Category: Dinners

Categories
Dinners Soups&Salads Vegetarian

Butternut Squash tomato ginger and lime dressing

  • 1 medium butternut squash, trimmed, unpeeled, halved lengthways, seeds removed, then cut widthways into 2½ cm wide slices (800g)
  • 45ml olive oil 
  • 6 large plum tomatoes, halved lengthways (500g)
  • 3cm piece of ginger, finely grated (25g)
  • 1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 30g dark muscovado sugar
  • coarse sea salt and black pepper 
  • thin sliced red onion

Lime yoghurt:

  • 120g Greek yoghurt
  • ¼ tsp ground cardamom 
  • Finely grated zest of ½ lime, plus 1½ tsp lime juice To serve
  • 5g parsley
  • roughly chopped
  • 30g cashew nuts, toasted and roughly chopped
  • 10g crispy shop-bought onions(optional)

1 Preheat the oven to 240°C/220°C fan/gas mark 9.

2 Mix the squash with 2 tablespoons of the oil, 2 teaspoons of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Spread out on a large parchment-lined baking tray and roast for 35–40 minutes, until golden-brown. Set aside to cool.

*NOTE: skin stays on. Do not slice the squash pieces too thin or they will come out hollow when roasted

4 Place the ginger, chilli, garlic, sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl. Mix to form a paste.

5 Heat pan on stovetop. Add butter and ginger sace to make liquid and add the halved tomatoes. Cook covered until soft. About 15 minutes. Turn up the heat and cook with cut side down until carmelized. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of salt

6 Place all the ingredients for the lime yoghurt in a small bowl, with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Mix well and keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

7 Spread the squash out on a large platter and arrange the tomatoes in between. Sprinkle sliced red onion. Drizzle over the lime yoghurt, sprinkle with the parsley , cashews and fried onions, if using, and serve.

Categories
Dinners

Irish Salmon with creamy Ciboulette sauce

Ingredients

  • 4 x 110g fillets of salmon
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 275ml/½pt water
  • 125ml/4fl.oz white wine
  • 25g/1oz butter

Creamy Chive Sauce

  • 25g/1oz butter
  • 2-4 tsp dry white wine
  • 150ml/¼pt whipping cream
  • 1 small bunch chives – finely chopped

Trim the salmon fillets into neat, even sizes. Just before cooking, sprinkle with the lemon juice and season well.

Pour the wine and water into a baking tin. Place the salmon fillets skin side down into the tin, placing a knob of butter on top of each one. Cover the top of the baking tin tightly with tinfoil and cook for 10-12 minutes at 190°C/gas mark 5. Remove the salmon from the tin and serve immediately with the chive sauce.

To make the sauce, heat the butter in a shallow pan and add the wine, cream and chives. Heat through and simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Serve alongside the salmon.

Tip: Add 2-3 dsp fish stock to the sauce when you add the wine and cream. This will give the dish extra flavour.

Categories
Appetizers Dinners

Fish Cakes

For the tartare-style sauce

  • 125ml mayonnaise
  • 1 rounded tbsp capers, roughly chopped (rinsed and drained if salted)
  • 1 rounded tsp creamed horseradish
  • 1 rounded tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 small shallot, very finely chopped
  • 1 tsp flatleaf parsley, finely chopped

