris Street East is the Morris East who specialise in wood-fired pizzas. My tasting dish was a slice of Peach Woodfired topped with peaches, goat cheese, shallots,
prosciutto, maple rosemary aioli and microgreens. I'm not a huge fan of goat cheese but it combined well with the sweet peaches and salty prosciutto. The base of the wood fired pizza was superb, it was thin and managed to be crisp underneath and soft on top, just perfect.

If you are a fan of cocktails, I would recommend you have a look at the Morris East cocktail menu, some great combinations of liquor served there.

I think the place that I warmed to most was Cafe Chianti. Italian food is my favourite cuisine and the risotto with asparagus and spinach with a parmesan crisp on top was absolutely delicious. But there is more to a restaurant than just delcious food and Cafe Chianti has that something special.

I was fortunate to meet the owner, Jan Wicha, who gave me a warm welcome and sat with me and Elena as we ate our risotto. He told me how his restaurant had burned down and he thought his days as a restaurateur were over, however the continued demand from former customers persuaded him to start again. I also learned about the beautifully painted murals on the walls, some of them reclaimed from the original restaurant. Of all the places on the food tour this is the one that I would most like to revisit as it felt very comfortable and the menus are excellent.

We finished our tour at Elements on Hollis, the restaurant in The Westin, Nova Scotian Hotel. Chef Steve Galvin brought me this lovely plate of belly pork in a barbecue sauce, a recipe he had recently developed. I know belly pork is very popular, but it's not my favourite cut of meat, too fatty for me. However, once again I was proved wrong and I really enjoyed this rich and tender dish. There will be more about Elements on Hollis in a later post as I ate there again when I returned to Halifax.

A little about my delightful guide: Elena Cremonese is a recent graduate of Dalhousie University in Halifax and a committed foodie! Hailing originally from Ottowa, Ontario she has travelled in Europe and Asia and, although she was relatively new to her job with Local Tasting Tours, Elena was a font of knowledge about the restaurants, the history of the SOMO area of Halifax and about food in general. I enjoyed her company and we chatted easily about all sorts, thanks Elena for making my tour such a pleasure.

It was now time for me get back into my Jeep SUV and head across The Macdonald Bridge towards Pictou, I hope you'll join me on the next leg of my journey in Nova Scotia.

This is the third in a series of posts about my trip to Nova Scotia. Read the other posts in my Nova Scotia adventure:

1. The Bridge, The Bison and the Four Poster Bed
2. The Citadel, Halifax : Sporrans, Rifles and the School Room

You can follow me on Twitter: @FarmersgirlCook, Facebook: Farmersgirl Kitchen Instagram: FarmersgirlCook and the Pinterest Board  Atlantic Canada Eats which I share with Lavender and Lovage. You can also follow the hashtags #AtlanticCanadaEats #VisitNovaScotia and #ExploreCanada to see photos and posts on all of these social media sites.

Disclaimer: I was the guest of the Canadian Tourism Commission and  Nova Scotia Tourism and all my flights, car hire, accommodation and meals were included, as well as all trips, excursions and special cookery sessions with local chefs. I'd like to thank the host organisations and everyone who made this a truly memorable trip.
Photo Montage templates from The Coffee Shop

Labels: Chianti Cafe, chocolate, Elements on hollis, Halifax, Local Tasting Tour, Morris East, Norbert's Good Food, Nova Scotia, Pizza, risotto, salad, scallop, sesame, Stories, Sugah

Tuesday, 16 July 2013

Risotto and Risotto Cakes for Credit Crunch Munch

I have to remind myself to include some of my recipes in blog challenges like Credit Crunch Munch. Using up left overs and creating new dishes from those bits left in the fridge is second nature to me and I find it pushes my creativity to create something from almost nothing.

This wasn't really 'nothing', I had bought a large roast to have at the weekend when I had visitors. I had marinated it and slow cooked it in a roasting bag, everyone enjoyed the tender slices of beef. However, it really was a big joint of beef, so even after another dinner of roast beef slices with gravy and slices with salad, there was still some left.

