Warning - Envy-Inducing News Within! (And Proscuittio Wrapped Sole ;)

I have some news that I just couldn't wait to tell you!! *

Hang on - first things first. it appears I have been remiss in my accreditation of Peter the Greek. You may recognise the formation of my plating below as reminiscent of a certain, recent Kalofagas post. And indeed it is. But I was so excited, I forgot to write it up ;) Peter, my humblest apologies... ;)

I'm leaving good old Blighty just in time for the cold(er!) season, and going off on a mighty, foodie traveling adventure, all by myself!

It's been on the cards for a while, but I didn't want to post about it until I had spoken to my work. I have just had 'the chat' with them today - so now the countdown begins! This is the news I was being mysterious about in an earlier post, and is the reason why I have leased out my flat... It's a good un, huh?!

So anyway, I don't have tickets booked yet, but I will be flying to Bangkok sometime later than a month from now, but hopefully before Christmas. I'm then going to travel around SE Asia overland for a few months - meeting up with a couple of friends on Ko Pha Nang for the Full Moon Party.

Then to recover from the excesses we'll be taking a diving course - new to me! Other than that I'm going to visit Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. Plus anywhere else that takes my fancy - probably Sri Lanka, and just maybe a trip to China to visit another friend.

And I'm taking a week to nip over to the Maldives to celebrate a friend's wedding (I'm bridesmaid!). Imagine a week of five star luxury (not to mention the free cocktails!!) after all that back-packing! :D

After that I plan to spend some time in Australia, then maybe a month in India on the way home.

Did I mention that I've been researching cookery schools? Because that's one of my main reasons for going! The food. Cooking and eating. Eating and cooking. And smelling. Then maybe a bit more eating. Just imagine... nom nom nom...

I'd love to meet up with any fellow bloggers out in those neck of the woods - and any recommendations for things to do, see, eat or cook will be most welcome! I've only allowed myself to plan loosely as I want to have freedom to make my decisions when I'm there.

Right, I'll turn the envy generator off now. (No, not really, I'm still grinning like a loon!)

But I wouldn't make you green, and leave you without even a taste of food, so have a delicious plate of...

Prosciutto Wrapped Sole with Roast Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Serves 2

• 1 large dover sole, skinned and filleted (i.e. 4 fillets)
• 1 medium onion
• 1 punnet cherry tomatoes
• 125ml white wine
• 4 slices prosciutto
• 2 cloves roast garlic
• Floury potatoes, boiled in salted water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• Juice of half a lemon
  
• knob of butter
• A shot of cream or milk
• Sugar, Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat the oven to 150c.

Prepare the Base...
Take a baking dish just big enough to take all the tomatoes in one layer, and drizzle in some olive oil. Cut the onion into 8 wedges, and lay in tray. Season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.

Pop in the oven for 20 minutes until soft and sweet.

Wash the cherry tomatoes, add to the onions and return to the oven for 10 minutes. Turn up the heat to 175c, throw in the glass of wine, chuck it back in the oven and set about making your fillet rolls.

Prepare the Fish...
Mix the olive oil with the lemon juice, paprika, cayenne, and a twist of sea salt if you fancy.

Take one fillet of sole, brush with the oil mix, and roll into a twist. Take a slice of prosciutto and wrap it round the fish, making a little skirt. Repeat with all the fillets. Brush the top of the fish with any excess oil mixture.

Get the oven dish out again, and sit the fish on top of the tomatoes. Bake for 20 minutes, or until done.

Make the Mash...
Make the roast garlic mash, by ricing the the potatoes and mixing in the butter, milk or cream and cloves of roast garlic. Make sure you mush up the garlic first - otherwise someone's going to get a garlicky shock... Hey, now there's a party game - mashed potato roulette... with garlic, chillies and chocolate!

Finish the Dish...
Move the fish to rest, and stir up the sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning as required - you may want to add a bit of sugar if the tomatoes are sharp.

Serve!
Serve with green beans, a wide grin, and a smug air!




* Apologies to my Twitter buddies - maybe I should have written this before I tweeted the news?! ;)

Think Spice: Fenugreek Poached Fish with Saag Aloo

First things first...

Yes, ok, so I haven't been around much this last week or so: I'm woefully slow in my posting, and my google reader ridicules me everytime I turn the computer on, groaning under the weight of unread posts... I have been in the kitchen (a lot!!) but have been sorely limited in non-work pc time.

So apologies if I haven't been by as much as usual - I promise I'll sort it out soon!

I have still been managing to cook - and this post is my entry for this month's Think Spice... this month being hosted by... me!

I chose fenugreek as the spice, either in seed form or as dried leaves. I ended up using both forms in this dish - although the seeds were my main use.

Unusually for me, I have kept the heat in this dish to a minimum - I didn't want to overpower the subtle flavours in the fish. And I was really pleased with the result. It was spicy - but in a flavourful way rather than hot. The saag aloo may not be authentic, but its main ingredients are spinach an potato - so I figured it deserved the name!

There was quite a bit of gravy at the end - next time I would serve this with some lovely naan bread to soak up all the flavour. As it is I just had to drink it out the bowl... ;)

Only 10 days left to get your fenugreek-spiced dishes to me - come on peeps, get cooking!

Fenugreek Poached Fish with Saag Aloo

Serves 2 - with leftovers!

For the Fish and Broth...

• 1.5 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 350ml water
• 100ml milk
• 2 fillets firm white fish - I used pollock

For the Saag Aloo...

• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 1 large pinch dried fenugreek leaves
• 1.5 tsp ground cumin
• 1.5 tsp ground coriander
• 0.5 tsp turmeric
• 0.5 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  
• 1 large clove garlic, crushed
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 1 bunch spinach, washed, destalked and roughly chopped
• 4 plum tomatoes, diced (large)
  
• 4 medium potatoes, diced (large)
• 2 tbsp ghee

Prepare the Broth...
In a dry pan, toast the fenugreek seeds for 3/4 minutes until golden brown. Transfer them to a mortar and pestle and give them a bit of a bash. Warning - these little legumes are really hard - so just try to break them up a bit, don't worry about grinding them to powder.

