Smoked haddock and parsnip fishcakes

I managed to get a bag of parsnips at a reduced rate from our local supermarket, as they weren’t beautiful. It was a good bargain, I got about 500g of parsnips. I made this recipe from Ottolenghi’s book, Simple. I halved the quantities, and substituted dried dill, on account of not being able to get fresh dill. I had enough for six large fishcakes. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 300g peeled parsnips
  • Olive oil
  • 250g smoked haddock fillets, skinned
  • 2 tsp dried dill
  • 10g chopped chives
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • zest of one lemon, cut the lemon into wedges for serving. 
  • a large egg, beaten
  • salt and pepper 
  • butter

METHOD:

  • Preheat the oven to 190C fan
  • Chop the peeled parsnips into chunks, toss with 3 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt. Roast in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes, until soft and browned. Sit to cool slightly. 
  • Put the cooked and cooled parsnips into a food processor and blitz to a coarse mash. I had some extra parsnip, so I put this into a container for the freezer for use later. Put the parsnip in a large bowl
  • Put the fish into the same processor, and blitz again intil roughly chopped.
  • Add the fish to the parsnip mash along with the egg, garlic, chopped herbs, 1/2 tsp salt, ground black pepper, and the lemon zest. Mix well, and shape the mixture into fishcakes. Mine were about the size of a crumpet or small burger. You can also put the mixture in the fridge for use the next day. 
  • Put a bit of butter in a frying pan along with a bit of olive oil in a frying pan and heat to medium, with the butter melting and foaming. Add the fishcakes and fry them, around 4 minutes on each side. Two fishcakes is plenty for one person. Serve with a wedge of lemon. 

Iced Gingerbread

This was made by special request. My grandson wanted help making it for his mother’s birthday, so that is what we did. We started from Nigella’s book, ‘Domestic Goddess‘. If you’ve ever made any of her recipes, they are well written and with latitude to adapt, and the final result is excellent. There’s a very similar recipe in ‘The Farmhouse Kitchen Book’, which has several recipes for gingerbread from around the UK. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 150g butter
  • 125g dark muscovado sugar
  • 200g golden syrup
  • 200g treacle
  • 2 tsp ground ginger, or fresh grated ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 250ml milk
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 300g plain flour
  • A tin measuring 30x20x5 cm (a medium roasting tin) greased and lined with greaseproof paper
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 175g icing sugar
  • 1 tbsp warm water

METHOD:

    • Preheat the oven to 170C
    • In a saucepan, melt the butter, sugar, treacle, golden syrup, ginger and cinnamon. Once everything has combined, set aside to cool
    • In a bowl, beat the eggs, and add the milk. Mix bicarbonate of soda with a little warm water, about 2 tbsp and add to the eggs and milk. 
    • Measure out the flour into a large bowl.
    • Pour the egg mixture into the sugar mixture, stir together to combine and then tip the whole lot into the flour. Use a hand whisk to mix everything together, making a runny batter
    • Pour the batter into the tin, put it into the oven and bake for around 50 minutes. 
    • Let the cake cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes before attempting to lift it out onto a wire rack. 
    • Once the cake is cool, you can ice it. Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl, and mix in 1 tbsp water and 1 tbsp lemon juice, plus any food colouring that you wish. We used yellow, on account of that being a favourite colour and the lemon being yellow. Pour the icing into the middle of the cake and spread out a little, using a flat knife. It will tend to flow out so you don’t need to be too precise. 

Once the icing has set, you can cut the gingerbread into fingers or squares. We cut ours up into 24 squares, but then we all ate at least two squares, served with Earl Grey tea, 

Stewed broad beans with tomatoes and bacon

I am testing broad bean recipes, many of them involve bacon, or herbs, or both. This is a robust stew from Umbria, for when you have a lot of broad beans. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1kg shelled broad beans
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
  • 1 onion, peeled and chopped
  • 2 stalks of celery, diced
  • 200g smoked pancetta, chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • Dried pepperoncini flakes (or any chilli flakes)
  • 2 cans of chopped tomatoes
  • Fresh parsley

METHOD:

  • Heat some oil in a large casserole dish or heavy saucepan, and slowly fry the pancetta, carrots, onions and celery for around 10 minutes, when the pancetta should be starting to brown. 
  • Add the garlic and chilli flakes and cook for another couple of minutes, before adding the beans and tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper and parsley. 
  • Simmer for around 20 to 30 minutes, when the beans should be tender. Take off the heat, and garnish with a swirl of good olive oil and some chopped parsley. 

