Month: August 2024

Dried Apricot and Angelica Jam

I made this in a large quantity the first time, which was a mistake. When making jam, smaller quantities are easier to manage. This was the outcome of round 2. I also used local angelica, which has a strange and pungeant smell on its own, but divine in apricot jam. The wild angelica locally is Angelica sylvestris, and you need to be sure of your plant identification. It is very common locally. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 500g dried apricots, chopped
  • 1.9 litres water
  • 3 stems of angelica, finely chopped
  • 2 lemons
  • 1.5 kg sugar

METHOD:

  • Chop the angelica and apricots, and cover with the water in the jam pan. Leave to soak for 48 to 72 hours
  • Simmer for around 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apricots are soft. 
  • Add the sugar and lemon juice and stir until dissolved, then boil rapidly to setting point. Pour into warmed clean jam jars. 

Salmon fishcakes

This is a relatively straightforward recipe with local ingredients. It was a bit of a breakthrough for me, as I finally got to grips with poaching salmon in the microwave. The original recipe includes details of a super-fancy sauce that I might post later. The sauce is a bit of work, TBH but it was tasty. 

Anyway, on to the fishcakes. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 300g raw salmon
  • 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
  • Squeeze of lemon juice
  • water
  • 350g cooked potatoes, masked
  • 1 egg white
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tbsp chopped parsley
  • plain flour
  • 1 egg yolk and 1 egg, beaten together
  • breadcrumbs (I used panko breadcrumbs)

METHOD:

  • Poach the salmon. If you are doing this in a saucepan, put the salmon and onion and the lemon juice in the pan, just cover with water and then simmer for a few minutes until just cooked. Remove the fish from the pan, and allow to cool. Strain and reserve the stock. This can be used to make a fancy sauce (separate recipe).
  • If you are poaching the salmon in the microwave, put the salmon in a shallow dish with the onion and lemon juice, and 150ml boiling water. Cover and microwave on high for three minutes. Remove the salmon from the water and set aside to cool. 
  • When cool skin the salmon and remove any bones. Flake the flesh into a bowl, and add the potatoes, egg white, seasoning and parsley. Mix well. 
  • Divide the mixture into around 18 cakes. I made mine about the size of a pingpong ball, and then flattened them slightly. 
  • Dip each fish cake in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Chill until required. 
  • When you are ready, fry the fishcakes in hot oil. These are good with a green salad and a little tartare sauce. 

Cheese scones

Out of bread? I made these quickly tonight while my soup was heating up, and they were delicious with cream cheese spread on them while they were still warm. One of the secrets of good scones is to make them quickly and don’t handle the dough very much. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 225g plain flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 4 tsp  baking powder
  • 50g butter
  • 50g grated parmesan (or other cheese)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • 150ml milk

METHOD

  • Set the oven to heat at 220C
  • Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the flour with your finger tips. 
  • Add the grated cheese and mix in well. 
  • Beat the egg and mustard with around 100ml milk, then stir it quickly into the dry ingredients. 
  • As soon as the mixture starts to form a dough, bring it together with your fingers, and turn out onto a floured table. Use your hands to make it around 1.5cm thick. You can cut out round scones with a cutter, but I just cut the dough up into pieces. 
  • Put the scones onto a baking sheet, and bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes. Once cooked, put them on a wire tray to cool. But of course they are best eaten while they are still warm.