Far East Fish

It was Saturday, it was showtime it was work and it wasn't. It was attending a show at a former industrial hotbed in England. Myself and two of my dynamic colleagues were promoting our business at a show that featured a fairground, medieval battle re-enactments and a free massage. It was a successful day and round two of promoting the show was to start the following day.

It was early Saturday Evening by the time I got home and I decided I needed a spot of brain food in the form of oven-baked Cod. However I decided to put a different twist on it. I was inspired to do so by a fantastic book, that's written by Niki Segnit called "The Flavour Thesaurus". The book was gifted to me by two good friends residing in the land of Blonde Beer and Northern Mill Towns. This book looks at pairing different ingredients that work well together in recipes and there are some pairings that are unusual but effective. One such pairing involved pairing White Fish, Dill, Ginger Root and Turmeric in a way that chefs often do in Far Eastern Countries like Laos.

The ingredients for the meal of Baked Cod with a side of baked Sweet Potato pieces was as follows:

For the Baked Cod

2 Cod Fillets.
One tablespoon of Dill.
One tablespoon of Turmeric.
One tablespoon of Soy Sauce.
Four Spring Onions chopped up thinly and topped and tailed.
Five ounces of diced Root Ginger.
Sesame Oil.

For the Baked Sweet Potato Pieces

One Sweet Potato, topped, tailed, peeled and cubed.
One Red Pepper, de- cored de-seeded and cut into small squares.
One tablespoon of Ground Coriander
One tablespoon of Dried Mint
Sesame Oil

On the player was Tricky's  masterful1995 portrayal of Urban Grime filtered through the medium of trip hop "Maxinquaye". On tracks such as "Hell is around the Corner", "Black Steel" and "Ponderosa" Tricky tells dark tales of urban suffering and dark places. That morning as I walked past the crumbling red-brick terraces and bay windows framed by fading curtains on the way to the showground, I imagined similar stories to those Tricky told being enacted inside these houses.

The method then for this dish was as follows:

1. Cover the bottom of a high sided ovenproof glass dish with Sesame Oil. Add the Sweet Potato Pieces, Pepper, Ground Coriander and Dried Mint. Stir them together and then spread evenly throughout the dish.

2. Cook in the Oven on Gas Mark 5 for 45 minutes.

3. In the meantime put the Cod Fillets on a sheet of foil and lay the Ginger Root pieces and Spring Onion pieces on and around the Fillets.

4. Spread the Dill, Turmeric and Soy Sauce evenly on the Cod Fillets then use a brush to glaze the Cod with Sesame Oil.

5. When the Sweet Potatoes have cooked for 45 minutes remove the dish from the oven and stir it.

6. Wrap the Cod its accompanying spices and Spring Onions in the foil to make a parcel, place on a baking tray and add to the oven with the Sweet Potatoes. Cook the Cod and Sweet Potatoes for a further 20 minutes on Gas Mark 6.

The Pepper, Sweet Potato, Ginger Root and Spring Onion all came from the excellent local greengrocer close by to where I live. The dish itself lived up to and exceeded my expectations. I'm quite traditional when it comes to making dishes with Cod and prefer to make it with traditional English Root Vegetables or as part of Fish & Chips. However injecting Mint, Turmeric, Sesame Oil, Coriander and the Dill into the recipe took it in a new and delicious direction.

The Sweet Potato cubes, Red Pepper and spices cooked with them also provided a substantial but healthy adjunct to the dish and helped keep my energy levels for the forthcoming adventures at the show the next day.

Orange is the new white- the Cod and Sweet Potato are clustered together on the serving plate and give an authentic taste of Laos. 

Jockeying with the Bourbons

The first weekend in September 2018. A time to rest, a time to re-group and a time for Dogg and I to disappear off on a fourteen mile walk deep into the countryside so that I could reflect on an epic summer. Traditionally the first or second weekend in September is one where I do little bar a quiet walk, a spot of pottering and the odd cooking project. Self-care in this way after a busy summer is an important lesson I have learned over the years.

The weekend's cooking project was a spot of baking. I realised I hadn't put many baking recipes on the blog for a while. Accordingly I decided to make some Bourbon Biscuits. This was something I'd not done since an ill-fated attempt to do so back in 2009 for some erstwhile workmates during my infamous "Fat Elvis Years."

The preparation of the Bourbons was a two day process. On Saturday 1 September I made the dough for the biscuits using the following ingredients:

7 Ounces of Caster Sugar
8 Ounces of Margarine
19 Ounces of Plain Flour
The White & Yolk of 1 Egg
1 tablespoon of Drinking Chocolate

Neil Young’s 2010 effort “Le Noise” was on the player. The album finds Young teaming up with producer Daniel Lanois, famed for his work with U2 and Bob Dylan, who puts his own unique touches to Young's Sound and in the process helping create a record that is fresh and vital.

