Soy Salmon with an Avocado, Lime, Wasabi Salsa

I hope you all enjoyed a long weekend break over Easter, for me it was nice to be home for four days and the sun shone all weekend long. The last of our summer days I think, the gannets have all but a few flown from the colony, leaving just me behind till they return next year.

We often cook this dish on the BBQ as part of several dishes but Easter weekend we decided to have it on it’s own for our Sunday brunch served on a piece of whole grain toast, very decadent. It’s a really versatile dish that can be served as an entree on its own, as a main with steam veg or even as a canapé on little crispy croutons

Salmon cooks well on the BBQ, you need to remove the skin though as it will stick to the BBQ grill. The method is the same if you decide to cook it on your barbie. The marinate of soy and sugar caramelizes beautifully on the flame grill but here I cooked it in my cast iron pan and it was almost as good, I wasn’t going to fire up our charcoal BBQ for just one fillet so it was a good compromise.

I usually only buy one 4inch wide salmon fillet between the two of us, although I really enjoy salmon it can be quite rich and a small amount goes a long way so I have based my recipe on one fillet but you can easily double the quantities if you are cooking for more.

Ingredients for two
1 Salmon filet, sliced in half length ways
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 ripe avocado
1 tsp wasabi paste
juice and zest of 1 lime
2 spring onions, finely sliced

Method
Remove the skin from the salmon, it marinates better this way.
Warm the soy and sugar together so that the sugar dissolves.
In a small flat bottom container pour the soy and sugar, add the skinned salmon.
Marinate for 15 minutes turning every couple of minutes.
While the salmon is marinating make the avocado salsa.
Cut the avocado in half and remove the stone and scoop out the flesh.
Place the avocado flesh in a bowl with the lime zest and juice and wasabi paste.
Mash together to a lumpy texture rather than smooth purée.
Add the sliced spring onions and season with salt and pepper to taste, put aside in fridge.
Heat a cast iron or heavy bottom frying pan with a tablespoon of veg oil and place over a medium heat.
Once the pan is hot put the salmon fillets in and cook for 1 minute, turn the fillets over.
Brush the cooked side with more marinate and cook the second side for 1 minute.
Turn the fillet over and repeat the process on both sides, brushing with marinate and cooking each side for another minute (cooking time altogether 4 minutes).
Test the fillets are cooked to your liking, I prefer them a little undercooked.
Serve with the avocado salsa.

Jamie’s Fifteen Gooey Mozzarella, Smashed Herb Peas and Salad

This is my take on Jamie’s dish Gooey Burrata with Smashed Herb Peas which we had as part of his degustation menu at Jamie’s Fifteen in Cornwall last month. It’s one of the dishes that stood out most even though it was rather simple in concept but that’s what I love about Jamie’s cooking. We do not have Buratta cheese here in NZ so I went for the softest mozzarella I could find which was almost as good. It’s quite an easy dish to put together and you can get all the elements ready in advance then just reheat the peas and mozzarella through just before you are ready to serve. It looks rather impressive and creative no one will guess how easy it was, although I’m sure Jamie’s was a little more complex than this.

The pic below the recipe is of me sitting in Fifteen overlooking Watergate Bay.

Ingredients

1/2 mozzarella ball per person

1 cup of milk

1/2 cup frozen petite peas per person

handful of salad leaves or watercress per person

Handful fresh mint and parsley

zest of one lemon

Nob of butter

salt & cracked pepper

balsamic glaze

Method

Oil the base of a pan large enough to fit all the mozzarella cheese without each piece touching.

Put the milk and mozzarella in the pan over a very low heat just to warm the milk. Do not let it boil as this will cook and melt the mozzarella too much, you just want it to soften slightly.

Pour boiling water into a pan with the peas, bring to the boil then drain the peas.

Add the zest, butter and herbs to the peas and blend half till smooth and the rest leave whole to give a varied texture

Season with salt & pepper.

Mix some balsamic glaze to the salad leaves.

To assemble first scoop the warm mozzarella out onto a plate, pile on the peas and then the salad and finish off with an extra bit of balsamic glaze around the plate.

You can add a piece of pan fried fish too if you want to make it a more substantial meal.

Mini Courgettes with Cumin & Sumac Dressing

Happy St Patricks Day! I’d like to say I had made something green for the occasion but truth be know I have been too busy and away in Sydney on business so have not been near the kitchen all week. I did manage to don a green dress today though in honour.

Aren’t these courgettes such darlings, I couldn’t resist buying them from the farmers market when I saw them. It would have been a shame to chop them up too and looses their cuteness so I just sliced them down the middle and fried the flat side on a griddle. I did not cook both sides because they are so small it was sufficient to just cook the one side and it mean they kept their crunch and colour too. I mixed all the dressing ingredients together and poured it over the courgettes while they were warm and served them immediately. They are a perfect side dish for any meat or fish.

Ingredients – Dressing

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon juice
• 1 tsp sumac
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Fennel, Cucumber, Seafood Salad

I’m having a fennel month and not because I have a glut in my garden either. I did have some that grew into five foot high triffids and I didn’t do anything with it so for my penance for not looking after and harvesting my fennel I have to buy it at $2.50 a bulb. Note to self, pay more attention to what’s growing in the garden next hear as it is likely that the fennel seeds have blown everywhere.

This is an Ottolenghi inspired salad, a book gifted to myself that arrived last week which I just adore and can honestly say every other page makes me swoon. After my previous post on fennel salad I just knew this would be to my taste also. We ate it as a light main in larger quantities than shown in the photo but this was all that was left for my photo shoot and I did have to sneak this bit away before it was all consumed. I’ll take that as a compliment?

Ingredients – 4 entree, 2 main

2 fennel bulbs

1 telegraph cucumber, halved down middle & sliced

3 spring onions, thinly sliced

juice and zest of one lemon

2 cloves garlic

2 tbsp dill, chopped

2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped

2 tbsp coriander, chopped

1 mild chili, chopped

4 tbsp olive oil

8-12 prawns depending on size

300g baby squid, cleaned

1 tbsp sumac spice

salt & pepper

pomegranate seed to garnish

Method

Trim base and tops of fennel then slice width ways as thinly as possible.

In a bowl mix the fennel, cucumber, chili, onion, lemon juice, garlic, dill, parsley and 2 tbsp of olive oil. Combine all the ingredients.

Place a heavy cast iron frying pan over a high heat and allow the pan to get pipping hot.

Mix the prawns and squid with the remaining oil and add to the pan in small batches. Cook them one minute on each side or until just cooked.

Transfer the squid to a chopping board and slice into rings. Add both prawns and squid to the salad and toss through.

Add the coriander and sumac, season with salt and pepper, toss through again and serve immediately.

You could also use the salad without the fish as a side dish to accompany ofncutsbof fish.

Green Gazpacho Soup with Goats Cheese & Walnuts

The good thing about making New Years food resolutions in New Zealand is that they are easier to keep living in the southern hemisphere. I can’t even begin to imagine turning over a new (lettuce) leaf and eating salads and soup in a UK mid winter but here it has been so warm this year one craves fresh and light dishes.

I first tasted gazpacho in Spain when I was 17 and thought it was dreadful eating cold soup but that was before I developed a passion for food. Now it is probably one of my favourite, it is so fresh and light for those really hot days. I couldn’t resist adding my favourite goats cheese to it and a few walnuts for some crunch and of course some crusty bread for dipping!

This recipe is Really easy to make by whizzing everything together in a food processor, pushing it through a colander and chilling it down.

I have also been fiddling with my new photo software on my iPad……jury’s out on the new format I chose but it good to experiment.

Ingredients

2 cucumbers, sliced lengthways and de-seeded

1 green pepper/capsicum, halved & de-seeded

4 green tomatoes

2 spring onions

1clove garlic

1 slice sour dough bread

2 tbsp of white wine vinegar

3tbsp olive oil

salt & pepper for seasoning

goats cheese & walnuts optional for garnish

Method

Soak the bead with the vinegar and olive oil.

Rough chop the pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, garlic and spring onion and place in a food processor or blender.

Add the bread also to the food processor/blender and blend until smooth.

season with a little salt and pepper and the strain all the ingredients through a colander or course sift. You want texture to come through but to leave any bigger bits behind.

depending on how thick the soup is you can add some water or ice cubes if you want to chill it down quickly.

chill in fridge for several hours for the flavours to improve then serve with goats cheese and walnuts.

