Cod Peace

It was the first Saturday in September and things felt a little subdued as they often do at this time of year. This was because it was the first weekend after the August Bank Holiday and therefore a sign that summer was ending and we were looking towards Autumn already. Still there was much to enjoy as I managed a mild morning walk and just avoided the monsoon-like rain that started just as I dashed indoors.

That evening I had trip round to the house of one of my oldest friends lined up but before that the heavy rain meant I couldn't get out into the garden and I had more time on my hands to do indoor activities. That said I took the opportunity to write a few blog posts as well as put down a few thoughts about events from my past that might end up as an autobiography one day.

Quickly enough tea time rolled around and it was time to cook. After the success of the Sea Bass recently I decided on another fish dish. This time it was Cod. Often Cod is associated with nothing but fish and chips or fish pie and normally isn't used for anything else in cooking.

However I found a recipe for it that used Sweet Potatoes, Leeks and a sweet and savoury dressing. The ingredients you need to make this one are:

2 Large Cod fillets.
Half a large Sweet Potato.
1 Leek.

For the dressing:

Half a red onion.
2 Cloves of Garlic.
The juice of 6 Limes.
The juice of 1 Orange.
1 Teaspoon of Chilli Powder.
1 Teaspoon of Mint.
1 Teaspoon of Dill.
1 Teaspoon of Coriander.
1 Teaspoon of Parsley.

Today's album was R.E.M's 1984 offering "Reckoning" the album was recorded by the band when they still had a cult following, but before they turned the world into their cult following, which was something that happened later on in the 1980s. It features many great songs with spindly yet jangling guitar lines and the album has a very basic feel that makes it sound like it was recorded in a garage, these are all things that give it it's special charm.

I cut up the sweet potato after peeling it and as it was a large sweet potato I only used half of it and I cut it into strips around 1 centimetre thick to create Sweet Potato chips . I cut the leek into thin circular pieces and laid them with the Sweet Potatoes on a high-sided baking tray lined with foil and Sunflower Oil. I then cooked all this on Gas Mark 7 for 20 minutes.

I then took the dish out of the oven and turned everything  over and cooked it for another 15 minutes.

In the meantime I made a dressing by finely slicing into the tiniest pieces possible the Red Onion and the Garlic. I put these ingredients in a bowl with the herbs and added the juice of the Limes and the Orange and a little zest from one of the limes. I mixed all these ingredients together thoroughly and left them to stand in the bowl.

Then after the 15 minutes were up I took the Sweet Potatoes and Leek out of the oven and put the Cod fillets atop them. I then topped the Cod  with the dressing and let some of it run down onto the Sweet Potatoes and the Leek. I reduced the oven's temperature to gas mark 4.5, put the dish back in the oven, covered the Cod with cooking foil and cooked it for a further 22 minutes.

When I tried this dish the dressing was a delicious and flavoursome mix of sweet and savoury and the fish was tender yet well-cooked despite this. Definitely an innovative way to eat Cod instead of in batter with chips and mushy peas.

Cod- but not as we traditionally know it.

Tarragon Times

The second Saturday in September saw a real change of pace. I was feeling a touch jaded from some long hours at work that I had been putting in so as to ensure the decks were clear for a week off I was taking later in the month. I was also briefly back at my parents' house for the weekend to look after their new puppy while they had a break in the South.

The morning saw myself and the puppy/beast go hunting for blackberries in the local wood through some driving rain, while a short trip in the afternoon to my Grandparents was followed by the need to make a quick but nourishing tea before heading round to the house of a very close mate of mine with another of my oldest friends.

It was a risotto and the ingredients were as follows:

5 Cloves of Garlic.
1 Shallot.
1 Red Onion.
3 ounces of dried Tarragon.
Olive Oil.
A teaspoon of White Pepper.
8 ounces of Risotto Rice.
Half a pint of White Wine.
Half a pint of Vegetable Stock.
14 ounces of fresh Peas.
8 ounces of Rocket.
3 ounces of grated Parmesan Cheese.

