Mexican Rice- Arroz Mexicano and a Procook cast Iron pan review.

A delicious protein packed aromatic Mexican rice with fragrant cumin and coriander.

Ingredients:

250 g / 8 oz white basmati rice
500 ml boiling water
250 g /  8 oz precooked cannelloni beans
1 green capsicum  finely chopped
1 white onion finely chopped
1 large carrot peeled and grated
2 medium potatoes peeled and finely diced
125 g / 4 oz precooked sweetcorn kernels
60 g / 2 oz finely chopped fresh coriander
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander powder
1 teaspoon chilli powder

Method:

1. Wash the rice and soak it in cold water for 30 minutes.
2. In a large pan heat the oil when it is hot add the onions and sauté them on low heat until translucent.
3. Drain the rice and add it to the onions and sauté the rice until all the grains are coated in the oil.stir the rice gently so that the grains don't break.
4. Add the carrots, potatoes,cannelloni beans, pepper sand sweet corn. Mix the vegetables with the rice.
5. Add the salt, chilli powder,cumin powder and coriander powder and half the amount of fresh coriander.(reserve other half for garnish) Stir all the spices into the rice and vegetables.

6. Add 500 ml boiling water to the rice and bring the rice to a slow boil.
7. Once rice is boiling, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover the pan with the lid.
8.Cook the rice on lowest setting for 22 minutes.(During this time do not open the pan lid)
9.After 22 minutes open the lid, all the water will have been absorbed with the rice and grains should be soft and fluffy.
1. Garnish the rice with remaining fresh coriander.
Serve Hot.

You may like:
Singapore five spiced rice


The Aubergine shallow Cast Iron Casserole featured in this recipe was recently sent to me to review by ProCook Kitchenware. It it is hand cast from molten iron which makes it very strong and durable with an integral handle.It is topped with a smart, stainless steel handle and enamelled inside and out.The pan is 28 cm round with a capacity of 3.5l. The added feature is that it is suitable for all hobs and ovens including induction.The pan can be used for cooking and serving as it looks elegant even when taken straight from oven to table.The pans are available in cream, black red and aubergine in various sizes.
I used the pan for cooking on a gas stove and the oven, I found that it worked well on the stove and equally well in the oven.However I did find that cooking casseroles and rice worked best in this type of pan as trying to cook anything with less liquid in the pan caused the ingredients to stick to the bottom of the pan. The pan hand washed well although it is not suitable for dishwasher.I loved the look of my pan, the aubergine colour looked very elegant.Although it did not bother me for anyone who may be frail, be warned the pan is very heavy to lift and may prove difficulty in handling.I also found that the knob on the pan lid got very hot and required an oven glove to open the pan lid.The pan is available on the ProCook website for £ 42.00 almost half the price compared to high street shops.It is also guaranteed for 25 years.

Thankyou to ProCook for sending me the pan to review, all the views and opinions in this post are my own.

Submitting to:
Flavours of Mexico event by simply.food

Event Round Up ~ Lets Cook With Nuts

We had a wonderful collection of entries for this event Lets Cook with Nuts.
Thank you to all the participants.

Here is the Round Up.

Announcing event -Lets Cook with Cheese

Cheese can be made from a variety of milks, not only from cows, but goats, sheep, buffalos, and even horses and camels. It takes about 10 litres of milk to make one kilogramme of Cheddar. Cheese is one of the most concentrated sources of key nutrients, including calcium, protein, and vitamins A, B12 and D.
There are many types of cheeses available ranging from soft to hard. The varieties textures and taste all vary

Some examples of cheese are:

Paneer, Roquefort, Camembert, Feta, Mozzarella, Emmental, Cheddar, Gouda, Taleggio, Parmigiano-Reggiano, gruyerre, red leicester and Monterey Jack.These are just a few of the hundreds of combinations and varieties available worldwide.

This event is all about cheese, I am inviting all foodies to create some dishes using cheese and send them to this event.

To Participate:

1.Prepare any  vegetarian recipe using Cheese as part of the Ingredient   (eggs allowed) please link your dish using the linky below by entering your Dish Name and Post URL
2.Please link this event announcement with your entry, this is mandatory.
3.Use of logo is  not mandatory but it helps to spread the word if you can use it.

4. Multiple entries are allowed, archived are only allowed if reposted and updated with this event link.

4. In the event of problem using linky you can email me the entry at simplysensationalfood@gmail.com

Please use this format:

Your Name: Recipe
Name Recipe URL
Image no larger than 300 pixels.

German Apple Tart

Flaky pastry with delicious cinnamon and brown sugar coated apple filling.

Ingredients:

4 Granny Smith apples peeled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
90 g / 3 oz brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
I sheet ready rolled puff pastry 8inch x12inch

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C / 375 degrees F for 10 minutes
2. In a bowl add the apples and toss them in lemon juice.
3. In another bowl add the sugar and cinnamon and mix well.
4. Grease a baking tray and place the pastry sheet on it.
5.Working with the pastry vertically place a line of overlapping apples in the centre of the pastry sheet.
6. Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture on it.

7. On the right and left sides of pastry, using a sharp knife cut diagonal slits 1 inch wide starting at the apples and ending at the edge of the pastry.
8. Taking a pastry slit from the right side, fold it over the apple towards the left.
9. Take the opposite slit from the left side folding it over to the right side to overlap.
10.Continue plaiting alternate slits from right and left sides of pastry until a plait forms over the apple slices.

11. Once all the pasty has been plaited over the apples, brush the pastry with some melted butter and bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.
12. Remove from oven and cool slightly.

Serve the Apple tart with cold vanilla ice cream.

You may like:
Apple Sharlotka

Submitting to Flavours of Germany event by simply.food guest hosted by Nivedhanam

Strawberry Smoothie

British summer captured in a glass, refreshing summer strawberries in an ice cold smoothie.

Ingredients:

480 g / 16 oz fresh strawberries
60 g / 2 oz icing sugar
60 ml apple juice
Crushed Ice cubes

Method:

1. Wash the strawberries and hull them.
2. Dice the strawberries and add them to a blender.
3.Add the icing sugar and apple juice and blend the strawberries to form a smoothie.
4. Add crushed ice to a tall glass and pour the strawberry smoothie in it.
Serve immediately

You may like:
Iced Orange and apple tea