Cannellini with Prawns, Mussels and Fish

I love the idea of combining pulses and beans to go with seafood and fish. I don’t know why, but they make a fabulous combination and the following dish demonstrates how well these elements complement each other.
Admittedly this dish can be a bit fussy and tricky to get right. The fish and seafood need to be cooked precisely, and they all need to "finish" together. And it is important to use real homemade stock in the recipe. Stock cubes, I am afraid, will result in a sauce too salty and lacking in body. Make your own, it is worth the effort.
I have used Flathead and King Dory, but obviously you can use any firm fleshed fish. This dish is a perfect size for 2 people. More than that and I would probably have a nervous breakdown- there is too much concentration and precision involved to get this stew perfect.
Devour this fishy stew with lots of crunchy bread.

Ingredients
125g King Dory fillets
125g Flathead fillets
2 large king prawns
6 live mussels
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Red chilli to taste
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley, plus extra to garnish
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander, plus extra to garnish
100ml white wine
700ml real homemade chicken stock
400g can Italian cannellini beans, drained and rinsed well
Fresh black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Method
Trim the fish fillets into chunks about 6 cm long.
Remove the shells from the king prawns. Reserve the shells. I don’t bother removing the intestinal tract- I detest fiddly jobs and my name is not Cinderella...Let the eaters do it themselves at the table. A bit of DIY wont do any harm.
Remove the beards from the mussels.
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan and gently sauté the prawn shells until they are pink. Add the stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and discard the shells.
Over a gentle heat, use the remaining tbsp of olive oil and sauté the garlic, chilli and herbs for a minute or so. Throw in the stock and wine and reduce for about 15 minutes.
Now you can begin to cook the seafood. Add the king prawns to the reduced stock, cover the pan and braise for 2 minutes or until pink. Using a slotted spoon remove to a bowl and keep warm.
Add the mussels and cook the same way, until they have opened. Remove the mussels to the bowl with prawns and keep warm.
Finish with the fish, just as described above. The fish should take 1-2 minutes. Place the fish, once cooked to the bowl containing the other seafoods.
To the remaining juices in the pan, add the cannellini beans, turn the heat to high and cook until the liquid has reduced to a soupy/stew consistency.
Season with black pepper.
Serve the seafood on a large platter with the beans, cooking juices, herbs and a drizzle of olive oil. Serves 2.

Pasta and Beans

Pasta e Fagioli is a traditional Italian soup with beans, pasta and salted pork. My tastebuds find this combo a bit too austere, so I like to fortify mine with tomatoes, sweet peppers and lots of herbs. Today, I am adding coriander because I have a bunch hanging around in the kitchen. But if you are a purist and the inclusion of this very non Italian herb offends, then just leave it out. It is nice though- it gives this soup a Mexican feel. Perhaps I should change the title to Fideos y Frijoles!

Ingredients
200g dried borlotti beans (or any type of bean)
100g bacon or prosciutto, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 dried red chilli, chopped
Fresh sage, rosemary and thyme, chopped
15 g butter
400g can Italian tomatoes, tomatoes
750ml stock (fake is fine)
Soup pasta (I do not bother to measure. Just add as much as you like)
1 tbsp of cream (35% milk fat)
Lots of fresh coriander, chopped roughly
A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Fresh black pepper.

Method
Soak the beans overnight in a bowl of water. The next day, drain away the liquid. Place the beans in a saucepan, cover with fresh water and bring to the boil.
Boil for one minute and then drain them again. Reserve the beans.
In a soup pot, sauté the bacon, garlic, onion, red pepper, chilli, herbs and the butter for about 20 minutes, or until softened.
Add the beans, stock and tomatoes with their juice.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 60 minutes.
Allow to cool a little and then puree one ladleful of the soup.
Bring back to the boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente.
Check the soup does not become too thick as the pasta cooks. This soup likes to stick to the bottom of the pot, so give it a stir every few minutes. Add some boiling water from time to time, keeping in mind the final result should be on the thick side.
Finish with the cream (the cream will soften the tomato. Add more if you think it needs it), coriander, salt and pepper.
Drizzle some olive oil into each bowl as you serve. This is good with some crusty bread.

Beans & Artichokes

I hardly ever cook beans from scratch anymore. I find the soaking overnight and simmering for an hour thing a bit tedious, really. Why would you bother when the canned version is good? The following recipe I originally made cooking the beans and artichoke from scratch, only to discover that I had over cooked both. They were way too soft for what I had intended for. Running low on time, I rushed to the supermarket and bought canned substitutes of both ingredients, and surprisingly the result was very good. Normally I would not use canned artichokes, but they work here. Just make sure to purchase a good brand. The artichokes will need a bit of soaking in clean water to remove some of the acidulated brine. And once you add lemon juice to the final dish, you will barely notice any residual acid from their canning liquid. The first batch of beans and artichokes, I turned into a very tasty stew with the addition of duck sausage. Often mistakes in the kitchen can give rise to other ideas and delicious preparations.