Today's album of choice was Jack Bruce's 1986 offering Somethin' Els. Bruce is best known for being one third of, as the principal songwriter and singer, for rock's first ever super group Cream. As rock fans will tell you the other two thirds were peerless drummer Ginger Baker and one of the greatest guitarists ever, Eric Clapton.

The album is distinctly eighties without sounding too dated and Bruce's song craft shines through with the keening Waiting on a Word, the drive of Willpower (featuring Clapton on guitar) clearly shows Bruce to have possession of The Funk and other highlights include the yearning "Criminality" and a duet with Kirsty MacColl called "Ships in the Night".

The best way to prepare this risotto is to slice finely the Red Onion and Garlic and then fry them in a Le Cresceut with the Black Pepper and Tarragon and the lid on the Le Cresceut in the olive oil on a medium heat for about fifteen minutes.

After that I added the Risotto Rice and stirred it for another ten minutes before adding the White Wine and letting the Rice absorb the majority of it to soften it up. This took another ten minutes after which time I added the Stock, Peas and the Rocket. I simmered these ingredients lightly while constantly stirring them for a period of about twenty minutes until the Peas were soft, the Rice properly done (as there is nothing worse than undercooked rice in a risotto) and the Rocket integrated into the dish.

The final touch was to add the grated Parmesan which, together with the wine, gave this risotto a richness and flavour that was an antidote to the stormy rain that had occurred earlier in the day and set me up well for a great catch up with my friends that evening.

Summer vegetables with a richness in the stock that is often found in winter stews, a good mix at this time of year with the change of the seasons.

Black and Blue

One of the great cooking opportunities that the last days of August and the change of the season in early September bring is picking Blackberries. This year the local Blackberries have been a little behind and it was the second Saturday in September that, in the company of my parents' Airedale Terrier, that there were enough berries which were ripe for the pickings for putting in a fruit pie.

We braved a rainstorm to acquire some on a local walk and I made sure to treat them on my return home by pouring boiling water over them to kill off any germs from birds or other creatures that had tried to get at that them. One tip for getting good quality Blackberries is to make sure that you don't pick ones too low to the ground in case animals have fouled on them and avoid picking them from places by the roadside where fumes from cars may have infected them or from places where you know weed killer or other pest control chemicals have been used.

As is seasonal tradition I decided to put them in a pie and I made eight ounces of Shortcrust Pastry using eight ounces of Plain Flour, four ounces of Margarine and about five tablespoons of Soya Milk. I did the usual trick of kneading the Flour and Margarine together until it resembled breadcrumbs before stirring in the Soya Milk gradually to create a flexible dough that I rolled out without it sticking to either the rolling pin or the work surface.

A recent enjoyable discovery in the shape of Blur's first album Leisure was playing in the background as the pastry was rolled. Apart from containing great singles such as "There's No Other Way" it is chock full of songs driven by churning guitars that find the band residing in the Alternative Rock Neighbourhood light years away from the dross of the album "13" and its sentimentally pants single "Tender" both of which would blight the public in 1999 eight years after the great start to their career that they enjoyed with this record.

I greased with margarine a pie dish about an inch and a half deep and half a foot wide and used half the pastry to line the bottom, sides and rim of the dish. I then poured in eight ounces of Blueberries and the Blackberries which probably amounted to twelve ounces' worth.

I spread the fruit throughout the pie dish and sprinkled two teaspoons of Brown Sugar atop the fruit. I then used the remainder of the pastry to make a lid for the pie and put it on top. I cut three narrow slits in the lid to let the heat out during cooking and then used the remaining pastry to make two leaves that I stuck to the pie to decorate it.

Prior to putting it in the oven I brushed the entirety of the top of the pie with milk. I then put it in the oven at 230 degrees (220 for a fan oven) and cooked it for ten minutes. After ten minutes I reduced the heat to 190 degrees (180 for a fan oven) and cooked the pie for a further twenty minutes. After this I took it out of the oven and left it to stand for half an hour to cool down.

The results were positive as the Blueberries and Blackberries worked together as well as Coffee and Cream and the Blackberries seemed to taste better for being picked from the wild rather than being bought at a supermarket, while the hint of sugar helped offset the slight stodge but delicious taste of the pastry. With its use of handpicked wild fruit, this dish is certainly one that marks the change in the seasons.