Put the bashed fenugreek and the fennel seeds in a pan, then pour over the water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool.


Prepare the Saag Aloo...
Heat the ghee over a low to medium heat and add the mustard seeds. When the start to pop add the onions and dried fenugreek leaves. Fry gently until translucent, don't allow to brown.

Add the ginger and garlic and cook for another minute or so before adding the cumin, coriander, turmeric and chilli.

Add the diced potato to the mix, and top up with cold water to about half way up the potato. Bring to the boil, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes or so, stirring a couple of times through out.

Prepare the fish while the potatoes are cooking...


Cook the Fish...
Once the broth is cool, strain through a fine sieve and discard the seeds. Add the milk, salt and turmeric. Lay the fish fillets in the broth - they should be totally submerged - otherwise top up with water.

Gently bring the broth to the boil. As soon as it reaches the boil, cover and turn off the heat. Leave in the broth for 5-10 minutes - until fish is cooked through (this will depend on how thick the fish is).


Finish the Saag Aloo...
Add the tomatoes and chopped spinach to the potato mix and stir well. Cover the pan, and cook for another 5/10 minutes - until the potatoes are cooked through, the spinach is completely wilted and the tomatoes are softened.

Depending on how much water is released by the tomatoes and spinach you may want to remove the lid for the last few minutes of cooking to let the sauce thicken.

Spicy Marinated Salmon with Raw Bean Salad

Guess what???

I'm moving house soon, having finally managed to lease my place out! I'm happy in some ways, but sad in others - I've had many good times in my wee flat and am sorry to leave it. Even worse, I will no longer be Kittens in the Kitchen... as the cats can't come with me to my new place.* So I guess I'll just need to be Kittie in a Different Kitchen...

But on the positive side, I'm moving for a very good reason (which I'll tell you all about very soon) - and now that I'm moving out, I know that my plans are actually starting to come together!

Anyway, less of the cryptic ramblings and onto the food!

I have about 3 weeks left in my flat - which means three weeks to run down the store cupboard and freezer - I won't be able to take much with me. So I think it is time for another Store Cupboard Challenge! It is something I had been thinking about doing anyway, and seems to be a bit of a theme in the food blogosphere at the minute, what with Judy's clean out, and Heather's purge...

I quite like raiding the pantry and freezer - it makes me feel like I'm on an extended episode of Ready, Steady, Cook! So I started off with this dish - using up some beans and tomatoes from the fridge, 2 almost empty packs of cous cous from the cupboard, and a couple fillets of salmon that I got for a end of day bargain price of £1.20!

The beans and tomatoes are deliberately all but raw. If you don't fancy raw beans feel free to give them a bit of a steam before adding them - I really fancied the crunch factor of keeping them raw though.

Try eating it hot from the pan - or cold the next day for lunch!

Spicy Marinated Salmon with Raw Bean Cous Cous

I haven't really put specific quantities - add more or less cous cous to pad it out - or more veg to up the health factor!

• 150g salmon fillet
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp hot sauce
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 clove crushed garlic
• 12 grated ginger
• cous cous
• stock
• 3 large tomatoes, diced
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• Various beans, I used dwarf and sugar snap, cut into bitesize pieces!

Prepare the Salmon...
Chop the salmon into bite size pieces and place in a bowl. Mix together the sesame oil, hot sauce, soy sauce, lime juice and honey and pour over the salmon. Mix well, cover and refridgerate for an hour or two.

Prepare the Cous Cous...
Toast the cous cous for a couple of minutes in a dry pan, until it turns golden. Remove into a bowl and drizzle over about a tablespoonful of olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper. Remember the stock is saltly too, don't over season! Use your fingers to mix the olive oil into the cous cous - get it all covered and make sure there are no lumps! Add hot stock onto the cous cous, until it is just covered. Cover the bowl and leave for 10 minutes.

This won't actually cook the cous cous thoroughly - we're going to add more stock in a bit if we need to. I find doing it this way helps make it fluffy - not soggy!

After the 10 minutes are up, fluff the cous cous well and add the tomatoes and beans.

Cook...
Heat some olive oil in a hot wok. Drain off the excess marinade from the salmon and add the fish to the pan. Cook quickly over a hot heat so the outside gets a bit of a crust, leaving the inside not quite cooked. Don't worry if some of the chunks break up, it's all part of the charm!

Remove the salmon to a bowl.

In the same wok heat a spot more oil add the ginger and garlic and cook out for a couple of minute. Throw in the cous cous mix and fry for a couple of minutes, letting the cous cous pick up all the flavours from the salmon. If the cous cous is still al dente, add a bit more stock (remember the tomatoes will release some juices which will continue to soften the cous cous!)

Return the salmon to the wok and combine with the cous cous.



Serve with a smug grin safe in the knowledge that this is delicious and good for you! And maybe a glass of crisp white wine - it is Friday after all!



Left over tip!
I had some leftovers, so mixed them up with a bit of whisked egg to form a pliable mixture. Formed it into a couple of patties and rolled in panko before doing a shallow fry. I forgot to take pictures - so you'll have to take my word for it, but these were fab!!! Which I ended up having for breakfast the next day as I was out of bread!



* Don't worry, they are being looked after by a friend of mine until I'm in a position to get them back...

---

This recipe is all mine, so I'm sending it over to Lore's Original Recipes event.

I had to double check, but cous cous is a pasta - so it's one for Presto Pasta Night - this week being hosted by Psychgrad and Giz over at Equal Opportunity Kitchen!

Because I got the salmon so cheaply, this worked out to be a very cheap dinner - costing about £2.70 for 2 large portions, plus leftovers! Scale it up to 4 and we're still under £5, so this is my submission to this week's Frugal Friday!

Cod-Gette Bites! Or What to do With Leftovers When You're Bored...

