This is Joe's invention. It goes brilliantly with risotto and is impressive and easy to make. It doesn't sound like much, but the way the cheese in the pesto cooks when it's grilled makes it so much more than the sum of its parts.
Serves 2.
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, skinless and boned
6 tbsp pesto (you can make your own but Sacla is pretty good for this)
15ml olive oil
15ml balsamic vinegar
15 ml soy sauce
Pinch of salt
In a bowl, combine the pesto with the olive oil, soy sauce, balsamic, and salt.
Marinade chicken breasts in the mixture for as long as possible - overnight is ideal. Even an hour helps.
Make a little tray from tin foil.
Place the chicken on the tray, and grill on a low temperature, basting regularly with the rest of the marinade and the oil that runs off. The pecorino cheese in the pesto will darken, sizzle and blacken, which is excellent. If you baste regularly, the chicken will have a nice dark color overall.
It takes about 20 minutes to cook.
Showing posts with label dinner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dinner. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Risotto
This is my go-to comfort food. If I could eat nothing else for the rest of my life I would be very happy. I even enjoy the hands-on cooking process that is necessary with this, as the constant stirring can be very theraputic after a long day at work staring at a computer screen.
I like the simplicity of having very little by way of other flavours in this, but you can add mushrooms and so on if you desire.
The recipe is adapted from Nigel Slater's Appetite which I credit for getting me interested in cooking and serves two.
Ingredients
200g arborio rice
75g butter
2 garlic cloves
1 white onion, finely chopped
100ml white wine
700-850ml chicken stock
75g grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Start by melting 50g of the butter in a large pan. When melted, add the chopped onion and the crushed garlic and cook until the onions are translucent.
Add the arborio rice to the pan and stir at a medium heat for about a minute or so.
Add in the white wine and allow to bubble, stiring constantly, for two minutes.
Now you need to add in the stock a little at a time, allowing the rice to absorb the stock in between each addition. You need to stir constantly as you don't want the rice to burn and stick to the bottom of the pan. The whole process will take about 45 minutes. The grains of rice will plump up and will be tender when you taste them. You don't want the mixture to be too soupy or too dry, it should be just verging on being spoon-food when it's done so be careful for the last couple of additions.
When the rice is cooked, remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 25g butter and the parmesan.
Add salt and ground black pepper to taste and serve (ideally with Pesto Chicken)
I like the simplicity of having very little by way of other flavours in this, but you can add mushrooms and so on if you desire.
The recipe is adapted from Nigel Slater's Appetite which I credit for getting me interested in cooking and serves two.
Ingredients
200g arborio rice
75g butter
2 garlic cloves
1 white onion, finely chopped
100ml white wine
700-850ml chicken stock
75g grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Start by melting 50g of the butter in a large pan. When melted, add the chopped onion and the crushed garlic and cook until the onions are translucent.
Add the arborio rice to the pan and stir at a medium heat for about a minute or so.
Add in the white wine and allow to bubble, stiring constantly, for two minutes.
Now you need to add in the stock a little at a time, allowing the rice to absorb the stock in between each addition. You need to stir constantly as you don't want the rice to burn and stick to the bottom of the pan. The whole process will take about 45 minutes. The grains of rice will plump up and will be tender when you taste them. You don't want the mixture to be too soupy or too dry, it should be just verging on being spoon-food when it's done so be careful for the last couple of additions.
When the rice is cooked, remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 25g butter and the parmesan.
Add salt and ground black pepper to taste and serve (ideally with Pesto Chicken)
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Spaghetti Bolognese
I would describe this recipe as just about foolproof.
This recipe will feed about 6 people. I usually make enough for 6 and then freeze excess portions as bolognese keeps really well frozen.
Ingredients
750g (1.6 pounds) steak mince
3 large carrots, grated
1 large red onion, diced
125ml (1/2 cup) olive oil
4 tbsp tomato puree
6 cloves of garlic
2 cans of chopped tomatoes (400ml cans)
250ml (1 cup) red wine
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 vegetable stock cube
2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp Tabasco
salt and pepper to taste
250ml (1 cup) milk
Firstly, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat. Add the diced onions and grated carrots to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes, making sure they don't stick to the pan.
Push the carrot and onion mixture to the side of the pan and add the steak mince. Brown the mince, stirring everything together. If you have bought lean steak mince, you shouldn't get too much fat from the mince. If you do find that the mixture is looking a bit greasy then you can strain some of the fat away.
Add in the chopped garlic, oregano, basil and the garlic powder and stir thoroughly.
When everything is browned, add in the tomato paste and combine with the contents of the pan.
Now add the red wine. This may seem like a lot of red wine but the alcohol will cook off and it gives it a rich flavour that is hard to get with anything else.
Add the Worcestershire sauce, crumbled stock cube, Tabasco and the cans of chopped tomatoes.
Lastly, add the milk. This is my secret addition to bolognese that I usually don't tell people about!! I promise that it won't make your sauce creamy but just gives it a bit of va-va-voom!
Reduce the heat and simmer for at least 45 mins but the longer you can leave it cooking the better. Make sure and stir occasionally to ensure that the sauce doesn't stick but as it's quite liquid you don't have to worry about going away and doing something else while it's cooking!
Taste and season the bolognese with salt and pepper while it's simmering.
You can serve this with spaghetti or to be honest, any pasta shape that you like. Make sure and sprinkle plenty of grated Parmesan cheese on the spaghetti bolognese before serving.
This recipe will feed about 6 people. I usually make enough for 6 and then freeze excess portions as bolognese keeps really well frozen.
Ingredients
750g (1.6 pounds) steak mince
3 large carrots, grated
1 large red onion, diced
125ml (1/2 cup) olive oil
4 tbsp tomato puree
6 cloves of garlic
2 cans of chopped tomatoes (400ml cans)
250ml (1 cup) red wine
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 vegetable stock cube
2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp Tabasco
salt and pepper to taste
250ml (1 cup) milk
Firstly, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat. Add the diced onions and grated carrots to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes, making sure they don't stick to the pan.
Push the carrot and onion mixture to the side of the pan and add the steak mince. Brown the mince, stirring everything together. If you have bought lean steak mince, you shouldn't get too much fat from the mince. If you do find that the mixture is looking a bit greasy then you can strain some of the fat away.
Add in the chopped garlic, oregano, basil and the garlic powder and stir thoroughly.
When everything is browned, add in the tomato paste and combine with the contents of the pan.
Now add the red wine. This may seem like a lot of red wine but the alcohol will cook off and it gives it a rich flavour that is hard to get with anything else.
Add the Worcestershire sauce, crumbled stock cube, Tabasco and the cans of chopped tomatoes.
Lastly, add the milk. This is my secret addition to bolognese that I usually don't tell people about!! I promise that it won't make your sauce creamy but just gives it a bit of va-va-voom!
Reduce the heat and simmer for at least 45 mins but the longer you can leave it cooking the better. Make sure and stir occasionally to ensure that the sauce doesn't stick but as it's quite liquid you don't have to worry about going away and doing something else while it's cooking!
Taste and season the bolognese with salt and pepper while it's simmering.
You can serve this with spaghetti or to be honest, any pasta shape that you like. Make sure and sprinkle plenty of grated Parmesan cheese on the spaghetti bolognese before serving.
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