Pearl barely has become my new favourite alternative to Aborio rice for use in a risotto. Ok its not ‘authentic’ Italian but it has a delicious nutty taste, a beautiful texture that goes deliciously with earthy beetroot and is packed full or nutrients. This dish is delicious served with lemony dressed rocket, some tender spice roasted poussin and a gooey quail egg. But remove the meat and its a vegetarians dream. Serve this to your meat hating buddies in place of the stereotyped mushroom risotto or quiche and you’ll be in their good books.

Serves 2

• 1 x spatchcocked poussin or 2 small quail. Alternatively use chicken legs or breast
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp spice mix (see here)
• 120g pearl barely
• 1 pint hot chicken stock
• 125ml red wine
• 1 small red onion, chopped finely
• 1 garlic clove, chopped finely
• 1 sprig thyme, leaves picked
• 200g cooked beetroot, pureed in a food processor (save a piece and cut into cubes for texture if you like)
• Handful finely grated parmesan
• 1 knob butter
• ½ lemon
• Rocket leaves to serve
• 2-4 quail eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Season the bird. Coat in the dry spices and 1 tbsp olive oil and use your hands to rub the mixture into the meat.
2. Place on a lined baking tray and roast at a high heat for about 40 minutes for a spatchcocked poussin/quail. Baste with the juice twice during cooking. Once ready, remove from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before carving to serve.
3. Meanwhile while the meat is cooking, make the risotto. Heat half a knob of butter with a small splash of oil in a saucepan. Very gently sweat the red onion in the butter for about 10 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for a few more minutes. Season
4. Turn the heat up to medium high and add the pearl barely. Toast in the pan with the onion stirring all the time. Next add the wine and simmer off until reduced.
5. Turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and add the hot stock, ladle by ladle, adding more only after each addition has been absorbed. Continue for about 25minutes or so until the pearl barley is tender. Keep adding stock until the barley is cooked but don’t drown the mixture especially towards the end of the cooking time or it will be too runny.
6. When the barley is cooked, stir through the beetroot puree and cubed beetroot and taste and season again. Bring back up to the heat to warm through.
7. Add the grated cheese, another knob of butter and a generous squeeze of lemon juice and remove form the heat. Place the lid on top and leave it sit and rest while you see to the quail eggs.
8. To cook the quails eggs to a soft boil, simmer them in a briskly boiling pan of water for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and then plunge into cold water. When cool enough to handle, remove the shells.
9. To serve, spoon a generous spoonful of risotto into a warmed bowl. Top with a handful of rocket dressed with plenty of lemon juice and seasoning.
10. Carve the bird as required removing the legs and the breast meat. Place on top of the rocket. Slice your eggs in half at the last moment and finish the dish with their runny yolk centres and a good grinding of fresh black pepper.

These bitesized morsels are one of my boyfriends favourites. But how could I possibly be outdone and beaten by Wagamamas on any culinary level!? As a passionate cook and foodie how could I let it rest that there was a dish out there he’d rather order in over cooking! Challenge raised and accepted, out came my surface level competitve and perfectionists nature. So, this weekend I attempted to make my first chicken gyozas – aka Japanese dumplings if you’re a Japanese or Wagamama newbie. I’d never really had these before so the idea seemed daunting, with thoughts of specialised steamers or equipment. But I can’t lie….these could not have been easier to recreate at home! I’ll admit they are a little fiddly to assemble but with 2 or 3 under your belt they’re easy. The only draw back is the time consuming assembly as after the first 5 or 6 you begin to get bored with the repetitive nature. With my boyfriend away this weekend I thought I’d practice them alone – a wise move if I had any hope of winning (my own?) challenge. However, now I know they are a success an extra pair of hands for the assembly wouldn’t go amiss! But I stress now that once made the cooking couldn’t be easier. Fried then steamed in a matter of minutes! Fast food that is totally fresh, hot and steamed to order. You can even make them in advance and cook within 10 minutes for any hungry guests.

Recipe adapted (with good reason) from ‘The Hairy Bikers’. (Makes about 30!?)

Gyoza Skin

• 150g plain flour
• 150g strong bread flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 200ml boiling water

Chicken Filling

• 500g minced chicken
• 1/3 white cabbage, shredded
• Large knob ginger, grated
• 3 cloves garlic, grated
• ½ tsp salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp chopped spring onions (green parts)
• ½ tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• Pinch sugar
• Sunflower oil for frying

Dipping sauce

• 6 tbsp soya sauce
• 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• Squeeze lime juice
• Dash chilli oil

1. Combine and taste. Adjust as necessary

Assembly

1. Start with the dough. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl and then gradually pour in the water using a knife to mix it. Keep mixing until it comes together to form a dough.
2. Form the dough into a ball using your hands then wrap in clng film and rest and cool in the fridge for 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile, combine all the ingredients for the filling in a large bowl and use your hands to squeeze the ingredients together.
4. When ready to assemble remove the dough from the fridge. Chop in half to make it easier to handle and roll the dough as thinly as you can on a flowered surface. Use a 10cm cutter to cut rounds of the dough.
5. Place a tsp of chicken mixture into the middle then use a dash of water to wet the circumference of the dough circle with your finger.
6. Make the next bit as professional as you like. I made mine look more like mini pasties but as long as the filling remains locked in, it doesnt matter what they look like!
7. Start by folding the dough over the filling so you form a half moon shape like a mini cornish pasty. Pinch together the middle so it sticks and do the same with the other sides. Pleat the edges however you like so it is tightly sealed. Place on a flowered tray while you make the rest.
8. Repeat this with the remaining mixture until you have a tray of gyozas (about 30 depending on size).

Cooking

1. When ready to cook, heat a large frying pan that can hold a fitted lid or a shallow saucepan with a tbsp or two of sunflower oil until hot.
2. Fill the pan with as many gyozas as will fit in one layer placing them on thier flat base side for about 2 minutes until golden brown and a crust has formed. Make sure they don’t stick by giving them a shake now and again.
3. Once a crusty golden base has formed, add 200ml of water to the pan and immediately fit with a lid. This will bubble up and steam up nicely so turn the heat down to a medium high or healthy simmer. Give them a shake to release any that are in danger of getting stuck to the bottom and then steam for 2 minutes.
4. Remove the lid and cook for another 2 minutes.
5. Serve immediately once removed from the pan and scatter with fresh chopped coriander and the dipping suace.
6. Chopsticks for the experienced…..