This is boredom food. I wasn't even really hungry, having had a big lunch and a snack at the pub on the way home. But I looked in the fridge and noticed a yellow courgette (zucchini!) left over from the Courgette and Lemon Spaghetti, I did for T&T, and a bowl of spicy cod and prawn mousse left over from the trilogy of seafood I prepared for the Royal Foodie Joust last month*. I had a couple of friends coming to share a few glasses of wine, so decided to cook up something random, just for something to do!

Spicy Cod-Gette Bites!

It isn't much of a recipe, so I'll just tell you what I did...

I sliced the courgette into thickish slices, and brushed each one with olive oil. Then I griddled them until just cooked - but still very al dente - no soggy courgette allowed please people! Whilst the first side was cooking, I ground some red chilli flakes and sprinkled some sea salt on the other side.

Meanwhile I shaped spoonfuls of the cod mixture into balls, dipped each one into beaten egg, before coating with panko. I deep-fried them for 5/6 minutes each in moderately hot oil. It took me a couple of goes to get the oil heat/time ratio - the first one was raw in the middle still. Next time I would probably make them a bit smaller and cook them for slightly less time.

Drain on paper towel.

Right, so take one of the cooked courgette slices and spread with some sambal. I used sambal brandal - but be warned it is pretty hot! I like it that way - but if you would prefer it less burny (bah), you could try some chili jam or even sweet chilli sauce here.

Place the spicy cod ball on top - and it's ready to go!





* No, it hadn't been in my fridge for a month - this is just a tardy post :P

Scottish Scran 3 - Trout in Oatmeal

Well, I promised you a trooty affair for the third instalment of Scottish Scran... and here it is... Trout in Oatmeal!

Trout always reminds me of my childhood in Alloa. My poppy (grandad!) used to go out fly fishing for trout down to the River Devon; many a morning I'd come down the stairs bleary-eyed to be started awake by the sight of two or three specimen waiting in the sink to be cleaned. (And on a couple of occasions, a bunny that he had managed to do a trade for if he'd got a good haul that day!)

Now, I look back and wish I had that sort of produce available to me now... but at the time I wasn't a huge trout fan - only really loving it in fish pie. I think maybe it was just a bit too strongly flavoured for my young palette - definitely not the case now.

Though I have cooked with trout many times since then - this was the first time I'd tried my hand at this very simple, but very tasty Scottish dish. Trout fillets are coated in oatmeal before being fried until crunchy, then served with parsley lemon butter.

I decided to dish it it with a spring onion potato cake, some lightly steamed, fine sliced runner beans, and a couple of oven roasted tomatoes.

And, just for a little something a little different, here's an old children's song, originally written in the 1950s by Sandy Thomas Ross in a book called Bairnsangs (i.e. Children's Songs!)

The Auld Troot

The auld broon troot lay unner a stane,

Unner a stane lay he,

An he thocht o' the wund,

An he thocht o' the rain,

An the troot that he uist tae be.

A'm a gey auld troot, said he tae hissel,

A gey auld troot, said he,

An there's mony a queer-like

Tale A cuid tell

O' the things that hae happened tae me.

They wee-hafflin trooties are aa verra smart,

They're aa verra smert, said he,

They ken aa the rules

O' the gemm aff by hairt,

An they're no aften catched, A'll agree.

They're thinkin A'm auld an they're thinkin A'm duin,

They're thinkin A'm duin, said he,

They're thinkin A'm no

Worth the flirt o' a fin

Or the blink o' a bonnie black ee.

But A'm safe an A'm smug in ma bonnie wee neuk,

A'm safe an A'm snug, said he,

A'm the big fush that

Nae fusher can heuk,

An A'll aye be that - till A dee!

I'll leave you to decipher that amongst yourselves... ah'll gie ye a heidstart, auld's old!

Trout in Oatmeal

• 2 large trout fillets
• 1 cup of fine ground oatmeal
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp butter, softened
• 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
• The zest and juice of half a lemon
• A good grind of black pepper
• nut oil to fry
  

Prepare the Butter...
MIx together the butter, parsley lemon zest/juice and black pepper together until smooth. Place on a sheet of clingfilm and wrap tightly, before putting it back in the fridge to firm up.

Prepare the Trout...
Mix together the salt and the oatmeal. Cut each fillet of trout in two, then dip into the milk. Let the excess milk drain off, then dip into the oatmeal mixture - being sure to coat thoroughly. Place in the fridge while you prepare the sides!

Cook the Trout...
Heat a decent amount of oil in a shallow frying pan. Get it nice and hot - we want to get a good crunch going for the oatmeal - without overcooking the fish!

Carefully lay the trout into the oil, and allow to cook for a couple of minutes, until the oatmeal is nice and golden. Carefully turn and cook for another couple of minutes on the other side.

Serve!
Place the trout on a warm plate with the rosti and veg. Take the parsley butter out the fridge and cut into slice with a shape knife. Place the butter on the trout - and enjoy!

I managed to find a pic of pretty much exactly where my poppy took me fishing once. I didn't catch any trout... I don't think being a 9 year old mad child was conducive to the peace and quiet required... I wasn't asked back! But it was such a beautiful day and a beautiful place.

Scottish Word of the Day!

Greet - cry, also greeting - crying

When ma wee sister saw th' deid bunnie*, she started greetin' til ma mither said she didnae huv tae eat it! But whit she didnae ken wis that the chicken pie she et that night, may no huv been chicken efter a'!

* Oh, and here's another random Scottish fact for you - did you know that the word bunny comes from the old Scottish word 'bun', meaning rabbit??

Spicy Trout... Waste Not, Want More!

The wine was poured, the curry was almost ready and the rice resting, when I spotted a pack of trout fillets in my fridge. I had bought them for the bargain price of £1 earlier that day - but had totally forgotten them!

After initially cursing myself at the waste - I decided to give myself 10 minutes to turn them into something to go with dinner. (After all, they had to be used that day and couldn't be frozen - I'd be as well trying!)

I remembered I had a courgette* left in the bottom of the fridge from the week before... would it be a pile of mush in the bottom of the veggie bag? Huzzah, it was as green and crisp as the day I bought it.

