silvana franco's pan-fried broccoli with chorizo, new potato and egg

One of the best things to come out of the whole unemployment thing is the opportunity it gives us to try and all eat together in the evenings.

Outside of enjoyment factor of sitting down as a family, it's got several knock-on benefits namely the TV isn't on whilst Milo's eating, which assuages our middle class paranoia, and we get try new foods on him because as we're eating it, he's generally more receptive to trying stuff. I know we're generally lucky with his eating habits, but it's always nice to keep pushing his culinary boundaries. He might not always like it mind, but at least we know we can fall back on fish fingers/pizza/pasta rather than those being the alpha and omega of his diet.

Tonight's installment relies on the fact we know he likes chorizo, boiled eggs, tomatoes and broccoli, so even allowing for the red wine vinegar-based dressing, this filling summer salad combo by Silvana Franco shouldn't be too challenging:

However, you should never underestimate your child's ability to make you a liar. The egg isn't 'dippy' enough, he's got too many potatoes and he's now decided he doesn't like broccoli. The chorizo is okay though...

In the end we reach a compromise: He likes the broccoli heads but not the stalks, I take one of his potatoes, and if there's ice cream for pudding, the rest turns out to be surprisingly edible.

Wine Time
I think chorizo is one of those ingredients that you can't really go wrong with in terms of matching, as it'll happily accompany most lighter styles of wine. Rosé is obviously a classic, but a lovely crispy, minerally Gavi or a young, fruity Spanish red with low tannins will all go down a treat with this dish.

sources

pan-fried broccoli with chorizo, new potatoes and eggs - Silvana Franco, Delicious, June 2011, p22

bill granger's curried chicken rice

It's funny how after one bad experience, you avoid a recipe like the plague, only to re-try it years later once the sense of shame has faded, and it inexplicably turns out to be marvellous. Not only that, it quickly becomes a much-trusted friend.

For similar reasons - hard rice - I've had issues with both risotto and Bill Granger's curried chicken rice, but somehow over the last year I seem to have finally managed to conquer my rice inadequacy*, and now they've become standards in the Barnes house.

Tonight it's the curried chicken rice, for no better reason than it's easy-peasy, I can't really be bothered to fanny about in the kitchen, and we've got some chicken legs I picked up on offer in the supermarket that need attention. Boom.

*However, if you ask my wife I definitely cannot cook rice. Interestingly this doesn't stop her eating it, or volunteering to cook it.

sources

curried chicken rice - Bill Granger, Simply Bill, p21

valli little's chicken with baby spring vegetables and pistou

I've wanted to cook one variation or another of this spring roast for years. It always appears in most of the magazines, ticking as it does the seasonality box, freshness and looking good.

The thing is Ana is less-than-keen on eating baby gem lettuce at the best of times, but she draws the line  at partially wilted baby gem lettuce. Luckily by hiding it under my thumb when I show her the picture, she doesn't notice it so we're good to go and I for one cannot wait.

Sadly as it turns out she's right though, as not only is it a wee bit pfaffy - if you're not blanching stuff, you're frying, roasting or bashing stuff up in a pestle - it's not amazingly full-flavoured given the amount of bits and bobs going on in it. At least we're using up more of the tower of cannelllini beans.

The oregano crust on the chicken legs is nice, and the pistou (it's just French pesto, fact fans) is also very tasty, but the rest is just a bit, well, bland. It's doubly disappointing as normally Valli Little does amazing recipes.

Wine Time
Okay so it's not the punchiest dish on the block, and if anything it's unexpectedly stodgy, so you'd want something with enough punch to cut through the floury pulses and pasta, as well as having some nice herbal flavours for the chicken and pistou.

I think the orzo and the pistou (okay, pesto) hold the key and lead me to bella Italia, where I reckon if you could do worse than getting hold of a really good Soave - look for one marked 'classico'. The garganega grape has plenty of lemony acidity, as well as lovely blossom notes and pear notes which should cover all bases with the dish.

sources
chicken with baby spring vegetables and pistou - Valli Little, Delicious, May 2013, p56

#GreatSummerOfBurgers Episode 3: silvana franco's spiced cannellini and cous cous burgers

Yay! #GreatSummerOfBurger is back, and not before time - it is the weekend after all! I know we're supposed to be trying new sorts of burgers each week, but for some reason our cupboards are currently awash with cannellini beans. How does this happen? I mean, we're fairly organised with weekly shopping lists, and even allowing for occasional nights going off-menu, I can't believe we've missed that many cannellini-based meals.

At least this time we actually make the patties with cous cous, and not only that they get a good few hours in the fridge to firm up. I think the cous cous/bulgar wheat swap is fairly moot as the flavours tend to come from the stock and spices, but the extra couple of hours in the fridge does make them infinitely easier to cook as they don't fall apart so easily. Top tip there.

sources
spiced cannellini and cous cous burgers - Silvana Franco, Delicious, now the Parsley Book

donna hay's pasta with cherry tomato sauce

Tonight it has become apparent that I seem to be falling into lazy journalism and slack cooking habits. Two weeks of cous cous and chorizo, and now this half-arsed attempt at dinner.

Look at this picture:

Now take into account Ana is out at Book Club, and then read this.

My, how times have changed. I promise to buck my ideas up next time she's out.

sources
pasta with cherry tomato sauce - Donna Hay, Instant Cook, p58

chorizo, pea and lemon cous cous

As anybody else noticed/bought those two foot long chorizo de leon sausages Unearthed make? They are definitely our chorizo of choice, and not just because they look like wizened pizzles in a bag: They're not as spicy as some, so perfect for small blonde people, the skin comes off really easily, and you get more sausage-y bangs for your buck.

We only use half for any particular recipes, which means we know we've got another chorizo-based banker in the fridge for the following week. Or, if we're being a bit uninspired and discover we haven't eaten as many tomatoes/drunk as much gin as we thought we would, we have exactly the same thing as last time:

Mrs White is quite correct, this would be a great side-salad for a BBQ. It doesn't wilt, it's got tomatoes in which are prerequisite for BBQ fayre, and you can bag up the remainder for lunch the next day.

All this from delicious Spanish donkey's cock - who said Europe was a bad thing? You couldn't do this with some gristle-and-grain bangers.

sources
chorizo, pea and lemon cous cous - Delicious, October 2012, p28

heston's pea and pancetta spaghetti

I'm not sure why I bother having an Heston Blumenthal tag, seeing how I only ever cook one of his recipes. It's a good one mind; quick, simple and full of flavours, and perfect for nights like this when Ana's off being literary at one of her Book Clubs.

In fact the cooking time is really only the length of time it takes to boil the pasta; you can fry the onions and pancetta whilst the water boils, and then you nick some pasta water to mix up with the eggs and parmesan to make the sauce. Drain the pasta and mix it in the pan with the onions/pancetta, add the peas and sauce and let it sit for five minutes and Robert is your mother's brother.

This quick turn-around is particularly useful if you've found yourself inexplicably reading ten stories, having to snuggle, then having to go back to read some more stories, followed by more snuggling, and then a final story because somebody wasn't tired.


sources
heston's pea & pancetta spaghetti - Waitrose Weekend, 16th September, p10