Gringo Fish

It was hot as I walked through the park and the heat brought back good memories of a garden party in the North Country the previous Saturday, while today's trip to the park helped create some more important and exciting pointers to a new direction.

There was a slight breeze too and this took the edge off the heat. Nevertheless when I got home the house was warm. Then following a telephone conversation with a very good friend, who was calling from the Eurostar en-route to his latest trailblazing adventure, I decided to make my tea.

A conversation on a recent road trip about  a holiday to Mexico had provided me with a detailed knowledge of Mexican Cuisine. The main finding was that what we think of in this country as true Mexican Food is in fact more like "Tex-Mex" food. The reality is that true Mexican Cuisine is something completely different.

A dish I had been recommended was something called Ceviche. It is a dish that uses white fish herbs, spices, coconut and limes. Typically I decided to turn my own idiosyncratic style to the dish with a view to creating something that was distinctly my own. The ingredients were as follows:

1 Cod Fillet.
1 diced White Onion.
1 teaspoon of dried Mint.
1 teaspoon of Chili Powder.
1 teaspoon of dried Coriander.
The juice of half a Lemon.

The great thing about a white fish dish like this is that it is filling but light and so it is perfect for a warm summer evening.

On the player was another obscure Fleetwood Mac record. In this case their 1995 effort "Time". This record is a one off in that it features for the only time ex-Traffic guitarist and songwriter Dave Mason and singer-songwriter Bekka Bramlett. Mason manages two sturdy rockers while Bramlett is largely invisible. Like its predecessor the album is saved from oblivion largely by Christine McVie's songs especially Hollywood (Some other kind of town) and Nights in Estoril which winds up being one of her best songs; period. The album closer These Strange Times meanwhile sees Mick Fleetwood offer up a haunting spoken lead vocal. The lyrics he recites do sum up well the fate of their original front man and are backed by a reflective arrangement.

I laid the  Cod out on baking tray that I'd covered in foil. I covered it evenly with the Mint, Chili Powder and Coriander. Then I sprayed the Lemon juice over it. I put some of the Onion on the fish too and spread the rest evenly by the side of it.

I cooked it in the oven at Gas Mark four for twenty-five minutes and this allowed the herbs, spices and Lemon Juice to soak into the fish. After the Cod was cooked I added it to my dinner plate with a side of fresh Broad Beans that I'd steamed with some Cress. When I cook Cod I'm normally quite conservative, with a small "c" I must hastily add, and just have it with traditional English vegetables and don't do much to flavour it. However adding these ingredients that were inspired by the Mexican recipe I had been given opened up many new and exciting avenues for cooking with Cod.

Freshly cooked white fish ready to eat as my dog looks on

Craft Pie

It was the final Saturday in June, the heatwave had subsided and the fresher weather had come in. It was perfect weather to walk in to get away from it all. Then the familiar, deliberate thud of my mobile phone sounded and meant it was ringing. I saw the identity of the caller and my heart sank a little. It was a call that shouldn't have been necessary but it was a call I could have worked hard to stop had I known better.

I unpacked my picnic bag and decided to rain check my planned walk. I then sat in the kitchen disbelieving for a time. Eventually I pulled myself together and wandered aimlessly through the fields near my house with the dog.

When something hits you between the eyes and knocks you back I find the best things to do are go on a long walk and do some cooking. On my return home I decided to modify a steak pie recipe by adding some vegetables to it and some craft beer that a very good and longstanding mate of mine had introduced me to in the last year.

The ingredients for the pie were as follows:

A pack of diced beef.
Two tablespoons of dried Oregano.
A tablespoon of Tomato Puree.
Half a diced White Onion.
Three Spring Onions, topped, tailed, peeled and sliced thinly.
Two Carrots, topped, tailed, peeled and diced.
Eight ounces of fresh Broad Beans.
A stubby can of Piston Head Lager.
Half a pint  of Vegetable Stock.

The method I used was as follows:

1.I fried the beef, vegetables, Tomato Puree and Oregano for twenty minutes in my Le Cresceut in Olive Oil.

2. I then after twenty minutes added the Piston Head Lager. Then I stewed the ingredients for another twenty minutes until the Lager had almost all been absorbed.

3. Next I added the stock and stewed the ingredients for another forty minutes.

4. In the meantime I made the Short Crust pastry in two parts. The first part was for the bottom and I used ten ounces of Plain Flour and five of Butter with a little Milk to bind the Pastry together. The top half of the pie was created with eight ounces of Plain Flour and four of Butter and a little Milk.

5. I rolled out the bottom bit of Shortcrust Pastry and spread it in a greased pie dish.

6. I then put in  the filling from the Le Cresceut and then covered it with the top part of the Shortcrust Pastry once I'd rolled it out. I left some holes to let the heat out.

7. I cooked the pie for 30 minutes on gas mark 6.

It was an exceptionally flavoursome pie as the Craft Lager and the Oregano helped bring out the taste of the Beef and the fresh Carrot and Broadbeans. It certainly filled me up as I watched the series climax of one of the best episodes of the New Doctor Who for some time.

