Chorizo, Butternut Squash & Spinach Risotto

Ah Valentine's Day, possibly the least romantic day of the year. Flowers and a nice meal shouldn't be a once a year occurance; if you're lucky enough to be in a happy relationship, you should do something romantic for the person you love all the time. If you're single, you shouldn't be made to feel bad about it by the tedious status updates of the 'OMG, just received an embarrassingly large bunch of flowers' variety.

Last year Chris managed to dislocate his shoulder on Valentine's Day, so this year I was just glad he wasn't high on morphine with his arm hanging off. As Valentine's Day is renound for being the absolute worst day to go out for dinner, we stayed at home and I cooked us chorizo, butternut squash and spinach risotto. Packed full of flavour from my favourite ingredients, it's simple enough for a midweek meal but special enough for a treat.

Serves 2 hungry people!
150g risotto rice
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
500ml vegetable or chicken stock
100ml white wine
50g chorizo, skinned and chopped into small chunks
Half a butternut squash, peeled, deseeded
1 tbsp half fat creme fraiche
1 tbsp milk
2 handfuls of spinach

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Peel, deseed and cut the butternut squash into small chunks. Roast with a little oil and pepper for 45 minutes, until the flesh is soft
2. Meanwhile, gently fry the onion in a little butter until soft. Add the garlic and chorizo and cook until the chorizo has started to go crispy. Add the rice and cook for a further minute
3. Stir the wine into the rice, let it bubble away until it has cooked off completely. Gradually add the stock by the ladelful, stirring regularily, making sure all the liquid has bubbled away before you you add more
4. Once the butternut squash is done, add half to a blender with the creme fraiche and plenty of black pepper, wizz until you have a smooth paste. You don't want the paste to be too thick, so add a little milk to loosen it if necessary. Keep the rest of the squash warm in the oven whilst you finish the risotto
5. Once the rice has plumped up and only has a little bite left, stir in the butternut squash puree and spinach. Cook for a few more minutes, until the spinach has wilted. Divide between two warm bowls, topped with the roasted butternut squash and Parmesan

Toffee Apple Pastries

Last Wednesday was Dydd Santes Dwynwen, the Welsh equivalent of Valentines Day. As Chris is a Welshman I decided to cook us a special meal (any excuse for a celebration in dreary January). I made roast duck legs with a red wine sauce, followed by toffee apple pastries topped with toasted almonds and boy were they good. They take 5 minutes to put together if you use ready rolled puff pastry, so are perfect for a mid-week treat. If you're feeling particularily romantic you could always cut the pastry into hearts...

Serves 2
1 cox or granny smith apple, peeled, cored and sliced
Small tin of carnation caramel - trust me on this!
Ready rolled puff pastry (I used Jus-Rol)
A small handful of flaked almonds
1 egg or a little milk to glaze the pastry
Creme fraiche or custard to serve

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees and pop a baking tray in to heat up. Cut your pastry into 4 inch squares and add a tablespoon of the caramel to the middle of each, spread outwards in a circular motion
2. Peel, core and slice the apple, then fan over the caramel. Cut around the apple, leaving at least 1cm of pastry at the edge and top with the flaked almonds
3. Brush the edges of the pastry with a little milk or egg and bake for 25 minutes until the pastry is golden and the apples are soft. Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche or custard

Baked Eggs with Sauteed Mushrooms & Spinach

Baked eggs have become my new breakfast obsession. With butter, creme fraiche and cheese, these aren't the ideal healthy breakfast everyone seems obsessed with in January, but for a weekend treat they are delicious. I love garlic, so I was quite heavy handed with it, but just use the one clove if you're not as keen as I am.

Serves 2

3 chesnut mushrooms, sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

A big handful of spinach

2 free range eggs

2 teaspoons of half fat creme fraiche

20g Gruyere, grated

Toast to serve

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and pop a baking sheet in to warm up
2. Gently cook the mushrooms and garlic in a little butter until softened, then add the spinach and gently cook until it has wilted
3. Divide the mixture between two ramekin dishes, crack an egg over the top and season. Add a teaspoon of the half fat creme fraiche to each ramekin and top with the Gruyere. Place the ramekins onto the pre-heated baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 12 minutes for soft egg yolks and 15 minutes for hard

Roast Duck Legs with a Red Wine Sauce

This weeks Sunday night dinner again came from Good Food. I reduced the recipe for just the 2 of us, but kept the same amount of garlic, rosemary and five spice and used 250ml of red wine as I like plenty of sauce. It's a really simple recipe to follow and a good alternative to a roast dinner if there are only a few of you.

