Glazed Toman with Stewed Peppers and Manchego Risotto.

My apologies for my complete lack of contribution this month. I shall explain. I have been a gypsy wandering from house to house for many moons now. While staying at others it is not best practice to take over their kitchens, make a mess, then force feed them.... so I have been eating peanut butter sandwiches and local hawker center food. I am SO ready to get back behind the stove and continue where I left off. Luckily, we are moving into a new flat next week and I will be going on a cooking rampage so FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS!

Toman also known as the "giant mudfish" is typical in Southeast Asian cooking. Normally found in street stalls barbequed to perfection, you can also buy fillets at the g-store and fancy it up at home. It is meaty flaky and handles glazes and spices well. If you can't find Toman, buy some catfish and give it a Southern twist!

xx

Glazed Toman with Stewed Peppers and Manchego Risotto
serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 medium Toman fillets, bones removed


• 1 tsp soy sauce


• 1 tsp brown sugar


• 1 tsp apricot jam


• 2 cloves of garlic, minced


• 1 onion, finely diced


• 1 tsp tomato paste


• 3 peppers (one green, one yellow, one red), julienne


• extra virgin olive oil


• dash of tabasco


• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, divided


• 1 large onion, chopped


• 1 1/2 cups arborio rice


• 1/2 cup dry white wine


• 5 cups (or more) hot chicken (or vegetable) broth


• 1/2 cup manchego, shredded


• salt and pepper

Directions:

For the fish:

• Preheat the oven to 425F/220C


• Mix the glaze together.


• Coat fish.


• Put the fish in the oven for 15 minutes until flaky and perfectly cooked.
  

For the peppers:

• Sweat the garlic in the olive oil over the stove.



• Add the peppers and cook on medium heat for 5 min.



• Add the tomato paste and stir.



• Add a ladel full of the warm chicken stock and let thicken but be careful not to overcook the peppers.



• Sprinkle on some Tabasco!
  

For the risotto:

• Melt half of butter (2 Tbsp) in a heavy saucepan over med. heat.



• Add onion and soften (about five min).



• Add rice; stir and toast for a couple of minutes.



• Add wine and cook until almost all liquid is absorbed. Stir constantly!



• Add 1 cup hot broth. Simmer until broth is almost absorbed (KEEP STIRRING!!! You don’t want any to stick to the bottom)



• Add more broth, 1 cup at a time, allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding.. stirring the whole time!



• You know it’s done when risotto is tender and mixture is creamy.



• Take off heat and add the manchego and salt & pepper to taste.



• Serve with the stewed peppers and the fish on top!

You say tomato, I say tomato

What we have here is a roasted tray of delishiousness that once it meets a blender will give you a great soup that can give you some vitamin C whilst the clouds remain gray. For this you will need the following:

500g cherry tomatoes (kept whole)

2 large red peppers (roughly chopped up)

Large red onion (in quarters)

4 cloves of garlic (bruised and kept in the case)

4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp water

Half a tin of chopped tomatoes

400ml vegetable stock

Two tbsp of freshly chopped green herbs (I used flat leaf parsley and tarragon but basil etc would be perfect)

Salt and pepper

Put all of the vegetables in an ovenproof dish with the balsamic vinegar and water and season. Cook for about forty five minutes. Stir them every so often so they don't burn, browning is great, but we don't want anything too charred.

When the veg comes out of the oven add the stock, tinned tomatoes and fresh herbs and blitz in a blender.

It will be pretty thick so if you want you can add more stock. Put everything into a saucepan and cook it through so it is hot enough to serve.