Paul's [recipe] Corner

Butter
Onion – finely diced
150g speck – finely chopped or use good smokey bacon bought vacuum packed in about 300g lots
300g arborio rice
One bottle 330ml Hoegaarden White – a Belgian Wheat Beer
Chicken stock – about 7 cups preferably home made or Massel brand powder is very good
Fresh coriander – chopped
Fresh prawns – 4 -5 per person - peeled
Fresh scallops 4 -5 per person if roe attached then separate from white meat and cook as per seafood

Ensure your stock is gently simmering on the stove.

Melt butter in to separate pan and add onion. Cook until translucent; add chopped speck and fry till browned but don’t burn onion: add a little of the chopped coriander for flavor. Add rice and coat well with butter speck and onion mix. Add the contents of the bottle of Hoegaarden and stir rice thoroughly. Let the rice absorb the beer before adding your first ladle of simmering stock. Simply continue to stir rice whilst it absorb the stock. Check heat – the rice should not absorb the stock too fast or too slow. 6 -7 cups of stock should take around half an hour to stir in.

Before putting in the last ladle of stock add the cleaned and prepared seafood – peel prawns and separate roe from scallops. Allow to cook for a few minutes then add the last ladle of stock and the remainder of the coriander. Once at the right consistency turn off heat add salt and pepper if desired serve and eat.

Note: depending on how long the rice took to cook you may not need to use all the stock or you may need extra. Keep on tasting as you cook, testing for how it is absorbing and whether or not you want to add more herbs or seasoning. You can also add the prawns in the shell for more flavor but I find it too messy to eat that way.

Serve with a simple green salad.