Special Fried Rice Burger with Cheesy Leeks, a Fried Egg and Gravy

Sometimes you just fancy some deliciously dirty food and this certainly fits the bill. It sounds wrong but tastes so right and I guarantee you will like it as much as Mrs Larry and I did. After the myriad of proper dinners over Christmas a simple plate of honest grub can't be beat, and this uses up leftover leeks in cheese sauce and gravy - although from now on I'll make sure there are plenty of leftovers so we can have this time and time again.

Ingredients:
(serves 2)

1/2lb Beef mince
2x Eggs
2x Cups of cooked rice (long grain or basmati)
4x Cabbage leaves, finely sliced
1x Onion diced (small onion)
1x Large carrot, peeled and diced
4x Rashers of streaky bacon, chopped up
6x Mushrooms, sliced
Any leftover gravy reheated

For the leeks in cheese sauce please see my Venison Shanks recipe from a couple of days ago.


Method:

1. Grab a handful (1/4lb) of mince, season well with salt and pepper then form into a burger with your hands. Don't forget to add a dimple in the middle to stop it swelling into a ball, see here for more info on making The Burger.
2. Cook the burgers in a large frying pan or wok with a splash of oil for about 4 minutes each side. When done place in a warm oven, gas mark 2 will do, and top with cold leftover leeks in cheese sauce.
3. In the same pan now sweat off the diced onion until translucent then add the carrot for a couple of minutes.
4. Now bung in the bacon, mushrooms and cabbage and cook for about 3 minutes.
5. In goes the cooked rice, keep stirring until well heated through.
6. Plate up the rice then in the same frying pan quickly fry your eggs so the bottoms are crispy but the yolks still runny.
7. Get the cheesy leek topped burgers out of the oven and place them on top of the plated rice. On goes the fried egg then drizzle all over your leftover gravy. Pure filth, but so good.

Brummie Balti with Chicken and Rice

For our Sunday lunch today we decided to throw tradition out the window and have the local specialty of a balti. I'm not sure why I called this dish a Brummie balti as the term balti originated from Birmingham anyway. There is a debate as to where the name came from but to me it is simply another Indian curry, and I love curry! As we are a stones throw away from Brum it would be rude not to give the dish a go but not wanting to stink the van out I'm cooking it on the cadac outside.

Ingredients:
(Serves a family of 5)

Paprika, 1 tsp
Cumin, 1 tsp
Coriander powder, 1 tsp
Garam masala, 2 tsp
Turmeric, 1/2 tsp
10 Cardamon pods, shell discarded, seeds removed and crushed
Cinnamon, 1/4 tsp
2x Onion, diced (or 1 large onion)
3x Garlic cloves, diced
4cm Ginger
Chopped tomatoes, 2 cartons 780g
1x Red pepper, diced
Fresh coriander, a bunch
Natural yoghurt
White wine vinegar, 1 tbsp
Sugar, up to 1 tsp
5x Chicken breasts, cut into pieces
Rice


Method:

1. In a big frying pan or wok heat a glug of oil and fry the chicken pieces in batches for a minute to seal then set aside.
2. Into the pan goes the onion to sweat off for 10 minutes, keep stirring.
3. Mix in all the spices and keep stirring for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the garlic, ginger and red pepper in. Keep stirring for another 2 minutes.
5. Pour in a cup of water and then the tomatoes.
6. Chop up the coriander stalks into the sauce.
7. Cook the sauce for about 15 minutes then blend with a hand blender. You might need to add some water if its too thick. Taste and season with the wine vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.
8. Get a pan of water boiling ready for the rice.
9. Pop the chicken into the sauce and simmer for about 20 minutes or until cooked.
10. At the same time as the chicken goes in get your rice on the go.
11. Plate up with a blob of yoghurt and sprinkle over torn coriander leaves.


Tips:

1. If you like it hot then definitely add chopped chillis, With the seeds if you like it really hot, with the garlic and ginger. This was cooked for the kids too so I omitted heat but added a good glug of my favourite chilli sauce to my portion.
2. If you want to make it more balanced add some veggies like cauliflower or broccoli florets for the last 10 minutes.

Clam and Bacon Kedgeree

After last nights turbot we have a few clams left over and with a bit of bacon in the fridge what better a breakfast than kedgeree!

Ingredients:

Clams*
Streaky bacon, 2 rashers per person
Egg, 1 per person
Basmati rice, 75g per person
Shallots, 1 per person, diced
Coriander powder
Cumin powder
Turmeric powder
Parsley
Butter


Method:

1. In a saucepan cook the diced shallots gently in butter for a couple of minutes.
2. Add chopped parsley stalks, your clams** and cover with water. When all the clams have popped open they are done.
3. Strain the clams and shallots and set aside. Reserve the cooking liquor.
4. Grease a frying pan with butter and cook your chopped streaky bacon.
5. Stir the bacon until cooked then pour your rice into the pan. making sure all the rice is coated in fat.
6. Into the pan goes about half a teaspoon of each spice powder per person and stir until fragrant then pour in the clam cooking liquor. Stir occasionally until cooked. If you like a bit of spice add cayenne pepper too or a drop of your favourite chili sauce.
7. Refill the saucepan with cold water, add your eggs, bring to a simmer and cook until hard boiled. This will take about the same time the rice takes to cook.
8. When the rice is cooked add the clams and shallots and stir through. Season if needed.
9. Plate up topped with a halved boiled egg and roughly chopped parsley leaves.