For the fish cakes

  • 450g skinned Icelandic cod or haddock fillet, from a sustainable source
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 150ml milk
  • 350g Maris Piper potatoes
  • ½ tsp finely grated lemon zest
  • 1 tbsp flatleaf parsley, chopped
  • 1 tbsp snipped chives
  • 1 egg
  • flour, for shaping
  • 85g fresh white breadcrumbs, preferably a day or two old
  • 3-4 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil, for shallow frying
  • lemon wedges and watercress, to serve
  1. Mix together 125ml mayonnaise, 1 rounded tbsp roughly chopped capers, 1 rounded tsp creamed horseradish, 1 rounded tsp Dijon mustard, 1 small very finley chopped shallot and 1 tsp finely chopped flatleaf parsley. Set aside.
  2. Lay 450g skinned Icelandic cod or haddock fillet and 2 bay leaves in a frying pan. Pour over 150ml milk and 150ml water.
  3. Cover, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 4 mins. Take off the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 mins to gently finish cooking the fish.
  4. Meanwhile, peel and chop 350g Maris Piper potatoes into even-sized chunks. Put them in a saucepan and just cover with boiling water. Add a pinch of salt, bring back to the boil and simmer for 10 mins or until tender, but not broken up.
  5. Lift the fish out of the milk with a slotted spoon and put on a plate to cool. Drain the potatoes in a colander and leave for a min or two.
  6. Tip the potatoes back into the hot pan on the lowest heat you can and let them dry out for 1 min, mashing them with a fork and stirring so they don’t stick. You should have a light, dry fluffy mash.
  7. Take off the heat and beat in 1 rounded tbsp of the sauce, then ½ tsp lemon zest, 1 tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley and 1 tbsp snipped chives.
  8. Season well with salt and pepper. The potato should have a good flavour, so taste and adjust to suit.
  9. Drain off liquid from the fish, grind some pepper over it, then flake it into big chunks into the pan of potatoes.
  10. Using your hands, gently lift the fish and potatoes together so they just mix. You’ll only need a couple of turns, or the fish will break up too much. Put to one side and cool.
  11. Beat 1 egg on a large plate and lightly flour a board. Spread 85g fresh white breadcrumbs on a baking sheet. Divide the fish cake mixture into four.
  12. On the floured board, and with floured hands, carefully shape into four cakes, about 2.5cm thick. One by one, sit each cake in the egg, and brush over the top and sides so it is completely coated.
  13. Sit the cakes on the crumbs, patting the crumbs on the sides and tops so they are lightly covered. Transfer to a plate, cover and chill for 30 mins (or up to a day ahead).
  14. Heat 3-4 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil in a large frying pan. To test when ready, drop a piece of the dry breadcrumbs in – if it sizzles and quickly turns golden brown, it is ready to use.
  15. Fry the fish cakes over a medium heat for about 5 mins on each side or until crisp and golden. Serve with the rest of the sauce (squeeze in a little lemon to taste), lemon wedges for squeezing over and watercress.
Categories
Cod Dinners favorite

Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa

  • Cod filets
  • oil for deep frying
  • panko bread crumbs
  • flour for dusting
  • 1 egg
  • red cabbage/iceberg lettuce shredded
  • avocado
  • mango salsa
  • mayonnaise
  • fresh limes
  • small flour tortillas

MANGO SALSA

  • ripe mango
  • bunch of cherry tomatoes
  • red onion
  • salt
  • sambal or preferred hot sauce

Make the salsa ahead of time because the longer it sits, the better it tastes. Skin and chop mango, dice red onion and tomatoes and put in a bowl. and place in a bowl. Add salt and sambal and mix well. Set aside.

Put oil in a pot just high enough to almost immerse the filets. Cut the filets into large pieces (two pieces per taco) and flour to dry them.

Whisk egg(s) in a bowl and dip floured fish in.

Use food processor to whisk the panko to a powder and put in a bowl. Dp the egged filets in panko and deep fry. Set on paper towels to soak up the excess oil.

Heat flour tortillas in a pan (no oil)

To build your taco: place a soft heated shell on the plate. Put some mayo on the bottom. Ad 2 pieces of fish, salsa and top with shredded cabbage.

Categories
Dinners Salmon

Spinach Mushroom Feta Quiche with Smoked Salmon

  • 1 large egg
  • 2 + 1/2 tablespoons ice water
  • 1 + 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, sliced into small cubes
  • oil/butter for frying
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 200 g Spinach
  • 4 Eggs
  • 100 g Feta Cheese
  • Smoked salmon-thin sliced
  • 2 cups mushrooms cut into chunks
  • 1 c ricotta cheese (or milk or cream)
  • Parmesan cheese

TIP #1: Adding an egg to the quiche crust recipe will help bind the ingredients together and keep your crust from collapsing when removed from the quiche pan.

TIP #2: It’s important that the quiche crust is cold when filled and baked. Here’s the test: the cold dough should not lose its shape when pressed. When the fat (the butter) within the dough gets cold it helps keep the thin layers of flour/water separated which is exactly what’s needed to achieve a beautiful flaky quiche crust!

