Main Course

Cheese and Mushroom Risotto

olive oil
onion, chopped
arborio rice
mushrooms, chopped
stock
cheese, grated

Chop the onions and fry for 5 minutes. After a couple of minutes add the arborio rice. Chop the mushrooms, add to the pan, and fry for a few more minutes. Then add the stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Grate cheese and stir into the dish just before you serve.

Chicken Risotto

olive oil
4 chicken breasts, chopped into cubes 2 onions, chopped
arborio rice
1 red pepper
1 corgette
stock
pepper

Chop the chicken into cubes a couple of centimeters across and fry lightly in a pan. Chop onions then addd them and the rice to the pan and fry for a few minutes. Add chopped pepper and corgette to the pan. Add enough stock to just cover ingredients. Cook for about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Add stock if the mixture dries out.

Curried Vegetable Risotto

corn oil
1 onion, chopped into wedges
1 green pepper, chopped into chunks
ground cumin
ground corriander
tumeric
paprika
ground ginger
garlic paste
cayenne pepper
mushrooms, chopped into chunks
rice
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 can of chickpeas
stock

Chop onions and green pepper roughly and fry lightly in a pan. Add spices and garlic and mix well, use a low heat to prevent spices from burning. Chop mushrooms, mix in and fry for a few minutes. Add rice, chopped tomatoes, chickpeas and then top up with some water. Cook for 20 minutes or so.

There may be more appropriate names than "curried risotto" for this dish but that's how it began it's life.

Pea and Mint Risotto

1 litre vegetable stock
200 g fresh sugar snap peas or mange tout
500 g frozen peas
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 / 2 stick of celery, finely chopped
150g risotto rice
100 ml cooking wine
30 g parmesan cheese, grated
1 handful of fresh mint and flat leaf parsley
1 / 2 lemon, juiced
1 tbsp butter

Cook half the frozen peas in a little stock for 2-3 minutes then mash and set aside. Fry onion and celery in oil until golden then add the rice and stir until coated. After a minute add wine and keep stirring. After wine has been absorbed, add one ladle of stock. Reduce heat until the risotto simmers. Add more stock a ladleful at a time allowing it to be absorbed before adding the next one. Cook rice until soft, 15-20 minutes. Steam fresh peas for a couple of minutes. Add all the peas, mashed and frozen to the risotto. Turn off heat and stir in cheese, fresh herbs, lemon juice, and butter. Finally add the steamed peas and leave for a couple of minutes.

Sober Beans

corn oil
2 onions, roughly chopped
tin of refried beans
tin of chopped tomatoes
apple juice

Cut each onion into eight and fry for 5 minutes. Add refried beans, tomatoes, and apple juice then mix. Simmer for 10 minutes.

For variation add chopped mushrooms when frying, sweetcorn or spinich with the beans

Originally this recipe used beer and was called "Drunken Beans".

Spicy Chicken and Peanut Stew

1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp mild paprika
4 chicken breasts
corn oil
2 onions, as wedges
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cans of tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
4 tbsp peanut butter
stock

Mix cayenne pepper, salt, ground ginger, and mild paprika in a bowl. Cut chicken into chunks then add to bowl and turn until evenly coated. Fry chicken for a few minutes in a pan. Cut onions into large wedges and crush garlic then add to pan for a few more minutes. Add tomatoes, oregano, peanut butter, and stock. Bring mixture to the boil then simmer for 30 minutes.

Pancakes

450 ml milk
1 large egg
pinch of salt
125 g flour
1 tbsp oil

Mix flour and salt in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the egg to the well then add the milk slowly, gradually incoprorating the flour. Either oil the pan in between each pancake or mix oil into the batter. Wait until frying pan is hot. Pour a little of the mixture into the pan and swirl to make pancake. Cook until a little brown on the bottom and drying on top. Toss or flip pancake and cook on other side.

Pepper Sauce

olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped
1 tin of chopped tomatoes

Chop onions and fry slowly. Chop red and green pepper and add to the pan. After 5 minutes add tomato and leave to reduce slighly.

Guacamole

3 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
1 small white onion, finely chopped
1 handful coriander, chopped
1 lime, juiced
3 tbsp olive oil
2-3 green serrano chilles, washed and finely chopped with seeds
salt

Put avocadoes in a glass bowl and mash with fork. Add onion, coriander, lime juice, olive oil chilles and salt. Mix the ingredients thoroughly to make a puree. Do not use a blender the mixture is supposed to be slightly coarse.