Homemade Fish Fingers
The secret is in the breadcrumbs. The first difficulty in relating this recipe is that it does not have any weights or measures - breadcrumbs come about from turning the odds and ends of the bread bin into a bag of crumbs and any left overs are put in the freezer for a later date. The second difficulty is a herb mixture which my father makes...he describes the making of it in very simple terms but as I've never actually seen him make it I cannot testify that it is as simple as he claims. But in essence, he picks sage, rosemary and mint and then with the addition of salt and pepper grinds it all to a very fine dust - so you are left with a dry herby salty condiment!
Take your breadcrumbs and fry them in a pan where you have already melted a good knob of butter and added smoked paprika and some herby salty condiment - the levels of spice are up to you and can be adjusted according to taste but I'd say go for it as the cod can take it and the ratio of fish far exceeds the crumb. Fry until crispy and drain on some kitchen paper to absorb the excess butter. When they have cooled return to the food processor and give another blitz to make a finer crumb.
Slice your fish into equal size fingers, coat first in seasoned flour, then egg, then the breadcrumbs.
Cover a grill pan with foil, lightly oil and bake remembering to turn over half way through.
Serve with Swedish mustard dill sauce and a large fresh salad.
Heat oven to 200C.
Halve, deseed and wash three peppers.
Mix together in a bowl 2 mozzarella chopped up, chopped fresh tomatoes - 12 cherry or less if using bigger variety, handful of fresh basil, tablespoon of capers, tablespoon of sultanas, 6 anchovies fillets chopped up. Dowse with olive oil, a little salt and pepper and a good splosh of balsamic vinegar.
Drizzle a little olive oil in a baking dish - lay the pepper halves top to tail so they fit snuggly and divide the mixture between them.
Cook for approx 15-20 mins or until peppers are cooked.
Asparagus Frittata
Clean and slice asparagus lengthways - steam lightly.
Slice and fry left over new potatoes until just brown.
Beat 4 eggs, season with salt and pepper and some grated Parmesan.
Pour over potatoes and asparagus. Fry on a medium heat finish under grill.
700g fresh spinach - washed, wilted in a pan, well drained and cooled
1 bunch of spring onions finely chopped
1 pot of ricotta cheese
1 packet of feta cheese
grated nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
2 small dried chillies
1 large egg lightly beaten
6 sheets of filo pastry
Heat the oven to 180C
Put the cooled spinach into a bowl with the spring onions, feta and ricotta.
Add the nutmeg and chilli - season to taste.
Stir gently until well combined, pour in the egg and stir again.
Brush a 30cm x 20cm x 5cm ovenproof dish with olive oil and lay in a sheet of filo lengthways
Brush with more oil and add another layer of pastry crossways.
Brush with more oil and add another layer of pastry crossways.
Repeat, brushing with oil between the layers.
Spread the filling evenly over the filo, fold over the crossways layers, then any edges from the lengthways layers. Brush the top with oil and sprinkle generously with sesame seeds
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until until golden.
Pastina in Brodo - serves 2
1 shallot finely chopped and 3 sticks of celery grated - slowly softened in some olive oil.
Add in turn 1 leek finely sliced, 1 carrot grated and allow to sweat in the pan - add a good splosh of white wine, if you have it, or plain water - enough to create a strong broth. When the carrots has begun to soften add 1 courgette grated. Meanwhile put another small pan of water on to boil - when water is boiling add salt and approx 40g of Stellete pasta per person. When the pasta is cooked drain but reserve some of the water in a jug, add the pasta to the cooked vegetables - which should still be bright with a bit of bite, add a little olive oil to taste. Serve in warmed bowls and add as much liquid as you like and a grate of Parmesan.
Green Vegetable Soup
Finely chop a shallot, 3 sticks of celery and a clove of garlic.
Cook gently in some olive oil until soft and sweet.
Add two small potatoes - sliced and diced, cook until they start to go soft, add a splash of white wine if you've got it or some plain water to stop it catching.
Chuck in the crust of a piece of parmesan - this will give the soup an umami kick.
Add 2 courgettes - sliced and diced and a handful of chopped green beans.