CRUST

  1. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the egg and ice water. Set the bowl aside
  2. In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour and salt. Pulse briefly until mixed.  Add in the the cubed butter pieces and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add in the egg/ice-water mixture. Pulse again until a lovely dough forms.
  3. Transfer the dough onto a lightly-floured board. Roll out the quiche crust so that it fits the measurements of your quiche pan or dish. Lay the rolled out dough onto the top of the quiche pan. Using your hands, gently press the dough into place. With a paring knife, slice off any extra dough that’s hanging over the rim of the pan or dish.
  4. Stick the quiche pan with the dough into the freezer for approximately 20-25 minutes (but if you leave it in there a bit longer, that’s fine too). For a flaky quiche crust it’s important that the crust is cold when it’s filled and cooked.
  5. Preheat oven to 175c Put a piece of baking paper in the frozen pie shell and fill with beans (for weight) Cook for 25 minutes.
  6. Take out the beans. Whisk one egg with some cold water and paint the bottom of the shell. Bake uncovered for 5 minutes.
  7. Sprinkle the bottom of the crust with semolina before filling.

FILLING

  1. Fry smoked salmon on high heat in oil until crispy-set aside
  2. cook the mushrooms in butter-set aside
  3. Cook the spinach in oil until wilted. Strain the water out. Chop so its not stringy and put in a bowl. Add the garlic powder and mix well. Add the mushrooms and salmon
  4. Whisk the eggs and add to the bowl with the other ingredients. Add the ricotta (or milk) and salt and pepper.
  5. Cut the feta into squares. When the crust is cooled, place the squares into the crust and then pour the egg mixture in.
  6. Bake at 175c for 45 minutes.
Categories
Dinners Salmon

Sheet Pan Salmon

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon wasabi paste (Japanese horseradish paste)
  • 1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled, finely grated
  • 2 large garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 4 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets (preferably wild)
  • Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
  • 1 pound baby bok choy, halved
  • 2 cups (packed) finely shredded green cabbage (about 5 ounces)
  • 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, sliced if large
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

RECIPE PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 230c°. Heat a large rimmed baking sheet for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix mayonnaise and wasabi in a small bowl.

Stir in half of ginger and half of garlic; set aside.

Season fish all over with salt and pepper.

Place bok choy, cabbage, and mushrooms in a large bowl. Drizzle with oil and add remaining ginger and garlic. Toss to coat; season with salt and pepper.

Scatter vegetables across one side of baking sheet. Arrange salmon on other side. Roast, stirring vegetables occasionally, until salmon is cooked through, 6-8 minutes. Divide vegetables among plates; top with salmon. Serve wasabi mayonnaise alongside.

Categories
Dinners Salmon Soups&Salads

Thai Coconut Soup with Shrimp

  • oil
  • 1 shallot minced
  • 1/3 cup red bell peppers finely diced (about a half of a medium sized pepper)
  • 1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms about 5 ounces
  • 2 Tablespoon red curry paste
  • 1 Tablespoon ginger peeled, grated
  • 1 quart  broth
  • 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons fish sauce
  • 1 can coconut milk 13.5 ounces
  • 1 pound large shrimp peeled and deveined* (21-25 per pound)
  • 1/2 cup green onions thinly sliced (about 2)
  • 2 Tablespoons basil thinly sliced,
  • 2 Tablespoon fresh lime juice

Instructions

  1. In a large saucepan, heat one tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add shallots, and stir, cooking just until fragrant. About 1-2 minutes.
  2. Add bell peppers, mushrooms, curry paste, ginger, broth, brown sugar, and fish sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer. Cover and cook until hot and bubbly, about 8 minutes.
  3. Add coconut milk and return to a simmer. Add shrimp and cook just until pink and cooked through, about 3-5 minutes.
  4. Remove from heat and add sliced green onions, lime juice and fresh basil.
Categories
Dinners favorite lunch Vegetarian

Torta Pasqualina

  • 600 g spinach
  • 1 onion
  • 500 g ricotta
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 100 g grated parmesan
  • 10 eggs
  • 1 pinch of marjoram leaves
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • Salt, pepper
  • Olive oil
  • 270 g fresh pastry (or see below for homemade pastry)

Preheat oven 180c

Cook the spinach in a pan with olive oil until wilted. Put in a colander and squeeze out as much water as you can. Set aside to cool.

Chop the onion and garlic and cook it with 2 table spoons of olive oil. Onion first 5 min and garlic 1 min. When it’s golden, chop the cooled spinach and add to the pan. Add the parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste. and stir well.