So... I chopped the trout into bite sized pieces, then tossed them in a mix of garam masala and chilli powder - rubbing it in a bit for maximum flavour. I put them to one side while the courgette was effectively (if not neatly) chopped into similarly sized chunks.

I heated a wee bit of ghee (or it may have been olive oil) in a heavy frying pan and threw in the courgette along with a good pinch of fenugreek leaves. After frying for a couple of minutes, a dollop of ginger/garlic paste followed it in (see I knew there was a reason I kept a jar of that stuff!)

Another minute passed then the trout went in. I fried them all together until the trout was just about cooked, then seasoned with salt and squeezed over the juice of half a lemon.

And y'know something - it was absolutely delicious! I think with a wee dod of yogurt, and this will be on my mid-week menu for some time to come!

Spicy Trout with Lemony Courgette

Less than 10 minutes from finding the trout - howzzat?!?

(edit) * courgette = zucchini! What? I am British, y'know ;)

Scottish Scran 2 - Finnan Haddie

For my second edition of Scottish Scran, I present you to a dish which I most commonly associate with breakfast - even though here I am serving it as a supper.

A finnan haddie is a type of smoked haddock which originated in the town of Findon (also known as Finnan) near Aberdeen. Lightly salted and cold-smoked over peat, it replaced the older style spelding - a dry, salted unsmoked haddock that had been common until the advent of the railways made this lighter curing possible.

Beware of any smoked haddock that comes in an unearthly shade of yellow... or occasionally even orange! Smoked haddock has a naturally off-white colour - the bright coloured stuff has been artificially coloured - and may even have artificial smoke flavour injected into it rather than the real thing. Nasty!

I expect a couple of smoked haddock dishes to come up in my exploration - not least of the Arbroath Smokie...

But for now, I'll show you my favourite way to eat a finnan haddie - simply poached in milk, served with a lightly poached egg. As I ate it for supper here, I put it on a bed of lightly steamed asparagus (wilted spinach works a treat too), but for breakfast just add a slice of toast (or a couple of oatcakes!) and you're done!

Finnan Haddie wi' a Poached Egg

• 150g smoked haddock per person
• 1 lightly poached egg per person. Or make it two!
• 6/7 spears asparagus per person, trimmed and lightly steamed
• Enough milk to cover the fish in a saucepan
• 6/7 black peppercorns (optional)
• 2 bay leaves (optional)
• butter (optional)
  
• salt to taste

Prepare the Haddie...
Select a saucepan big enough to take all the fish and fill it a third up with milk. Add in the peppercorns and bay leaves (if using) and bring the milk to the boil.

Remove the skin and bones from the smoked haddock and place into the milk.

Bring the milk back to the boil, turn heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave for 10 minutes.

Serve!
Arrange the asparagus on the plate, and place chucks of the poached haddock on it. If you fancy, dot the haddock with some butter and add a grind of black pepper. Top with a poached egg.

If you fancy it, make a white sauce from the haddock poaching milk and pour a bit over the egg. I love this, but seldom bother making the extra dishes ;) An extra egg with a gorgeous oozy yolk is all the sauce I need!

Scottish Word of the Day!

Today, to mark the fact my mum is coming down to stay with me for a week I am going to give you three words in one... and they all mean mum!

mither - mah mither hus a lot tae answer fur!
maw - ah huv a lot o' tidyin' tae do afore ma maw gets in
mammie - ah cannae wait tae see ma mammie!

RFJ: Seafood, Sesame and Cilantro - A Trilogy!

I think I may have mentioned in an earlier post, my weird obsessiveness around the number three...

My alarm goes off at 07:09... or occasionally 06:57. I'm eternally greatful that our time system is base 60... cook for 30 seconds, 15 minutes, 45 seconds, lovely... I even make friends' coffee with three 2/3 teaspoons of coffee instead of just 2!

Now... are you still there? I'm not that weird, honest - it's just one of my little quirks ;) I can skip it if I need to... I'd just rather not!

It's not just me - Chinese people consider the number three to be lucky because it sounds like the word 'alive'. And in many other cultures, it is considered a significant number due to the trinity of mind, body and soul.

So anyway, I love that the Royal Foodie Joust has three ingredients, and this month I decided to propogate the three-love by using the three ingredients to make three fingerfoods and three dipping sauces!

The three ingredients were selected this month by Peter of Kalofagas fame, who won last month's joust with this amazing Apricot and Pistachio Cake. He chose Seafood, Sesame and Cilantro/Coriander - as soon as I read the list I knew I was going to have fun with this one!

Seafood, Sesame and Cilantro - A trilogy!

The first of the three is seared marinated tuna (in the middle!), coated with crushed coriander, szechuan pepper corns and sesame seeds. I served this with a thick tahini dressing, complete with a garlicky cilantro swirl.

Secondly, for your delectation, I present sesame-crusted squid (on the right!) with a cilantro and chili yoghurt dipping sauce.

Last, but by no means least - crispy fried wontons (on the left!) with a spicy fish and prawn mousse filling, served with sweet cilantro chili dipping sauce.

I had so much fun thinking up and making these dishes - I hope you like them!

If you like what I've done here, then head on over to the Joust forum and give me a vote ;) But even if you don't, get yourself over there to see the amazing dishes other people have created!

Seared Coriander And Sesame Crusted Tuna

• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice wine
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 crushed garlic clove
• 3 tbsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted
  
• 3 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp szechaun pepper corns
• 2 thick tuna steaks
• ground nut oil for searing
• 1/3 cup sesame seeds (for the tahini)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Large handful cilantro
• 2 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp rice wine
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  
• Zest and juice of half a lemon
  

Marinate the Tuna...
Mix together the sesame oil, soy, rice wine and mirin with the garlic and ginger.

Cut each tuna steak into long thick strips (give 'em three, four sides or more - your call!) and add to the marinade. Coat well and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.

Make the Tahini Sauce...
Take the third of a cup of sesame seeds and toast in a dry pan for 3/4 minutes - being sure to keep them moving and not over-colour.

Once cooled, place them in a mini-blender and blend until smooth. Slowly add the EV olive oil until the sauce is still really thick but not like glue!

Add the lemon juice, 1 tsp rice wine, 1 clove of garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Blend again - it should now be a pourable texture (if not add a little water to loosen).

Make the Cilantro Swirl...
In the mini-blender (time-saving secret - I didn't bother washing mine from the tahini ;) place the cilantro, garlic and lemon zest and blend til smooth. Add olive oil until it reaches a pourable consistency.

Put the Sauce Together...

Put the tahini sauce into the serving dish, then add a dollop of blended cilantro. Attempt some swirly things... probably twice... (I had hoped this was going to come out more 'cheffy' than this - but it wasn't to be! ;)

Cook the Tuna...
Once the tuna has finished marinating, remove it from the fridge.

Pound the coriander seeds and szechuan together until coarsely ground. Place this mixture onto one plate - and the toasted sesame seeds onto another.

Remove the tuna from the marinade and coat each length in either the sesame seeds or the spice mix.

Heat a little oil in a very hot pan, and sear the tuna for no more than a minute on each side - the centre should still be very pink!

Serve!
Slice the tuna and arrange on serving dish with the tahini cilantro dipping sauce.

Sesame Squid With Cilantro Yoghurt Dip

• 1 medium squid, cleaned
• oil for deep frying
• 1 cup milk
• 3 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted and cooled
• 4 tbsp cornflour
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 large handful cilantro
• 1 green chili
• 3/4 cup natural yogurt
• 2/3 drops of sesame oil
• lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the Squid...
Cut the squid into strips and gently criss cross the inside to create a hatch pattern.

Place into the milk and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Mix the corn flour, flour and sesame seeds together in a food bag.

Once the squid has soaked, remove from the milk, shaking off the excess, then place in the bag. Shake bag thoroughly until the squid is well coated.

Remove the squid from the bag and place back in the fridge for at least half an hour - this is what makes the batter so crunchy!

Make the Sauce...
In a mixer, blend the cilantro and the chili together until fairly smooth. Turn out to a bowl and add the coriander and the yoghurt. Mix well, then add lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper to taste.

Refrigerate until required.





Cook the Squid...
Heat the oil until a cube of bread browns in 30 seconds.

Gently drop the squid in - shaking to separate, and being sure not to overcrowd the pan.

Cook for approximately 45 seconds, then remove and drain on some kitchen paper.

Serve with the chili cilantro dipping sauce, and enjoy!

Spicy Seafood Wontons with Sesame Chili Dressing

• 300g white fish (I used cod!)
• 100g prawns
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 12 wonton wrappers
• 2" piece ginger, finely chopped or grated
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• Zest of 1 lime
  
• 2 thai red chillies, finely chopped
  
• 2 egg whites
• 50 ml rice vinegar
• 50 ml water
• 75g sugar
• 1 tsp cornflour
  
• 1 tsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted
  
• Soy sauce to taste
  

This made way more fish mousse than required - but can be used for great leftovers!

Prepare the Fish Mousse...
In a food processor, blitz the white fish until pretty smooth. Add one egg white, one chili, half the ginger, half the garlic, the lime zest, sesame oil and half the fish sauce and blitz again until it becomes 'spongey'.

Roughly chop the prawns and mix into the fish mixture with a spoon or your fingers. (Don't blend this time - we want the prawns to remain fairly intact!)

Prepare the Sauce...
In a mini-blender, blend the other half of the ginger, the other half of the garlic, one chili and a handful of cilantro until finely chopped but not totally pureed.

In a small pan, bring the rice vinegar/ water and sugar to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Mix the cornflour with a spot of water then add to the syrup, with the ginger/garlic mix and a couple of drops of sesame oil. Simmer for another minute or so and remove from the heat.

Prepare The Wontons...
Whisk together one egg white with a little water.

Place a wonton wrapper on a lightly floured surface and brush with the egg white mixture. Place a small teaspoon of filling in the middle and fold over, gently squeezing out all the air and pressing the edges together. Make into a shape if you want - I just kinda folded the long corners in and stuck them togther... I had a crazy idea about pan-frying the seam with a sesame seed mix. Which didn't work out - more on that in a sec!

Place in a steamer (make sure they aren't touching!!)

Cook the Wontons...
Once they are all prepared, steam for 4-5 minutes, then remove from the heat...

... right, so it was at his point that things started to go wrong... some of my wontons were touching - and when I tried to separate them the wrapper tore...

Emergency re-think required. My original thought had been to coat two side of the wonton in sesame seeds and pan-fry for a minute or two to give a lovely crunchy edge. But that wasn't going to work with my poor little torn wontons... So, noticing that my oil was nicely hot I decided to briefly deep-fry them instead!

Woo hoo - they were delicious! Make sure the oil is really nice and hot - these have already been cooked, we're just crisping them up. Fry for a minute or two then drain on kitchen paper.

Beware - they are still sticky little buggers, don't do too many at once - and keep them moving!

Serve!
With a squeeze of lime juice and sweet chili and cilantro sauce!

Saffron-Infused Lemon Sole with Lemony Samphire Rice

My third fish dish in a row - I love summer!

This was yet another home coming dish - I was away at a festival all weekend... and definitely in need of a healthy home-cooked dish on my return. After a bath that is - after 4 days in a field that was my top priority!

The festie was amazing - so much better than last year, when we got totally flooded out!! Want to see a pic of my tent last year??

Hmmm... see that puddle on the tent?? Well that's where my head was supposed to be...

At that point we decided to cut our losses and head home. But after hiking 3/4 of a mile through the mud and driving rain to the exit, we were told we couldn't leave... the roads for 10 miles around were flooded to waist-height. It wasn't one of the happier moments in my life!

We got back to the campsite... which by then looked like this...

(That's flowing water by the way!!)

But - spirit of the blitz and all - we stuck it out and had a good time anyway - the sun eventually came out - though the mud was there to stay!!!

What a mission!!!

Anyway, after my little detour, I'll get back to the food blogging! (My pics from this year are still stuck on my phone!)

I think that the festival was my last big occasion of the summer so I hope to get back onto more regular blogging from now on in (barely a post a week in July - shocking!! ;)

As this dish is all my own (as most of them are!!) I'm submitting this dish to Lore over at Culinarty - for the Original Recipe event. This is a great way for people to find brand new recipe - as well as showcase what they have created.

Generally when I create a new recipe, I start with one key ingredient, or idea, then build it up from here. This time I had picked up some gorgeous lemon sole from my fishmonger, and whilst I was there got some samphire for the first time this year. I only tried samphire for the first time last year - it is a great ingredient. Sometime known as the asparagus of the sea, it has a lovely crunch, and a fresh 'sea' taste which really supplements fish dishes. If it is new season, try it raw in salads (give it a good wash first!), or quickly stir fry it with a bit of chilli and garlic. I had been planning to cook potatoes to go with the fish - but I felt that lemons and tomatoes would work really well with the samphire - so brown rice just seemed to match.

And the saffron infusion - well, just because I could!

Saffron-Infused Lemon Sole with Lemony Samphire Rice

Serves 2

• 2 fillets lemon sole
• Good pinch saffron
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 150ml milk
• 6 peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf (preferably fresh)
• 150g new season samphire
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 cup brown rice
• 600ml fish stock and/or water (I only had 400ml stock, so topped up with water)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 4 large tomatoes - reserve the vine if it has one!
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 chilli
• 1 banana shallot, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• handful parsley, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup plain flour for dredging
• Olive oil
• butter

Prepare the Veggies...
Wash the samphire in cold water and chop it into inch long pieces. Leave to soak for as long as possible - this will stop it being too salty. Bring a pot of water to the boil (don't add salt!) then blanch for a minute or two. Drain and refresh in iced water. Set aside.

Half, then quarter the tomatoes. Remove and discard the seeds, and dice the flesh into 1cm cubes - leaving the skin on. Cover and refridgerate until needed.

Heat a glug of olice oil in a frying pan and gently fry the shallot, garlic and 1/4 of the lemon zest for 3/4 minutes. Add a couple of tablespoons of fish stock and the juice of half a lemon, then fry until reduced to almost nothing. Set aside.

Make The Saffron Infusion...
Heat 150ml of milk in a pan just big enough to hold the fish. Once boiled remove from the heat and add the bay leaf, peppercorns, turmeric and saffron. Mix well and set aside to cool thoroughly.

Once cooled, add the sole fillet, skin-side up - top up with more milk if required. Cover and refrigerate for at least half an hour. (But no more than an hour)

Prepare the Rice...
Wash the rice in several changes of cold water - leave to soak for a while if you have time. Place the rice, tomato puree and water/stock into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Piece the chilli several times and add to the pot, along with half of the lemon zest. If you reserved the tomato vine, give it a wash and add too - it's amazing the amount of flavour that is held there. (A Heston Blumenthal tip!)

Simmer until the rice is cooked, probably about 30 mins depending on the rice.

Remove the vine and chilli, then add the diced tomatoes. Cook for another 2/3 minutes and turn off the heat. Add the samphire, parsley and onion mixture, mix well and season to taste.

Cook the fish...
Drain and discard the saffron milk from the fish. Season the flour with salt and pepper, then dredge the fish in it - being sure to pat off any excess.

Heat a good glug of olive oil to a medium heat in the pan you cooked the onions in, then gently lay the fish in, skin side down. Cook for 3 minutes, then turn. Add a couple of knobs of butter and cook for another minute or two, then turn off the heat - allowing the heat from the pan to finish the cooking for you.

Serve!
Place a couple of spoonfuls of the rice mixture in a bowl, and lay the fillet over it. If you like (I did!) pour the butter from the pan over the fish. Top with a wedge of lemon and a garnish of parsley.

Enjoy!

TT&T2 - Catalan Fish Stew with Spelt Bread

Health concious? Me??

Well I do try... it's just the weekends that cause problems!!

Regular readers will hopefully know that most of my recipes are pretty healthy - I love my spice and don't eat too much dairy or red meat. I do obviously have the occasion exception to the rule... especially when I discovered deep fat frying... but on the whole I love making dishes that taste good without being full of 'rubbish'.

So Tried, Tested and True 2 - an event conceived by Psychgrad and Giz from Equal Opportunity Kitchen - is right up my alley. This is their second event - check out the round up from the first one - what a fab collection of recipes!

This time however, there is a difference. Our tried and tested recipes have to promote health - be it low cal, low fat, high nutrient, whatever. They want don't just want dishes that work - they have to work for you too!

I decided to make a dish I have made a few times before - Catalan fish stew. It is a great dinner party dish as the bulk of the work can be done in advance. It is based jointly on a dish I had whilst in Barcelona and a Catalan fish stew I saw on MasterChef a year or two later - white fish, fried in olive oil, topped with a tomato, pinto beans and chorizo sauce. Flavoured with both fresh and ground fennel and thickened with ground almonds, this is a super tasty dinner - despite being healthy!!!

Right... so... you want to know what makes this so healthy?

Tomato Based Sauce!

Tomatoes are the best food source of uber-protective antioxidant nutrient, lycopene - which has amazing cancer and heart disease prevention properties.

Check this out - men who eat tomatoes twice a week are on average 35% less likely to get prostate cancer. Tomatoes also help protect against breast, pancreatic and intestinal cancers.

Tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin K (for bone health) and are a very good source of fibre and calcium too.

And... cooking tomatoes actually improves their health benefits as it concentrates the phytonutrients.

Pinto Beans!

Eating pinto beans will lower your cholesterol levels due to their high fibre content. They are also an excellent source of protein and vitamin B1

If you suffer from unstable blood-sugar levels (like me!), eating pinto beans will level out the highs and lows - with slow release energy thrown in to boot!