I had this with bread and pecorino cheese. There are variations as well, you can add some chopped chard, or cooked peas, or artichoke hearts, or use fewer tomatoes. You can substitute basil or mint for the parsley. You could stick a poached duck egg on the top. 

Sausage, black pudding and parsnips

This is a recipe from Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries. This is a splendid book of cooking day by day through the year. The dishes are generally quick, easy, delicious, and easy to adapt. The book is also well-indexed so finding a recipe for an ingredient is simple. 

For this recipe, the first time I tried it, I was a bit frustrated. My roasting tray did not heat evenly on the gas hob, and turned out to be too small for all the ingredients. I singed the onions, and ended up with too much stock at the end. I have adapted the recipe to suit my kitchen. In the original recipe, everything is fried off in a roasting tray and then stock added, before putting in the oven. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • Four thick sausages, cut into thirds
  • A small black pudding, around 250g to 300g, in thick slices
  • 2 medium or one very large onion
  • Vegetable oil
  • Parsnips, around 4 (400g-500g) – peeled and cut into large chunks
  • A pinch of dried thyme
  • 250ml chicken stock

METHOD:

  • Set the oven to 190C
  • Peel the onions and cut into slim wedges, around 8 pieces for a medium onionc. 
  • Heat some oil in a large casserole dish over a medium flame, and add the onions, and let them soften. 
  • After about five minutes, add the parsnips and cook them until they start to colour. 
  • In a separate pan, fry off the sausages and then add them to the casserole dish. Do the same with the sliced black pudding. Make sure the sausage and the black pudding are a good colour on the outside before adding to the casserole dish. 
  • Stir in the chicken stock and thyme, and bring to a simmer. 
  • Put the dish into the oven without a lid for thirty to forty minutes. The parsnips should be really tender, and the stock should have cooked down to a sticky glaze. 

We served this with sprouts, because I love them. However, with the parsnips and all the flavour, you don’t need anything else. To help it stretch to feed more, serve with mashed potato. 

 

Salmon in Chraimeh sauce

I’m still cooking my way through a supply of salmon which needs to be finished, so for the last filled, I cooked this recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s book, Jerusalem. The sauce was delicious, and because I was only cooking for myself, I poached each portion of fish in a serving of the sauce as I needed it. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • Vegetable oil
  • 3 tbsp plain flour
  • 4 portions of salmon, preferably salmon steaks
  • 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 2 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1 tbsp caraway seeds, dry-toasted and then ground
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/3 tsp cayenne 
  • 1/3 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 green chilli, chopped
  • 150ml water
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 to 2 tsp caster sugar, to taste
  • 1 lemon, cut into wedges, and 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaf
  • Salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • Put the flour in a dish and season with salt and pepper. Coat the fish steaks or fillets in the seasoned flour
  • Heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a large frying pan for which you have a lid. Sear the seasoned fish on each side for a couple of minutes, so that the coating is gold. Once the fish is fried, cool the pan and wipe it clean. 
  • Put the garlic, spices, chilli, and a couple of spoonfuls in a processor or pestle and mortar, and grind to a thick paste. You may need to add a little more oil.
  • In a small jug, mix the tomato puree and water, and have this ready by the hob.
  • Into the freshly cleaned pan, heat another couple of tbsp oil, and when it is hot, add the spice paste, stir and spread this out so it cooks for around 30 seconds. 
  • Add the water and tomato puree. This will spit a bit and it will stop the spices burning. Bring to a simmer, and add 3/4 tsp sugar, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. That is the sauce made. At this point, you could store it for cooking later. 
  • Put the fish into the sauce, bring to a simmer and cook for around 10 minutes, or maybe less. The fish should be hot and tender when it is done. Take the fish off the heat and leave it to cool slightly, before serving warm, garnished with coriander and a wedge of lemon.