I served the duck with sweet potato mash and braised leeks. I put the sweet potatoes in the oven with duck, when the flesh was soft I peeled off the skin and mashed them with a little low fat creme fraiche and seasoning. I softened the leeks in butter, then added some vegetable stock and left them to braise for 10 minutes on a low heat. Yum!

Little duck legs resting before the oven:

Crispy duck & red wine sauce:

Braised leeks & sweet potato mash:

Ready to eat:

Smoked Mackerel Pate

This is a seriously tasty but incredibly easy recipe and therefore it's one of my favourites! Because mackerel tastes so good on its own, it only needs a little sprucing up to turn it into this delicious pate, perfect as a starter or a light lunch.

Serves 4
Around 200g responsibly sourced smoked mackerel fillets
1 tbsp half fat creme fraiche
1 tbsp creamed horseradish
1/2 pack of dill, finely chopped
Juice of 1/2 a lemon, serve the remainder with the pate

1. Simply flake the mackerel into a bowl and mix in the rest of the ingredients
2. Split into 4 ramekins and serve with toasted soda bread, lemon & extra horseradish

Only 5 ingredients:

Doesn't look that appetising but it tastes good:

With toasted soda bread & lemon:

Leek & Pancetta Risotto

I always get a sense of satisfaction when I'm able to make dinner entirely from ingredients I already have lurking in the back of my fridge, especially when they're as tasty as this risotto! I already had the leeks and creme fraiche from the salmon with creamy greens and I always make sure I have stock, rice and Parmesan, so I only had to buy the pancetta. I'm a recent convert to risotto, as whenever I've had it in a restaurant it's been greasy and stodgy, so it's nice to make it at home and be reminded of how delicious and comforting a creamy bowl of risotto can be.

Serves 2
150g arborio rice
2 small leeks, sliced
1 courgette, diced
Small pack pancetta
1 tbsp creme fraiche
100ml white wine
500ml chicken stock
25g Parmesan

1. Fry the courgette and leeks in a little oil, until soft. Add the pancetta and turn up the heat a little, until it is cooked through and crisp
2. Stir in the rice and gently fry until the edges go clear. Add the wine and turn up the heat, let it simmer until the liquid has been absorbed by the rice
3. In the meantime, make up 500ml of hot stock. Gradually add a ladleful at a time, waiting until it has been absorbed before adding any more
4. Once the rice has plumped out and is almost ready, add the creme fraiche and Parmesan. Turn the heat right down and put a lid on the risotto and leave to steam for 3 minutes. Season and serve!

Adding the stock:

 Rice cooking away:

Tasty-licious!

Salmon with Creamy Spring Greens

Last night I made a delicious fish recipe from Good Food. It took less than 30 minutes to have a tasty meal on the table and other than a dollop of creme fraiche, it was reasonably healthy. Fish is something I always say I need to eat more of, so it's great to have a new recipe in my repertoir.

I added some spinach and used sugar snap peas rather than broad beans, but other than that I kept to the recipe. I served it with minted new potatoes, which tasted amazing crushed into the creamy sauce. It's a perfect meal for a warm summers evening, yum!

Spring greens:

Salmon cooking:

Topped with chives:

Minted new potatoes:

Spiced Pork Medallions with Flageolet Beans

This is one of my favourite recipes of my mum's, so I decided to cook it for Chris to welcome him home from a long trip to Wales. Despite not looking particularly appetising it really does taste delicious. Mopping up the rich, creamy sauce with crusty bread is, to my mind, what comfort food is all about - yum!

Serves 4
400g pork fillet, trimmed and cut across the grain into 1cm slices
400g tin flageolet beans
1 tbsp plain flour
2 tsp paprika
1 large onion chopped
6 fresh sage leaves
200ml vegetable stock
100ml dry white wine
3 tbsp creme fraiche

1. Mix the flour and paprika on a plate and coat the slices of fillet in the mix
2. Fry the meat in hot oil until browned and set aside
3. Add the onion to pan and fry on a low heat until soft. Next add the wine and allow to cook off
4. Add the sage, drained beans, stock & meat and cook for 10 minutes. Add the creme fraiche, discard the sage and serve with warm crusty bread and tender stem broccoli

Cooking away:

It looks bad, but tastes scrumptious: