From the sea to our table

I love food from the sea.  Fish, shellfish, crustaceans  - I love them all.  We have such great seafood here and I love to showcase it with visitors.  Some people, though, can be a little delicate when it comes to seafood so I tend to fall back on lamb or other safe choices.
I was therefore delighted when we recently hosted visitors from Scotland who wanted to try everything.  I just prepared a variety of sea foods and put them all on the table for people to help themselves.  We had bluff oysters  with a little pepper, green-lipped mussels and littleneck clams steamed in white wine and parsley and flaked Coromandel Smoking Company kingfish on a dish.  For pepper seared tuna, mix a little sesame oil with a tsp English mustard and brush over a tuna fillet cut in a log of even thickness at each end.  Heat a dry frying pan until it is very hot and sear the tuna on the long sides.  Take out of the pan immediately and cool.  With a sharp knife slice as finely as you can and serve with finely sliced spring onion, soy sauce and wasabi.
For a ceviche-style dish get some good quality fillets of white fish such as blue cod and slice as thinly as you can.  Lay out on a large platter and dress with finely sliced spring onions and deseeded red chillies.  Just before serving squeeze over the juice of a lime or two.
This was accompanied with salad greens.  It was so simple, it was hardly cooking but was really delicious.
A few weeks ago a friend gave me some tuna.  You may recall I have been the beneficiary of this friend's bounty in the past.  This time we prepared two quite different dishes. 
The first was spiced tuna with an aubergine relish.  To make the relish, which would also go well with lamb or chicken, cut an aubergine into cubes, toss in olive oil and bake in a single layer on a baking tray at 200 for 30 mins or so.  In a frying pan, soften half a finely chopped red onion then add 1/2 tsp each coriander, cumin, cinnamon, paprika and cook for a minute.  Add 1/2 tin chopped tomatoes, 2 cloves crushed garlic, 1/2 a finely chopped green chilli and bring to a simmer.  Add the cooked aubergine and add a pinch sugar, a squeeze of lime and salt and pepper to taste.
Brush the tuna steaks with olive oil and season then sear in a hot grill pan two minutes each side.  Serve on the aubergine and top with mint leaves.
For something quite different we had our old favourite tuna and white bean stew.  This is a traditional Mediterranean method where the tuna is cooked in a sauce.  Using a tuna steak per person, sear the steaks first in a pan and set aside.  In the pan, saute 1/2 a finely chopped onion, 1/2 a finely diced carrot, 1/2 a stick of finely diced celery, 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic with 1/4 tsp each toasted cumin and coriander seeds, coarsely ground.  Add 1/2 tsp Spanish paprika and a handful of black olives.  Lay the tuna back in the pan in one layer and add 1/2 tin chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup chicken stock.  Simmer about 15 minutes then add 1/2 jar of cooked butter beans and gently mix through.  Sprinkle with parsley to serve.  You will want some crusty bread to mop up the sauce at the end.