Step one- add the fruit and sugar to the pastry-lined dish.

Step two- freshly cooked with complimentary pastry leaves on top. Now leave it to cool.

Step three- enjoy!

Middle Class Mash

The recent week consisted of an early get up, working very hard, arriving home, having tea, bed and repeat the process throughout the week. However it was one of those weeks where I felt positive and like I was making good things happen.

I was shattered by the time I got home on Friday and the weather had changed after the surprise heatwave that squeezed into the listed building that is my workplace during the working week. It was a lot fresher and the high winds and heavy rain made me start to think of kicking the falling leaves around as Autumn approached.

As a result of this something fortifying and hot was needed that evening. I had a pack of sausages that had been defrosting during the day that were purchased for, but not used in the end, my birthday party that had happened the previous month.

I made Bangers and Mash but decided to put a sophisticated twist on it by making the mash with potatoes, parsnips, rocket and carrots. I also decided on a different flavouring for the gravy.

The evening's music for the cooking process was something new in the shape of Blur's third (and best) album 1994's Parklife. When I say new I mean new for me as I had bought it second hand the previous month, as most people of my generation either own a copy or have heard it a lot as it was a key record of our school years together with the two Stone Roses albums, Suede, early Radiohead and Oasis amongst others. Blur are a band that polarise people as you either love or hate singer Damon Albarn's nagging southern drawl and sardonic lyricism. Still there's no denying the quality on this record with the great singles like the title track sandwiched between the Kinks soundalike "Tracy Jacks" amongst others while "This is a Low" tries to turn the thorny subject of depression into something anthemic.

The first job was to peel three potatoes and top and tail three carrots and two parsnips. I then sliced all these fairly thinly and steamed them for around thirty minutes.

While the vegetables were steaming I put the sausages under the grill on a medium heat and turned them regularly during the twenty-five minutes I cooked them for. I found the best tactic was to first pierce a hole in each of them before the grilling commenced as that way the fat didn't spit out of them and turning them regularly ensure they cooked very evenly on each side.

While the sausages and vegetables were cooking I gently fried a sliced up white onion with ten leaves of purple sage from my garden in my Le Cresceut in sunflower oil with some black pepper and did so for 15 minutes with the lid on the Le Cresceut. I made sure to stir the onions regularly to stop them sticking to the bottom of the dish.

Next I took a quarter of a pint of Old Golden Hen real bitter, but any blonde or mild ale will do, and poured it into the Le Cresceut. I stirred the booze in until it thickened the mixture and then added a quarter of a pint of vegetable stock. I left this then to stew steadily while the sausages and the vegetables finished cooking.

When the vegetables were done I mashed them with some margarine and make the dish a bit more interesting I added ten ounces of washed rocket leaves and stirred them in as well with a hint of real bitter.

The taste of this one made it feel like a deserved reward after slugging it out successfully during the week. The sausages were crisp but not overdone while the gravy added a pleasant charcoal taste that was in keeping with the dish and the mash mixture tasted of fortifying winter meals while the fresh rocket reminded me that summer was not over just yet...

One for the album, the crisp sausages go well with the alcoholic gravy and unusual mash mixture.

Prawn Again

The weekend had arrived, I had worked hard and pushed through challenges during the week and even though it was a four day week it had been a very busy one but the weekend was here and with it plenty of downtime and a new cooking project or two to, literally, get my teeth into.

Having recently visited the excellent and local Kathmandu Gurkha Restaurant, a restaurant that has the happy ability to make excellent quality curry without it being too rich, I was inspired to make a curry with plenty of prawns. Seafood, with the exception of squid, octopus and other similar sushi type food, is one of my favourite types of food. I also like spicy food so this dish was the opportunity to cook something with the best of both these worlds.