In a large bowl, whisk 4 eggs and add the ricotta and the nutmeg. Add the spinach mixture and stir together.

*note: you can drain the ricotta beforehand as well if it is watery.

Separate 2.3 of the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out as thin as possible. I used a deep springform pan (you can use a deep pie tin). Butter it generously and line the inside and sides with the dough. You can rollout the sides separately and then re-attach inside the pan but I did it in one piece….carefully.

Make 5 dents in the top of the spinach mixture, like little nests, and break the raw eggs (5) one into each indentation. Roll out the remaining 1/3 dough into a circle (a bit larger than the pan, wet the top edge of the dough and then lay the circle over the top, attaching to the wet edge.

Whisk the final egg and add a bit of water. Paint over the top. Bake for 45 minutes. Watch it and if the top seems to be browning a bit too fast, place a sheet of aluminum foil to keep it from burning.

Cool for at least 10 minutes.

With the back of the spoon, make 6 small caves around the surface of the stuffing. Put the 6 eggs on these small holes.

Cover with the 2 remaining sheets of dough (between the 2 sheets spread some olive oil).
Close properly the cake with the dough.

To make the crust nicer to see, spread it with some olive oil.

Cook the torta pasqualina in the oven at 180°C for 1 hour.

FOR HOMEMADE CRUST:

  • 500 g flour
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 300 g water (almost)
  • a pinch of salt

Prepare the crust, properly mixing flour, water, salt and olive oil. Split the dough into 4. Make 4 thin sheets.

Categories
Dinners Vegetarian

Aloo Gobi Potato Cauliflower Stew

  • 4 tbsp neutral oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • ½ tsp nigella seeds
  • 350g waxy potatoes, cut into rough 2.5cm dice
  • 1 medium cauliflower, cut into florets and chunks of stalk slightly larger than the potato
  • 1 yellow onion, finely sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 tbsp grated ginger
  • 1 tin of plum tomatoes, roughly chopped, or 5 chopped fresh tomatoes and 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted in a dry pan and ground
  • ½-1 tsp medium chilli powder
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 2-4 small green chillies, slit along their length
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • Juice of ½ a lime
  • Small bunch of fresh coriander, chopped

Heat the oil in a wide, lidded pan over a medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the cumin and nigella seeds and cook for a few seconds util they pop, then add the potatoes and sauté until golden. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and repeat with the cauliflower, then scoop this out into a separate bowl.

Turn the heat down to medium-low, add a little more oil if necessary, and add the onion. Cook until soft and golden but not brown, then stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for a couple of minutes. Tip in the tomatoes, ground coriander, chilli and turmeric and cook, stirring regularly, until the oil begins to pool around the side of the pan.

Add the potatoes back in along with the fresh chillies and salt, bring to a simmer, turn down the heat, cover and cook for five minutes. Add the cauliflower and a good splash of water, cover and cook until both are tender, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick, and adding more water if necessary.

Take off the heat, stir in the methi and garam masala and leave for 10 minutes, then stir in the lime juice and fresh coriander before serving

Categories
Appetizers Dinners Scallops

Pan-Seared Curried Scallops

  • 2 dry-packed sea scallops
  • Sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, butter, ghee or coconut oil
  • 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon snipped fresh chives, or 1 minced scallion, for garnish

Rinse the scallops, then pat very dry with paper towels. This step is very important, especially if you’re using frozen scallops; if they aren’t dry, you’ll be steaming instead of searing them. Season both sides of the scallops with salt and sprinkle the curry powder over both sides of the scallops. Give each one a pat so the curry becomes evenly distributed over the surface.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add the scallops to the pan one at a time in a single uncrowded layer. Cook them in two batches if necessary. Let cook undisturbed, until deep golden-brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Turn and sear the other side until golden and the internal temperature registers between 150°F and 155°F, another 2 minutes. The scallops should be almost firm to the touch. Transfer the scallops to a serving plate and keep warm.

Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the grated ginger to the pan. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the coconut milk to deglaze the skillet, scraping any loose bits stuck to the pan. Cook the sauce until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Stir in the lime juice and any accumulated juices from the scallops. Taste; you might want to add a pinch or two of salt. Spoon the coconut sauce over the scallops, garnish with the chives, and serve immediately.