Grilled Salmon and new potatoes... mmmmmm... fishy.... Thursday May 9th 2013

I am very very partial to a little fishy on a little dishy. Today's fish is salmon, very good for you (lots of Omega 3 oils) and the skin is delicious when nice and crispy.

I started the fish off skin side down in a pan, in a little hot oil, and left it on the skin side until the opaque fish was about half way up the side, and then finished it under the grill just to brown the top. The inside was still deep salmon coral coloured, and not at all dry. And the skin was to die for... (it looks burnt in the photo, but it wasn't just a deep crunchy brown...)

Back up the week a bit....

It's been a funny old week. I've had no energy, no impetus and no desire to cook much.

So we've been eating sausages, and pasta and rice mostly. With salad. Yawn you are saying. I know...sorry....

I've been sorting through to see if I ate anything at all you might find even slightly interesting. I've only found two things - and neither of the photos are amazing. So maybe you would be better off just working back through the better photos from the past month or so!!

Pork tenderloin with an onion gravy, cooked with marsala and veal stock

Chargrilled lamb with fresh pita bread and salad

They did taste good, just not very inspiring! so sorry!

Home-made sausage roll and bread and butter pudding - Monday April 29th 2013

I don't know why, I just had a real yearning for a hot sausage roll.  Ready rolled puff pastry and some skinned sausages, half an hour and here it is... so good!

And to finish it off, a little bread and butter pudding, with the raisins on the bottom before putting the bread in so you don't get those hard burnt ones on the top.  (top tip...)

A weekend of sugo di carne... Saturday and Sunday April 27th and 28th 2013

I made a big pot of Italian sugo di carne.... the stuff English people like to call bolognese sauce. 

My Italian mother in law always called it sugo and I make it her way, so sugo it shall remain.

The first half  we had simply with spaghetti.

The second half I made into a bastardised version of gnocchi alla sorrentina - it should be with plain tomato sauce along with the basil, mozzarella and parmesan, but mine is a meatier version.

This is how I make my sugo - quantities are up to you, depending on how many of you there are! :

Saute a soffrito of onions, celery and red or yellow peppers all finely chopped. When soft, add a couple of garlic cloves and some finely cubed pancetta and continue to fry. Add minced beef and fry, stirring all the while, until the meat is no longer pink.

Add a good slug of white wine, sherry or marsala and reduce this to almost nothing. Then add sufficient full cream milk to come about half way up the meat and allow this to almost reduce away. Then add chopped tomatoes, some tomato puree, salt and little sugar and some dried oregano.

Simmer for a couple of hours on a very low flame.

It is VERY good...

Risotto....Prawns leeks peas and Pernod! Wednesday 24th April 2013

I like a nice fish risotto... only a little butter at the beginning and no cheese or cream to finish so very light on the tongue.

This one has prawns and some slivers of smoked salmon, peas and leeks.  No white wine, but I used a good slug of Fino sherry and another of Pernod which worked beautifully, The slight anise flavour was rounded out with Essential Cuisine fish stock and a good pinch of Urban Spiceman TZ 5P spice. 

So very, very good.

Orzo Salad with Hard Boiled Eggs.. The Sun Shone Today! Tuesday April 23rd 2013

It was a lovely day , sunny not too windy, I even got into the garden for a bit of tidying up.

Which exhausted me as I'm still a bit flu-ridden, so I then couldn't be doing with making elaborate dinner. So I raided the cupboards and the fridge and produced a plate of salad.

Orzo is a rice shaped pasta that is wonderful in soup, but also makes delicious pasta salad. The trick is to make sure it isn't overcooked, and to strain it into cold water to cool so it doesn't go puddinglike. Then when it is lukewarm dress with a balsamic vinaigrette and add any herbs and vegetables you fancy.  I had red onion, grated carrot, mint and parsley in mine, along with some cubes of Doux de Montagne cheese..

And I had just a nice little half portion left over in the fridge for lunch :)

More kebabs with Gigantes Plaki... and flatbread Monday April 22nd 2013

The other half of the half leg of lamb was still in the fridge and needed to be made into something, and the vote was for more kebabs. Marinaded the same as the last time, and with gigantes plaki (Greek Giant Beans in simple tomato sauce, butter beans were used here...) and flatbreads made with my new pizza dough find through Twitter... .