The ingredients for this one so you can give it a go too are as follows:

2 Garlic Cloves.
1 Red Onion.
1 Pepper.
1 Medium-Sized Chilli Pepper.
2 Teaspoons of Turmeric.
2 Teaspoons of Garam Masala.
2 Teaspoons of Coriander.
1 tablespoon of Tomato Puree.
10 ounces of pre-cooked prawns.
A tin of Coconut Milk.
8 ounces of long grain rice, or a rice of your choice.

After slicing the Garlic, Red Onion and Pepper up very finely I added them to my Le Cresceut dish with plenty of sunflower oil so that when I cooked them on the hob they did not stick to the bottom of the dish. I then added the spices and the Tomato Puree. I'm a great believer with curries that to get the best taste you must add the spices to the dish early on.

I left the food to sweat on the hob on a medium heat with the Le Creseut lid on for about twenty-five minutes on a medium light while turning them periodically as they cooked.

Tonight, as the sun was shining and I could see the sunny fields and hills from my conservatory, it seemed only appropriate to stick some country music on the player. I went for Area Code 615's eponymous debut, which is an instrumental record mixing bluegrass, country and a hint of hard rock on original tracks like the peerless opener "Southern Comfort" and the epic closer, which is a cover of Bob Dylan's "Just like a Woman".

After twenty-five minutes in went the Prawns to the dish and after another ten minutes the coconut milk. I turned up the heat on the hob and stirred hard repeatedly to make the coconut milk mix in with the other ingredients and make sure that by the end of the cooking, which was after a further fifteen minutes of stirring, the curry was thick and not too runny.

While I had been stirring the curry together I had also boiled up some Long Grain Rice which I now served up with the curry. The taste of the curry was not dissimilar to that when I've had curries at restaurants and the plan to put the spices in from the get-go as well as boil some of the coconut milk away and stir the rest in towards the end of preparation was the secret to making this end-of-week dish a success.

Brightness of the day- the Turmeric made this dish shine almost as brightly as the late summer sun.

Harissa Happening

It was a Thursday night, a day of going at full pace at work to give me a sense of achievement and well-being. I was also a touch tired, to say it was only a four day week it had felt very busy; perhaps because I was trying to cram five days' work into four days.

I wanted something quick for tea so I could get an early night and be up at the crack of dawn to push on with my work at the office prior to the phones starting to ring at 9am. I have recently become a fan of Turkish and Moroccan Cooking and it was a Morccan Dish laced with Harissa Powder that I decided to make. The ingredients were as follows:

10 ounces of Quorn Meat Strips.
2 Garlic Cloves.
1 Red Onion.
1 Red Pepper.
2 Teaspoons of Harissa Powder.
1 Tablespoon of Tomato Puree.
8 Baby Tomatoes.
1 Can of Chick Peas.

The artist and the album I was listening to were such a guilty pleasure that when I purchased the album for a pound earlier in the week, the shop assistant at the counter had to try and hide his laughter considerably as he sold me the record. Mind you, as a piece of undemanding but fun listening it did the job after a tiring day.

The first task was to slice very finely the garlic, red pepper and red onion. I then poured some sunflower oil into the bottom of my Le Cresceut dish and added these ingredients to the dish with the Harissa Powder and the Tomato Puree. I stirred in thoroughly the powder and put the lid on the dish. I left the vegetables and the Harissa Powder to sweat on a medium heat for twenty minutes, while stirring them occasionally to stop them sticking to the bottom of the Le Cresceut.

After twenty minutes I added the Quorn Meat Strips and repeated the above cooking process for another fifteen minutes. We were now thirty-five minutes into the cooking process and I added the Baby Tomatoes and the Chick Peas. At this time I removed the lid of the Le Cresceut stirred the food in the Le Cresceut for a further ten minutes as it cooked and allowed the water from the can of Chick Peas to evaporate a little. This meant that the mixture wasn't too watery when it had finished cooking.

I then served it and found that the Harissa gave the onions, garlic and pepper a stronger and more smoked flavour than they would otherwise have had. I'm a real fan of smoked food and this is the reason why I'm drawn to Moroccan Dishes as many of them include Harissa in their recipes. The Tomatoes and Tomato Puree also gave the dish a sweetness to stop the smokiness being too overpowering and the Chickpeas and Quorn Meat Strips gave plenty of protein to this dish.

