Buttered Raisin Rice with Roasted Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Fries

Buttered Raisin Rice with Roasted Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Fries

Feeds – 4-6

Preparation Time – 5-10 minutes

Cooking Time 20-25 minutes

Ingredients –

Sweet Potato Fries –

3 – 4 Large sweet potatoes – Scrubbed clean then finely cut into slices then cut length ways into skinny chips

Glug of rapeseed oil

2 Stems of fresh thyme – Leaves removed and mixed with the potatoes

Sprinkle of sea salt

Sprinkle of white pepper

1 Medium sized cauliflower – Cut into florets

Glug of rapeseed oil

Sprinkle of sea salt

Sprinkle of smoked paprika

Buttered Raisin Rice-

3 Cups of rice or roughly ½ Cup per person/ 90g- Brown Basmati rice

 2 Large knobs of butter

2 Coves of garlic crushed and finely chopped

2 Handfuls of raisins

Generous sprinkle of sea salt

Good dash of white pepper

Good sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper

Handful of fresh parsley – Roughly chopped

Homemade Hot Mayo-

4 Egg Yolks (Use good quality medium sized organic eggs)

Dollop of Dijon

450ml of vegetable oil

Splash of white wine vinegar

Sprinkle of sea salt

Generous sprinkle of white pepper

Generous sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper

½ Tsp Smoked paprika

Pinch of chilli flakes

Couple of glugs of Tabasco

(NOTE- If you want to cheat the mayo you can mix the paprika, chilli flakes, seasoning and Tabasco plus a dollop of Dijon with regular mayonnaise)

Instructions –

Start by preparing the sweet potatoes as noted, don’t add too much oil as they’ll go soggy not crunchy, so just lightly coat them then add the seasoning and transfer to a non stick baking dish. Cook for 20-25 minutes on 190 degrees Celsius. Do the same for the cauliflower and allow to roast until crisp.

For the buttered raisin rice start by rinsing the rise then cooks as per instructions, for every cup of rice it 1.5 of water. Remember that brown rice is often more crunchy than white so don’t be tempted to overcook.

In a separate frying pan melt your butter over a medium to low heat and add in your finely chopped garlic plus the raisins and add seasoning. Allow to simmer here for a good five minutes or so, turning down the heat if the garlic starts to golden or burn. Prepare your parsley by roughly chopping and set to one side. Once the rice is cooked pour over the garlic and raisin butter, add extra black pepper and mix through the parsley. Serve immediately or cover until ready to serve.

The easiest way to make the hot mayonnaise is to start by adding the egg yolks to food processor or electric whisk and add in the Dijon then gradually start to add in the oil until you have a good thick consistency, add in the vinegar, then the seasoning and spice and mix again bringing the consistency back to smooth and fairly thick as per normal mayonnaise.

Serve it up all together and enjoy a really delicious combination of flavours.