Spicy Sausage Rice

• Extra virgin olive oil is good for drizzling on salads and should never be heated as this destroys the fine properties
• Lighter olive oil is good for adding to bread, or to flavour a salad or marinade for chicken, meat, fish or vegetables. Lighter olive oil can be gently heated and added to marinades and baking.

• White long grain rice is good for salads, and its absorbent qualities go well with sauces and casseroles.
• Risotto rice has an incredible capacity to absorb a great amount of cooking liquid and still retain bite, just like paella rice.
• When cooked, basmati rice gives a light, fluffy, separate grains perfect to accompany curries or biriyani and pilaff dishes.
• Rice can replace breadcrumbs in stuffing’s and a few grains can be added to soups to thicken the broth.
• You have to be careful when reheating rice as there is a nasty little bacteria called bacillus cereus which may be present in cereals, particularly rice, and it is resistant to heat.
• It’s important always to cook rice for a hot dish just as you need it and serve it piping hot. If the rice is for a cold dish, once it’s cooked, cool it as quickly as possible and chill within two hours. To do this, drain the rice in a colander, rinse with cold water then tip into a large shallow container. Once it is cold, cover and keep refrigerated for no longer than a day.

Frozen in ice cubes for gravies, risotto and cooking rice. Once frozen, remove from the ice trays and pack into freezer bags. Use stock powder or cubes if you do not have any home made available.

To keep cut parsley or coriander, put in a hole free polythene bag with a couple of tablespoons of cold water, give the bag a good shake and keep in the salad drawer of the fridge. Herbs should keep for a week like this.