Barely cover with water or vegetable stock if you prefer - taste for seasoning.
Simmer until the green veg is just cooked - remove a few ladles of soup and blitz in a food processor - so making the soup thick and creamy, or just leave as a clear broth if you prefer.
Add some chopped parsley and a swirl of olive oil to serve and fight over who gets the chewy surprise at the bottom of the bow
Bakewell Pudding
Grease a cake tin, line with very thinly rolled puff pastry, cover and refrigerate overnight
Next day, cover the pastry with raspberry jam - including up the sides
Gently melt 3oz (8oz) butter in a pan
Whisk 4 (8) eggs with 4oz (8oz) caster sugar until pale and runny
Slowly run in the melted butter - keep whisking all together
Finally stir in 4oz (4oz) of ground almonds
Pour into the tin and bake at 180 Celsius until set and the pastry is cooked.
Braised Fennel
Quarter and slice the fennel and blanch in boiling salted water with a squeeze of lemon juice (to stop the fennel from browning) until just tender.
Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a baking dish.
Dress with olive oil, ground black pepper, approx 3 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese and the same amount of bread crumbs - gently mix up and pop in a hot oven (200 Celsius) for about 10 minutes or until heated through and just browned.
You can cook chicory in the same way - just quarter no need to slice.
You can cook chicory in the same way - just quarter no need to slice.
Fish Pie
A piece of undyed smoked haddock (approx 400g)
Cooked prawns (approx 200g)
2 small leeks - thoroughly washed and finely sliced
10 chestnut mushrooms - finely sliced
Dried porcini mushrooms - soaked in boiled water for 10 minutes then roughly chopped
Potatoes for mash - 2 big ones/4 small ones
Peel, boil and mash the potatoes
Fry the leeks and mushrooms in some olive oil put into the pie dish with the soaked porcini mushrooms
Poach the haddock in plain water - be careful not to overcook as the fish will go rubbery
Flake cooked fish into the pie dish - add the cooked prawns
Bechamel Sauce
250ml milk
2 bay leaves
1 small onion sliced
parsley stalks
4 peppercorns
Put all the above ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes
Strain the milk then take
25g butter
15g flour
Half a glass of dry white wine
Melt butter in the pan - add flour and cook gently for a moment then gradually stir in the milk and keep stirring until the sauce thickens. Lastly add the wine and stir in. Taste for seasoning but remember the haddock is smoked so is quite salty.
Carefully stir the bechemal sauce through the fish and veg - do not mush up!
Cover with mash, smooth flat, then score with a fork for a nice crispy finish.
Bake in a hot oven - 200 Celsius, on a baking tray for about 20 mins until hot and bubbling, brown off under grill.
Mince Pies
Mincemeat
I like my mincemeat - well minced really, so that means a little more work and chopping up all the dried fruit. I also like almonds so I've added extra but as with all recipes adapt to your own taste.
225g vegetable suet
350g raisins - rinsed and chopped
225g sultanas - rinsed and chopped
225g currants - rinsed and chopped
225g mixed candid peel chopped
350g muscavado sugar
2 unwaxed oranges zest and juice
2 unwaxed lemons zest and juice
125g toasted almond flakes
4 teaspoons ground mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 whole nutmeg grated
450g Bramley apples - peeled, cored and finely chopped
6 tablespoons brandy - Calvados if you have it
So all you have to do is mix up very well all the ingredients - excluding the brandy, in a large bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave for 12 hours for all the flavours to meld in together. Then transfer to a large baking tin, cover loosely with foil and place in the oven at 120 Celsius for 3 hours. As Delia says 'this process slowly melts the suet which coats the other ingredients, and prevents fermentation taking place if too much juice seeps from the apples during storage.' Allow to cool, then stir in the brandy and spoon into sterilised jars and seal.
Shortcrust pastry
This makes enough pastry for 36 mince pies but you can divide it in 3 and keep in the fridge then just make up as and when you like/need/fancy!
