OISÍN DAVISstirs with the stars
Years on the British comedy circuit may have made him tough as nails and effortlessly cool on stage, but I know how to make Stephen K Amos shudder with fear. Simply utter the Masterchef catchphrase “cooking doesn’t get any tougher than this!” and watch him stop dead in his tracks. His mother is a massive fan of the BBC programme, and so he went on the celebrity version two years ago. The producers asked him what food he hated to cook. When he told them it was offal, they threw him into the hottest kitchen they could find and made him cook lamb sweetbreads. Not a pleasant memory for him.
He does, however, love to cook the Spanish classic, paella. Stephen highly recommends that one should use a proper, large paella pan as it not only infuses the of flavours so well but is also perfect to serve from: simply rest the pan on your dinner table and let your guests get stuck in.
INGREDIENTS
Virgin cold-pressed olive oil
2 Spanish onions
2 red bell peppers
4 cloves of garlic
5 large tomatoes
3 red chilli peppers
200g thawed peas
4 chicken breasts
150g of cooking chorizo, sliced thin
400g of Calasparra rice or Paella rice
400g of whole raw king prawns
200g thawed peas
3 fillets of pollock (or other white fish)
10 mussels
1 glass of dry sherry
A handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley
A pinch of saffron, a small dash of red food coloring
1 tablespoon of smoked paprika
Half a teaspoon of dried thyme and rosemary
1 litre of chicken stock
2 lemons, quartered
METHOD
Heat the paella pan with a glug of olive oil in it and brown the meat, then remove it and put aside. Fry the vegetables for five minutes. Add the rice and the sherry and fry in the mixture until the alcohol evaporates.
Bring the stock into the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Don’t stir. Place the meat and spices and simmer for five minutes. Don’t stir! Gently mix the seafood into the pan and simmer for a further five minutes. Don’t stir!! Sprinkle with the chopped parsley. When the seafood is cooked and the excess water has evaporated, leave for five minutes off the heat and keep it covered. Serve hot with a lemon wedge on each plate.
* Stephen K Amos is at Dublin’s Vicar Street on February 17
Mr Scruff
MR SCRUFF’S TEACUP CAKE
Mr Scruff: eclectic Manchester DJ, master of the five-hour set and tea fanatic. Such is his dedication to the beverage that he set up his own tea company, Makeusabrew.com. You can buy his broad range from the website or from shops around the country.
Being a die-hard coffee addict, I asked him how he would win me over to the tea party. He said it would have to be his English breakfast brew served with a slice of his Teacup Cake and topped with a slice of Wensleydale cheese. The recipe for the cake follows. I’ll tell him when he’s in Dublin next week whether or not it worked.
INGREDIENTS
225g self-raising flour
50g butter
50g soft brown sugar
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp mixed spice
100g mixed dried fruit (great with figs and dates finely chopped)
40g pecans
1 egg, slightly beaten
125ml strong cold tea (English breakfast or Earl Grey work well)
METHOD
Sift flour, mixed spice and baking powder. Rub in butter to form breadcrumbs. Stir in sugar, dried fruit and pecans.
Make a well in the centre and gradually add the egg and tea to form a soft, dripping consistency.
Pour into a loaf tin and bake at 150 degrees for one hour and 15 minutes (or until a skewer comes out clean).
Mr Scruff plays Dublin’s Tripod on February 11
* ROCKCOOKBOOK.COM
