Prawn & Pea Risotto

 I based this on Jamie Oliver's Recipe but I substituted the vegetable stock for a Prawn shell stock which has gigantic flavour, of course with a Vegetable stock you have a white risotto which looks pretty but lacks the full seafood flavour.

I bought some fresh Tiger Prawns from the market, shelled them and put the shells and heads in a pot to which I added Water and a Bay Leaf to make the stock. Simply bring them to a boil for ten minutes add a little tomato puree some Salt and Pepper and then take off the heat and blitz with your hand blender. Sieve the Stock into another Pot and bring back to the Boil and reduce slightly.

I added some Olive Oil to a hot skillet and added a Clove of chopped Garlic and a finely chopped Onion and let cook stirring all the time, Then added the Risotto rice and cooked for a minute or so until they were slightly translucent added a glass of Noilly Prat turned the heat down to a high simmer until the rice was almost screaming and added a ladle at a time of stock, making sure each ladle had properly absorbed into the rice, in all this takes around 15 minutes.

I had reserved a couple of Prawns with heads and Shell to garnish the dish I put them into the simmering stock to cook gently.

For the Peas cooked for a couple of minutes in Chicken Stock and Butter then mashed half of them and added the cooked and mushed Peas at the end of cooking along with some chopped Mint and Parsley, Jamie used Basil, and the juice of one Lemon and the peeled Prawns all only takes a minute or so and served.

A really flavoursome dish, I had a chilled bottle of Chablis with this and some crusty Bread

Arroz con Pollo San Pedro

I first had this dish years ago on holiday in Mallorca, but it is in fact an Andalusian dish. Its very much like Paella only with more "soup" but I prefer it all those delicious juices to mop up with Crusty bread and a great dish to make for a lot of people.

Traditionally made in a terracota pot, but I used a skillet. Add a generous glug of Olive Oil to a hot pan, add cubed chicken breast, you could add Quail and Rabbit too, I just didn't have any to hand, brown slightly the meat and add a finely chopped Onion, keep stirring after a few minutes add chopped Red and Green Pepper, cook those out for a few minutes then add about a cup of Cigala Paella Rice and stir it around. Add some Paprika Picante and Oregano and some diced cured Chorizo. I also add some chopped Potato but it is not necessary

Pour two glasses of a decent dry White Wine, pour one in the pot the other in the Tradition of all good cooking, drink yourself!

Now add half a tin of crushed Tomatoes, I used a whole tin by mistake, but half would be better and around a pint of Chicken Stock infused with Saffron. Let the whole dish Simmer gently on low heat for twenty minutes to half an hour. Season generously

Before serving add some Green Olives with Pimenton, Serve with fresh chopped Parsley. For this dish to be very good it is essential you use the freshest Peppers or it simply won't work. Cheers enjoy