Cod Loin with Sage & Celery Crunch

A mid-week simple supper paid a relatively healthy homage to the traditional fish supper.

A good sized cod loin is needed for this, ideally about 200 grams plus per person.  The loin should be evenly shaped if possible with a good thickness so that the cooking time - just under 20 minutes in a hot oven in its foil parcel - provides just enough residual heat to complete the task whilst it's resting on the side for a few minutes.

For two people:

• Four dessert spoons of good extra virgin olive oil
• 12 grams of sage, chopped finely
• Two small sticks of celery, approximately 15 cms in length, chopped finely
• Two generous pinches of sea salt
• One lime, topped and tailed and using the middle for three slices to set on top of the fish and the juice of the top and tail.

On an oven sheet, place a piece of baking foil, dull side facing you and use one dessert spoon of oil over this this.

Mix the sage, celery and salt together with a further spoonful of oil and lime juice and place a third of the mixture on the foil.

Place the loin on top of this and spread the remaining sage mixture as evenly as possible over the top.  Add the lime slices and then create a foil parcel.  Place in the oven for 20 minutes.

Serve with a fresh salad or vegetable of choice.

Salted black olives and tomato salad

A great accompaniment to many a main course, but especially served with risotto or grilled fish, this salad is more of salsa with its smaller pieces and with its mint, lemon and capers has more than just nod to Malta and North Africa.

For two generous portions:

• 150 grams of tomatoes, deseeded, cored and chopped into one centimetre cubes
• 100 grams of cucumber, deseeded, peeled and chopped, again into roughly one centimetre cubes
• A good handful, approximately a dozen, large black salted olives, chopped roughly (do not rinse)
• Six to eight large caper berries, thinly sliced
• 20 grams of fresh mint, chopped coarsely
• A half teaspoon of dried mint
• A half teaspoon of dried cumin
• Two dessert spoons of good extra virgin oil
• The juice and zest of half a lemon

Mix all but the lemon juice/zest in a bowl and allow to stand, covered, for about 30 to 40 minutes.

Just before serving, add the lemon juice and zest, combine thoroughly.

Linguine with Kale & lime

A quick supper, normally defined by me as doable in under 30 minutes, is always a blessing, especially if you arrive home in the evening no earlier than 7pm most week days.

With coat off and cooker switched on; pan and water (and a good pinch of salt) on the hob and glass of wine in hand, not necessarily in that order, I can make dinner, change into more comfortable clothes and be at the table eating in 30 minutes with this dish.  You will need a second lidded saucepan and good eye for timing.

Whilst water is on, change and have a quick hand scrub.  Another slurp of wine, stripping the kale from its spine and roughly cutting into strips before thoroughly washing in cold running water, and we're off:
 

Per person:

• Salt
• Water
• Linguine - a handful/or your usual portion
• Olive oil - four tablespoons
• Kale - 150 grams, washed and cut into rough strips
• Garlic - a clove finely chopped
• Caper berries - five or six large juicy ones, sliced
• Lime - both zest & juice
• Parmesan - four table spoons, finely grated

Whilst your linguine is cooking your pan of salted boiling water, your second pan should be on a medium heat with a half your olive oil, a little pinch of salt, your kale and your garlic with the lid on.  After a few minutes shake the pan (with the lid on) and then continue to cook on a slightly lower heat for five to eight minutes.

When your pasta is ready, drain and add the other half of your oil so the strands do not stick together.

Once your Kale has had sufficient cooking time, add your pasta, caper berries and lime and mix together off the heat.  Add half your Parmesan and combine and then as you serve add the rest.

Kitchen diary: Wild garlic

One of the key ingredients to my cooking this week has been a very old friend, wild garlic.

Personally, I think this herb is very underused and probably more useful that the bulb variety (don't misunderstand me, wild garlic does have a bulb, but the ones I've picked are of no size and it is the stalks and leaves which seem to have the most character to me).  It still grows wild, although you are likely to find it on the Isle of Wight or Kent than anywhere else and of course, it is now grown commercially.

For some locals it is still known as Ramsons, which probably relates to the old key indicator for woods, especially in the south of England. 