Strange Fruit

Summer fruit, like summer, lasted well into autumn this year but when we had farewelled the last of the plums it was time to welcome the autumn comers.  This year we added dragon fruit to the list.  I had never seen this before, but like many new things, as soon as I discovered it I encountered it everywhere.  The first time I saw it at Moore Wilson I had to buy one and remembering my earlier error with persimmon, where I didn't realise that they should be eaten firm, I looked up what to do.
Luckily I found a helpful video on You Tube.  I was slightly bemused that I was watching an instructional video on how to eat an item of fruit!  Later that week I unintentionally turned the television to one of those cooking competitions where a group of contestants had to make a dessert using a specific set of items & one of those items was dragon fruit.  And then later in the same week I tuned in to Come Dine with Me to see a contestant there serve a fruit salad containing dragon fruit.  This must be the fruit of 2013.  Try one when you get the opportunity.  I really like it.
If you like puff pastry, try this delicious tart which we had first with tomatoes & then used up the rest of the pastry & ricotta with a broccoli version. You could make your own but I would buy a really good puff pastry - we like Paneton.  As an aside try their spinach & feta Danish.  One pack of pastry will make two tarts.  Roll out half the pack about 4mm thick & cut out a 30cm circle.  Put the pastry on a prepared baking tray & refrigerate while you make the filling.  Put 275g ricotta & an egg into a bowl & mix well to combine.  Spread this mixture over the pastry base leaving a 2cm border.  Fold in the border to form a rim.  Bake at 200 for 12 minutes.
Remove from the oven & arrange 200g halved cherry tomatoes cut side up over the tart.  In the summer, look out for Curious Croppers.  They should be available in Moore Wilson later this year. If you are using broccoli, blanch for 3 mins before arranging small florets on the tart.  Drizzle with a little oil & bake a further 10 minutes.  Nestle some torn mozzarella in among the tomatoes & cook a further 2 mins.  Spoon over some basil pesto, scatter with fresh oregano, season with salt & pepper and enjoy.
We have been enjoying little treats.  Phoebe gave Peter some amazing coloured pasta for his birthday.  She prepared it for us with a simple carbonara sauce (sans pancetta) and I do think this was the best way to enjoy the subtle flavours of the pasta.  In a mixing bowl large enough to accommodate the pasta, lightly beat 2 eggs with 3tbsp grated Parmesan & 1 tbsp grated pecorino, finely chopped parsley, salt & pepper.  When the pasta is cooked according to the instructions on the pack, drain it & add to the bowl & toss until mixed through.  Serve immediately because the sauce isn't hot to start & it will cool quickly.  If you want to add pancetta cook it while the pasta water is boiling, in a little butter & olive oil to which you add a splash or white wine & reduce.  Add the pancetta to the pasta at the end.
We had an outstanding crop of broccoli this year.  Those green caterpillars enjoyed it too & we had a struggle keeping them down but a visitor recommended a garlic spray which helped. We celebrated the first of the crop with roast chicken served with broccoli & carrots from the garden.  The first picking of any new crop always seems the best one.  I had wanted to serve this with my cranberry/crabapple sauce - remember cranbapple.  However the crabapples which appeared to be a bumper crop were all rotten in the core.  So disappointing.  I had already bought the cranberries so I made a cranberry sauce that was outstandingly simple.
Tip a packet of fresh cranberries in a pot with the juice of two oranges.  Bring to the boil & simmer until the cranberries start to pop. Just get it to a consistency you like then add 1/2 the amount of sugar to the cranberries & stir till the sugar has dissolved.  Pour into clean jars.  This will keep in the fridge a couple of weeks.  I was so astounded by its simplicity & wonder that I bought another pack of cranberries & tossed it in the freezer for Christmas. We ate the sauce with the chicken, the left over chicken pilaf, potatoes & in fact everything I could think of where sauce might be appropriate.
The broccoli recipe of the season has however been Hugh's variation on pasta with greens - pasta with broccoli.  This takes no time to throw together on a week night & there is something amazing about how all the little broccoli bits cling to the pasta.  The chilli gives just the right degree of heat and it is a most satisfying meal.  I also highly recommend the original version and we do this with whatever greens we have to hand.  Frequently rainbow chard, because it just grows & grows & we need to eat at least one chard recipe most weeks.
Another find to showcase chard is a simple dish with butter beans.  If I can, I buy Navarrrico beans but they are expensive & hard to come by so tinned will do.  My only comment is I use the liquid from the jar & drain the tinned beans & add a little vegetable stock.  Tip a jar or tin of beans into a pan with the liquid from the jar or stock.  Add a pinch of salt, bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes then add a 1/2 dozen or more quartered cherry tomatoes to the pan with a knob of butter, a splash of white wine vinegar, a squeeze of tomato paste & a generous splash of Tabasco or other hot sauce.  Mash a few of the beans with a potato masher & stir it all through.  This will make the dish creamier.  Bring back to the boil & simmer 10 mins or so until creamy & delicious.  Then stir through some shredded greens.  Spinach only needs a minute, chard two or three minutes & cabbage or kale around five.  You could stop here and serve just like this as a side dish but if you want this to be dinner, sprinkle with fresh breadcrumbs and some grated cheese and bake at 180 until the cheese is golden.
Lastly one of my followers gifted us a subscription to the New York Times (thank you)  and I happened upon a recipe for the best ever mushrooms on toast.  This may seem extravagant but I urge you to try it.  These may be the best mushrooms you ever eat.  As I am writing this I am recalling this meal and I can feel mushrooms on toast coming on for lunch tomorrow.  The New York Times food section has some of the best recipes of any newspaper. (I think this recipe is available outside the subscription but if you have trouble with the link give me a yell & I will send you the recipe.)

