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.

Beef Bracket

I don't cook lots of meat dishes when I'm at my home. I think that's because when I lived with my parents we tended to eat together and enjoy a diet of vegetarian meals with a spot of fish thrown in. That was until the last four years of my time living with them when they went totally vegetarian.

Since I left their place I have tended to continue with a diet of vegetarian food with a spot of seafood thrown in. However I think on occasion it's good to have a proper meat dish to keep the diet balanced and the protein levels up.

Towards the middle of August, having hosted a memorable birthday party and tackled some professional challenges, I disappeared off to the hills with the Dogg and we took in a good seven mile walk. The walk included a sneaky wander over the top of a waterfall and down into the grounds of a famous stately home.

Later that day, following a much-needed siesta, I got on with the business of cooking a Beef Steak with a side of Watercress and White Wine with Blue Cheese and Shallot Sauce.

The ingredients for this dish were as follows:

One medium sized Beef Steak.
Three Sprigs of Watercress

Ingredients for the sauce:

A quarter of a pint of White Wine.
Three teaspoons of Olive Oil.
Five grams of Unsalted Butter.
Four Shallots; topped, tailed, peeled and finely sliced.
A teaspoon of Black Pepper.
A teaspoon of Malt Vinegar.
A teaspoon of Dried Chives.
A teaspoon of Dried Tarragon.
A teaspoon of Dried Thyme.
Ten Ounces of Blue Stilton.

On the player was New Order's sophomore 1983 effort "Power Corruption and Lies". Although they are best known for blissful, uptempo dance floor hits such as "Blue Monday" and "True Faith", this record finds them still very much in the grip of the dark legacy of Joy Division. This band of course was the one out of which New Order was formed. The present record does have much to recommend it from the humming opener "Age of Consent" to the languid remake of "Blue Monday" that is "5-8-6".

This dish was surprisingly quick to prepare and the method was one where you should cook the Beef Steak and the Blue Cheese, White Wine and Shallot Sauce concurrently.

The method for the Beef Steak was as follows:

1. Pour Olive Oil into the bottom of a Le Cresceut.
2. Warm the Olive Oil on a medium heat for two minutes.
3. Add the Beef Steak.
4. If you want the Steak well done cook it in the Le Cresceut, with the lid on, for six minutes on each side. If you prefer it more rare then cook it for three minutes on each side.
5. Serve on a plate with the Watercress as a side and drizzle with the Blue Cheese, White Wine and Shallot Sauce.

The method for the Blue Cheese, White Wine and Shallot Sauce was as follows:

1. Put the Olive Oil in the bottom of a sauce pan.
2. Add the Butter, Black Pepper, Vinegar, Chives, Tarragon and Thyme.
3. Warm these ingredients through on a medium heat. Once the Butter has melted add the Shallots.
4. Simmer the ingredients for five minutes.
5. Add the Wine and continue to simmer for another six minutes.
6. Add the Blue Cheese and once it has melted into the Sauce, then serve the sauce by pouring it over the Beef Steak on the serving plate.

Although the Blue Cheese made the sauce quite rich, the side of Watercress and the White Wine in the sauce itself gave the dish a freshness that was much needed following the muggy conditions on the walk earlier in the day. The tasteful Beef Steak meanwhile resembled one of the rich looking Beef Bracket Fungi I had spotted in the grounds of the stately home earlier that day.

Tu aimes Le Bifteck? A spot of steak surrounded by Watercress and covered in flavoursome sauce. 

Purple Sage and Butternut Squash Soup

It was the first Saturday in August and the month of my Birthday. A lot had happened in the year since my last Birthday had taken place. Some things I could have predicted, others I couldn't have. That's life though. You just roll with it and find the way to make the best of it always. 

Plans had changed on this particular Saturday as the anticipated game of Cricket was cancelled at the eleventh hour. Instead Dogg and I went searching for exotic butterflies and found colonies of Common Blue and Small Copper in a new part of the local area.

On our return home it was time to make a Soup to keep me going through the weekend. I plumped for a variation upon a traditional Butternut Squash Soup Recipe.