Pinto beans high levels of phosphorus, iron, magnesium, potassium, and copper lowers heart attack risk, heart disease risk and blood pressure.

Almonds!

Hmmm... Almonds? Really?? But they're sooo fatty...

Ah HAH - but they're the good type of fat! Y'know the type of fat that makes us lose weight, reduces the risk of heart disease and lowers cholesterol... monounsaturated fat!

Eating almonds can significantly reduce the GI level of what you're eating too, and contain more protein by weight than an egg!

Cod!

As well as tasting fab, cod is an amazing low-calorie source of protein - rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Though it really doesn't sound good - food rich in omega-3 fatty acids can help control blood pressure, protect against cancer and can even protect against Alzheimer's and Age-related Cognitive Decline.

Spelt!

What previously may have made this dish less healthy was that I generally serve it with huge hunks of chewy white bread... So in the spirit of the event I decided to make my own spelt bread to eat with the stew.

Spelt is higher in complex carbs that wheat - as well as containing way more fibre and protein. Many people also find they can tolerate it more easily than wheat - though it is still not gluten-free.

The bread had a lovely deep nutty flavour, and was very quick and easy to make - recipe at the bottom!

Low in Fat...

Ok, ok, so the fish is fried...

But it is in healthy olive oil... and get this: the phytonutrients in tomatoes will be far better absorbed when eaten with a little oil. So you see, I was thinking about you all the time!

So, now I've dispensed with my healthful rhetoric... let's get back to the dish, I hereby present you with my incredibly healthy, incredibly tasty...

Catalan Fish Stew

Served 7 hungry people!

• 1500g cod fillet - skinned (any firm white fish will do!)
  
• 500g huss fillet - skinned (again, any firm white fish will do!)
• 500g mussels, prawns and/or squid cooked and peeled if required
  
• 200g chorizo, diced
• 1 tin pinto beans, drained and rinsed
  
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 4 large tomatoes, diced
  
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 fennel bulb, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, ground
• 2 tbsp paprika
  
• 1 tbsp oregano (fresh only, don't use dried)
  
• 1/2 tsp saffron strands
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 cup water
• A large glass of white wine (I don't measure wine in cups ;)
  
• 1 cup ground almonds
  
• olive oil for frying
• 3/4 cup white flour for dredging the fish
  
• salt to taste
  

Prepare the Sauce...
As I was cooking this for a mid-week dinner I decided to prepare the sauce in advance to give myself as little to do as possible the next day.

Heat the olive oil on a medium heat, and fry the onions, chorizo and garlic for 4/5 minutes. Add the ground fennel, oregano, 1 tbsp of paprika, the bay leaves and tomatoes and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Add the water and white wine, allow to cool and refrigerate until required. Or you could leave it to simmer away whilst you fry up the fish if you're doing it all on the same day! (Which is probably more likely ;)

Fry the Fish...
(If you did prepare the sauce the night before then bring it to a simmer now!)

Chop the fish into large pieces. Mix the flour with a tablespoon of paprika and season with salt.

Dredge the fish in the flour mixture - patting off as much excess as possible.

Heat olive oil to a medium heat and fry the fish for a couple of minutes on either side - or until just cooked through - this will depend on how thick your fish is!

Set aside.

Put it Together...
Add the pinto beans to the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if required. Add the almonds, mussels, squid and prawns and cook for two minutes further.

Divide up the fried fish between the plates and spoon over the seafood sauce.

Serve with hunks of bread for mopping up the juices... for instance, my

Single Rise Spelt Bread!

Makes 2 2lb loaves

• 
  

• 6 cups wholemeal Spelt flour
• 2 cups hand-warm water
• 1 tbsp dried yeast
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Toasted sesame seeds to sprinkle

Activate the Yeast...
Dissolve the honey and yeast with one cup of the warm water. Cover and leave for 10 minutes until it starts to foam.

If it hasn't started to foam after this time, try again - the water may have been too hot or too cold. If this doesn't fix it may well be that your yeast is too old and needs to be replaced.

Prepare the Dough...
Add one cup of flour to the dough and mix well, then add the salt and the flour, cup by cup until it is all incorporated.

Turn out the dough and knead for 3 minutes - do not overwork the dough. The dough should be soft but not sticky.

Lightly grease 2 2lf loaf tins*. Divide the mixture in two, shape into loaf sausages and place in the tins. Cover in oiled clingfilm and put in a warm place to rise until doubled.

Spelt can be really fast rising - so start checking after about 45 minutes. In my case it took over an hour though.

Bake!
Preheat oven to 180c.
Lightly brush the tops of the loaves with milk and sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds.

Pop in the oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Smells good? We're almost there!

Remove from the tin and put back in the oven for 5 minutes to crisp.

Place on a wire rack and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before eating.

As well as an accompaniment to the fish stew - this made the most amazing sandwich bread - full of flavour!





* This is what I would have done if I'd had two loaf tins... I only had one - so I wrapped half of the dough in greased film and refrigerated it whilst the first loaf was rising - then let the second rise while the first was baking!)

Psari Plaki - or Mary Queen of Cods!

When Peter the Greek of Kalafogas fame posted this beautiful baked fish dish last week I dribbled and drooled, stumbled and tagged as I so frequently do - and it entered the voluminous bank of 'recipes to make' that I have been cultivating for the last year or two.

But the next day when I went to pick up a piece of fish for a healthy post-Ibiza dinner, it popped back into my mind - so instead of the skate wings I picked up a beautiful whole cod instead! (I love my fishmonger - check out this 3lb beauty - for less than a fiver!!)


So Peter's dish is Ψάρι πλακί (did I pronounce that right Peter?? ;) or Psari Plaki - basically fish baked with tomatoes and olive oil (some sites say tomatoes and potatoes, others tomatoes with herbs or various veggies - but tomatoes are the constant.) Baked in the oven, and served with a load of crusty bread for mopping up the juices, how could I resist!?