If you do go out walking, you will probably smell it before you see it.  If late on in summer you will see a "skinny" version of the regular onion head, i.e. a globe of flowering head stands on stalk above the leaves, which to look at are quite shiny, wide and pointy.  The leaves have visible parallel veins and the underside is soft and the leaf as a whole slightly cushioned or squishy, as the four year old of a friend of mine used to describe it.

The reason I say more "useful" above is that the stalked of the leave, although short are very friendly when finely chopped to butter sauces, and rather gorgeous too in savoury version of welsh cakes.   The leaves themselves can be eaten raw and put into salad, but can (and should) be used instead of chives. 

 

A brilliant use is for a garlic and potato soup or for a very English pesto utilising hazel or cob nuts instead of pine nuts.  Rapeseed oil is such a good oil to use here, or if it is nutty you want, go for more hazelnut, always a winner especially with a mushroom sauce.

Weekend food

This weekend was a busy one for food and without the formal recipes.  Saturday was a steak and olive oil/sea salt encrusted baked potato and enough salad to sink a small island kind of meal.  And no microwaving the potato first, it was a hot oven for an hour jobby, which always produces the best of crispy skins.

Sunday was scrambled egg day, regular scrambled egg after watching the other half look through Moroccan Riads and south Spanish Moorish villas inspired a more north African take on one of our regular Sunday breakfasts.  Hence the addition of chopped wild garlic and a toot (a half teaspoon apparently) of sweet smoked paprika.  Again, no microwaving, just cooked gently in saucepan with butter and a little Argon oil.

Sunday dinner was more steak - this time lamb wrapped in streaky bacon with whole wild garlic leaves between the different meats.  Laid on a deep baking sheet with a little cider balsamic and orange juice used as basting liquor.  The garlic and mint gravy utilised the resulting sweet meaty juices just right.

Warm salmon salad

This is a great dish for a supper for friends.

As with many supper dishes, this is infinitely scalable so the quantities below are per person.  Depending upon the size of your fish portions and your tomatoes, you may need a little more/less butter and and you may like to add a little more seasoning to your tastes.

For the fish

• Two table spoons of good extra virgin olive oil
• Two large ripe tomatoes, cut into thick slices
• Two tablespoons of fresh chopped tarragon
• One salmon portion
• Salt and pepper for seasoning

For the salad

• A quantity of leaves
• A small sweet pepper, de-seeded and cut into fine strips

For the dressing

• 25 grams of butter
• A half teaspoon of smoked paprika

Preheat your oven to 170c.

On a baking sheet, lay a piece of oven foil and use half of the oil to coat it.  Lay half the tomatoes on the bottom and a third of the tarragon.  Place the fish on top and lay the remaining tomatoes on this.  Sprinkling a further third of the tarragon on this with the remaining oil and season.  Create a parcel out of the foil and place in the oven for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the leaves and sweet pepper to a plate and bring water to a low simmer in a large saucepan.

When your fish is done, take out of its parcel and allow to cool on the side. 

Place a bowl over your pan of hot water and place the tomato and fish juices into it.  Add a little butter at time and whisking continuously this should be enough to make a creamy tomato butter dressing.  Add the remaining tarragon.

Once the sauce is ready, the fish should be cool enough to handle and flake onto the salad.  Pour the dressing over this and dust with the paprika and serve.

Simple suppers: Warm Lamb's liver salad

Warm Lamb's liver salad with fresh figs and a cider balsamic dressing.

A simple yet elegant supper is this very flavoursome salad, just the thing to bring a little spring freshness your evening.

As the liver (and the dressing) has full on favours, less is definitely more.

A selection of baby/spring salad leaves, in this case pea shoots, lambs lettuce and baby spinach, set on your plates.

• A large knob of salted butter and a tablespoon of good extra virgin oil
• Portions per person:
• Two fresh figs, topped and tailed (if needed), halved and then sliced and portions set on top of your leaves.
• 100 grams of lamb's liver, sliced thinly
• 30 mls of cider balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of capers, chopped
• 2 tablespoons of fresh mint, chopped

On a medium to hot heat, add your butter and oil to a medium sized frying pan.  As the butter finishes bubbling, add your liver and turn as it browns.  A few minutes later (as this is all it will take) add your balsamic vinegar and capers and half of the fresh mint and reduce the liquid by half.

