Almond Rissoles

It´s feeling hot, hot,hot! Yes, the temperatures have risen, holidays are almost here and cooking lunch seems so much more of a chore as turning the oven or even the hob on in this heat,just makes you swelter even more!

Today was my daughter´s last day at nursery as she will start school in September and I have a bittersweet feeling about it. I can´t believe how fast the past two years have flown by...she´s growing up way too fast!

Anyway, on to the recipe,this is the second time that I´ve made this recipe and we really enjoy it so thought  I´d share it with you. It´s great as it´s vegetarian so it´s ideal for non-meat eaters and as my daughter is a bit fussy with vegetables, this is an excellent way to eat a vegetarian meal(even if it doesn´t really get any more veggies into her!) plus she likes it,which is also a bonus.YES, it DOES have nuts in it and it is advised not to give nuts to under-fives but as there are no allergies in my family and my daughter hasn´t shown any sign of any food, or more importantly nut, allergies, I don´t see any problem in giving her these rissoles.It´s also a great summer recipe even though you do have to fry the rissoles on the hob, and it´s quite a light dish, especially accompanied with a salad. Here, I accompanied it with an apple & rice salad.The recipe is taken from "The Dairy Book of Home Cookery".

Ingredients(serves 4)
100g ground almonds
175g white breadcrumbs (I made this with less the other day, around 145-150g and they still turned out well!)
1 small onion,grated
3 tbsp frozen or fresh parsley
1/2 tsp mixed herbs
1 egg, beaten
25g butter,melted
pinch of salt & pepper
about 1-2 tbsp milk

Coating
1 egg,beaten
prepared breadcrumbs
1-2 tbsps (roughly) olive oil
50g butter(I didn´t bother weighing,just put a knob of butter in the pan)

Method:
1. Place ground almonds & breadcrumbs in a bowl and add grated onion,parsley and herbs.
2.Add egg and melted butterand mix until combined.Season with salt & pepper.
3. Add milk till mixture comes together and starts to stick,then form into 8 rissoles or little hamburgers.
4. Dip in beaten egg and breadcrumbs till well coated.
5. Place oil and some butter in frying pan and when hot, fry for about 4-5 minutes on both sides or until golden brown on both sides.
6. Drain on kitchen towels and serve.

I think these rissoles are tasty just as they are but adding garlic or some cheese(particularly Cheddar) would maybe just give them an extra dimension! Next time I make them I´ll try it and let you know what I think!

Cooking Spain Region by Region: Aragon: Chicken in Tomato & Pepper Sauce: Pollo al Chilindrón

Well, here we are about to start discovering more about the food from the Aragon region of Spain. I have visited some cities of this region quite a long time ago as I worked at a summer camp but I don´t recall trying any local specialities...in fact as I ate at the summer camp, I don´t recall the food being anything special so hopefully this culinary journey will convince me otherwise!!

I decided to kick off Aragon cuisine with a dish known as Pollo al chilindron, or in other words chicken in a tomato and pepper sauce. Yes, as you can see I am fond of chicken as I´ve already featured two chicken dishes when I cooked Andalusia!!! This recipe is actually a Thermomix recipe and is taken from the Imprescindible Thermomix TM 31 recipe booklet but I´m sure it can easily be adapted to cooking it on the oven hob. It is a really simple dish to make especially if you are using the Thermomix and is a really tasty dinner...another dish that will become a regular!The great thing about the Thermomix is you don´t have to be totally exact with the ingredients...I didn´t put the whole amounts given in the following recipe as sometimes I didn´t have enough of an ingredient but it still turns out delicious!

Ingredients (for 4 people)
4 chicken drumsticks (booklet doesn´t specify how many legs but says 1000g)
50g olive oil
3 cloves of garlic(peeled)
150g onion,peeled
150g green pepper, deseeded
150g red pepper,deseeded
50g white wine
50g water
200g tomato sauce
1 chicken stock cube(I used an Oxo one)
a pinch of black pepper
a pinch of nutmeg
250g sliced mushrooms

Method
1.Place the cloves of garlic and oil in the Thermomix jug and chop for 6 seconds at Speed 5, then programme for 3 minutes at Varoma temperature,Speed 1.
2. Add the onion, red & green pepper,white wine and chop for 4 seconds at Speed 5.
3. Programme for 10 minutes at Varoma temperature, Speed 1.
4. Add the chicken drumsticks, the water, the tomato sauce, the stock cube, the black pepper and the nutmeg and cook for 20 minutes at Varoma temperature, stirring to the left(anticlockwise direction), on spoon speed.
5. Finally add the sliced mushrooms and cook for a further 10 minutes at Varoma temperature, anticlockwise direction, spoon speed.
6. Serve with rice, pasta or sauteed potatoes and vegetables and enjoy!