Shopping On An Empty Tummy & A New Year Food Promise

A post with no recipe! Only a picture of a what was left of my yummy car park picnic snack.

We have all done it….most of us probably do it once a week at least….food shopping on an empty tummy. We all know how lethal it is on our purse and waistline but with busy lives there is often no avoiding it unless one is ultra organised and since I’m not a bulk shopper or a hoarder I never have the healthy hunger buster snack option at work to enjoy just before leaving the office to tide me over. This evening was the perfect example, leaving the office 5 hours after my last morsel of food was consumed at lunch time, a small one too since I am on the New Years let’s eat healthy kick…sound familiar hey? Before Christmas I would have just bought one but no, I am determined…. for a few weeks at least.

By the time I was half way round the shop my subconscious was zooming in to all the chocolates, pastries and baked goods perfectly presented and packaged for a quick snack to keep you company on the drive home and stop that grumpy feeling one gets when hungry. When I am hungry I turn into an irrational ogre and grump at everyone and everything till I have eaten, thankfully I am not alone in this experience, girlfriends say they’re the same, even Sasa has named it Hanger (food hunger).

So I decide to look for a healthy snack to keep me going, after all I have a 40 minute drive before I get home. There isn’t much to be had other than muesli bars loaded with sugar, fruit or nuts…boring! There is some pot of humous with yummy India spices on top but dipping bread or crackers into it would deaf the point. But I have a plan, I buy some pre washed carrots to go with the humous, it will be perfect but….ah I forgot I’m in a super market car park not a cafe or park. Thankfully this was an under ground car park so it was rather dark so no one could see me furtively dipping a whopping big carrot into a pot of humous and munching away happily. So girls don’t be persuaded by the cash counter snacks when hungry, well at least for the first few weeks of the New Year, just have a picnic in your car…..oh and don’t tell my boss since my work car is meant to be ‘food free’.

Lime Kelp Prawns with Sea Lettuce Soba Noodle Salad

For something a little lighter after all that Christmas food! Although this is probably more appealing to those in the Southern Hemisphere enjoying sunny warm days rather than those in the Northern Hemisphere. If like my family in the UK you are snowed in you will probably prefer something heartier than a noodle salad but perhaps keep it in mind for next summer. I image many people in the UK will be whipping up a turkey meal from the leftovers of the monster bird cooked on Christmas day? I have only attempted once to cook a turkey in NZ for Christmas after feeling rather homesick for a traditional dinner… never again, it was so hot in the kitchen baking the dam bird I just didn’t feel like eating it afterwards. This year we had Rick Steins scallops on a smoked pepper salad, rabbit in a sherry sauce and for dessert a black forest trifle. What did you all have for Christmas lunch?

Ingredients – serves 4 main or 6 entree

• 200g soba noodles
• 16-18 large prawns
• 1 cup Pacific Harvest Sea Lettuce
• 1 tsp Pacific Harvest Lime Kelp
• 1 tbsp Pacific Harvest Dulse Flakes
• 3 spring onions
• 1 red pepper
• 100g needle mushrooms or any readily available mushroom (thinly sliced if not using needle mushrooms)
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• handful fresh parsley leaves
• handful fresh coriander leaves
• salt & pepper for seasoning
• 4 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Half fill a medium size pan with water then bring to the boil.
2. Place sea lettuce & dulse flakes in a sift and dip into the boiled water and allow to soak for 2 minutes. Remove from water then strain and cool. Place in a large bowl.
3. Add the soba noodles to the boiling water and cook for 4-6 minutes or until al dente, on a low simmer. Drain noodles, then run briefly under cold water to cool them and drain again. Place in same bowl as sea lettuce.
4. Thinly slice the red pepper and spring onion and add to the bowl with noodles, sea lettuce & dulse.
5. Briefly fry the mushrooms in a frying pan with a little oil, then add to the bowl with above ingredients.
6. To make the salad dressing take a large mortar & pestle and grind the parsley & coriander leaves. Add the lemon juice, sesame oil and 2 tbsp olive oil. Season with a pinch of salt & pepper and grind further until you get a lovely green paste. Add 2 more tbsp olive oil and grind again. If you don’t have a mortar & pestle you can use a blender, whiz stick.
7. Add the dressing to the bowl with the noodles and toss through to coat all the ingredients. Divide the noodle salad between four serving bowls/plates.
8. In a small bowl add 1 tbsp olive oil & 1 tsp lime kelp. Coat the prawns with this mixture.
9. In a cast iron or non stick frying pan fry the prawns on each side till pink and just cooked through (approx 1 min each side). Arrange prawns on top of the cold noodle salad and serve.

