Salmon Gratin

The first weekend in August seems a long time ago now. It had involved raving in the garden shed of close friend and a ten mile walk with the dog. There was Smoked Salmon in the house;a fish that I had found my love of rekindled by a one off encounter in the City.

I decided to turn the Smoked Salmon into a Smoked Salmon Gratin. I find Gratins quite easy to make if you want to prepare something with limited effort that is also a substantial meal. There are a number of great Vegetarian Gratins out there that I've made but this was the first time that I'd tried a Fish Gratin.

The day's soundtrack was the Cat Stevens album "Mona Bon Jakon" the key track on this corker from 1970  being "I think I see the light" a song appropriate to my circumstances at the time.

The Recipe for the main part of this dish was as follows:

Half a diced White Onion.
One Leek topped,tailed and sliced widthways.
Two White Potatoes sliced widthways.
Eight Ounces of fresh Broad Beans from my local Green Grocer.
A pinch of Mustard.
A teaspoon of White Pepper.
Twelve ounces of pre-cooked Smoked Salmon.
Olive Oil.

The Recipe for the Sauce was as follows:

Four Ounces of Unsalted Butter.
Three Ounces of Plain Flour.
A pinch of Mustard.
A tablespoon of dried Dill.
Half a pint of sweetened Soya Milk.

If you want to try the dish yourself then the approach I followed was:

1.In my Le Cresceut I  shallow fried on a low to medium heat  the vegetables, Mustard and White Pepper for a period of thirty five minutes. I fried these ingredients in Olive Oil and stirred them regularly to ensure they didn't stick to the bottom of the dish or burned.

2.I then added the Smoked Salmon pieces and stirred them in.

3. While I was cooking the main part of the dish I, fairly successfully, was able to multi-task by making the sauce. I did this  by melting the Butter in a saucepan and mixing it with the Plain Flour, Mustard and Dill. When this was all mixed together it formed into a honeycomb. I then gradually added the Soya Milk to the saucepan while all the time stirring it into the dish on a medium heat until I had a thick sauce.

4.I then added the sauce to the Le Cresceut and stirred it in thoroughly.

5. To finish the dish off I put the Le Cresceut, with the lid off, in the oven on Gas Mark Four for around fifteen minutes. After which I served it.

The Smoked Salmon's unique flavour and the Dill Sauce were what made this dish while the Broad Beans provided the required taste to help bring out the taste of the other vegetables too.

All cooked a ready to serve and much more delicious than this photo might make it look. 

Beetroot and root vegetable risotto

The day after my Birthday was August the 10th. It was a Hot August Day and the dog and I disappeared off into the White Peak for the majority of the day on a twelve mile walk to revisit places from my childhood and spot new things.

On my return home I had to tackle the fact that tomorrow was a working day so it was important to cook something that was suitably fortifying to see me through to the weekend without any difficulty. I decided to try a Beetroot Risotto recipe that was a variation upon the one that I wrote about in a previous post on this blog entitled "Beety McBeety Face,"

The ingredients for this recipe were:

Three Beetroot topped, tailed, peeled and then Cubed.
A Leek topped ,tailed and sliced finely.
Two Carrots, peeled, topped, tailed and sliced width-ways.
A clove of Garlic slice finely.
Two Sprigs of Marjoram from my back garden.
Five Sprigs of Rosemary from my back garden.
A teaspoon of White Pepper.
A teaspoon of Ground Ginger.
Two tablespoons of Port
Eight Ounces of Risotto Rice.
Half a Pint of Water.
Five ounces of Wensley Dale Cheese.

I started off by putting some Olive Oil into the bottom of my Le Cresceut and frying on a medium heat the Beetroot Cubes, Sliced Leek, Carrots, Garlic, Marjoram, Rosemary, White Pepper, Ground Ginger and Port for thirty minutes. I stirred these ingredients regularly to ensure they did not stick to the bottom of the dish.

I then added the Risotto Rice which I stirred into the dish for ten minutes. Next I added the water and simmered the dish for twenty minutes until most of the water absorbed.

To finish I added five ounces of Wensley Dale, stirred it in until it had just melted and then served the Risotto.

This risotto proved to be rich one, partly due to the addition of the Port, but not as rich as the one featured in "Beety McBeety Face" as it lacked that risotto's Goat's Cheese. However it was still a filling and healthy meal thanks to the Beetroot and the other fresh vegetables.

Tickled Pink- a glowing pre-work risotto. 

September Goulash

The second part of my cookery project for the first Saturday in September was inspired partly by a recipe I'd seen in a Vegetarian Cookbook, part by my love of Pui Lentils and part by a trip to Eastern Europe many years ago where I ate plenty of Goulash.

I had never made a Goulash before so here I was in unknown territory. To mark this moment the meal was prepared to the innovative and groundbreaking 1978 Frank Zappa Live Album "Zappa in New York".

