Fish and Mushroom Pilaf...

Shelly and I first saw Nigel Slater doing this on TV. The base of the recipe is the same -  I've just made a few changes.


It's become a firm favourite with us and is real comfort food stuff...


As the kids aren't that keen on fish I sometimes do a variation substituting pre-fried Chorizo and chicken. 

This recipe inspired me to get a cast iron cooking pot that could be used on the hob and then bunged in the oven. I hope one day to get a posh Le Creuset one, but until then my £29.99 one from Tescos does the job admirably!...

Ingredients

• 40g butter
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 250g basmati rice
• 1 bay leaf
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2 green or red chillies, seeded, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1 small piece fresh root ginger, peeled, finely grated
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 375ml light chicken stock (allow it to cool a bit)
• 400g smoked haddock  or cod fillet , boned, skin on, cut into 4 equal portions
• 200g free range mushrooms, chopped or sliced
• 2 free-range eggs, hard-boiled, peeled, grated or chopped
• 2 spring onions, trimmed, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (If you've got it - not essential though) 
• lemon juice, to serve

Preparation method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Melt the butter in a large, heavy-based lidded casserole dish. 

Add the garam masala and allow to sizzle gently for a moment or two. 

I love this stage - my mouth starts watering just at the aroma!

Tip in the rice and stir around until the grains are well coated with this spicy butter.

Add the bay leaf, lemon zest, green chilli, ginger, garlic and a touch of salt and freshly ground black pepper.




















Pour over the stock, bring up to a simmer, then add the mushrooms.






Lay  the fish on top, gently submerging it under the surface (Mind your finger tips!). 

Put the lid on and cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes.





If you haven't got a hob to oven type dish, just do the first bit in a large saucepan then transfer to a casserole dish before adding the fish.
If you don't have a lid - cover with aluminium foil....



Remove from the oven, then leave to stand for 5-7 minutes without removing the lid; this is important - it allows the rice to finish cooking.

Take off the lid, remove the skin from the fish and immediately add the chopped egg, onions and coriander and, using two forks, gently mix the rice, while also breaking the fish into flakes and mixing everything else in as you go. Remove the bay leaf and cover with a tea towel, clamp on the lid, and leave for a further five minutes to remove any excess steam. Mix again lightly.Serve directly from the dish onto hot plates and squeeze over a little lemon juice.

The Lemon juice really compliments the spiciness of the chilli - well worth adding...

Roast Pork Loin with Cider

Arty Pic

No Crackling today :-( best not to have it anyway for health reasons, but it's sometimes nice as a treat, so I'll do that another time...

The Jus (that's posh for sauce...)

• 2 cups / 500ml apple cider
• 1 med chopped onion (i've used a red one, but white probably is best for this sauce)
• 6 whole allspice (I didn't heve any so i substituted 1/2 tsp ground allspice )
• 3 large fresh thyme sprigs (or a big rosemary sprig)
• 1 cinnamon sticks (some recipes say 2, but I'm not that rich!)
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 bay leaf
• 15g unsalted butter (to finish)

The Jus is nice but doesn't go far, so -

Onion Gravy

• 1/2 an onion sliced
• Ac ouple of sprigs of Rosemary finely chopped
• 1/2 a pint of stock (Beef or Chicken Oxo is best....) 
• a pinch of S&P to taste

The Meat

• 680g ounce pork tenderloins, well trimmed
• Olive oil
• 4 Rosemary sprigs
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• salt & pepper

Oh - and some veg - today we're having Carrots, Broccoli, Peas and roast spuds...

Mix all of the Jus ingredients in medium saucepan except for the butter.











Boil until mixture is reduced to by almost a half, about 30minutes. Strain, pressing on solids to extract liquid. Discard solids.




(Oops - put butter in too early in this pic... - never mind!)










Meanwhile - prep your veg.











Return liquid to saucepan and boil until reduced to 1/2 (125ml) cup, about 10 minutes (you may be able to skip this bit id your jus is already reduced quite a lot).