Note, the salad can be prepared in advance and kept in the fridge several hours prior to serving. The prawns can be served hot or cold.

Green Lipped Thai Style Mussel Fritters

Sorry photo didn’t come out too clear!

Mussel fritters are one of those traditional Kiwi icon dishes that seem to have been around forever, probably because mussels have always been easily accessible and cheap and because of their size a very substantial meal too. I decided to jazz them up a bit for pre- dinner canapés I was taking to friends by adding some Thai spices to them and it worked a treat. The sauce in the middle is a spicy peach but unfortunately I did not note the ingredients down for this but just kept adding a bit of this and that while they were cooking. I do intend to re do once the stone fruit is in season and I will certainly share it with you then.

Ingredients

• 300g green lipped mussel meat (about 24 mussels)
• 2 Spring onions, finely chopped
• Handful coriander, chopped
• 1 tsp Lemongrass paste
• 1 chilli, chopped
• 2 egg whites (you could make a aoli with the yolks to dip in)
• 1tbsp plain flour
• Salt & pepper to season

Method

• In a large pan place 2 cups of water and bring to the boil. Put as many mussels into the pan as possible and cover with a lid. Steam mussels until the shells open fully (about 5-8 mins). Discard and that do not open. Repeat until all mussels are cooked.
• Remove mussel meat from shell and pull off ‘the beard’ which is the hairy bit that attaches the shell to the rock, discard these.
• Finely chop the mussels and place in a large bowl.
• Add the spring onions, coriander, lemongrass & chilli to the mussels and combine.
• Sift the flour over the mussels and combine.
• Season with salt & pepper.
• Whisk the egg white till fluffy and the.
• Fold the egg whites into the mixture.
• In a non stick or cast iron frying pan add a tablespoon of oil.
• Add a small bit to taste test and cook on both sides, check taste for flavour and re-season if required.
• Use a teaspoon to measure canapé size fritters into the frying pan, flatten them slightly and cook on both sides till golden. Don’t forget your mussels have already been cooked so they will not take too long. Leave enough space in between fritters so you can flip them over.
• You can always make burger size too and enjoy this in between a burger bun with salad!

Quick Ricotta Gnocchi Recipe & a Workshop

It was a wet and cold Saturday morning, the type of day you just want to stay in doors all cosy and warm eating comfort food, the perfect weather for a cooking workshop which is exactly what happened last weekend. I have always loved gnocchi but often it can be a be ‘gloopy and starchy’ from the potato, that’s why when I found this recipe I fell in love with immediately. The dough is made from only 4 main ingredients; ricotta, parmesan, egg and flour, with not a potato in site and because there is no pre cooking of potatoes it is incredible quick to make, about 15 minutes if you are buying the ricotta. Since ricotta is so expensive here in NZ to buy I make my own and have added the recipe for this also, yet another incredibly quick recipe with only two ingredients and two stages to making it.

We served our gnocchi that afternoon with two very easy to make sauces, sage butter with parmesan and a blue cheese sauce, both of which went down very well with a local NZ Shingle Peek Sav Blanc and made for a very cheerful afternoon despite the weather.

Ingredients

• 300 g Ricotta
• 1 egg
• 1/4-1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 30 g Parmesan (or Pecorino), freshly grated
• 75 – 100g g all-purpose flour, extra for dusting the dough/board

Method

• Discard any excess liquid that the Ricotta’s packaging may contain, or if you make your own you might also have to blend it a little till smooth.
• Combine the ricotta cheese, egg, salt and freshly grated Parmesan into a large bowl.
• Add the flour and stir in briefly until just combined, the dough should still be sticky.
• Generously flour a board and split the dough into three. dust one piece with flour and roll the dough out into a sausage shape about finger thickness.
• Cut into 1 inch pillow shapes as in photo with a sharp knife, flouring the knife if needed.
• Place the gnocchi pillows onto a floured tray and repeat process with the rest of the dough.
• Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a generous pinch of salt and reduce heat to a simmer.
• Add the gnocchi and stir once, so they don’t stick to the bottom – they will start floating once cooked which takes about 2 minutes.
• Once cooked add to the sauce and serve immediately.