Warm Borlotti with Artichokes, Olives and Rocket leaves

Ingredients
I brown onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped into 1cm pieces
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
400g can borlotti beans, drained and rinsed
400g can whole artichokes (plain)
12 black, chilli marinated olives
½ tsp finely chopped rosemary
A squeeze of lemon juice
Fresh black pepper
A large handful of wild rocket

Method
Drain the artichokes of their liquid. Place them in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Leave them like this for as long as you can, to leech out the acidic flavour.
Heat the oil in a wide pan and cook the onion, carrot and garlic over a low heat for 30 minutes, until softened and lightly golden.
Drain the artichokes, and halve them. Add them to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes, tossing and warming them lightly.
Add the beans and olives, and warm through for about another 5 minutes. Allow to cool a little.
Finish with pepper, lemon juice and rosemary.
Finally toss with the rocket leaves and serve on a platter.
This dish is fabulous served at any temperature- hot, warm or cold and goes exceptionally well with roast lamb. Serves 4 easily, as a side dish.

Braised Veal with Gremolata

In total contrast to yesterday, this dish requires time, but not much effort. I do enjoy preparing food that has taken a while. Somehow I find it more satisfying than a dish that is ready in 10 minutes. Even though the meat here requires time, that does not mean it requires you. Once in the oven it takes care of itself and you are free to do as you wish. Also it will not matter much if you leave it for longer. The meat here cooks at such a slow pace that there is little danger of it drying out. Gremolata is a mixture of finely chopped parsley, lemon zest and garlic. It is traditionally served with osso buco, either stirred into the sauce at the last minute or sprinkled over the finished dish.

Ingredients
500g diced milk fed veal
1 tbsp of red wine vinegar
1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 head spring garlic, separated into cloves (about 6 cloves)
1 tbsp of salt preserved capers, rinsed
1 tbsp of chopped parsley
Fresh black pepper

For the gremolata
2 tbsp of finely chopped parsley (at the last minute)
Zest of 1 lemon, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Method
Set the oven to 120c.
Combine all the ingredients (except gremolata) in an oven proof dish with a lid.
Clamp on the lid, place in the oven and cook slowly for about 3-4 hours. The veal will braise in its own juices and will be very tender.
Remove the garlic cloves and discard.
Combine the ingredients for the gremolata and add half to the veal.
Put the lid back on for a minute, just so that the flavours fuse together.
Sprinkle more gremolata over the dish and serve with steamed green beans and the juices from the pot.

Serves 2.

Note- you may change the proportions of the ingredients for the gremolata, to suit your palate.

A big bowl of red

A Big Bowl of Red is what Texans call their state dish, otherwise known as Chilli con Carne. The literal translation from Spanish is “chilli with meat”. For this reason Texans do not add beans to their “chilli” as do other states in America. I do not heed by this practice, I like mine with beans. There are some very good traditional recipes posted on the internet, and one that was very strange. The ingredients included road kill (anything but skunk) and way too much chilli.I guess such a copious amount of chilli is to mask the flavour of the road kill!As mentioned earlier mine has beans, deeming it inauthentic. I also replace the sugar with port. It works really well. This is great comfort food. I like it for dinner with rice and a salad, or for breakfast with good crusty bread.

Ingredients
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 onion, finely diced
1 red pepper, finely diced
130g bacon, finely diced
30g lard
600g coarse ground beef
1 tsp crushed dried chilli
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika (I use Spanish, it is by far superior)
1 tsp fresh white pepper
1 tsp fresh black pepper
125ml port
400g can tomatoes, chopped
400ml stock (fake is fine)
400g can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Fresh parsley

Method
Melt the lard over a gentle heat and fry the carrot, celery, garlic, onion, red pepper and bacon until golden. Do this slowly. It should take about 15 minutes.
Remove this to a bowl and keep aside.
Add the beef to the pan and let it brown a bit (not too much or the meat will be hard). Break it up a little, keeping it chunky.
Now return the vegetables and bacon to the pan.
Add all the spices, port, tomato and stock. Cover and simmer for 50 minutes. Check from time to time that it isn’t drying out. The final result should be a bit saucy
Add the beans and simmer for another 10 minutes.
Finish with parsley. Don’t bother being delicate with the parsley. This is supposed to be a rough and ready dish.