The remainder of the pie was packaged up and served as my picnic lunch on a walk through the wet moors the following day. It tasted just as good, if not better, than it had fresh out of the oven. As I looked over the hills I could see a storm gathering around the tall tower blocks guarding the city I would need to head over to at the start of the working week. I knew one thing though; a storm may have been coming but I was good enough to sort out the issues that awaited me...

Life of Pie: a cross-section showing the meat and vegetables hiding underneath the crisp pastry.

Eggs Benedict Honeycomb

It was the weekend of Fathers' Day. The country baked and groaned under temperatures that made it feel like Benidorm. It had been a three day weekend for me and one of making plans and a few decisions; the outcomes of which, I suspected, would make me find out a lot about myself over the coming weeks.

On the player was an obscure Fleetwood Mac record in the form of 1991's "Behind The Mask". The album resides in that interregnum between Lindsey Buckingham's departure, which was shortly followed by that of Stevie Nicks, and the full-fledged reunion in 1997. Nicks is still on this record but  she is overshadowed partly  by the two guitar players parachuted in to replace Buckingham and chiefly by keyboardist/ singer/ iconic siren Christine McVie. This record is very much her baby and her shimmering songs keep it from being a train wreck. The pick of the bunch here is the haunting title track which, with some of my dealings in the preceding weeks, I could well relate to.

On Sunday morning plans had changed, just as they had earlier in the weekend, and I decided to make an indulgent breakfast to set me up for the tea. I'd promised someone important an Eggs Benedict recipe and I made it with one eye on this promise.

Typically the recipe had my own idiosyncratic take on it and in this case it was because the Hollandaise Sauce used the whites of the Eggs as well as the yolks. This in turn made it thicker and gave it the look of Honeycomb.

The ingredients for the Hollandaise Sauce were as follows:

Two beaten Eggs
A teaspoon of dried Tarragon
A pinch of Mustard.
A pinch of Nutmeg
A tablespoon White Wine Vinegar

After beating the Eggs aggressively in a measuring jug, until they resembled a thick golden paste, I added the herbs, spices and White Wine Vinegar. I next melted twenty five grams of Unsalted Butter in a saucepan on the hob. After that I added the ingredients for the sauce and simmered them for five minutes while stirring them with a wooden spoon. Once they'd solidified into a paste I took them off the heat and left them to one side.

In the meantime I'd brought a separate saucepan of water the boil. I did not have an egg poacher so I improvised and used a ladle greased with butter. I added an Egg to the ladle and lowered the ladle into the boiling water without letting the water run over the egg too much. I held it there for about five to six minutes.

I then removed the Egg from the ladle and placed it on top of two Toasting Muffins that were sandwiched with lettuce and two pieces of Serrano Ham. The yolk of the Egg was just right; part runny and part well-done. I drizzled the still warm Honeycomb Hollandaise Sauce on top of the Egg, Muffins, Lettuce and Ham and enjoyed this delicious but indulgent breakfast while my dog snored away on the sofa.

Going for gold: the Honeycomb Hollandaise Sauce sits well with the Egg, Ham and Lettuce while the Muffins are barely visible. 

When Five Counties Go to War

It was Wednesday Night at the start of June. It had been a day of conflict on the news and in other places more close to home. Sometimes after a day like that you need to stick on a record that's one of your favourites and never fails to gladden your heart. It was a tip I picked up from my Dad when he was working; if he'd had a tough day then he'd ask me to put on Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" or (if Mum was out of the house) the Pistols' "Never Mind the Bollocks".

In my case both of those records would have done the job but on this occasion I chose a record who's fame and the infamy of its creator has often overshadowed the music within; the record was Michael Jackson's Thriller. It's easy to forget the great music contained within this album, yes there is cheese- albeit performed sincerely, but there is also a lot of cutting edge music that pointed bold new ways forward. It captures MJ when he still ability and innovation in his armoury and before celebrity squashed him.

In order to revitalise me to tackle the challenges ahead I decided to make a Risotto. The ingredients were as follows:

1 Clove of Garlic thinly sliced.
2 Shallots finely sliced.
1 Butternut Squash filleted, peeled and then cubed.
1 teaspoon of Basil
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning- such as Rosemary, Marjoram and Thyme.
8 ounces of Risotto Rice.
2 diced Tomatoes.
3/4 of a pint of Water
1/2 a slab of Five Counties Cheese.

I fried the Garlic, Shallots, Butternut Squash, Basil and Italian Seasoning in Rapeseed Oil in my Le Cresceut dish for 20 minutes. I stirred the ingredients at intervals so as to ensure they didn't stick to the bottom of the dish.

I then added the 2 diced tomatoes and the Risotto Rice. Now came the tricky part of preparation as I needed to make sure that I didn't under cook the Risotto Rice. To assist with this I gradually added 3/4 pints of  water into the Rice and the rest of the ingredients over a period of 30 minutes until the rice absorbed the water totally.

At the end of the cooking I added most of the half a slab of Five Counties Cheese and allowed it to melt in to the Risotto to ensure it thickened. Five Counties Cheese is widely available at the delicatessens of most good quality local supermarkets. It comprises of five cheeses fused together being; Cheshire, Derby(shire), Double Gloucestershire, Red Leicester and Cheddar, a cheese of course from Somerset.