Turn off the heat and add the remaining mint, stir and then pour the mixture over the salad leaves and figs.

The whole dish takes less than 20 minutes.

Quick & Simple Suppers

For neither of these recipes have I put quantities, use as much or as little as you like as both are scalable and either can be made at the drop of a hat.

Passing by my corner shop in evening on the way home is always an adventure so it normally depends on what they have as to what is cooked for supper.  Mushrooms and green vegetables are always a great standby, especially if you have some chunky bread or a can make a quick mash alongside (but then, that's another story - a mash of what?  Potato (regular or sweet), chickpeas or butter beans, or maybe, as with last summer, my broad bean and basil mash went down a treat!).

Mushrooms on toast

One of my personal favourites for the a quick tea, with really fleshy Portobello mushrooms, sliced thickly and fried with a little smoked garlic in half salted butter and half extra virgin oil.  A little added sweetness is provided by a red pepper, cut in half and sliced thinly into half-moons which are softened along with the mushrooms.

Topped with roughly chopped mint and a half teaspoon of caraway seeds a few minutes before serving on  sourdough toast, just the best.

Here I've also set these under the grill topped with goat's cheese.

Crispy bacon with steamed chard

Another quick supper which takes less than 20 minutes to prepare and cook. 

Strip your cleaned chard and add, along with a sliced red pepper, and a crushed garlic clove to a heavy bottomed saucepan along with a little olive oil and a couple of spoonful's of cold water (none however, if you haven't shaken your chard too vigorously after washing) on a medium heat.  Cover tightly and shake the saucepan after a few minutes and again another five minutes later.  The chard should be more or less cooked at the is point, so add a shot of sweet sherry and cover again before returning to a very low heat.

In a separate pan, heat through a generous knob of butter and a tablespoon of extra virgin oil and add to this 75 grams of chopped salty bacon.  Fry until crispy.  Then, add to this the chard mixture and fold through and serve with bread and butter.

Kitchen Diary - Butter Sauces revisited

Roasts and sometime, flavourless meat and fish are a necessity of our daily lives it seems.

Depending on your mood, a butter sauce, with or without a little flour as a thickener can be a delight to make and to serve.

Utilising pre-floured butter portions as well as herb and garlic butters are always a quick solution to recipe's short comings in flavour. 

There comes a time when you don't really want to over season fish or white meat as you aren't completely aware of its provenance and leftovers, especially roast pork, beef and turkey can be a little bland without their regular accompaniments, and these are grateful for the added moisture and silkiness a butter sauce provides.

A good standby (and quick butter sauce) utilises a Provençal style butter which is easily kept in the freezer.

 

Provençal style butter

 

Take:

• 250 gram pack of softened butter
• Four or five cloves of garlic
• Four heaped tablespoons of finely chopped thyme, rosemary and oregano
• Four chopped and then mashed anchovies

Blend them together with three/four tablespoons of good olive oil.  Stand in the fridge for just five or ten minutes and roll into a sausage about an 3 cm in diameter and divide into four portions and freeze.

The sauce itself in simplicity itself, a reduction of 175 mls of dry white wine and 175 mls of vegetable stock - so that you are left with about 150 mls of liquid.  Add half a portion of your butter and melt into the sauce.  Then, with a hand whisk, add the remaining butter a small amount at a time until the result is an emulsion which covers the back of a spoon evenly.

Alternatively, add a small chopped onion to a medium heat with a quarter of the portion of butter and, as the onion softens, add two teaspoons of plain flour.  Stir until the flour has been absorbed by the butter and then add the reduced wine and stock as above.  As the sauce thickens and cooks out the flour for about 10 minutes, reduce the heat slightly.  Take the sauce completely off the heat as you are about to serve and add small extra knob of butter and whisk in gently to give the sauce a sheen.

Of course, a little goes a long way but if you feel the need baking vegetables in the a sauce (especially leeks or onions) is an extremely good accompaniment or a fantastic dish in its own right and for this you will probably need a larger quantity, a little experimentation goes a long way.