Goodbye summer, hello autumn

Only a couple more tagines to go.  This week it was butter beans with cherry tomatoes & olives.  I use the jars of Spanish butter beans.  Heat some olive oil and butter in a tagine.  Stir in 4 cloves of crushed garlic, 2 sliced red onions, 1 sliced green chilli.  Add 2 tsp crushed coriander seeds, a knob of grated ginger & a pinch of saffron.  Cover & cook 5 mins.  Add 20 or so cherry tomatoes with 2 tsp each sugar & dried thyme.  Cover & cook until the tomato skins begin to wrinkle, not long.  Toss in the drained butter beans & a handful of black olives.  Squeeze on some lemon juice, cover & cook until the beans & olives are heated through. Sprinkle with parsley & serve with some crusty sourdough & a dollop of thick yoghurt.
Sunday night was a lovely piece of gurnard & an unexpected treat from the market - samphire. Luckily the fishmonger was able to tell us how to cook it.  I cooked the fish with the potatoes a la Hugh.  First roast the potatoes in a roasting dish big enough to hold the fish & when they're nearly done add the fish.  I often do this & serve with a garlicky minty pea puree.  The samphire is easy.  You do need to pick through & remove the woody bits.  The bottoms are quite twiggy & not nice to eat.  Think asparagus of the sea & you will get the idea.  You just boil for 3-4 minutes & toss in butter with black pepper & lemon juice.  Think seafood+lemon.  Don't salt without tasting.  It grows in the salt water.  Keep an eye out for it next year - this was the end of the season.  I think this lot came from the Hawkes Bay somewhere. 
Try this soup with the last of the courgettes & corn.  Heat some olive oil with a knob of butter in a large saucepan & add 2 thinly sliced onions & 400g floury potatoes peeled & diced.  Cover & steam for 10 minutes or so.  Keep an eye on them to ensure the potatoes don't catch.  Add 500g roughly chopped courgettes & the kernels off 2 sweet corn cobs with 2 tsp ground cumin, 2 cloves crushed garlic & cook for a couple of minutes.  Add 5 cups chicken stock, season & bring to the boil.  Simmer 10 minutes ensuring the potatoes & corn are cooked.    Transfer 1/3 of the soup & 1/2 cup basil to a food processor & blend until smooth.  Tip the puree back in the pan & reheat if necessary.  To serve top with a dollop of yoghurt, some extra basil & a drizzle of olive oil.  This is delicious reheated for lunch on a day you happen to be working from home.
It's the new leek season so we had spaghetti with leeks & bacon with chilli crumbs.  Remove the crusts from 3-4 slices of sourdough bread & tear into large crumbs.  Lay on a baking tray & spray lightly with olive oil.  Add 1/2 tsp chilli flakes & 1/2 tsp sea salt.  Mix them well & bake at 180 10-15 minutes.  Keep a close eye & toss occasionally.
Meanwhile heat some olive oil in a pan & add finely sliced onion & leek with a tbsp finely chopped rosemary.  Cook slowly until the alliums are soft.  Stir in 200g crumbly goat's cheese.  Grill a couple of rashers of bacon & chop into the onion mix.  Cook the spaghetti  and put everything together with some grated Parmesan.  Hold back  a few of the crumbs & sprinkle on the top.
As you know, I am very fond of lentils & I got the idea of making a spicy lentil stew from Nigel Slater.  I thought that this would be nice with mashed potatoes, then I found a parsnip in the fridge & thought parsnip & potato mash but that seemed a little insipid & carrot seemed like a colourful addition.  The trick is to cook the potato separately.  So cook the potato in one pot & the parsnips & carrots in another then puree them with a little butter in the food processor & mash the potato with a little warm milk.   Whip them together with a fork, season & add a little grated nutmeg.  There was some spinach in the fridge with the parsnip but not quite enough for two so I added the beetroot leaves.  Remember to always use your beetroot leaves.  I just like them in salad but I now know that they are also good cooked.  Just roughly chop the spinach & beet leaves & put in a dry pan.  The water left from washing the leaves is sufficient.  Cook them down, season - nutmeg is also good here - & stir through a little olive oil or cream if you find some in the fridge.  This meal was my favourite of the week although I did use every pot and pan in the house.  One for the lentils & another for the caramelised onion topping, two for the mash & another for the greens.  I did struggle to fit everything on the hob.  Phoebe would have had something to say about this.  There was more than enough but my plan is to add the left over lentils to the intended left over lamb & quince tagine for a Moroccan shepherd's pie.  The sweet orange mash should be perfect & I think I have some frozen mashed potato to add to it.  Return next week for the thrilling conclusion.

One weekend in August

Not much new in the kitchen this week. We ate out a couple of times and as Phoebe is home for the holidays we are revisiting her old favourites. We did have an amazing roast lamb on Sunday with leftovers for lunches through the week. We bought a small piece of leg roast, bone in. If you are cooking it for a family use a full leg. Get the oven on to 220. For 2, chop 1 clove garlic, 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, zest of 1/2 a lemon, 2 anchovies, 3 sundried tomatoes, all together on a big board. Make small cuts in the lamb & press this mixture into the cuts. Spread the surface of the lamb all over with Dijon mustard - about 2 tsp. Season with salt & pepper. Put a branch or two of fresh rosemary into the base of a roasting pan & put the lamb on top. Drizzle with a little olive oil and add a whole head of garlic with the top chopped off. Roast for about an hour. Rest 10-15 minutes. For a change from regular roast veg we served with cavalo nero & butter beans. You could use wilted spinach.
To prepare the cavalo nero, remove the stalks & slice into largish pieces. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil, add the greens & cook 10 minutes until tender. Drain, refresh & drain again. Heat olive oil, a clove of finely sliced garlic & a pinch of chilli flakes. Toss through the greens & a can of butter beans. I like to use the El Navarrico butter beans that come in a jar and which you can get at some delis. If you can't get them you could use any white beans, or cook your own.
Remember back in July we picked olives. This week we bottled them. Having left them in the brine for 6 weeks they were covered with a fine layer of mould. That is good. We rinsed the olives, sieved the brine through fine muslin & add a dash of red wine vinegar. We then filled sterilised jars with olives & poured over the brine. Top each jar with a layer of olive oil & enjoy.
Having experimented with the sourdough, making a fruit loaf to use as fruit toast I discovered that the leaflet that came with the starter had a recipe. I made that one and it was nice but was more like a cake loaf. Mine was like fruit bread you buy for toast. I also had some extra starter so I made the chocolate cake from the leaflet. An interesting idea & nice enough. I got Phoebe to ice it but I would probably serve with cream or yoghurt next time.