When I served the Risotto I added a little bit of the cheese and some Chives from my garden as extra decoration. The meal itself was extremely rich and flavoursome while the Butternut Squash  made it very nutritious as well.

Garden Fresh- the Chives stand out atop a deliciously rich and nutritious Risotto. 

Smoked Tuesday

It was wet and windy outside and I was still feeling the effects of a chilli con carne and strong coffee that I had consumed the night before at The Temple. Despite the late night, at work the next day I had felt in the one place you want to be; in the zone. It meant that I ploughed through what on first blush seemed an impossible task.

Jaded I returned home and with some eighties synth pop by a short-lived chart topping act playing in the background I set about making a dish with Smoked Haddock. The ingredients were as follows:

2 Carrots- topped, tailed, peeled and then cubed.
1 Turnip- topped, tailed, peeled and then cubed.
1 Leek- topped, tailed, peeled and then sliced thinly.
A pinch of Mustard.
1 Teaspoon of dried Parsley.
1 Smoked Haddock Fillet.

I started by steaming the vegetables for around thirty-five minutes until a fork could go through them pretty easily. I then mashed them with the Mustard and Parsley and mixed them together to form a square. I then put this "food cube" in a frying pan filled with Rapeseed Oil and placed the frying pan under a grill on a low heat for about ten minutes. This trick means the cube becomes crisp and sticks together a little more. It is an approach that's used in making dishes such as Duchess Potatoes.

I made sure the end of the cooking of the cube was done to coincide with the preparation of the Smoked Haddock which I grilled for eighteen minutes and turned it half way through cooking.

I served the food by placing the cube, which had lost its shape a little, on a plate with the Haddock Fillet balanced on top of it.

The Leek and Carrot were certainly flavoursome as was the Parsley but the Turnip and Mustard had a slightly bitter taste. Luckily the rich taste of the Smoked Haddock balanced this out very well to make this dish an ideal "pick me up" after the action- packed day at work, trip to the Temple and also after a wonderful weekend in the north country with old and good friends.

Smokin' Aces- the Smoked Haddock sits well on top of the vegetables.

Bank Holiday Broccoli

It was a typical Bank Holiday Monday, in terms of the weather at least, the rain fell in the morning and something was needed to occupy me while the weather cleared. Realising I was away the following weekend I decided to relax and cook up a recipe for the blog.

Broccoli is one of those vegetables that tends to polarise people, a little like a green version of marmite. Either way it's a vegetable that's very good for you. On Bank Holiday Monday the Broccoli I'd sourced from the local greengrocers was going in a soup.

It was soup weather as the temperature had dropped after the extreme heatwave that had pervaded the last couple of days of the previous working week and the lion's share of the Bank Holiday Weekend. The kitchen was dimly lit because of the heavy cloud and lack of sunlight and on the player was Neil Young's engaging but equally dark comedown album "Tonight's the Night".

First job was to finely slice a clove of Garlic. Next I cut up a stalk of Broccoli and added it together with the Garlic and a tablespoon of Black Pepper to the Le Cresceut where I fried the ingredients in Rape Seed Oil for twenty minutes.

Then I added half a pint of Vegetable Stock and simmered everything for half an hour. After leaving the ingredients to cool in the dish I blended them and returned them to it. I then added a quarter of a pint of unsweetened Soya Milk and mixed it in. I then warmed it through and served the soup.

There's not much to this soup ingredients wise however there was enough to it to make it a fairly rich and filling one and certainly a dish to pep up the damp day.

Green Goddess- this one looks good for you and tastes better than you'd think.

Rum Cake

The other Bank Holiday Monday project was making a cake. It was something I'd not done since the Simnel Cake I made the previous Easter Weekend. I noticed I had some White Rum left from last summer's birthday antics and it was that which inspired me to make a fruitcake that was laced with the stuff.

The ingredients were as follows:

5 tablespoons of White Rum
140 grams of Brown Sugar.
150 grams of Margarine.
200 grams of  Self Raising Flour.
155 grams of  Sultanas
3 Eggs.

First I added the Sultanas and the White Rum to my mixing bowl and left them to soak for ten minutes.

Then I added the Brown Sugar and Margarine and with a wooden spoon creamed together these ingredients with the Sultanas and the White Rum. Once everything was completely mixed together I added the Self Raising Flour and fully mixed it in until I had a thick paste that smelt very alcoholic.

After that it was time to add the Eggs which I cracked and poured the whites and yolks into the mixture. Once they were stirred in I found the mixture had become very runny which is just the way it should be for a cake of this type.

I poured the mixture into a greased cake tin and then cooked it on Gas Mark 4 for one hour and five minutes. I did the usual trick of putting a skewer into the cake and making sure that it came out clean to check it was totally cooked.

After heading out on a brief and misty walk and then falling asleep at my laptop, a side effect of some previous events and lack of sleep in the recent heat, I tasted the cake and found it sweet and flavoursome; much like a good quality rum cocktail.

Planet of the Cake: a cross-section offset against a random globe in my conservatory.