Mackerel salad with lemon buttermilk dressing

Laura Nana1 Comment

Ok this is amazing! Truly amazing. It’s the dressing that does it. If you didn’t fancy mackerel you could do this just with Parma Ham or veggies alone or salmon or chicken or…or….or…. You get the picture. Try it, it’s fab. And quick, did I mention it’s just 20 minutes to lushdom?

Ingredients

2 mackerel fillets
3 slices of Parma ham (optional)
4 tomatoes. I used yellow and red varieties
2 asparagus spears
1 little gem or other preferred leaf
6-10 baby potatoes
Zest and juice of one lemon
Half tub of buttermilk (roughly 140ml)
Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and pepper

Method

Boil your potatoes in salted water for 20 minutes. Shave your asparagus into strips with a potato peeler. Cut your tomatoes into quarters and then slice them horizontally. Tear up your Parma ham and mackerel.

Arrange all of this loveliness on a big platter.

To make the dressing add the buttermilk and lemon zest to a bowl and gradually add the juice, tasting all the time. The buttermilk will balance out the lemon for a lovely mellow taste. Add the Extra Virgin olive Oil for richness and season with salt and pepper.

Drizzle over the salad and serve!

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Kudhi – yoghurty curry

Laura NanaLeave a comment

So this is an accompaniment that is somewhat addictive! At first sight you’d think it bland and uninspiring but pair it with the right curries and you will be surprised! Its great with my Potato Fry

Ingredients

500g pot of Natural Yoghurt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp of whole cumin
8 curry leaves (not mandatory)

Method

  1. Pour the majority of the tub of yoghurt into a small saucepan. Reserve about 2 tablespoons or so in the pot
  2. Add the salt and sugar and stir will
  3. In a separate frying pan, heat the cumin until fragrant
  4. Pound in a pestle and mortar or grind up in your spice mill if you have one
  5. Add this to the yoghurt pan and stir it really, really well
  6. Put it on a low to medium heat and keep stirring it until its nice and warm – about 5-7 minutes
  7. You’ll find it will go much looser
  8. Keep it warm whilst you get the rest of your meal ready
  9. When you are ready to serve, add in the reserved leftover yoghurt, this will thicken it up again
  10. Add the curry leaves and serve

The idea is to pour this over vegetable curries, potato fry or plain basmati rice, you can eat it with chapatis/rotis/naan breads too if you like  – i’ll post some veggie curries up soon for you to start pairing and testing!

Potato Fry

Laura Nana2 Comments

We usually serve this as part of a medley of Indian bites on a Monday night which is usually vegetarian night in our house. Its lovely with Kudhi – a yoghurty curry sauce – and basmati rice. I like to bake mine in the oven on the premise that its less work and healthier but my husband prefers to fry it on the hob to get lots of yummy little crispy bits!! Here’s the oven based “healthy” version in the interests of keeping you all alive longer to read my blog 😉

Ingredients

1kg white potatoes
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp madras curry powder
Half tsps of: ground cumin, ground coriander, chilli powder and tumeric
1tsp mustard seeds
Sprinkle of chopped Coriander

Method

  1. Heat your oven to 200 degrees.
  2. Line a large flat pan with foil and add the oil. Put it in the oven to warm up for 5-10 minutes
  3. Peel and dice your potatoes into 1cm cubes
  4. Add all your spices together, take your pan out of the oven and pour the spices on top of the oil and stir it around.
  5. Tumble in your potatoes and toss them to cover in the spice mix
  6. Put them in the oven for 30-40 minutes tossing/turning them over every 10 minutes or so
  7. For the last 5-10 minutes, add your mustard seeds to the pan
  8. Sprinkle over your coriander and serve

 

 

Sea Salt and Cayenne Brownies

Laura NanaLeave a comment

I love sweet and salty flavours and the addition of a little heat makes these little beauties all the more interesting. These went down a treat at work! Its a quick and easy recipe that will impress. Add more cayenne if you like them hotter.

Ingredients

85g of plain chocolate – I used plain cooking chocolate
115g salted butter
250g caster sugar
2 large eggs
2 pinches of sea salt
85g plain flour
Half a tsp of cayenne pepper

Method

Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water – make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water.

Mix the sugar and eggs well with a whisk. Then add the melted chocolate and butter mix – once its cooled a little.

In a separate bowl add the flour, salt and cayenne and mix it well so the salt and cayenne is evenly distributed.

Pour into a cake pan lined with greaseproof and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Its done when it is set on top but still a bit wobbly.

I put mine in the fridge to get it all nice and fudgey!

Cod and Chorizo Stew

Laura NanaLeave a comment

We had this last night, I like the idea of chucking all the “stewwy” parts in the pan and letting them cook down for an hour – gives me a chance to hang out the washing, tidy up and read to D. I oven bake or fry the fish towards the end of the hour and hey presto, another easy dinner. I use frozen cod so this is mostly a “store cupboard” recipe. I also throw in a few frozen prawns at the end of cooking quite often, if I have them.

Chorizo Stew

Ingredients

100-200g Chorizo, cut into rounds and then cut into half moons
4-6 Thyme or Rosemary sprigs
1 large onion – red or white, doesn’t matter, cut into large chunks
1 tbsp [olive] oil
2 tsp paprika
1 bay leaf
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tbsp tomato puree
400g can of Chopped Tomatoes
6 baby new potatoes, halved
125ml of red or white wine (whichever you have available)
10-12 frozen raw prawns (optional)
4 fillets of fish – I use cod or salmon
Half lemon for juice

Method

First, heat a small saucepan to a very high heat, then add your wine and count to 30 and take it off the heat.

In a separate saucepan, add the oil and heat to medium, add the onions and cook for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, bay leaf and thyme and cook for 4 minutes more. Add the tomato puree and chopped tomatoes and cook for a minute or two then add the chorizo, new potatoes and wine reduction. Set a timer for 1 hour and put a lid on it with a small gap. You could add 400g of sliced squid at this point to slow cook and omit the cod. Slow cooked squid is a revelation.

10 minutes before the stew is finished, heat a pan to medium. Add some oil. Put your fish in with some herbs if you have any left over. Let it get nice and crispy – increase the heat if necessary. Cook to taste, depending on the thickness of the fish and how you like it cooked. Squeeze over a little lemon juice and season.

Serve the fish atop the stew and dig in. Its also nice served with some green veg on the side – like kale or fresh uncooked watercress.

A simple fish supper

Laura NanaLeave a comment

We had this for a late lunch on Sunday following  a weekend of excess – far too much unhealthy food! Its super easy to make and barely requires a recipe but its always worth raising the profile of simple suppers. I used half a side of fresh salmon but you can easily do this using individual salmon fillets The garlic and thyme is what makes the vegetables sing in this, use as much as you dare!

Image

Ingredients

4 Salmon fillets / Half a side of salmon
Half a Lemon, cut into slices
4-6 sprigs of fresh Thyme
100ml White Wine

2 Red peppers, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 Courgette, thinly sliced
300g Mushrooms, quartered
2 red onions, chopped into bite-size pieces
300g Cherry Tomatoes
3 Cloves of Garlic, sliced/chopped up
6 sprigs of fresh Thyme, chopped roughly
Half a tsp of Chilli Flakes
3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 tbsp Regular Olive Oil

Method

Mix the oils, the chilli, the garlic and the chopped thyme in a bowl. MIx together with all the vegetables and then pour into an oven-proof pan lined with foil. Pop in the oven for 35 minutes, turning every 10 minutes or so until charred on the edges and soft to touch.

Turn your oven onto the ‘Grill and Fan Oven’ setting at 200 degrees. If your oven doesn’t have this setting just put it on regular oven and then you can grill the skin at the end of cooking.

Place the lemon slices in a foil-lined oven-proof dish, put the 4-6 thyme sprigs on top then the salmon on top of that, with the skin on top. Pour in the wine and season the skin with salt. Put it in the oven for 10-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fish and how well done you like it. I like to have mine only just cooked in the middle so tend to do it for shorter time.

Warm some plates as the fish and veg tend to go cold quickly. Pop it all on the table and let the family dig in. Its also nice to serve up some griddled ciabatta on the side or some buttery new potatoes, if you need some carbs. Enjoy the simplicity of such a tasty dish and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Salmon, mushroom and watercress Quiche

Laura NanaLeave a comment

I made this last week and it made me feel very spring-like in a week where the sun actually made an appearance. Its still freezing outside but spring is coming, make it more so by making this dish!!

Salmon Quiche 1

Ingredients

Shortcrust Pastry – make your own if you have time or buy some if you don’t, I won’t judge you for it
2 Salmon fillets
1 clove of garlic sliced (don’t use a huge one)
Bag of Watercress – half to go in the quiche, the other half to serve alongside.
Handful of Parsley, finely chopped
Mushrooms, sliced
4 eggs
Splash of single cream or milk
Small drizzle of Balsamic glaze or honey (optional)
Parmesan
Salt and pepper

Method

Set the oven to 180 degrees. Roll out your pastry and put it in your selected oven dish or pastry pan. Bake it for 10 minutes with baking beads then remove the beads and back for a further 5 minutes.

