Category Archives: Day-to-day grub

Cook these dishes for supper, lunch or anytime you want comfortable, good cooking

Tuesday night in Berkshire -Bob Marley and Blackened fish

I’m trying to decide what to have for dinner and for no reason, I think about the  Barbados Fish Fry.  I start to think about the amazing smells and tastes of this amazing spectacle, which takes place every Friday and Saturday night in Oistins. Locals and tourists all turn up for for the amazing food- fried and grilled fish (marlin, swordfish, tuna, dolphin – not flipper- anything they’ve caught really) fish cakes, sweet potato, macaroni pie, and coleslaw and a lot of beer and rum-based drinks.

http://www.barbados.org/oistins-fish-fry.htm

Dancing, eating and drinking are the order of the night.  Alas on a Tuesday evening in Berkshire there was no  live reggae, or rum punch, but I thought I’d give my favourite type of cooking, which was “blackening” a try. I love the spiciness, great on fish or chicken.

In the blender I whizzed

  • 2 tablespoons ground paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground chilli powder(more or less, depending how spicy you like)
  • 2 spring onions
  • 1 clove of grarlic
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • Small handful of freshthyme, basil and oregano (use ¼ teaspoon of dried if you don’t have fresh)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

I spread just one side of 6 pieces of skinned salmon fillet with the mixture, then placed a heavy frying pan on the heat until it was very hot. I placed the fish mixture side down for 2-4 minutes or until it was blackened, then flipped it over for a further 2 to 3. Take it off the heat and leave for a few minutes, the fish will continue to cook through.

I served this with new potatoes and a sort of raita/tsaziki  (greek yogurt, fresh mint and cucumber).

I stuck a bit of Bob Marley on the Ipod and had a rum and coke, it was the nearest I could do, and you know what? It wasn’t bad at all!

Do you have to cook chips three times for them to be good?

It does seem excessive doesn’t it, to cook chips three times?

So is it worth it?

It’s all Heston’s fault really, so much more a chemist than a cook, he was the one who started all this triple cooking stuff and frankly, until I went to his pub “The Hind’s Head” in Bray, I thought it was all a load of nonsense. I have to admit, that having tasted them, they were wonderful, so of course that sent me on my quest to reproduce that crispy exterior, and fluffy inside.  My friends know that I very rarely eat carbs, so when I do they have to be super-special and trust me these are, I actually went out and bought a deep-fat fryer just to make these delicious little chaps.

You will need:

 1kg Potatoes – preferably Maris Piper, washed and peeled
Vegetable Oil (Heston uses peanut oil, us mere mortals can’t afford that…don’t be tempted to use olive oil – waste of money and too low a burning threshold)

1. Cut the spuds in to fat  chips about 1cm thick. Place them straight into a bowl under cold running water and keep them there for about 10 minutes to rinse off some of the starch.
2. Bring a large pan of unsalted water to the boil and plunge in the drained potatoes. Bring it back up to the boil and simmer very gently for about 10 minutes, or until the point of a knife easily penetrates the chips. Make sure the water is only just simmering or your potatoes will break up
3. Using a slotted spoon, lift the potatoes carefully out of the water and place them on a tray. Allow them to cool, then place in the fridge until cold. You will notice that the chips harden when chilled.
4. Second cooking – heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 130C/250F and plunge in the chips. After 5 minutes take them out – do not let them brown! Drain, cool them and place them in the fridge. You can keep them now, for a few days if you like, you don’t have to cook them straight away.
5. Final cooking –  heat  the oil in the deep-fat fryer to  180C/350F. Plunge in the chips and cook until golden brown. This may take 8-10 minutes — you need to be patient in order to obtain a really crisp chip.
6. Drain and season

These are brilliant served with moules mariniere, or just on their own with home-made mayonnaise although Waitrose wholegrain mustard mayonnaise is very good.

So do you have to cook chips three times for them to be any good?

Probably not for, but for super-fabulous chips, yes, Heston, you do.

Last minute fillet

Panic, panic what to have for dinner?

Everything has been left to the last minute, as usual, so a quick nip in to Waitrose, ensuring I only grabbed a basket so it didn’t take too long. Why is it that I can always fill a supermarket trolley even when I don’t need anything?  I was drawn to the lamb neck fillets, cheap and unbelievably easy to cook. I knew I had a few other random ingredients at home, so a quick checkout and I was done.

First I rummaged round in the herb garden and grabbed a few handfuls of basil,coriander,  a little mint and a sprig of rosemary. Along with a red chilli lying at the bottom of the fridge, I added the zest and juice of a lemon, a clove of garlic and olive oil and threw them in the food processor. The smell was amazing.

I only whizzed it for a little as I like it quite chunky. At this point you could add some grated parmesan or pine nuts if you wanted to go down a pesto route. Pre-heat your oven to gas Mark 4, electric  180/160 for fan ovens.

Spread the paste on one side of the lamb fillet, then place, paste side down in a very hot frying pan with a little olive oil. After a couple of minutes, carefully turn over, the crust should be brown.

Turn down the heat, and cook the underside for a couple of minutes. Place in the oven for a further 5 minutes or so if you like it rare, or longer if you prefer well-done.  Take the lamb out of pan and leave to rest. Poor thing, its had a hard time. Add a tablespoon of redcurrant jelly and a slosh of red wine to the wine juices and allow to bubble for a couple of minutes. 

 I served it here, with some simple stir-fried veggies, but you can really team it with anything.

Best part about this?  It took me under half an hour.

Feet up, glass of red wine, Corrie  (Don’t knock it, best writing on telly)and my lovely last minute fillet. Bliss