I served this with super-quick couscous and some steamed green beans. I put 50g of couscous in a wee jug with a pinch of marigold stock powder, and then poured in 75g boiling water, covered and let it sit for 3 minutes. 

Grilled Salmon Masala

This was the destiny of the second of four large salmon fillets. Again, this is from ‘Curry Easy‘ by Madhur Jaffrey, and it made me consider whether salmon tandoori could be a thing as well. The salmon would not need to be tenderised in yoghurt…

However, on with the main item on the menu – this was delicious, the combination of Dijon mustard and salmon is a revelation. It made two servings, with rice and green beans, which I cooked as suggested in the recipe book. Best to prepare the rice before grilling the salmon, it takes minutes. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • around 340 to 400g salmon fillet
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1/4 tsp of ground cumin
  • 1/8 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/8 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaf

METHOD:

  • Mix the salt, cumin, coriander, turmeric and cayenne pepper and rub this over the salmon. Cover and put into the fridge for 1 to 4 hours. 
  • Heat the grill to a high setting and set the oven to 180C
  • Mix the mustard, oil and lemon juice with the chopped coriander, and rub this mixture all over the fish. 
  • Grill the fish for around 4 minutes, and as it starts to brown, transfer it to the oven for around 10 minutes. 

 

Salmon in a Mustard Sauce (Bengali)

I defrosted a very large chunk of fresh salmon and filleted it. I am going to try this four ways, the first is from ‘Curry Easy‘ by Madhur Jaffrey. This is a very easy recipe and especially quick and delicious. I served it with plain rice and dal. Because it is so quick to cook, around 5 minutes, best to sort out the rice and dal first, and have all of the ingredients prepped and ready to go. This made two large servings. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 400g approx fresh salmon, boned and skinned
  • salt
  • turmeric
  • cayenne pepper
  • 1 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/4 tsp fennel seeds
  • 2 whole fresh hot green chillies, slit lengthways

METHOD:

  • Cut the fish into chunks around 2.5cm x 5cm, and put into a plastic container with a lid. Add 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground turmeric, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, mix well and cover. Leave to sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
  • Put the mustard into a small bowl, and add 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground turmeric, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, mix and then add 7 tbsp water, and set aside for later.
  • When you are ready to cook, heat the oil in a medium saucepan, and when the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, stir until they start to pop, and then add the cumin and fennel seeds. Stir again and add the mustard mixture. Add the chillies and bring to a simmer.
  • Place the fish into the sauce in a single layer, and simmer gently for 4 or 5 minutes, until the fish is just cooked through. Spoon the sauce over the fish as it cooks. 
  • And you’re done, ready to serve. 

Meatballs and beans in a lemon sauce.

This is a delicious recipe from Ottolenghi’s ‘Jerusalem’ which is one of my favourite recipe books. It has a sense of Persia about it, and for a while I was trying to find it in another book. I used up a couple of reduced lamb steaks and some beef mince, as well as some broad beans from the freezer to make this. It is easiest to make if you have a mincer; mine is electric and very efficient. 

INGREDIENTS: 

For the meatballs:

  • 300g beef mince
  • 200g lamb mince (or mince some lamb)
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 120g breadcrumbs (I put three large slices of stale wholemeal bread in a blender)
  • 2tbsp each of chopped mint, coriander and parsley
  • 1 tsp dried dill (or 2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped if it is available)
  • 2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp baharat spice mix (I got mine from Seasoned Pioneers
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp capers, chopped
  • 1 large egg, beaten

For the Sauce:

  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 300 to 400g broad beans, fresh or frozen
  • 1 tsp dried thyme, or the leaves from 4 fresh sprigs
  • 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • a bunch of spring onions, in 2cm segments, or a chopped shallot
  • juice of half a lemon (around 2 tbsp, or to taste)
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • In a large bowl, mix the meatball ingredients together. If you have a mincer, feed the mixture through the mincer after mixing, to ensure the ingredients are chopped and mixed together. 
  • Divide the mixture into 24 meatballs, about the size of a pingpong ball. Put them on an oiled baking tray, and leave them in the fridge for at least 20 minutes. 
  • Heat the oven up to high, and then put the chilled meatballs in for 5 minutes, until they are browned. 
  • Meanwhile, if you are feeling keen, poach the broad beans and remove the skins. Personally I like the skins and generally leave them on. The original recipe suggests half and half. 
  • In a large casserole pan, heat the olive oil. When it is hot, fry the spring onion, thyme and garlic over a medium heat for 3 minutes or so. 
  • Add the unpeeled broad beans, 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice, 80ml stock, 1/4 tsp salt and lots of black pepper. Poach the beans in the stock for 10 minutes.
  • Add the meatballs with the remaining stock, bring to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes over a low heat. At this juncture, you could turn the heat off and do something else, and come back to reheat. 
  • Just before serving, check to see if there is enough sauce. Stir in mixed chopped fresh herbs (mint, coriander, parsley, dill) and the peeled beans.

I served this with plain rice, my daugher got a wee take-away from me, and served hers with orzo pasta and pinenuts. Both delicious. 

Sausage casserole with smoked paprika

We are in that zone where the deliveries to our island shops are unpredictable, with bad weather and uncertainty with ferry maintenance. The consequence can be that the local shops have to sell volumes of short-dated groceries, and I managed to buy a lot of sausages, which are now in a number of local freezers. There was also a good supply of spinach leaves. Another top tip – if you are freezing overstocked spinach, steam it first and freeze it in 100g or 200g containers. 

This recipe came from a local collection of recipes, there are a few other sausage recipes in there. I do have a weakness for sausage casserole, so delicious with potatoes and green vegetables. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • Olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 large stick of celery, chopped
  • 2 bell peppers, roughly chopped
  • 1 pack of six sausages, around 400g
  • 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
  • 2 cans of chopped tomatoes (2x400g)
  • 1 can of cannellini beans, drained
  • 1 large or two small bags of spinach, around 250g

METHOD:

  • In a large casserole dish, heat the olive oil and then fry the onion for five minutes, medium heat. 
  • Next, add the celery, garlic and peppers, stir together and cook for another five minutes
  • Add the spices, and turn the heat up for a minute or two, then add the sausages. Cook until they are beginning to brown, and then add the tomatoes and beans, and bring to a simmer. 
  • Cover and cook for 40 minutes. Once the casserole is cooked, add the spinach and bring back to a simmer. 

Serve with mashed potatoes or brown rice, as well as side dishes of vegetables. 

Potatoes and spinach

More potato recipes. Charlotte potatoes work so well in these dishes, their flavour is great, they hold their shape and their texture is so smooth when they are cooked. I had spinach in the freezer. Buying packs of fresh spinach at their expiry date is a good deal. I break up the brittle and frozen spinach leaves in the bag before use. 

INGREDIENTS: 

  • 600g charlotte potatoes, or similar waxy potatoes, peeled and diced (1cm dice)
  • salt
  • 300g spinach leaves
  • 4 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 1/2tsp black mustard seeds
  • 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

METHOD:

  • Boil the potatoes in salted water for around 6 minutes, then drain and spread them out to cool
  • Steam the spinach until it is wilted, only takes a few minutes. Once it is cool enough to handle, squeeze out as much liquid as possible, and then chop, and set aside. 
  • Heat the oil in a wok or heavy frying pan, and when it is hot, add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the onion and garlic, turn the heat down and fry for a couple of minutes
  • Add the spinach, and keep cooking and stirring for another 10 minutes. 
  • Add the potato, 1 tsp salt, the garam masala and the cayenne pepper. Stir and mix until the potatoes are heated through and soft.