On the player was Robert Wyatt's "Rock Bottom". This mournful record was produced by the former Soft Machine Drummer after a life-changing fall had left him partially paralysed and unable to drum. He therefore had to re-model his career on his hypnotic, high- pitched voice. The challenges he must have faced put what I had faced in my personal life in the last year into context and made me realise they weren't glitches at all. 

The ingredients for this soup were as follows: 

One Butternut Squash, cubed, peeled & de-seeded.
Six Spring Onions topped and tailed but not cut up.
One White Onion peeled, topped, tailed and sliced thinly.
Two teaspoons of Paprika.
One clove of Garlic, topped, tailed and then diced.
Seven leaves of Purple Sage.
Half a pint of vegetable stock
Three ounces of grated Parmesan Cheese.
Four leaves of Purple Sage to Garnish.
Pine Nuts to Garnish.

The method was as follows:

1. Sweat the Squash Pieces, Spring Onions, Garlic, White Onion, Paprika and Seven leaves of Purple Sage in Olive Oil on a medium heat in a Le Cresceut with the lid on for thirty minutes. Stir regularly to avoid ingredients sticking to the base of the Le Cresceut.

2. Add the Stock and simmer for a further half an hour with the lid off the Le Cresceut.

3. Take off the heat, leave the ingredients to cool and then blend them.

4. Return the Soup to the Le Cresceut and warm through.

5. Serve and add to the serving bowl the remaining four leaves of Purple Sage, the Pine Nuts and Parmesan Cheese to decorate.

This soup was certainly a rich one thanks to the taste of the Parmesan, Purple Sage and the Pine Nuts. All these ingredients gave the flavour of the healthy but bland Butternut Squash a real boost also.

Salmon Sunday

Spontaneity can take you to new and unexpected places. The penultimate Friday in July featured a planned trip to  re-branded local pub with a very close friend that was followed by a post-pub coffee and his parents that featured some very life-affirming conversations. Then, as my plans for cricket and live music faded the following day a chat over the fence while weeding yielded an extremely enjoyable barbecue at the house of my neighbour.

I wasn't done yet. On the Sunday the Dogg and I searched for, and located, a rare Wall Brown butterfly at two separate sites. At a nearby beauty spot we then stumbled upon one of my oldest friends, his energetic and extremely intelligent son, other half and lively Labrador Dogg. We had a good chat, took in the views from one of the highest hills in the area and enjoyed a short wander.

That afternoon I followed my maxim of having some Sunday fish to help focus my mind to tackle the week's challenges. The fish dish today was inspired by a Salmon Dish I tasted at a Rotary Meeting the week before that utilised a Lemon, Chive and Butter Sauce to dress the Salmon.

I had concocted a suitably mellow Sunday playlist that featured the likes of Talk Talk's peerless 1991 album "Laughing Stock" introduced to me by a friend who is following his dream as a talented Hockey Coach and competitive player. However the record on the player while I prepared my Salmon Dish was the Lightening Seeds' 1994 effort "Jollification".

Although the band is best associated with the hit football song "Three Lions", which has been launched back into the public consciousness recently through England's excellent World Cup run, this album is a gem. I acquired it second hand for £0.40 and it may have been one the best bargains I've ever found. Its mix of upbeat, jangly pop with a spot of sampling is irresistible and standout tracks include "Marvelous", which was featured in a car advert in the 1990s, and "Lucky You" but in truth every number is a great song.

The salmon dish featured the following ingredients:

Two fillets of Salmon.
Four Shallots, topped, tailed, peeled and sliced thinly.
Two teaspoons of dried Dill.
Ten Ounces in total of fresh Peas and Broadbeans.
Five Ounces of Unsalted Butter.
A large leaf of Fresh Sorrel shredded into small squares.
One Avocado, peeled, de-stoned and cut into cubes.