350g plain flour
150g unsalted fridge cold butter, diced into small cubes
pinch of salt
cold water to mix
Homemade mincemeat
Milk/water
Make the pastry by rubbing the butter into the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Easy in a food processor but if doing by hand just make sure that you don't over work the pastry - minimal rubbing in - so it looks like large breadcrumbs. Then add cold water a little at a time - just enough to bring the pastry together - I pour the mixture onto a length of cling film and draw it altogether into a tight ball, that way avoiding manhandling the pastry too much and then pop it in the fridge for minimum half an hour.
For 12 mince pies roll out a third of the pastry as thin as possible and cut 24 rounds - pastry cutters are good or a glass the right size is fine also. Lightly grease a baking tray - line with pastry, fill with as much mincemeat as you dare. Dampen the circumference of the remaining rounds and press firmly to seal the edges. Brush with milk and make 3 snips with a pair of scissors in each pie.
Cook near top of oven for 18 minutes or until they are golden brown. Cool on a wire tray and then dust with icing sugar.
Twelve to one - all gone!
1.5kg Quinces
750g Granulated sugar
Core and quarter the quinces – there’s no need to peel them.
Put them in a large saucepan with just enough water to cover.
Simmer gently until the flesh is really soft and collapsing.
Pour the fruit into a blender and puree.
Push the mixture through a sieve with the back of a wooden spoon.
Measure the pur̩e Рthere should be just under 1 litre.
Put the purée back in the pan with 450g sugar for every 600ml of purée.
Heat gently, stirring from time to time to help the sugar dissolve, then bring to the boil and cook gently for 30–40 minutes or until the mixture is so thick that if you scrape a wooden spoon through it, the purée parts and leaves a clean line at the bottom of the pan.
Spread the mixture into lightly oiled dishes or moulds, or pot in clean, sterilised jars.
The membrillo will set firm as it cools and will keep for up to 6 months in the fridge.
Chicken Soupy Casserole
(Enough for 3)
2 whole organic chicken legs (drumstick and thigh)
2 shallots chopped roughly
1 large clove of garlic
300 grams button mushrooms cut in half
6 sage leaves
2 bay leaves
glass of white wine
glass of white wine
2 leeks roughly chopped and washed
lots of carrots scrubbed
1 litre chicken stock
splosh of brandy
splosh of brandy
Season some plain flour and lightly coat the chicken with it.
Brown the chicken in 2tbl spoons of olive oil in casserole dish.
Remove chicken, add shallots and mushrooms and gently brown.
Deglaze the pan with the wine.
Add the bay and sage.
Add the carrots and leeks, best left in big chunks so they don't cook too quickly and still have some bite at the end.
Pour over enough stock to cover the chicken and vegetables.
Simmer with lid on for approx 40 mins or until chicken is cooked through.
Remove the chicken and most of the veg with a slotted spoon to a dish.
Turn up heat and reduce stock down by about a third.
Check the seasoning, add the brandy and cook for a few minutes.
Meanwhile discard the skin from the chicken and remove the meat from the bones and flake it bite size pieces.
Put all meat and veg back in the soup and heat through.
Check the seasoning, add the brandy and cook for a few minutes.
Meanwhile discard the skin from the chicken and remove the meat from the bones and flake it bite size pieces.
Put all meat and veg back in the soup and heat through.
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Apricot and Almond Flan
For the pastry
250g plain organic flour
1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk
2-3 drops vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of caster sugar
Pinch of sea salt
125g unsalted butter - cut into the cubes
For the filling
15 apricots - halved and destoned
4 tablespoons ground almonds
2 tablespoons caster sugar
Large glug of brandy
Juice of half a lemon
For the topping
2 tablespoons of apricot jam
Juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoons of toasted flaked almonds
Add the cold butter to the flour + salt - crumble to resemble coarse sand.
Add remaining ingredients form into a smooth ball - wrap in cling film and refrigerate for half an hour.
Put apricots and all other filling ingredients in a bowl, mix together and set aside.
Roll out pastry to fit a 9 inch flan tin (with a removable base), prick all over and return to the fridge for 30 minutes.
Heat oven to 180 degrees centigrade
Blind-bake for ten minutes.