Whisk in the butter and season with salt and pepper, if needed.








Boil your spuds for about 10 mins in salted water then drain in a colanders, cover with a teatowel and allow to dry for a few minutes (this makes them nice and fluffy).

Toss the spuds in the colander to 'chuff' tghem up then transfer them to a deep roasting tin.
Slather olive oil and sprinkle with a few pinches of salt and black pepper. Toss...



Spuds in the oven for 1/2 an hour then take them out and add about 2 tbsp of red wine vinegar, nore salt and pepper, a pinch of dried mixed herds and about 2 tsp of smoked paprika (lush!).

Stick them back in the oven for the last 1/2 hour of cooking taking into account the resting time of the pork (which I've just realised I haven't done - I now need to think up a creative way of keeping those spuds crispy!)

Meanwhile, preheat oven to maximum.

Wash your hands and take your rings off...



Rub the pork with olive oil, salt and pepper generously and coat with the minced garlic and rosemary.















Bung in the oven and bring the oven temp down to about 180c (the high heat to start off with should brown the meat wuite nicely.















(You don't have to do your spuds in the same roasting tin, but it does make them taste nice - even Shelly liked them!)



















Roast in the preheated oven for 30-35ins per 450 g + 30 mins extra or until the pork reaches an internal temperature of at least 77c.

89c (upside down)

Sweaty Onions

Get your gravy on if you want it. Sweat 1/2 a sliced onion for 5 mins then brown with the lid off. Chuck in a tablespoon of plain flour and cook it off for a minutes then gradually whisk in 1/2 a pint of Beef stock.
Simmer for a couple of minutes stirring constantly until thick then turn the heat off and cover.

Check your veg... (These ones are steaming for about 10 mins...)








 Take the roast out of the oven and rest for at least 5-10 minutes or preferably 1/2 the time it spent in the oven. Pour any pork drippings from the rested meat into the cider sauce

.

 Then slice and serve with the sauce drizzled over the top.

Kids Serving

Adults Serving (mine)

Friday Foccacia

Based on Paul Hollywood's recipe on BBC Good Food... I normally bung this together during my lunch hour on a Friday so that it's ready for when Shelly and the kids get home.

It doesn't usually last much past 8pm!...

Ingredients

• 500g/1lb 2oz strong white bread flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 sachets dried easy blend yeast
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 400ml/14fl oz cold water
• olive oil, for drizzling
• fine sea salt
• Sea salt flakes and cracked black pepper for sprinkled over the top + sprigs of rosemary if you like

Preparation method

Place the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Combine using a whisk and then create a well in the middle.

Pour the olive oil and the water into the well. Gradually bring together the mixture using your hand or a large tined fork (using my 'erosion' method) to form a dough then knead using the following method:

Stretch dough by hand in the bowl, tuck the sides into the centre, turn the bowl 80 degrees and repeat the process for about five minutes.

 Sorry - the pics get all 'Hipstamatic' from this point 'cos the normal camera app on my iPhone stopped reponding










Tip the dough onto an oiled work surface and continue kneading in a similar way for five more minutes. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and leave to rise until doubled in size.










Line One large or two small baking sheets with greaseproof paper. 


Cut vertically down the corners of the baking sheets sop that when you bake the bread it doesn't get all 'snarled up in the folded corners...



Tip the dough out of the bowl and divide into two portions.




Flatten each portion onto a baking sheet, pushing to the corners, then leave to prove for one hour.



Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.



Drizzle the loaves with oil, sprinkle with fine sea salt then bake in the oven for 20 minutes....








....but check after 15 - they're better doughy rather than burnt like the ones in these photos!.





 When cooked, drizzle with a little more olive oil and serve hot or warm...

BBQ lamb shoulder - Another WIP

Sorry - more coming soon (several people at work have asked me how this went!) I hope to type it up this weekend...
Update 22/04/12 - nope still haven't got round to it - please enjoy the gallery in the meantime...