Lamb Kebabs with Pilaf rice - sometime last week....April 2013

I've been a bit unwell recently, so I am not sure which day I had this rather yummy dinner..

But fortunately I did take a picture, so here it is.  Lamb kebabs with pilau rice and salad.

The marinade for the lamb and vegetables is so easy and so delicious. 

Cut your lamb (I used leg, but neck fillets and shoulder are also very good) - roughly 250g or so for two people - into 3 cm cubes, and put into a bowl together with a red onion halved and separated into leaves, and a large red pepper (or I used two narrow pointy ones) also cut into squares. Add the juice of a lemon, salt and pepper, a good glug of olive oil and a half teaspoon or so of dried oregano. Cover and allow to sit in the fridge for several hours.  String the pieces onto flat kebabs and grill for about 20 mins, or as long as the rice takes to cook. Use the marinade to baste the kebabs as they cook.

My pilaf is made with Essential Cuisine lamb stock, really good stuff, and the only lamb stock I know that doesn't taste of salt and MSG.  Saute a finely chopped onion or a couple of shallots until soft, add half a cup of basmati rice per person, one whole cup of water per person, a half teaspoon of Essential lamb stock powder (or you can use any stock cubes you like of course! or even fresh stock if you have some) and a handful of finely chopped parsley. Bring to the boil, and then cover tightly and turn the heat right down to barely simmer and absorb the stock. 

It should take roughly the same time as the lamb. 

Serve with salad. Yummy.

p.s. I know I go on about Essential stocks a lot. They don't sponsor me, although I am using stock powders I have won in their Facebook competitions, but honestly they really are the best. I hope you give them a go and let me know what you think.

Braise-Roasted Duck Leg with Marmalade Sponge Puddings for afters.. Weds April 17th 2013

My fabulous Spanish literary agent friend Angela came over last night, whilst she was here in the UK for London Book Fair, and I cooked us dinner so we could natter and catch up on the business gossip.

Duck cooked this way is a favourite, and it really is delicious, and so tender it falls off the bone.  If you are good I'll even let you know how I made it...

So here you go...

• 4 duck legs
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• handful of fresh thyme stems
• 1tsp each of Essential Chicken and Veal Stock powders , (or any stock granules, Marigold are good)
• 500ml warm water
• salt & pepper

For thickening the gravy:

• 1 tbs plain flour slaked in a little water
• couple of drops of gravy browning or home made caramel (optional)
• 1 tablespoon of shredded orange zest (optional)

In a sturdy roasting pan just big enough to take the legs, put a bed of onions and thyme

Put the duck legs on top, mix the stock powders into the water and pour over the duck to come about half way up the legs.

Salt and pepper the tops (I was daft and put the salt and pepper on first, then put the stock in, as you can see I washed the salt and pepper off some of the legs.. be sensible, put stock in first, then salt and pepper! ) and place in a moderate oven, Gas mk 4 , 350/175 degrees. Cook for an hour and a half, basting the top occasionally.

After the hour and a half, drain off the stock into a small pan, put the duck back for another half hour at Gas mk 2 300/150. Add the slaked flour to the stock and whisk until smooth, the flour will combine with the duck fat to thicken the gravy. Bring to the boil, whisking and then turn right down to a murmur and cook for 20 mins to make certain the flour is cooked through. Deepen the colour with a little gravy browning if you wish. (You can add the orange zest now if you wish to use it, it adds a lovely flavour to the gravy without turning it into duck a l'orange. )

Remove the legs from the onion/herbs, you will probably need to remove some herbs from the underside, and serve with mashed potatoes, a green veg and the delicious gravy.



To carry on the orange flavour, I decided to make little steamed marmalade puddings for afters...

Made in individual steamed pudding moulds, just a simple Victoria Sandwich mixture (like this one for the cakes I made for Mother's Day) with a little more milk than you would use for the cakes, some zest and orange essence in the mix, and a good dollop of marmalade and one of golden syrup in the bottom of the mould. Cover and steam for 40 minutes. The mixture filled 5 little moulds.

That's it!  Now that was all easy wasn't it!