Bake in centre of oven for approx 35 minutes, turning half way through to ensure even cooking. The apricots should be caramelising slightly and the pastry a light biscuit colour.
Put the apricot jam and lemon juice in a pan over a gentle heat and mix together. Pour over the apricots, sprinkle with toasted almonds and leave to cool slightly.
Serve with Greek yoghurt.
Blackberry and Lavender Fairy Cakes with Lemon Icing
Heat the oven to 180 C and prepare a baking tray with twelve fairy cake papers.
100g caster sugar
100g unsalted butter
100g plain flour mixed with +
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of organic lavender
12 blackberries
Unwaxed lemon
2 tablespoons of icing sugar
Cream together the caster sugar + butter until light and fluffy.
Add a spoon full of sifted flour + one egg beat well, add another spoon of flour + second egg - beat well.
Add the vanilla essence + the lightly chopped lavender - mix well.
Add the vanilla essence + the lightly chopped lavender - mix well.
If the mixture does not drop off your spoon easily add a little bit of milk.
Take a teaspoon of the batter and drop it into each of the papers - smooth down, add a blackberry.
Spoon more mixture on top + smooth down.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 18 minutes.
Remove and leave to cool.
Grate the zest + the juice of half the lemon add to the icing sugar, add more sugar/lemon juice to get required icing consistency.
When cool spoon over cakes - leave to set.
Smoked Mackerel and Sardine Fish Cakes
This is an easy option if you've got some smoked mackerel lurking in the fridge.
4 potatoes boiled and mashed
1 packet of smoked mackerel remove skins and flake
1 tin of sardines in olive oil
a cup of fresh breadcrumbs
a good teaspoon of smoked paprika
1 tablespoon of capers and 4 cornichons roughly chopped
juice of 1 lemon
bunch of parsley finely chopped
black pepper to taste
Mix all together well and then make into 8 balls and flatten down a bit.
Breadcrumbs help bind the mixture together and keep the fish cakes nice and light, the smoked paprika goes particularly well with mackerel and adds a bit of bite, while the capers and cornichons give texture.
Chill in the fridge until ready to cook - cover a grill pan with foil, lightly oil with olive oil and pop under hot grill until brown.
The beetroot, carrot and orange salad with a lemon and olive oil dressing makes a refreshing accompaniment.
The tartare sauce
2 egg yolks with 1/2 a teaspoon of English mustard powder blended together and olive oil slowly added until required consistency. Juice of half a lemon and 1 heaped teaspoon of capers and 2 cornichons finely chopped.
Saucy Sicilian
I made this sauce to go with the homemade pasta. The Sicilian influence is strong - with theagrodolce, sweet and sour of the sultanas, capers, anchovies and pine nuts giving a three dimensional flavour to the sauce.
Slice 4 cloves of garlic gently fry in olive oil with 4 anchovy fillets
Add 4 small dried, crushed chillies (as hot as you like)
Add a heaped tablespoon of golden sultanas + capers - chopped
Add a tablespoon of pine nuts - toast lightly
Add 2 cans of plum tomatoes - chop them up, simmer down until thick and tasty -
Meanwhile whilst the sauce is cooking...
Cut 1 large aubergine into 10mm slices
Place on a foil covered grill pan, brush aubergine with olive oil and put under the hot grill, turn when brown and cook other side.
Shortbread
Slightly salty and utterly buttery, thin and meltingly light, sprinkled with demerara sugar.
Shortbread is a delight and homemade biscuits are a well kept secret.
No one could be disappointed to be served one of these with a nice cup of tea.
The recipe is a version of Felicity Cloake's in the Guardian but taste is definitely aided by a really good quality butter and sea salt.
115g of room temperature butter beaten with a wooden spoon until really creamy.
Add 55g of caster sugar and a good pinch of sea salt, beat in.
Sieve in 130g of plain flour and 40g of ground rice.
Draw together with the spoon and then dive in a make into a lovely smooth ball of dough.
Roll out to about 5mm and cut. Lay on a greased tray lined with baking parchment. Cook at 150 celsius for 25-30 minutes - turning the tray half way through.