The method for this part of the baking was as follows:

1. Cream the Margerine and Sugar until fluffy.
2. Add the Egg and drinking chocolate and stir in.
3. Add the flour gradually and stir in until all the ingredients are combined.
4. Knead the ingredients together until a thick piece of dough is formed.
5. Roll out the dough into a flat circle.
6. Cut up into 18  rectangles that are of an equal shape as much as possible.
7.Cook in oven on a greased baking tray for 14 minutes at Gas Mark 3.
8. Leave to cool overnight in the fridge.

The next afternoon on 2 September it was time to make the buttercream filling. The record on the player this was Jethro Tull's professional and occasionally outstanding 1974 effort“Warchild”. The edition I listened to had a large number of bonus tracks that were as good as the original album and if you want to invest in the record I'd recommend this version.

The ingredients for the Buttercream were:

8 Ounces of margarine
8 Ounces of icing sugar
1 tablespoon of powdered drinking chocolate

The method was simply creaming all these ingredients together in a mixing bowl until I had created a pliable spread. I then spread the Buttercream on 9 of the biscuit pieces. Next I put the other pieces on top of each of the buttered pieces to make 9 Bourbon Biscuits.

I recall how I had also made these biscuits back in the early summer of 1997 as a thirteen year old with little behind me and how things had changed so exciting since then. The biscuits went down well with family and friends alike during the ensuing week and were definitely an improvement on the 2009 version I made of these biscuits.

Sunshine Shine Brightly on my Bourbons today- the biscuits after preparation were arrange tastefully for serving. 

Stacking the chips

"Have a good night" smiled hotel receptionist calmly as I barreled out of the double doors and into the glare of the streetlights. Across the road was the car park I sometimes used for the day job. It was empty save one car in the middle. As I walked along the pavement I could see the first bar in the near distance. I broke into a run, the adrenaline was pumping through me. I was already on a high from having a wonderful time at my cousin's wedding, located at a wood in the Midlands, earlier that day. I had spent a very important and enjoyable time with a number of family members I'd not seen for years. I was genuinely touched by the warmth with which I was greeted and received, which meant any initial nerves or doubts about the day dissipated, leaving nothing but wonderful memories.

Now it was time for part two. As I raced towards the tavern it was time to slow down. Tonight was an important night. It was necessary to make a proper entrance and that involved not looking sweaty and out of breath.

The summer was coming steadily to an end. It had already been so much better than I could I have imagined back in early spring when the death of a close relative and the voluntary disappearance of another part of the roster occurred in quick succession. Since that time I had been to another memorable wedding, a beer festival, started to resurrect my cricket career, hosted a birthday party and hung out with the best people I could ask for both old and new.

I nodded a confident "good evening" to the bouncer and wheeled into the bar where I found the group and the birthday boy hidden under dim lights. I switched on the torch feature on my mobile phone, held it to my face and introduced myself. Not long after that the lights went up and the food arrived. I found myself sharing a plate of homemade chips and so began the start of a night that was exciting, memorable and felt as wonderful as breaking out of jail.

That brings to me the recipe for today's blog. I was inspired to make my own homemade chips and to do them as well as possible as I wanted to cook them more than one person one day.

The record on the player was Elvis' 1969 effort "From Elvis in Memphis". The album is one that for him marked an exciting new direction that its own way was as much a part of his legend as his groundbreaking early records for the Sun and RCA Labels. It also re-ignited his career. It was an album to take inspiration from for that reason, as well as appreciating the darn good music contained within.

The Potato I used to create the chips was a Red Potato sourced from local greengrocer who also runs a tasty sideline vending Lion Bars.

I peeled the Potato and then cut it into pieces that were around six centimetres long, one and a half centimetres wide and roughly a centimetre to half a centimetre deep.

I put some Olive Oil into a frying pan and then warmed it up on a medium heat. As I didn't have a deep fat fryer available I knew that creating these chips was going to take concentration, precision and timing to ensure they weren't underdone or too burnt.

The trick I used was to fry them on a medium-sized hob on a medium heat for around forty minutes. The trick was to turn them very regularly, probably around every five minutes, to ensure they didn't get overdone and one side, be burned on the outside but raw in the middle. This means you have to spend a lot of time close to the hob not doing much else but it's definitely worth it.

I served these chips drizzled in Parsley, Dill, Spring Onion and Butter Sauce with some fillets of Mackerel that I had fried in my Le Cresceut. In doing so I seemed to have created some kind of sophisticated version of Fish & Chips. The time it had taken to make the chips was totally justified by the taste. Unlike Oven Chips these chips were soft, juicy, tasted of genuine Potatoes and didn't have the industrial taste I often associated with those type of pre-cooked chips.

A new recipe, a new direction? Let the good times roll.

Stage One- the finished chips are tastefully arranged on a serving plate

Stage Two- the Mackerel and Sauce are placed on top of the chips to give an alternate take on the popular dish of Fish & Chips.