The New English Kitchen: Changing the Way You Shop, Cook and Eat. Rose Prince
risotto
This technique is used in very busy Italian restaurants that want to be able to make a genuine risotto in 15, not 30, minutes. Although it is frowned upon by purists, it is very useful for anyone who works long hours.
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, finely chopped
300 g/10 oz short grain Italian rice, such as Arborio
1 glass of white wine (optional)
1–1.5 litres/13/4–21/2 pints chicken, vegetable or beef stock
Melt the butter in a large pan, add the onion and cook until soft. Add the rice and cook, stirring (preferably with a wooden fork), for 1 minute. Stir in the glass of wine, if using. When it has been absorbed, begin to add the stock a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly over a medium heat. After 10–15 minutes, taste the rice – it should be half cooked, with a white, opaque centre. Strain it, reserving any cooking liquor. Cool the cooking liquor, add it to the remaining stock and store in the fridge, clearly marked. Spread the rice out on a plastic tray, no more than 2cm/3/4 inch deep. Allow to cool, cover with cling film and store in the fridge. It will keep for 2–3 days.
To finish the risotto, cut a piece of the rice from the tray – as much as you need – and put it in a pan. Cover with just enough of the cooking liquor to make it sloppy when stirred. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and cook gently for a few minutes, until the rice is tender but firm to the bite – al dente. Do not stir. The risotto should be cooked perfectly and ready for Parmesan or a grated hard ewe’s milk cheese, plus any other ingredients (see the recipes here for risotto inspiration).
fried risotto cakes
Leftover risotto can be shaped into little cakes – a cube of mozzarella hidden inside – then dipped first in flour, then beaten egg, then dried breadcrumbs. Shallow-fry them in a little olive oil and eat as a lunch dish, with a lush green salad.
couscous, bulgar and other grains
This is my sister Sam’s domain. She runs Moro, the Moorish-influenced London restaurant, with her husband, Sam, and they know more about grains and allied North African dishes than I can shake a stick at. But in the New English Kitchen, where your pricy piece of meat is reserved for special occasions, grains provide diversity – a lively change from rice. Use whole durum wheat (sometimes sold as pasta wheat or Ebly) in broths (see here) and salads, and use grains such as bulgar wheat (cracked whole wheat) and couscous (grains of semolina paste made from durum wheat) in salads with herbs. If you have the chance, buy your grains – along with wonderfully fresh nuts, juicy dried fruits and big bunches of herbs – from Middle Eastern shops. They usually do good bulk deals and take great pride in the quality of these essential goodies. Middle Eastern shops also sell a finer version of bulgar, the true grain to use in a tabbouleh salad with parsley, oil and lemon juice. Couscous is usually sold pre-cooked in the UK, and needs only moistening with water.
to make a store of couscous
To create a store of 6 helpings, put a 240g/8oz teacupful of couscous in a plastic container that will take twice that amount and pour over 200ml/7fl oz cold water and 3 tablespoons of olive oil, stirring. Stir in a large pinch of salt and leave the couscous to swell. After 15 minutes, test the grains to see if they are tender – add a little more water if they are still dry. Use a fork to loosen the grains, then cover the container and put it in the fridge, where it will keep for about 5 days.
Couscous can be eaten very simply with boiled purple sprouting broccoli (see here) or with the baked chick pea recipe (see here). For a decorative, mighty feast, see the recipe below. Its flavour benefits from being made well in advance.
reheating couscous
There are two ways to do this. Put the couscous in an ovenproof dish with a large knob of butter, cover with foil and place in an oven preheated to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 for 20 minutes. Alternatively, melt some butter in a pan, add the couscous and stir over a low heat until warmed through.
a couscous feast
It must be 20 years since I first saw a bowl of hot couscous next to a grand platter of simmered meats and vegetables. It was in France, close to the Mediterranean coast, where merguez sausages, tabbouleh and harissa – a paste made with hot red peppers – could be bought in almost every grocery. Then it seemed so alien. Now couscous, like risotto and dal, has become neo-English; it has a second home and a new following. I like to cook it in a festive way, covering the table with all the component dishes: a large platter of braised lamb and poultry, plus steamed courgettes, carrots, runner beans and golden beetroot (when I can find it – the colour of red beetroot invades in an unpleasant way). There’s a bowl filled with fresh parsley and mint leaves, another with toasted nuts and golden sultanas, a dish of harissa, and finally a large pan filled with the cooking juices from the meat, ready to ladle over everything. It’s probably inauthentic, but it works.
Serves 8 generously (I am always happy to have leftovers from this for reheating later)
2 small, corn-fed chickens, jointed and skinned (ask the butcher to
prepare them for you, with the lamb)
8 lamb shanks, trimmed of fat
10 sprigs of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
4 onions, finely chopped
about 2 litres/31/2 pints water or chicken stock
120g/4oz butter
2 teaspoons ground coriander
8 spring carrots, trimmed of leaves, then halved lengthways
4 courgettes, cut lengthways into quarters
about 10 runner beans, cut on the diagonal into 2cm/3/4 inch lengths
240g/8oz string beans
4 golden beetroot, scrubbed, cut into quarters, and boiled for
30 minutes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve:
leaves from 8 sprigs of parsley
leaves from 8 sprigs of mint
4 tablespoons flaked almonds, toasted in a dry frying pan until golden
4 tablespoons sultanas or 4 dried figs, sliced
harissa sauce (available from Middle Eastern shops and
specialist shops)
480g/1lb couscous, cooked (see here)
Put the chickens in one saucepan and the lamb in your largest pan. Throw half the parsley and half the onion into each pan. Grind about half a teaspoon of black pepper into each, then cover with the water or stock. Bring to the boil, skimming away any foam that rises to the surface. Turn down to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, then put half the butter and ground coriander into each pan. Let the chicken simmer for another 20 minutes, then turn off the heat. Continue to cook the lamb for 11/2 hours; it should become very tender.
Put all the vegetables in a steamer, or simply put them on top of the lamb, and cook, covered, for 10–12 minutes, until they are just tender. Bring the chicken back to