The ingredients were as follows:

For the Goulash:

Two sliced Carrots.
Three finely sliced Shallots.
Three finely sliced sticks of Celery.
Two diced Garlic Cloves.
A tablespoon of Tomato Puree.
One can of chopped Tomatoes.
Ten ounces of Pui Lentils.
One teaspoon of Caraway Seeds.
One teaspoon of Smoked Paprika.
A tablespoon of Port.
A half pint of Vegetable Stock.

For the dumplings:

A sachet of vegetarian dumpling suet.
A tablespoon of finely sliced chives from my garden.
Five tablespoons of Water.
One tablespoon of Soya Milk.

I first made the dumplings by putting the suet and the Chives in a mixing bowl and gradually adding the Water and Soya Milk. The reason I did this was that I find if you add the wet ingredients gradually the dough mixes together better and makes better quality dumplings. After the dough was mixed together I divided it into six balls and left them in the fridge to firm up.

After this I sweated the Carrots, the Shallots, the Celery, the Garlic Cloves, Tomato Puree, the Caraway Seeds, Smoked Paprika  and the Port in the Le Cresceut in Olive Oil for 35 minutes on a medium heat. I stirred the dish occasionally to make sure that the ingredients did not stick to the bottom of it burn. I also kept the lid on during cooking to make sure the food cooked quickly.

 About 25 minutes into this process I added the Dumplings.

In the meantime as soon as I started cooking the food in the Le Cresceut I boiled up the Pui Lentils in a saucepan of water for 35 minutes on a medium heat.  Once the Lentils were ready I added them
 to the Le Cresceut with the Vegetable Stock and Tomatoes. I stirred them in carefully. I then boiled it all for a further 35 minutes on a medium heat.

The Smoked Paprika, a spice that had been recommend to me by an individual who had contributed
little else that was positive to my life, and the Caraway Seeds added a charcoal type taste that reminded me of Liquorice. The Celery of course served to enforce this taste. However this taste wasn't too overpowering as the Tomato Puree, tinned Tomatoes and the Chive Dumplings ensured enough contrast to make this a flavoursome and filling meal.

It was certainly a meal my parents enjoyed as we talked shop about significant individuals and possible futures.

Melting Pot- the Dumplings and other ingredients bubbling away prior to serving the dish. 

Carrot Marsala and Lentil Soup

Saturday morning. The morning after a night out, with good company, at a revamped local pub that sits at the top of a hill in the shadow of an eerie churchyard. Only three and a bit pints had been consumed but I was feeling a little jaded, perhaps partly because I had pushed myself hard at work during the truncated working week that had just finished.

Later on that day my parents were around for a meal as they were off on holiday for nearly three weeks the following day. What to cook? I decided on a three course meal and today's blog entry deals with the first course of that meal.

On the player was one of Frank Zappa's many top drawer live albums. The album I listened to was called "The Best Band you never heard in Your Life". Zappa probably released this record in pique and sadness as it documents his final tour in 1988 that he cancelled after a fall out with his backing band. The title is specifically for the fans who had bought tickets for the cancelled legs of the tour. The record features a mix of Zappa Classics and cover versions, some serious and some clear parodies, of well-known rock numbers. Among the best of these is his cover of "Stairway to Heaven" in which the horn section approximates Jimmy Page's famous guitar work to a tee.

I had consumed quite a few curries recently and had found in my fridge a lot of Carrots that needed eating quickly. That said I settled on preparing a Carrot Marsala and Lentil Soup.

The ingredients of it to try at home are as follows:

For the Soup:
1 Diced Red Onion.
1 Diced Garlic Clove.
1 Cubed and diced White Potato.
1 Tablespoon of Garam Marsala.
1 Tablespoon of ground Coriander.
Half a pint of Vegetable Stock.
1 Can of Green Lentils.

For the Lime Oil

4 Tablespoons of Olive Oil.
Rind of one Lime.

The way I prepared this one was as follows:

1. In my Le Cresceut I sweated the Onion, Garlic, Potato, Coriander and Marsala in Olive Oil with the lid on the Le Cresceut for around half an hour on a medium heat.  

2. After the half an hour was up I added the Vegetable Stock and simmered everything in the Le Cresceut with the lid off for another half an hour.

3. After this I took the Le Cresceut off the heat and left the contents to cool.

4. Once the food had cooled I blended it and returned it to the Le Cresceut.

5. Next I added the Lentils to give the dish some more texture and warmed the soup through so it was ready to serve.

6. While the soup had been cooking on the hob I made the Lime Oil. The way I did this was to put the Olive Oil in a serving bowl. I then grated the Lime Rind in using a cheese grater. Next I stirred it into the Olive Oil with a spoon and left it to cool in the fridge until I was ready to serve the soup.

The soup went down well with everyone. The Marsala and the Coriander gave it a definite taste of some of my local town's better curry houses while the Carrot, Potato and Lentils gave the Soup a real body and plenty of protein.

The Lime Oil was added to the Soup once it had been served and it served as a welcome contrast to some of the more savoury flavours of the soup. With the weather starting to cool this is definitely a soup that will no doubt be made again over the winter months.

The Lime Oil floats on top of the soup as it is less dense than the soup itself.

The Lime Oil is illuminated by the late summer sunlight.