One of the best butter sauces I have made in recent times is a tomato and sage sauce which is used to slowly bake courgettes red peppers.

 

Courgettes and red pepper bake in a tomato and sage butter sauce

• 3 tablespoons of good olive oil
• 1 kilo of tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 50 grams of cold water
• 2 tablespoons of plain flour
• 250 mls of dry white wine
• 250 mls of vegetable stock
• One portion (approximately 65 grams) of sage and garlic butter
• 500 grams of courgette, sliced on the diagonal
• 500 grams of red sweet peppers/paprika, cut into strips

In a large pan and over a low to medium heat, add the olive oil, tomatoes and onion and slowly cook down until the tomatoes have loosened and the onions are turning soft.  The mixture should be too dry so add the water just as things start to soften, so that by time the tomatoes and onions have started to turn into a sauce it is not sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Add the flour now and stir so that the mixture doesn't catch on the bottom.  Once thoroughly mixed through, add the wine and stock, stirring again to ensure that everything is thoroughly combined.  Cover and allow to come up to a low simmer.

At this point pre-heat your oven to 180 c and have a 25 cm x 25 cm oven dish ready.  Ideally about 4 to 5 cm deep.

Taking the lid off the pan, allow the sauce to reduce by a third and then add half the butter and stir in and place to one side, covered and off the heat.

Just before adding to the oven dish and the vegetables, in small portions, add the remaining butter and using a hand whisk, combine thoroughly.

With a large spoon or ladle, add about a quarter of sauce to the oven dish and then arrange the vegetables on top.   Add the remain sauce, there should be enough to coat the vegetables although they will not be submersed.  The vegetables will, as they cook, bake down so that the finished result should look like a pink Gratin!   The dish should be covered initially with kitchen foil for the first 25 minutes of the cooking time.  Uncover, and then bake for a further 25 minutes placed towards the bottom of the oven (if you're oven is fan assisted, turn your heat down to 160c).

Paprika and Cumin Soup

Cold weather and snow makes me think of soup, as I'm sure it does most people.

This Paprika and cumin soup has a high level of garlic too and is probably up there with chicken soup if you are feeling under the weather or just in need of an infusion of spice on a Winter's day.

For this recipe I have used my base vegetable stock but any good shop bought one will be good for this as would a light chicken stock if you think you may need a protein injection as well.  As the stock never goes above simmering temperature, there less evaporation than with many other soups so less stock is required.  However, this is very scalable recipe and for those of you who love more of a kick (but keeping the essence of the soup itself) increase the spice load in the appropriate ratio otherwise the black pepper does tend to overpower the cumin.

Five or six large fresh Paprika or sweet peppers are needed for this, but experiment as I've also made a thicker version with twice as many.  For this particular soup I use red ones but if you like, you can use the slightly sour greens which are also particularly tasty - but as they less fleshy, they do need a lower heat (say 150c).  Roast these whole and slowly in a medium (160c) oven for about 30 minutes.  Put a layer of oven foil on your baking sheet and sprinkle with just a little olive oil.

• Five or six large Paprika or sweet peppers (as above)
• Two dessert spoons of cumin seeds
• One dessert spoon of black pepper corns
• 25 mls of good olive oil
• One large white Spanish onion, halved and roughly chopped
• Five large cloves of garlic roughly chopped
• 25 mls of cold water
• One teaspoon of salt
• One litre of vegetable stock
• 50 mls of dry vermouth

In a spice mill, freshly grind the cumin and peppers corns.

In a large pan, and over a medium heat, add the olive oil and as this starts to warm through add the onion and garlic.  As these start to soften, add the ground spices and stir constantly until the onion just begins to change colour.  Add the cold water and lower the heat.  As the onion/spice paste starts to thicken slightly, add the salt and about a third of the stock.

Meanwhile, taking the Paprika/sweet peppers out of the oven and allow to cool enough to handle.  De-stalk and seed them and roughly chop them up.  The stock should be warming through and just below simmering point when you add the peppers.  Stir and then add the remaining stock and again bring to just below simmering point.  Take off the heat and cover and allow the flavours to amalgamate for approximately an hour or more.