So I trudged home with my huge cod (after making some phonecalls to ensure I'd have company to eat with!) and visited the bakers and greengrocers for the rest of my ingredients.

Peter's recipe specifies Cubanelle peppers. Now I wasn't too sure what those were, but he pointed me towards any sweet, thin-skinned pepper - the flavour of the dish would be overwhelmed by using bell peppers here.


The guy in the shop didn't know what these peppers were called, but they were thin-skinned and sweet - and worked perfectly!

Peter also recommended using old floury potatoes - not waxy or new. But decent old potatoes are not the easiest thing to find in England in July. So instead I reverted to one of my old favourites - Cyprus potatoes. A hint of waxiness, though not too much so, I thought these worked really well. They were creamy and smooth, and just falling apart enough to give some real body to the sauce.

But, anyway, back to the tale!

I got myself home and started laying out the kitchen, and quickly realised something. A 3lb fish is really, really big. Way too big to fit in any of my oven dishes.

There was only one thing to be done...

CRACK, HACK, SNIP

A hack, snip and a crack later, and we have it - behold Mary, Queen of Cods!

I'm not going to go into the detail of how I prepared the plaki - I followed Peter's recipe - and a lovely simple one it was too. I used fresh oregano from my garden, and I think I may have thrown in an extra tomato. Because it goes against my nature to do exactly what I'm told!


So anyway, the tatties and veg were layered in, the headless fish snuggled down amongst them, and the paprika olive oil slurry poured on top. I was about to put it in the oven... when I noticed Mary gazing forlornly from the counter with her one visible eye. There seemed to be such a lot of flavour going to waste in that beautful big fishy head.

The cats were at my feet looking hopeful. But I had plans to reunite Mary to her body...

Yeah, that'll do it!

I've no idea whether that added anything to the flavour - but it amused me so she stayed.

So (bear with me - I'm almost done) fifty minutes later, out she came from the oven. The smell was fabulous!

For me, the hardest bit of the whole thing was the carving (do you still call it carving for a fish?!) Lifted the fish out of the dish was a challenge. Then trying to remove skin and bones without destroying the fish?? Difficult to say the least! Half of my plates had skin-on fillets - the other half had skinless cod flakes. It was all polished off in record time though - with mountains of softly chewy white bread with a crisp, light crust. Absolutely beautiful, thank you for a fabulous recipe Peter. I do believe I'm going to start a new tag: 'recipes to make... again'!

Psari Plaki-ttie

I'm sending this over to Ruth for her weekly Bookmarked Recipes event. It's my first entry!

Pan-fried Dover Sole with Bean Salad

Just thought I write up a quick post to show you what I served with the bean salad I put together for No Croutons Required!

I was down at my fishmongers* and they had the most gorgeous sole - I picked up this beaut for £2!!! Bargaineous! ;)

What with all the flavours going on in the salad I figured the best treatment of this delicate fish was to keep it simple. A quick dredging of the skinned fish with flour, salt and pepper, then frying it in a medium heat pan with a good glug of olive oil for 4/5 minutes each side. Just before the first side was finished I melted in a knob of butter... Easy, tasty, perfect!

I tried something a bit different when preparing the fish this time - dover sole is notorious for getting rid of all the wee bones along the fins... so this time I left the fins on whilst cooking, then when it was cooked, used the side of the fish slice to gently pull the side fins away. Woo hoo - They came away in tact, with no little bones left to catch me out! I don't know if that was a fluke, but it definitely seemed easier than when I've left them whole in the past!

Pan-fried Dover Sole with Bean Salad

* oooo, excitement for kittie! It was the first time I'd been there in a week or so... and they've had a redesign... Now, in addition to the 'normal' fish I buy, they have a tank of live lobsters and crabs. I can't wait to try them - I've never prepared live lobster or crab before! Any tips or tricks will be much appreciated :)

Tried & Tasted: Tastes Like Home Caribbean Sunday Lunch

Tried and Tasted is a brand new monthly event hosted by Zlamushka of Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen. Every month Zlamushka nominates one blog - and the entrants recreate and blog recipes from the chosen blog. For the first month the chosen blog is Tastes Like Home. This was a perfect choice for me - I have never cooked Caribbean food before - though have long had it on my list; I had never visited Cynthia's blog before - and now I have another addition to my google reader; and I could indulge my love of hot food... excellent!

It's a great idea - and I've had a great time playing around with these recipes. The hot pepper sauce was something I made outside of the event - though I have decided to include it in my little round up as it was so good it deserved a second mention!

In fact - I ended up using it even more than expected. On Sunday morning I realised I was out of chillies. Seriously - to me that is like running out of salt or something - I always have some in the fridge! So instead, I turned to the hot sauce and walloped a teaspoon into the fried salt fish and half a teaspoon into the buljol. Wow - was it ever good!! The scotch bonnets gave it had an altogether different heat from my usual Thai chillies - and it had a beautiful fruity flavour to back up the burn!

So I present you with....

My Carribean Sunday Lunch!

What a spread!

Fried Salt Fish

This was my favourite of the lot - deeply spicy, lovely chunks of salt cod simmered in tomatoes and onions. And a spoonful of scotch bonnet pepper sauce of course ;) It went absolutely perfectly with the bakes - I will be making this again. And once the fish is desalted, it's super quick to make!

Cythia's original!

Buljol

This is a cold salad of boiled and flaked salt fish, with peppers, spring onions, onions and tomatoes. (And hot sauce ;) I think I needed to flake the fish more - but I did enjoy the flavours a lot!

Cythia's original!

Oiled Paratha Roti

I was so impressed with how well these turned out! - I didn't get a picture, but they were beautifully flakey inside, and tasted gorgeous. Not too oily - which I was a little concerned about. In fact not oily at all, just a really nice texture!

Cynthia's Original!

Guyanese Bakes

Why are they called bakes when they are deep fried?

Don't care - they're lovely!

Cythia's original!

Thank you Zlamushka for thinking up and hosting this amazing event - I look forward to more!

And many many thanks to Cynthia for her recipes and also for her help when I was making them!