Sage Butter & Parmesan Sauce

• 100g butter
• large handful of fresh sage leaves
• Shaved parmesan for serving
• Cracked black pepper for seasoning

Method

• Place butter and sage leaves into a large frying pan on a low heat.
• Cook till butter starts to turn golden brown.
• Add cooked gnocchi to the butter and ensure each piece is covered in butter.
• Serve with additional grated Parmesan cheese.

Blue Cheese Sauce

• 50g blue cheese
• 150ml cream
• Cracked black pepper to season

Method

• In a large frying pan add the butter and blue cheese.
• Cook on a low heat until the cheese has dissolved and the sauce has thickened.
• Add the cooked gnocchi to the frying pan and coat with cheese sauce.
• Serve and season with black pepper.

Ricotta recipe

• 2-3 litres of pasturised full fat milk (it must not be homogenised milk as this in my experience doesn’t work)
• 4-6 tblsp white vinegar

1. Put the milk in a solid bottom pan to prevent burning of the milk.
2. Heat milk to almost boiling point over a medium heat, stir now and then to prevent burning, then turn heat off.
3. Add the vinegar 1 tablespoon at a time and gently stir the milk in between each spoonful. Once the milk starts to curdle into a lot of lumps stop adding vinegar, this should happen at about 4-5 tablespoons.
4. Allow to rest for 10 minutes and then scoop curds out into into a clean tea (or muslin cloth) towel inside a colander.
5. Place colander and contents into a large bowl or pan so the whey can drain freely and leave for several hours or over night.
6. And what is left in your cloth is the ricotta.
7. I find homemade ricotta needs a bit of a whiz with the blender to make it smooth for this recipe.

Twice Baked Mushroom Souffle

Souffles are a lot easier to make than most people realise and the majority of the preparation can be done before hand. With this dish you can prepare most of it in advance, like the mushroom sauce and base for the souffle, leaving just the whisking and the folding of the whites and baking to last minute. It’s a fabulous hearty winter dish that isn’t too heavy. You could serve it either as a light main course or make smaller ramekins for an entree. The souffle does sink when you take it out of the ramekin but it is still very light in texture after the second baking.

Ingredients – serves 4-6 depending on ramekin size

• 30g butter (souffle)
• 30g flour
• 350ml milk
• 3 eggs separated
• 60g gruyere cheese, grated
• 300g mushrooms, sliced
• 10og butter (sauce)
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 60ml dry white wine
• 250ml pouring cream
• handful chopped thyme
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

Method

1. Pre heat oven to 200C.
2. Grease and flour 4 large ramekins.
3. For the mushroom sauce, heat butter in a frying pan and add shallots, fry on a low heat until tender.
4. Add mushrooms and fry till cooked (5 mins).
5. Add wine to pan and reduce liquid by half.
6. Add cream, mustard & thyme and reduce the sauce slightly.
7. Season with salt & pepper to taste and set aside.
8. For the souffle, melt the butter in a pan then add the flour.
9. Cook flour for 3 minutes, stirring continuously.
10. Bring the milk to a boil in a separate pan then whisk into the flour & butter mixture, stirring continuously and cook for a further 3 minutes.
11. Allow to cool then whisk in the egg yolks only.
12. Season to taste and cover with plastic wrap till ready to use (prevents a skin forming).
13. Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form then whisk 1/3 into the cooled milk mixture.
14. Fold the remaining whites into the mixture with a metal spoon and pour into ramekins.
15. Bake until golden and well risen (approx 7-10 minutes).
16. Divide mushroom sauce between 4 oven proof plates and turn souffles out on top of the mushroom sauce.
17. Scatter with grated cheese and return to the oven and bake until cheese has melted and turned golden (5-8 minutes).