The Recycled Cook

The Recycled Cook Fennel and Lemon Risotto As always, the first thing you need for a good Risotto is a decent  stock . You can use a frozen stock you made previously or one of the wide range of readymade stocks available in supermarkets.   Today I had a fennel bulb and a lemon left over, I also have wild fennel in the garden so I decide one a Fennel and Lemon Risotto. As for previous risottos you will need start with a "Sofrito" , a mix of finely chopped carrot, celery, onion and garlic. Once you have fried off the "Sofrito" add the rice and fry gently until it starts to become transparent and look clear. Add the grated zest of a whole lemon and the juice of half a lemon At this point you can add a generous dash of white wine or Vermouth and let this simmer until the rice has absorbed it all. Now start to add the stock a ladle at a time. This allows you to control that the rice will not absorb too much liquid, it should be a litt...

The Recycled Cook Leftover Lamb Tagine   Having had a slow cooked lamb joint at the weekend there was still quite a lot of meat left over left over on the half leg so I decided to recycle it into a Moroccan lamb Tagine. As the lamb was still on the bone the first task was to take the meat off the bone and discard any gristle. The meat I then roughly tore  and added to the remaining ingredients.  I find tearing the meat rather than chopping into cubes gives a more pleasing looking result. Having stripped the meat the next thing to do is to change the flavours into those of a traditional Moroccan Tagine.  The easiest way would be to add Ras Al Hanout spice (meaning top of the shop or the best blend) but I had none left so had to improvise. Instead I added a generous amount of cumin, ground coriander and dried coriander leaves, Black pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, ground ginger, Cayenne pepper and ground cinnamon....

The Recycled Cook Baba Ghanush Had a clear out of the fridge today and  found two seriously sad looking Aubergines (Eggplants) so thought I would use them up in a blog. What better way than to make the classic Middle Eastern dip, Baba Ghanush, (Father's indulgence) The aubergine equivalent to Humus. The first thing to do is to roast the Aubergine in their skins in a moderate oven (180°C / Gas mark 5) for about 40 minutes. Once this is done let them cool, then remove the flesh from the skins. Put the flesh in a mixing bowl and add a quarter cup of Plain Yoghurt, a quarter cup of Tahini, the juice of half a lemon, a quarter teaspoon of Cumin and two tablespoons of Sesame Oil (Olive oil will do just fine). Put all the ingredients into a blender and whisk into a smooth paste, if you don't have a blender you could make this with a Mouli too. You could blend it by hand but...

The Recycled Cook Chicken Tikka Masala Curry Well if there is one dish that lends itself perfectly to left-over food it is a curry. Today I am making a Chicken Tikka Masala curry, although the chicken should strictly be baked in a traditional Tandoor clay oven. First of all roast off the chicken in the oven, season with salt, black pepper and Garam Masala powder or paste. Frequently Tikka dishes use food colouring but I prefer to keep the chicken looking natural looking but  if you prefer, rub with Tikka paste or powder which is readily available. Chop some onion and garlic and while the chicken breasts are roasting (approx, 12 minutes on 200º C (Gas mark 6) cook the onions and garlic over a medium heat in a light cooking oil or until they just start to brown.. Cook the onion first and add the garlic after about 10 minutes or they will catch and burn if added too early. If you have some available, now is the time to add your pe...

The Recycled Cook Mediterranean style roasted mixed vegetables If you have odds and ends of vegetables left over this is a great way to use them up, either as a side dish or a vegetarian meal in itself. First of all sort out what you have and then, peel, roughly chop and discard any bad bits. Remember to keep the seeds from the peppers for growing. You can pretty much use any firm vegetables, potatoes, swede, onions, peppers, leeks, carrots aubergines, potatoes and of course garlic. There are many other vegetables too use what you have available. It  Once you have prepared your vegetables put a large roasting tin in the oven with a decent layer of cooking oil.  Olive oil will give it a Mediterranean flavour but Corn oil, Vegetable oil or Rapeseed oil work just as well too.  You can even use a flavoured or herb infused oil to add extra flavour. I would recommend cooking this at 180c (fan) or 200c standard ov...