If you want an alternative version of this recipe then instead of the Quorn Strips try using strips of beef and trying them separately before cooking them in the Le Cresceut with the vegetables.

A quick to make mid-week meal with plenty of protein.

Mediterranean Sea with added Bass

I went flat out at work on Friday having woken extra early to cadge the bus and train in which gave me the opportunity to make some early headway at the office, as well as allowing me to have a tasty beer or two after working hours had finished. The reason for the post-work beer was it was an old school friend's birthday. He is currently a student at one of the universities in the city where I work and he had decided on a night out on the Friday.

We went in one pub called the University Arms, which I had last drunk in as a student when I studied at the university myself nearly a decade earlier. I'm not a great one for looking back these days, however the walk up to the University Arms was an exception to this rule, as heading towards the pub I felt a little like the ghost of a student from semesters that had long since vanished into history. However when we entered the pub through the double doors I felt the intervening decade slip away and the memories of afternoons in there drinking after lectures and seminars came stampeding back to the front of my mind. The other punters in the pub were an eclectic bunch from fresh-faced youngsters who had not even finished school when I was last a student, a mature student with a laptop and a pint of something hoppy and a bloke in a tweed jacket and fedora combo who looked stoned.

Beer, whisky and chilli flowed through the late afternoon and early evening and during the celebrations individuals from key stages of my friend's life were present at different times; his parents and gran who were all there at the beginning and have always been there, two people from his original university days in the noughties, someone from his current degree and me from his schooldays. We spent plenty of time reflecting on nearly twenty-two years of drink, decadence, walking encyclopaedias and comedy before I barrelled off into the night suitably stuffed with alcohol as I zig-zagged home to my bed via the train and the bus.

Yesterday morning I woke with a slightly thick head that was cured by high-fibre cereal, boiled eggs and paracetamol. After a day of pottering and avoiding the heavy rain showers when walking the dog I settled on a suitable evening meal and the recent hot weather made me think of a Mediterranean recipe, which was roasted Sea Bass with vegetables. 

The album of choice was a throwback to the 1980s in the shape of Tears for Fears' excellent Songs from the Big Chair, containing the brilliant singles "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" amongst others plus the expressive and powerful "Head Over Heels" and "Listen" not to mention a photo of the duo sporting fashionable (for the time) mullets. With all these obvious plusses what's not to like about the record?

The first job in preparation of the meal was to take a red onion, peel it and then slice it widthways. Next I diced an orange pepper and five cloves of garlic. I added them all to my Le Cresceut dish and fried them lightly in sunflower oil and black pepper with the lid on the Le Cresceut for about half an hour. The reason I did this was because although I was going to subsequently roast them with the Sea Bass there was a risk, if I did not pre cook them, of the vegetables being too crunchy and getting burnt in the oven.

In the meantime I sliced a whole lemon widthways into six or so slices and cut eight cherry tomatoes in half. Once the vegetables in the Le Cresceut were cooked I used them plus the lemon and tomato as the bed on which the Sea Bass was to lie. I was able to make this happen by taking an ovenproof dish and lining the bottom with foil onto which I poured sunflower oil and then spread the lemons, tomatoes and the vegetables from the Le Cresceut on the dish evenly together with a sliced up chilli I had grown previously.

Next I put two Sea Bass fillets on top of the dish and garnished the fillets with sliced green olives and sprigs of Rosemary and Thyme from my garden. I cooked it all on Gas Mark 6 ( or 200 degrees for electric ovens and 180 degrees for electric fan ovens) for half an hour. When I removed it from the oven I was greeted with the flavoursome smells of Thyme, Rosemary and Lemon. The pre-cooking of the vegetables was a sensible move as they were soft because the sunflower oil had kept them from burning and becoming crunchy. The Sea Bass flesh was tender and full of protein, a perfect meal to revitalise me after Friday's excitement and the meal was rounded off by a side of steamed new potatoes.

Finished off with the new potatoes.

The bed that they lie on- the fillets on top of the lemons, tomatoes and the vegetables.