Lentil, Cumin and Carrot Soup
Making packed lunch every day and keeping it interesting, healthy and hearty requires a little forethought.
Lentil, cumin, carrot and coconut milk soup is a welcome addition to any lunch box and helps spice up a sandwich no end.
Toast 2 teaspoons of cumin and a pinch of chilli flakes in a dry pan until they become aromatic.
Add 500g of grated carrots, 150g of dry red lentils, 1 litre of vegetable stock, 1 can of coconut milk.
Bring to the boil and simmer gently until lentils are cooked.
Whizz in a blender, season.
Makes about 1.8 litres - divide into servings for your thermos - this chap takes 250ml, cool and freeze.
Pea and Ham Soup
This must be one the cheapest, easiest, most wholesome, delicious, slow food soups.
The smoked hock is courtesy of my friends at the Ginger Pig - no need to soak as the ham is what flavours the soup.
Simply chop into chunky pieces 3 leeks, 3 sticks of celery, and 3 yellow heritage carrots - these tend to be slightly harder than regular carrots and hold their own in the soup better. Sweat the veg for a few minutes in a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a big heavy based saucepan, add 3 small bay leaves. Rinse a 500g packet of split peas in a colander under running water, add to the veg stir well, pop in the hock and cover with cold water.
Bring to the boil and then turn heat down and leave to simmer for a couple of hours. The peas will have turned to a lovely mealy mush, leave to cool for 24 hours. This is where the magical alchemy of food does its trick. The hock as you can see has a lovely layer of fat as well as succulent meat, leaving it to cool and settle with the peas, turns a watery soup into a gelatinous mass.
When cool the meat will be falling off the bone and much easier to handle. Remove the hock from the pan, scrape off the clinging peas, and put it on a chopping board. The skin will just lift off and then it is just a matter of flaking the meat into chunks and returning it to the pan, heat through and serve with black pepper.
This makes enough soup for at least 10 servings, so dividing it up and freezing it is also ideal and prolongs the pleasure of eating it to more than one occasion.
Chestnut Brownies
Each time I've made these chestnut brownies I've willfully ignored the recipe and followed my own course - as you can see they are truly moistly chocolatey and chestnutty.
Melt 140g of butter and 160g of 70% cocoa chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering hot water, when melted mix together thoroughly.
Meanwhile put 60g of plain flour, 80g of ground almonds, 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, a large pinch of salt, 150g of caster sugar, 50g of demerara sugar in a bowl and mix together.
When the butter and chocolate has melted leave to cool slightly, then add 2 tablespoons of brandy, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 4 eggs lightly beaten together. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients and finally stir in chopped cooked chestnuts (the vacuum packed ones are more than fine).
I use a pyrex dish (18x26cm) lined with baking parchment and cook in the middle of a preheated oven at 180 Celsius for 30 minutes turning the dish around (for even cooking) half way through. Leave to cool in the dish then slice into desired size and shape and store in an biscuit tin with layers of baking parchment.
Pasta alla Aglio Olio Peperoncino
Supper seems to come late at the weekend and photographing food is always slightly problematic. So here are the raw ingredients for a late night speedy spaghettata!
Parsley, olive oil, spaghettini, anchovies, chillies, garlic and pine nuts
Put a pan of water on to boil,when boiling add a good dose of salt, drop in the pasta and stir.
Whilst cooking melt the anchovies with 2/3 (as hot as you like) crushed chillies in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, toast the pine nuts in the same pan then add the finely chopped up parsley and garlic, add more olive oil. Cook briefly, just to take the edge off the garlic but keep the parsley green. Add a ladle of the pasta cooking liquid. Drain the pasta add the parsley mix to it stir it in to cover the pasta, serve in warm bowls.
Rhubarb Fresh But No Fool
Credit to Rowley Leigh for inspiring yet another beautifully simple but delicious recipe.
Slice 700g of rhubarb, add the zest and juice of a sanguinello orange, 100-140g caster sugar (according to taste) cook on a low heat until rhubarb has broken down, stir well. Drain off juice, leave to cool and then add 300g of Greek yoghurt and refrigerate.
Sicilian Inspiration - Roast Chicken
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