Posted: November 9th, 2009 | Author: the chefs | Filed under: recipes | Tags: blue, cheese, crumpet, crumpets, sage, snack | No Comments »
Heat the water-milk mixture to hand hot, dissolve the sugar and add the yeast. Let it rest for 10 minutes. Sift the flour together with the salt and beat into the tepid liquid. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let it ferment for at least 1 hour (or overnight in the fridge). Crumble the cheese with a fork and add it to the batter, along with the chopped sage. Season with salt (if needed) and pepper. If you have those 3/7,5cm cookie cutter metal rings at home, grease them with butter. Place them in a large heavy-based frying pan over medium heat, add a little butter and spoon in about 2-3 tablespoon batter. Let it cook until the rounds start to harden all around (about 1-2 min), but are still creamy on the top. Remove the rings and flip them over and cook for a further 2min, until golden. Transfer the crumpets to a wire rack while you keep on cooking the rest. Serve with butter or dollops of crème fraîche.
Posted: May 1st, 2009 | Author: the chefs | Filed under: recipe with image, recipes | Tags: arborio, butter, carnaroli, course, italian, know your onion, know your onions, knowyouronion, knowyouronions, main, pancetta, parmesan, rice, risotto, sage | No Comments »
Heat the stock in a large pan and keep it hot. Chop the sage leaves, reserving some to decorate;Heat half the butter and 1tbsp of the oil in a deep frying pan. Cook the minced onion until softened. Add the pancetta and cook for 5 minutes until lightly golden. Add the rice and stir for a couple of minutes, until it begins to look translucent. Turn up the heat, add the wine, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until it has evaporated. Start adding ladlefuls of the stock, 1 or 2 at a time, stirring until absorbed before adding the next ladleful. Repeat this until the rice is tender but still al dente, and the risotto is creamy, about 16-18 minutes. Add the sage for the last 1-2 minutes.;Add the remaining butter and Parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Cover and leave to rest for a couple of minutes. A good risotto is never dry: on the contrary, in the pan, it should always look as it´s almost too wet. However, it will harden a bit on the plate.