About 30 minutes before you are ready to serve, blend the soup to a smooth consistency and add the vermouth.  Place on a low to medium heat and again, bring just below the simmer point.

Serve with a small spoon of sour cream in the centre and a little bowl of caramelised onions on the side.

Potatoes, a taste of Provence

Feeling the pangs for Summer, or at least warmer temperatures and a little sunshine amongst the grey clouds, colour on your plate is always satisfying as is the freshness of peppers and spring shoots.

Although our bodies crave the reassurance of carbohydrates it is our minds that crave the Summer sun.

A simple dish to allow both body and mind to be at peace is potato dish which brings with it the taste of Provence and a little of the sun further around the Mediterranean.

• Two good sized waxy potatoes, sliced thinly
• Three or four anchovy fillets, chopped finely
• Four dessert spoons of parsley, chopped finely
• A dessert spoon of capers, chopped finely
• A handful of olives, pitted and chopped
• A large clove of garlic, grated
• Two large red sweet peppers, one sliced thinly and the other liquidised or passed through a sieve
• 25 mls of dry sherry
• 50 mls of vegetable stock

Pre-heat your oven to 160c.

In a medium sized Gratin dish, place a layer of potato, a sprinkling of anchovy, parsley, capers, olives and garlic and few strips of pepper.  Repeat for three layers.

In a small bowl, add the sherry, stock and liquidised pepper and pour gently over the top.  Cover tightly with kitchen foil and place into your oven for about an hour and a half.

Serve with grilled fish and a very cold glass of something fizzy on the side.

Baked Beetroot with Feta

One of the pleasures of Winter cooking are the abundance of root vegetables. 

I love most of what Winter can throw at me but I do gravitate towards beetroot and onions.  If only because of the alchemy involved when cooking both these vegetables can make them rather addictive.

Baking (as opposed to roasting) beetroot is mainly due the amount of liquid and heat applied.  I don't think the method I outline below can be called roasting per se, as the outcome isn't browned vegetables, rather a more sturdy braised version.

I've utilised some bulb fennel is this recipe, although not essential as I have used fennel seeds in other incantations which have also worked very well indeed.

Using sesame oil along with a cooking oil is also one of my preferred flavourings, not just because of the flavour itself, in this case, but because there is such an effective coupling with the sweetness of the root vegetables that really does make this dish sing.

For this, I've used an oven tray with a deep (1 inch lip), so it acts as a shallow dish more than a tray.  With this mind, a large, shallow dish would also be an option, but in either case, remember to toss the vegetables regularly so that they do not dry out.   The liquid in the tomatoes and fennel should be enough, but do add a little water with a touch of sherry vinegar, if they start to catch (thereby imitating the slight acidity of the tomatoes).

• 25 mls of olive oil
• One dessert spoon of sesame oil
• Five or six small to medium sized beetroots, with three inches of stalk remaining and scrubbed thoroughly, quartered lengthwise
• One large bulb of fennel, sliced thinly
• Two medium sized red onions, cut into wedges
• Two large tomatoes, cored and cut into wedges
• Two teaspoons of dried thyme
• One teaspoon of salt
• A handful of black pitted olives, chopped roughly
• 200 grams of feta, chopped roughly
• 3 dessert  spoons of chopped parsley

Preheat your oven to 190c.

In a large bowl add all the ingredients except the olives and feta and toss thoroughly so that oil and seasonings evenly coat them.

Add to the tray as evenly as possible and place in the oven for an initial 20 minutes.  Toss the vegetables and return to the oven for a further 15 to 20 minutes and toss again, this time adding the chopped olives. 

After a further 10 minutes, the beetroot should be almost done, the colour should be still be dark and flesh should be firm but not undercooked.    Turn off the oven and add the feta now over the top of the vegetables and place back into the oven for a further 10 minutes so that it softens in the residual heat.

On taking out of the oven, toss once more with half the parsley and sprinkle the remaining parsley on top.   A great dish on its own (generous portions for two) or as an accompaniment or winter starter.