Fry the mushroom and garlic on a medium heat for 5-7 minutes until translucent. Remove from the pan then put the salmon in and fry that for 3-5 minutes on each side. Flake the salmon.

Take the pastry out of the oven, lay in the mushroom and onion mix, then the flaked salmon and half of the watercress (see note in Ingredients above). Drizzle over your balsamic glaze or honey, if you’re using – it adds a little sweetness to the dish which we liked.

Beat the eggs, parsley and cream together. Pour this over the quiche. Grate over some Parmesan and season. Put it in the oven for 20-30 minutes until it is just set.

Serve with more watercress and mayonnaise on the side.

Salmon Quiche 2

Breaded Chicken, Mash, Kale and mushroom sauce

Laura NanaLeave a comment

I’m making this tonight (20.02.14) for dinner, my mouth keeps watering at the thought of it!!

Ingredients

4 Chicken Breasts, flattened as much as you can with any suitable kitchen instruments
Breadcrumbs (I used panko)
2 eggs beaten
Plateful of flour

Half an onion finely diced
2 cloves of garlic crushed
200g mushrooms
100ml single cream
Splash of white wine or brandy
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
Sprig of Thyme or Rosemary

Mashable potatoes, I used Tesco’s Finest Blue Belle Potatoes

Kale

Method

  1. MASH: Peel your potatoes, put them in a pan of cold water and once boiling, time for 20-25 minutes. Drain them for 5 minutes, put them back in their pan with a few knobs of butter and go all out mashing them. Add a little milk and use a fork to stir/fluff it through. Put it in the oven to keep warm if necessary
  2. CHICKEN: Having bashed up the chicken satisfactorily, set up a production line with the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs. Dip in each methodically and put on a plate.
  3. CHICKEN: You can either spray with Olive Oil spray and oven back for 20 minutes at 180 or you can pan fry them – heat some oil in a pan then add the chicken breasts. Don’t overcrowd the pan or they won’t get crispy. Pan fry for 5-7 mins on each side. Cut into the middle of your meat, if any pinkness remains, put it back in the oven/pan – this can vary depending on how thick/think your chicken is.
  4. SAUCE: Fry your onions and garlic on a medium heat with a little oil for 5-7 minutes until translucent. Add your mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes. Add your white wine or brandy and boil down for 4-5 minutes. Add the dijon mustard and herbs, stir well. When ready to serve, add the single cream and stir. Season to taste
  5. KALE: Boil for 7 minutes and serve

As always, please post your results in the comments. Good idea to warm your plates beforehand too – especially if you have the oven on anyway 🙂

Coconut Daal

Laura NanaLeave a comment

This is a regular on our table because it is so full of flavour, makes you forget its veggie and is a quick one pot wonder, please give it a try, you won’t be disappointed. It’s also good to serve as a dinner party side dish with other curries. The leftovers are amazing in a sandwich or roll the next day for lunch too.

Ingredients

300g red lentils
600ml cold water
400g Can of Coconut milk
400g Can of Chopped Tomatoes
Bunch of coriander, chop the stalks and leaves separately
100g Kale or Spinach
2 tsp curry powder

2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1-2 tbsp oil
8-10 curry leaves
1 tsp garam massalla

Method

In a saucepan, add the lentils, coconut milk, water, coriander stalks and curry powder. Simmer for 10 mins then add the chopped tomatoes, cook for 20 mins. After 20 mins give it a really good stir and then add the kale or spinach.

In a small frying pan warm the oil, curry leaves, cumin seeds, garam massalla and mustard seeds until they start to become fragrant, stir most of it into the daal, reserving a little to put on to at the end.

All done! I usually serve this with frozen paratha that you can get from most big supermarkets but rice, naan, wraps, chapatis etc will do just as well. Hope you enjoy it! Post your feedback and comments below

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Salted Chocolate Fudge

Laura NanaLeave a comment

Not sure I really need to do any work to sell this one…! The guys at work polish these off in minutes when I bring them in.

Ingredients:
400g Dark Chocolate – broken into pieces
1/2 tsp Maldon Sea Salt
394g Condensed Milk
200g Butter

Method:

Line a square tin with grease-proof paper and butter the sides.

On a low heat, melt all the ingredients except for the sea salt together. stirring regularly.

Once its all nicely melted, sprinkle in the sea salt and beat it really well with a wooden spoon or a balloon whisk. Taste it to see if it needs any more salt.

Pour into the square tin and refrigerate for 2 hours. Once set, remove from the tin and cut into small squares. Et voila! Its done!

You can go to town with flavours, replace the salt with vanilla or chilli flakes or some salted or plain nuts and raisins. Enjoy and please post how you get on with making it!