Black Cabbage and Cannellini soup

This famous peasant soup is known as Ribollita. It comes from Tuscany. As the title above implies it contains Tuscan cabbage and beans, and is thickened with bread. Traditionally the soup is kept for a few days and it is reboiled each day as you serve it. Hence the name- Ribollita translates to reboiled. I know the list of ingredients looks short and severe. You may wonder about the flavour. But trust me. There is plenty in this simple soup, as long as you use good ingredients. Use fine olive oil and real bread. Do not be tempted to use plastic bread in this. You will only end up with glue soup and it will be revolting. To be honest, I prepared this yesterday because I had a hideous hangover. There isn’t much food I can handle when I feel this way. But this went down very well, with a glass of wine of course (maybe it was a bit more than one).Note-Tuscan cabbage or Cavolo nero is available from organic food shops. It used to be quite pricey a few years ago but now it is relatively inexpensive.

Ingredients
1 large red onion, finely chopped
1-2 tbsp of olive oil, to sauté
1 bunch cavolo nero, stems cut off and the leaves chopped (you can substitute silverbeet)
1 can Italian tomatoes, chopped
1 can Italian cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (you can use borlotti beans too)
Stock to cover (I used stock powder dissolved in water)
Fresh black pepper
Aprox. 100g stale Italian style bread, crusts removed and cut into 2 cm cubes
Parmesan Cheese
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Method
Sauté the onion and olive oil in a large saucepan. Keep the heat really low and cook until the onion has melted down and is beginning to colour around the edges, about 20 minutes.
Now add the cavolo, raise the heat and cook for about 5 minutes.
Once the leaves are wilted and turned a brighter shade of green, add the tomatoes with their juice and cover with the stock.
Season with plenty of pepper and simmer for 45 minutes.
Add the beans and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes.
Allow the soup to cool a little. Puree 2 ladles of the soup (in a processor or use a mouli) and return the puree to the remaining soup.
Add the bread to the soup and turn on the heat again. Use a wooden spoon to help break up the bread. It is hard to say how much bread you need. You may need more bread or you may need more water. It is meant to be thick and rough. I like it when the bread almost dissolves, but some cooks like it with the bread still holding its shape. It is up to you. Allow your taste to guide you.
Check the seasoning and the parmesan to taste, off the heat. Serve in deep bowls with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, more pepper and more cheese.
Enough to feed 2 people with hangovers, plus plenty of leftovers.

Salad & Strawberries for Spring

Borlotti and Prosciutto Salad
I don’t really think todays recipe requires a story. It is fairly straight forward. This is great for warm nights and doesn’t require any thing else on the side. Everything is already there in this salad- bread, vegetable and meat. As always, make sure to use good olive oil, real bread and nice wine vinegar. If the vinegar you have is harsh just add a bit of sugar to make the flavour more interesting. Enjoy!

Ingredients
6 baby onions, whole and unpeeled
1 tin Italian borlotti beans
10 large black olives
150g Italian style bread, crust removed
100g prosciutto, finely sliced
1 handful of rocket leaves
25 ml red wine vinegar
80ml extra virgin olive oil
2 little sprigs of rosemary, very finely chopped
Salt and fresh black pepper

Method
Turn the oven on to 220c.Roast the onions until they are charred and soft. Mine took 45 minutes. Allow them to cool and then peel.
Drain the beans and rinse them in a colander, under a tap. Tip them on to a clean teatowel and allow them to dry. The dressing will adhere better to dry beans, but if you are short on time you skip this part. Just put them in a bowl and proceed.
Whisk together the vinegar, oil, rosemary and seasoning. Set aside to allow the rosemary to permeate.
Now tear the bread into rough little chunks about the same size as the olives.
Put the beans, onions, olives and the bread into a bowl and toss with the dressing. Let sit for 15 minutes to allow the bread to absorb some of the dressing.
When you are ready to eat, add the rocket and prosciutto slices, season and give it a final toss.
Divide between 2 flat plates and eat. Fantastic!

Strawberries with Lemon marscapone cream

We have enjoyed this dessert 2 nights in a row now so, I shall present it here. This is just a variation of strawberries and cream but easier because there is no whipping required.

Ingredients
2 punnets of strawberries, washed and hulled
Sugar to taste
1 lemon
250g marcapone
3 tsp sugar
50ml of thickened cream

Method
Halve your strawberries (or quarter them if they are large). Put them into a bowl with some sugar, toss lightly and cover. Leave them to macerate at room temperature., until the sugar has melted and the juices are released..
In the meantime, remove the zest from the lemon. Use only the yellow part and chop it as finely as you can.
Mix together the marcapone, sugar, cream and zest. Place in the fridge.
When you are ready to eat, spritz the strawberries with a few drops of lemon juice and put into small bowls. Make sure you include the pink juice as well and top with the cream. Heavenly.