Kitchen Diary: a simple fish pate

Eliot was a neighbour of a friend.  He was a "theatrical bachelor" in his mid-sixties and had lived in his studio flat just off the Charing Cross Road for over twenty years when I met him in the late eighties.

He was a handsome gentleman and very well attired.  John, my friend at the time was an assistant booking agent and Eliot had been one of the actors who from time to time he had encountered along the way.  After a while they had become friends.

The studio itself was on the third floor of a Victorian mansion block, from the communal stairwell you entered directly into a large room with a recess at the back which was curtained and behind which was the sleeping arrangements.  Just to the side of this was a little inner hall with two doors, one to bathroom and the other to a little kitchen.

His kitchen was literally a large cupboard with a window, not much more than six feet square with a small service sink and drainer, a 1950's bright green pantry cupboard and a small one ring hob on a waist high shelf, lined up against a wall.  Just inside the door was a small table and chair which looked out of a window towards the stage door of a famous theatre.  John and I visited him a few times for tea, he thought me a bit of a bubble head to begin with (I was 19 when I first met him), but when he realised my love of food, he also showed an uncanny ability for imaginative preparations.  With very scarce kitchen amenities John told me later, this very small flat was routinely the centre for small scale receptions.  So handy was its location, Eliot's fellow actors would come by for impromptu theatre salons and literary discussions well into the small hours.

This quick fish pate (and a number variations on this theme) was particularly good.

• One small fillet of skinned salmon, poached and mashed
• One hard boiled egg, mashed well
• Two dessert spoons of chopped parsley
• The juice of a small lemon
• 25 grams of softened salted butter
• A dessert spoon of chopped caper berries
• A good helping (of say half a teaspoon) of ground black pepper
• A pinch of cayenne pepper

Mixed thoroughly together, with a little added vegetable or other tasteless oil if the mixture is too solid.

Eliot served this with thin slices of French bread, which he had griddled on a flat iron over the single ring of his hob.

Related food links:

Retro Entertaining, 1980s Style
Entertaining, Simple Asparagus Rolls
Entertaining, Three Best Dips
Entertaining, Mid-Week cheeky one - Bloody Mary Tomatoes
Retro Entertaining, Leeks Vinaigrette
Entertaining, Mid-Week cheeky one - Chilli Baby Aubergines
 

Five January pick-me-ups

Christmas and New Year's Day are now over and either you are of the mind to wash away all those extra pounds, hibernate until the mornings start getting lighter or simply to feel better about the things you drink or eat, here are five great ways to beat the Winter blues.

Morning smoothies:  a great way to increase vitamins but also a brilliant alternative to breakfast too - especially if you are in a rush in the morning.  Try utilising some dried fruits (such as sour cherries or apricots - kept soaking in the fridge in apple juice) to give a little more substance and, if you need that spike of spice, add freshly grated ginseng, ginger or dried chili flakes which are a great way to wake up those taste buds.

Green tea:  an acquired taste for some, but if you're finding it hard even with the promise of all those extra anti-oxidants, try adding a bag of mint or blackcurrant tea to the mix as well.

Slow roasting:  already a fan?  Our bodies crave root vegetables at this time of year and slow roasting brings out their natural sugars and flavours.   Adding vegetable stock and blitzing in a food processor is an easy soup to make and you can make the flavours you want, use as little fat as you want and take any excess to work for lunch - also saving the pennies to beat the January blues.  Great flavour combinations would be ginger and beetroot, carrot and fennel seed and one of my particular favourites, parsnip and cumin.

Uplifting colours on your plate:  we are cheered by bright colours and best of all, foods which are deeper in colour tend to loaded in vitamins.  Use kale and red cabbage as much as you can and, although mentioned above with ginger, beetroot roasted and allowed to cool with steamed carrots is just heaven on a plate, try making a warm salad dressing with sesame oil and aged balsamic.

Let the sun shine:  it's a simple thing, I realise that many of us work during the day, but if you are an office worker and the sun is out, take a minimum of 30 minutes to take a walk in it.  Sunshine makes us feel good even if the temperature is minus 5, its still good to feel sunshine on your face.