Saturday 27 October 2012

Leek and Spinach Risotto

Serves 2 people


SORRY! I've not posted in so long it's unbelievable, but my camera SD card is at home and i'm at uni atm. But finally got round to making something, yay.

I was cooking for my friend as well so i had to think of something that didn't include mushrooms or tomatoes, so i was a bit stuck. But this turned out very well i think. And my friend loved it, yay. 

Ingredients:

1 shallot, finely minced
2 large garlic cloves, finely minced
1 litre of vegetable stock
6oz arborio rice
large glass of dry white wine
1 and a half large leeks, chopped up into smallish chunks
bag of baby spinach
olive oil
margerine/butter
salt and pepper
parmesan cheese/vegetarian parmesan

Equipment:

large saucepan
wooden spoon
chopping board
medium sharp knife

Method:

- Heat up around 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the saucepan. Once it's hot, throw in the minced onion, garlic and the chopped leeks. Sauté on a medium heat until the onions and leeks are softened (around 5-7 minutes).
- Once they have softened so they're no longer crunchy at all, add the rice. Stir through the mix until the rice is coated with the oil. Then pour in the wine! Let it simmer and stir occasionally until the wine has reduced and the liquid has been absorbed. 


- Now start adding the stock, one ladle at a time, waiting until the liquid has been absorbed before adding the next one. You have to stir pretty much constantly so the rice doesn't get stuck to the bottom of the pan. Every so often, check the rice by eating a couple of grains to check when it's done.
- Once the rice is mostly soft but still retains a small amount of bite in the middle, it's done! The rice should be quite loose and not overly sticky or gloopy, if it has become like this, add a little more stock to loosen it up.


- To finish, take it off the heat and stir through a large handful of the spinach, it will wilt from the heat of the risotto. Next, add a handful of grated parmesan cheese (or vegetarian alternative) and a large knob of butter/margerine. Season with pepper and a little salt, to taste. 


- Finally, serve into bowls and sprinkle parmesan over the top.


Et voila!


Saturday 6 October 2012

Noodle one Bangor (Wales, not Ireland) review

Sorry I haven't posted in so long! I have a few recipes lined up but stupidly i left my SD card with all the pictures on, so i can't post until i have them. Never mind!

Last Thursday all the girls from uni wanted to go for a meal. we'd originally decided on fat cats but we didn't think to book it, and it was so busy we had to go somewhere else. We were all pretty annoyed because we'd been looking forward to it for so long! We decided on noodle one because it was close to where we were, not like Bangor is a big place anyway, and i'm so happy we did!

Obviously from my review about wagamama's i love noodles. And i've been to noodle one a few times before, but i always opted for ramen. Now i have more of an idea about different noodle dishes, so i went for chili yakisoba with tofu and a side of vegetable gyoza. I'm slightly obsessed with anything with a bit of heat to it at the minute, so naturally i had to go for the chili, but they do one without as well. The gyoza came out first, and it was a nice touch that the woman who served us told us she'd made them herself! They were lovely, and came with a sweet chili dipping sauce. The sauce was nice but i thought it was a bit disappointing that that was the only type of sauce that came with all the sides. We ordered prawn crackers too and had the same dip with them.

I love noodle one because it's really easy to mix and match, basically. You can choose to have different noodles if you wanted, and you also choose the dish you want, and then choose what kind of meat you want with it. The choices are crispy tofu (obviously not meat), beef teriyaki, shichimi duck, teriyaki chicken, and king prawns, and you can have any of them with any dish. Also, with the ramen, you can choose between vegetable or chicken and pork broth. My yakisoba was amazing, i couldn't find a single fault with it and i'll definitely be having that again next time i go. I can't remember what the other 5 of my friends had, but you can be assured there were no complaints! I already can't wait to go again.

I highly recommend going to noodle one for lunch or dinner if you're around in Bangor. There aren't many places to choose from, but this is my number one favourite restaurant and i wish i could go there every day. They also have a 10% discount if you take out! Definitely better than a takeaway.

Hope you enjoy!

p.s. if you love this review please hit the share button underneath!