The finished dish: A bit of summer on a dark day.

While watching my Ma’s Pin-up boy, Nigel Slater, this week, I got hullushing (longing for) over something fresh, green and summery. I love the way he cooks with things that anyone can get in their local shops. You’ll never see him cooking with some Asian spice that can only be found after a hike up the Himalayas; one that closely resembles basic mild curry powder in all forms but price and availability. I can’t see myself in the near future being an enthusiast for gardening, but I must admit, should I do find myself with green fingers, I would focus on the edible.

I can’t remember what part of this I made up myself, and what part I’ve copied from his show, but that’s part of the joy of cooking for yourself and friends; nobody cares if what you cook doesn’t exactly match the description, or you’ve run out of an ingredient and substitute it for another. You cook what you enjoy, not what some book or television incest’s.

For this dish, you will need

• Frozen Petti Pois peas; they’re frozen on the field and that locks in the sweetness. Several times I’ve bought these and most of them are brown, this is generally because they have been left out in a stock room rather than going straight to the freezer. Return them if you find this is the case.
• Corn on the cob, taken off the cob…or tinned sweetcorn. Either way, I’m not bothered.
• Some dried pasta; to make life easy, you can boil this and the above all at once, if you use fresh pasta then by the time the other stuff is cooked, then the pasta would have turned to mush. Besides, it’s cheaper. I quite like Bow Ties for this dish. The pasta is optional; great for a main dish, leave out if using as a side dish.
• Some mustard. Nothing strong like English Mustard, keep it light like Dijon or Grainy for an added texture.
• Spring Onion and Chives. The chives really add an oomph to it, and besides, they’re my buzz-ingredient of the moment.
• Crème Fresh. Yes, I’ve seen the Southpark. Yes, they’ve got me pegged on this one. I suppose you could use Greek Yoghurt instead, although I’ve not tried that.
• Mint: Gotta love the mint, it makes everything taste of summer despite the days growing darker earlier.

How to put it together:

• Get the kettle on, it’s always best to boil water from a hot kettle, it makes things move so much faster, I can’t be arsed bringing a pan to the boil straight from the tap.
• When you’ve got a saucepan of water boiling, dump into it the peas, sweetcorn and pasta if you’re using it. Add a bit of salt; I’ll be honest, I don’t know why they insist that pasta is boiled with salt, on a flavour basis I can’t tell the difference. I think it’s something to do with lowering the boiling point. The advantage of doing all this in one means there is less washing up.
• Chop up the mint, spring onion and chives. Make sure you wash them and squidge out most of the water so it doesn’t make your sauce go runny.
• Add a 2:1 ratio of Crème Fresh and the mustard; mix in the spring onion and herbs and taste. If you think it needs a bit of salt or something, then add that now, personally though, I thought it was fine.
• Try a bit of pasta, if it’s too your liking, then the peas and sweetcorn would be done. Pour the lot out into a colander and return to the now empty saucepan.
• Add the crème fresh mix, stir the whole lot so everything is covered (without being drenched)
• Serve and enjoy =)

Some pictures…. sorry about the poor quality; I was lazy and used my phone camera

All the bits'n'bobs you need.

Chives, Spring Onion and Mint... use scissors.

Peas, Sweetcorn and pasta - All In One

Mix that bad boy up.

Pasta, Peas and Sweetcorn.

Mix it up so you get a bit of everything with each bite.

The finished dish: A bit of summer on a dark day.

Finished

I’ll admit to it, I hate cooking with rice. I can never get it quite how I like it, it’s either over or under done. I’ve not gotten around to buying a metal strainer either. I like eating it, just hate cooking it. I was sitting at the doctors, going through the “20 minute meal” Jamie Oliver app, and he showed me how it’s done. It looked a bit of a palaver, but I was determined to try it, and it turned out good (the second one, the first one I wasn’t keen on.)

What you need for two people…..

• 200g Arborio Rice
• A glass of White Wine
• An onion
• Some frozen peas
• Asparagus
• Some butter
• A pint of  Chicken Stock (Make your own, pre-made or stock cubes/gels are all good)
• Parmesan Cheese (get Flaked or fresh if you can, not sawdust).
• Same garlic
• Olive Oil

What you need to do….

• Put the stock in a pan and on the hob, if you’re using cubes/gel, add one cube/gel to boiling water. Let it simmer and stir.
• Chop the Asparagus tips into 3 pieces.
• Chop up some garlic and an onion, shallow fry ’till translucent in butter and a bit of olive oil
• Pour in the rice and cook it for a few minutes (the point if this is to break the rice’s shell and let the stock and wine get in)
• [For the next few bits, keep on stirring every few minutes]
• Pour over the wine, and let it evaporate.
• Keep on adding a ladle full of stock when it all gets evaporated. Over the 15 or so minutes this takes, add the Asparagus, the thick end after 5 minutes, the middle after the next 5, and the tips right at the end. On the last one, add the peas too
• Once the stock is absorbed, if the consistency is too stodgy, add some water, or cook it for longer, use your judgement. Remember though, the Parmesan will thicken it.
• Add a nice nob of butter and the Parmesan, stir it all in, take it off the hob and leave it for about 10 minutes.
• Serve and enjoy =)

All the bits you need

Simmer the stock (using Gel here)

Sweat down some garlic and onions in butter.

Add the rice and let it cook.

Thick bits of aspagous first, then thin bits. Let the stock get absorbed into the rice.

Once all the stock and stuff is in, it tripples in size.

Serve and enjoy =)