I decided to dice the cooked beef and cook it in a risotto.

Beef Risotto

150g - 300g left over roast beef cubed
2 tsp butter
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
400g risotto rice
1 litre beef stock
100g frozen peas

1. Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan, add the onions and cook over a low heat for a bout 10 minutes until soft but not coloured. Add a little water to the pan if the onions stick.
2. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the rice and cook until it turns opaque. Add a quarter of the stock and stir until all the liquid has been absorbed.
4. Continue to add the stock, stirring constantly until the rice is soft but still has a little bite.
5. Add the cubed beef and frozen peas, stir, turn the heat off and leave with the lid on the pan for 5-10 minutes until it is heated through.
6. If you have some flat leaved parsley you can add this before serving, I didn't have any when I made this and it was fine without.

So now I have a large pan of risotto, too much for three of us to eat and more left overs. So I thought I'd have a go at making risotto cakes. The technique was very simple, add an egg to the left over risotto mixture. Flour a large plate, form patties of risotto and egg mixture on the plate, dust with more flour. Heat a couple of tbsp of oil in a frying pan and, using a fish slice, gently transfer the risotto cakes to the pan. Fry until brown and crisp, turn and cook to the same colour on the other side. Serve with creamed horseradish and salad.

We loved the risotto cakes with their crispy crunchy outside and soft tasty inside, and I would definitely make them again.

Credit Crunch Munch is a blog challenge run by Fuss Free Flavour and Fab Food for All and this month hosted by Fish Fingers for Tea

Labels: Beef, Credit Crunch Munch, fried, horseradish, peas, risotto, risotto cakes, roast beef

Saturday, 13 April 2013

Two Greedy Italians Series Two: Still Hungry - a Review

It's such a pleasure to watch Antiono Carluccio and Gennaro Contaldo in this second series of the BBC’s acclaimed food and travel documentary ‘Two Greedy Italians’ which is released on April 22^nd by Fremantle Home Entertainment.

Nowhere is food as much a part of everyday life as Italy, a country whose unique topography has resulted in distinct regional differences that are vibrantly alive and passionately celebrated. In this second series, the kings of Italian cuisine, Antonio Carluccio and Gennaro Contaldo, return to Italy to remember their pasts and discover how the culinary capital of the world is changing the way it cooks and eats. The relationship between the two chefs is affectionate but with a little bit of an edge, the documentary is beautifully shot and even without the cooking, you will enjoy the Italian scenery and the stories of the people they meet.

In each of the four hour-long episodes, Antonio and Gennaro create dishes using recipes, ingredients and influences they discover along their journeys as well as some of their own favourite traditional meals. Throughout this series we explore both town and country, seeing how every Italian province has a unique culinary palette as inspired by its spectacular geography.

Also included are four recipe cards from the series, making this a DVD that’s good enough to eat…

Episodes:

• Calabria and Bambinone - a voyage of discovery. Antiono and Gennaro explore Italian childhood. If you are squeamish I would avoid this episode as it involves the killing of a pig and a pudding made from cocoa and blood. However, it has to be said that the Italian children tried and enjoyed the pudding. This episode also includes a risotto made with pearl barley, Suppa di Pesce and a delicious rich rice pudding cake with orange.

• Liguria and La Bella Figura - Liguria is the Italian Riviera and Bella Figura is about making the best of yourself and what you have got, it's about pride and self-respect. In this episode Antonio has a taste of the high life and Gennaro steals figs and chestnuts from the roadside trees. We are treated to a foraged frittata and Genovese Fish and chips.

• The Alps and Arrangiarsi - I think this was probably my favourite episode where Antionio and Gennaro live by their wits, hunting for mushrooms and stealing grapes from the roadside. We find out about Braesolo from Lombardy and Ricotta (which simply means re-cooked). I loved the chestnut mill designed by Leonardo da Vinci and the gnocchi that Gennaro makes with the chestnut flour.

• Rome and Machismo - So who is the Italian man of today? We see the old-fashioned italian man competing to put on the most weight by eating vast trays of pasta to the Italian house-husbands and divorced Dads learning to make good food for their children. Recipes include: Braised Beef in Red Wine, Sweet Pepper Fritatta and Pasta with chilli, bacon and tomato sauce

Technical information

Feature running time: 4h approx

Language: English

Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Disks: 2
RRP: £19.99
Pre-order at online store: £14.00

I received a copy of the Two Greedy Italians Series Two DVD, I was not paid for this review and all opinions are my own.

Labels: Antiono Carluccio, BBC, Fritatta, Gennaro Contaldo, Italy, risotto, Two Greedy Italians 2

Monday, 11 March 2013

Seafood Risotto for a Healthy Happy Heart

I love seafood, it is probably the thing I would choose when eating out over any other type of food. While I cook and eat prawns and fish quite frequently I have never actually prepared mussels from scratch before, it was a bit more time consuming but the mussels were much tastier.

I'm taking part in an initiative organised by Fish is the Dish called Healthy Happy Hearts Eating seafood gives great health benefits, in fact there is a whole section of the Fish is the Dish website dedicated to them http://www.fishisthedish.co.uk/health Health benefits include better heart, brain development, muscle repair, good skin and hair and so much more.

The Food Standards Agency and experts throughout the world recommend we eat two portions of fish per week, one of which should be oily fish. So I've signed up to do just that and tell you about how I get on.

My first dish is a Seafood Risotto containing, mussels, prawns and salmon fillet. The risotto was delicious, adding coconut milk to the mussel liquor and fish stock made the rice rich and creamy. If you buy mussels already cooked and shelled, they are generally a bit rubbery and tasteless. These were soft and sweet and adding the salmon at the end so it just cooks in the heat of the risotto makes it soft and flaky.

Seafood Risotto (serves 6)
450g mussels in shells, cleaned
50g butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2tsp jerk spices
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
225g arborio rice
300ml fish stock (I used Essential Cuisine)
400g coconut milk
2 tomatoes peeled, deseeded and diced
225g raw prawns, peeled
225g salmon fillet, cut into small cubes
125g frozen peas
25bsp chopped fresh coriander
1 tbsp lemon juice, or to taste

1. Put the mussels in a large pan with a dash of water over a high heat. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and steam for 4-5 minutes until cooked; discard any mussels that remain closed. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve into a clean pan. Refresh mussels under cold running water and reserve.
2. Melt the butter in a large pan and fry the onion with the garlic and spices for 10 minutes until softened. Add the rice and stir-fry fr 1 minute until glossy.
3. Add the stock and coconut milk to the mussel liquor; bring to a simmer.
4. Add the tomatoes to the rice, then start adding the coconut liquid, a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly. Continue in this way, allowing each addition of the liquid to be absorbed before adding the next, for about 20 minutes.
5. Add the prawns, squid, tomato and peas with the remaining liquid; cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the mussels, coriander and lemon juice. Cover the pan and leave to rest for 5 minutes. Check the seasoning before serving.

FOR A PRINTABLE RECIPE PLEASE CLICK HERE

More Healthy Happy Heart Dishes

Labels: coconut milk, Fish is the Dish, Healthy Happy Hearts, mussels, prawns, rice, risotto, salmon

Friday, 7 January 2011

The mother of invention

Yes, necessity is the mother of invention. Which is how I came to make this risotto pie. Just what exactly was in the fridge? Some left over risotto (not enough for three though) a pack of all butter puff pastry and sitting on top of the fridge, some eggs, and as always, some cheese. So I rolled out the pastry, mixed the risotto with two beaten eggs, reserving a little to glaze the pastry. The risotto and egg mix went into the pastry and was sprinkled with some crumbled Texford and Tebbit blue cheese, the pastry was folded over this mix, washed with the remaining egg and baked in the oven until puffed and golden.

Quite, quite delicious and not something I would ever have considered if it were not that these ingredients were left over in the fridge!

Labels: blue cheese, puff pastry, risotto

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