Cooking Outside the Box: The Abel and Cole Seasonal, Organic Cookbook

SERVES 2 AS A MAIN COURSE OR 4 AS A STARTER

1 onion, peeled and chopped

Olive oil

1 mug risotto rice

1/2 mug of white wine

4 mugs of simmering chicken or vegetable stock

1 bunch asparagus, about 15–20 spears, tough stalks removed

2 tbsp double cream

1/3 mug of grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 strips Parma ham (optional), for garnish

Follow the instructions for preparing the rice in the Roasted Squash and Wild Rocket Risotto on page 145.

Set aside the tops of a few asparagus spears for garnish. When you only have about 1 mug of cooking liquid left to add, steam the asparagus in a separate saucepan for about 3–5 minutes, until just fork tender but still with a bite.

Slice the steamed asparagus into 4cm (1

/

in) lengths and add to the rice when there is only a slight amount of stock left to absorb. When the rice is cooked through and the asparagus has been added, add the cream and half the Parmesan. Season with salt and remove from the heat.

Place on heated plates and top with strips of Parma ham and the raw asparagus spears. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese and freshly ground pepper.

Wok-fried Sirloin with Purple Sprouting Broccoli

This is a great midweek supper and one of the many ways to enjoy purple sprouting broccoli – an English classic that had been almost forgotten for many years but is just starting to reappear on supermarket shelves, usually in cute little plastic-wrapped packs. We’ve been selling it by the boatload for years. Pah!

SERVES 2 AS A MAIN COURSE WITH RICE OR NOODLES

The marinade:

1 tbsp soy sauce

A splash of dry white wine

1/2 tsp cornflour

1/2 tsp sugar

1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1/2 a thumb of freshly grated ginger

The stir-fry:

2 beef sirloin steaks, cut into thin strips across the grain

2 mugs of purple sprouting broccoli, chopped into 5cm (2in) pieces

A couple of glugs of vegetable oil

The garnish:

1/3 mug of toasted almonds

Mix all of the marinade ingredients together, pour into a glass dish, add the beef and put aside for half an hour.

While the beef is marinating, blanch the purple sprouting broccoli in boiling water for about 2 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water.

Heat a couple of glugs of oil in a very hot wok, drain the beef from the marinade, reserving the marinade, and stir-fry the beef for about 1 minute. Add the marinade to the wok and continue cooking for a further 2 minutes before adding the broccoli. Cook for a further minute or so until the broccoli is heated through. Serve on warm plates garnished with toasted almonds.

Gazza’s Goulash with Rosemary Dumplings

SERVES 6

The goulash:

2 glugs of olive oil

1kg (21/4lb) braising beef, such as chuck or blade, cut into 2.5cm (1in) chunks

2 large onions, peeled and roughly chopped

2 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

2 tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika (a very mild paprika)

2 tbsp tomato purée

4 mugs of chicken or beef stock, plus more if you need it

2 bay leaves

4 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm (1/2in) dice

Lots of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Soured cream, to serve