The way I made this dish was as follows:

1. Put the Salmon on some foil on a baking tray.
2. Put two of the sliced Shallots evenly on top of the Salmon and spread one teaspoon of Dill evenly on the top of the Salmon.
3. Wrap the foil loosely over the Salmon and cook it the oven for twenty-four minutes on Gas Mark Four.
4. While the Salmon cooks steam the Peas and Broad Beans for twenty-four minutes until tender.
5. With about fifteen minutes to go until the Salmon, Peas and Broad Beans are ready, melt the Butter in a saucepan, add the other two sliced Shallots and the Sorrel Leaf pieces and a teaspoon of Dill. Simmer on a medium heat for seven minutes to ensure the Shallots are cooked.
6. Add the Avocado pieces to the saucepan and cook on a low heat for a further three minutes with the other ingredients in the sauce.
7. Add the Salmon to a plate, cover with the sauce and serve with the Peas and Broad Beans.

The Salmon proved to be rich but nutritious and the sauce added a richness and flavour that was enhanced by the Sorrel and Avocado.The Peas and Broad Beans meanwhile carried a freshness that cannot be found in their frozen counterparts.

#PurpleMac

Some say fish is brain food. I think there's some truth in that and I often cook a fish dish for Sunday Lunch or Tea to help focus my mind prior to the tackling the intellectually challenging job I do during the week.

The middle Sunday of the month was one where I followed this approach. It had been another enjoyable weekend that featured the fourth game of my comeback to competitive cricket, having not previously played the game competitively since August 2013.

On the player was one of several new records I had acquired recently. My music is very important to me; in fact it is one of the things that makes me get up in the morning. I find that listening to a great album can make a tricky day better, turn a mediocre day into a good one and a good day into a corker of day.

I recalled buying a magazine produced by the Observer in 2004 that listed the 100 greatest British Albums. Reading it all those years ago had turned me onto the Smiths, Nick Drake and John Martyn. I decided to return to that list again to acquire a few albums by artists not already in my large collection. For those of you who are interested a link to the list is at: https://www.theguardian.com/observer/omm/idx/0,,1242360,00.html

The album I had acquired from this list was Soul II Soul's outstanding 1989 "Club Classics Vol 1". It is a distinctively British take on Soul and R 'n' B with hints of dub and shades of rap thrown in. The key track is the propulsive "Keep on movin" a number that is an excellent motivational piece.

So as to set myself up for the week I decided to make a light dish featuring pan-fried Mackerel and some light, fresh ingredients to dress it. I'm quite particular about what seafood I have in my diet as studies have confirmed that a lot of sea-going fish are riddled with plastic and therefore you as consumer are essentially eating this plastic, a habit that is clearly not healthy.

I chose the Mackerel as I knew it was sourced in this country under circumstances that meant it would have no exposure to plastic pollution. The ingredients to the recipe were:

2 Fillets of Mackerel.
2 fresh Beetroot, topped, tailed and then boiled in a pan of water for 90 minutes and left to cool in the fridge overnight.
0.1 litres of zero-fat Greek Yoghurt.
The juice of 1 Lemon.
1 teaspoon of dried Dill.
1 Fennel Bulb, topped, tailed and sliced very finely.
The fern-like fronds of the Fennel Bulb.
7 Slices of Cucumber.

I made the recipe by following the method below:

1. Make the dressing by slicing the Beetroot into quarters and add it to a serving bowl.
2. Add the Lemon Juice, Dill, pieces of Fennel Bulb, Cucumber Slices and stir these together thoroughly with the Beetroot pieces.
3. Add the Greek Yoghurt and stir this thoroughly into the mixture.
4. Cover the bowl and leave in the fridge while you prepare the Mackerel.
5. Fry the Mackerel in a frying pan covered with Olive Oil. Fry it on a medium heat for seven minutes on each side.
6. When the Mackerel is ready place it on the plate and top it with the dressing from the fridge and the fronts from the Fennel Bulb.

The taste of this recipe was just what I was looking for on a warm Sunday Evening in the middle of a heatwave. The Mackerel had a taste that made me think it had been prepared by being grilled over a campfire on the shores of a Scottish Loch, while the dressing combined the earthy flavours of the Beetroot with the aniseed flavour of the Fennel and the Yoghurt, Cucumber and Lemon added a welcome freshness to the meal.