* If you cant get clams use mussels, and to make it even easier get precooked mussels and miss out stages 1-3 but you will have to use a fish stock cube in hot water instead of the clam liquor.
**  Make sure the clams are clean and get rid of any with broken shells, or open ones that do not close when tapped. When cooked throw away any clams that have not opened.

Coq à la Bière (Chicken and Beer Stew) with Onion Pilaf

Bonjour from France! It is our first time in France with the caravan but we haven't headed far, just a little south of Calais so I must try cooking some traditional North West France dishes. Coq au vin is the obvious one but we are giving coq à la bière a go. You can use any beer but as I have planned something with dark heavy beer later in the trip I'm going to use a light lager. We went to Saint Omer today to visit La Coupole so for us it has to be Saint Omer beer for this dish.

You can use any chicken you like but as we are in France we are having the traditional cockerel. The butcher here doesn't speak English but he managed to get across that poule is a female hen and poulet is the rooster, so we've got poulet a la Saint Omer with a simple onion pilaf.

This photo was taken before going in the oven. Those wing tips were sacrificed as they burned in the hot top of the oven.

Ingredients:

2x Bottles of beer, we used big 750ml bottles of Saint Omer
1x Chicken, cut into pieces
1x onion, diced
2x Carrots, peeled and diced
Mushrooms chopped into quarters
2x Garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2x Tablespoons of brown sugar
2x Tablespoons of Dijon mustard
2x bay leaves
1 Teaspoon of dried thyme
Chicken stock cube
Flour

For the pilaf:

1 Cup of long grain rice
1/2 Onion, diced
2 Cups of vegetable stock
Butter


Method:

1. In a good sized stew pot put the carrots, mushrooms, garlic, sugar, mustard and thyme.
2. In a separate frying pan sweat off the onion until translucent then add to the stew.
3. Dust the chicken in flour, season then brown in the frying pan. Do this in batches and set aside.
4. Deglaze the frying pan with 1 bottle of beer. Crumble in the stock cube and season with salt and pepper. Add the hot beer stock to the stew.
5. Give it a good mix then add the chicken. I recommend putting the wings on the top as they will burn right at the top of the caravan oven and you want to protect the leg and breast meat.
6. Add the bay leaves then put uncovered in the oven on gas mark 5. It will take about 1.5 hours.
7. Drink the other bottle of beer.
8. Make the pilaf by sweating off the onion in butter in a saucepan until translucent.
9. Add the rice and stir for a couple of minutes.
10. Add the stock, season then cover and leave it on a low heat for about 20 minutes.
11. Remove the skin from the chicken and plate up! You could remove the skin prior to cooking but I think it adds more flavour (and fat!).

Scallops, Black Pudding and Bacon on Garlic and Pea Risotto

Its not that difficult this dish, and pretty quick to rustle up too, yet it rewards you with a big hug of deliciousness. It's one of Mrs Larry's favourites. Supermarket scallops are kept in a special liquid to stop them drying out so you must wash and dry them first.

 

Ingredients:

Scallops with the roe removed
Black pudding, skinned and chopped into 1cm slices
Bacon
Risotto rice, 6 tablespoons
1/2 Onion finely diced
2 Garlic cloves, peeled and diced or crushed
1x Glass of white wine
Peas, one handful, we used frozen.
Lemon juice
1x Chicken stock cube
Parmesan cheese, thinly sliced with a vegetable peeler
Butter


Method:

1. Boil a kettle.
2. In a shallow pan sweat off the onion in a drop of oil.
3. Add the rice and a 1cm slice of butter to the onion and mix well. When the butter has melted add the garlic and stir fry for about 1 minute. Don't let the garlic go brown.
4. Pour in half a glass of wine and give it a good mix. Keep stirring until the liquid has been absorbed then pour in the other half a glass and keep stirring.
5. When the wine has been absorbed pour in a good glug of hot water from the kettle and sprinkle in the stock cube. Keep stirring.
6. Put oven on gas mark 1.
7. With scissors snip into the bacon fat at 1cm intervals. This will stop it curling. Fry the bacon in a frying pan until crisp then put in the oven to keep warm. We had to do this in 2 batches.
8. Don't forget to keep stirring the rice and adding more water as it gets absorbed. Taste it and if it is softening but still has a little bite add the peas, and more water if needed.
9. In the frying pan add a knob of butter and fry the black pudding for about 2 minutes each side or until the edges are beginning to crisp up. Put the black pudding in the oven with the bacon.
10. When the rice is soft and creamy take off the heat and season with a few parmesan shavings, salt, pepper and a drop of lemon juice.
11. Get the frying pan very hot again, season the dry scallops and sear them. It is very important you do not overcook them so I follow this simple rule, cook for 2 minutes on one side then 1 minute on the other, no more.
12. Its also important to eat the scallops as soon as you can after cooking so while they are searing get plating up. On a foundation of risotto place the black pudding and bacon. Top with the scallops as soon as they are done, a few shavings of parmesan and a drizzle of nice oil. If you have any green herbs like parsley you can sprinkle a few leaves over for decoration but its not essential.