Italian Oven Baked Cod

This is a great recipe from Francesco Mazzei - from a selection in the times from his new restaurant that specialises in rustic Calabrian cooking.
This creates a really full flavoured dish - very easy to make - something that can be pretty much prepared ahead.
The salting of the cod definitely firms up the firm, and accentuates the flavour.
Making it for my brother and sister in law tonight!
I think it may also work with a little chorizo - perhaps without the capers and anchovies - might try and Spanish themed one another day........

Serves 4

600g cod fillets
100g table salt
10g coarse salt
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
20g tinned anchovies, drained
200g pitted black olives
20g capers
40g passata
1 bunch parsley - roughly chopped
350g potatoes, thinly sliced
150g mini plum tomatoes, halved
Salt and pepper

 

Ready to go in the oven

1 Place the cod on a large flat tray. Mix the two salts and sprinkle over the fish. leave fo 40-60 minutes.
2 Pre heat the oven to 160 C fan.
3 Fry the garlic gently in the olive oil until it begins to colour - add the drained anchovies, olives and capers, stir to begin to break up the anchovies, and add the passata. Simmer for approx 10 minutes. Add a little water or vegetable stock if it starts to dry out.
4 Rinse the cod under cold running water. Cut into large pieces.
5 Pour the sauce into an oven proof dish. Add the fish and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.
6 Cover with the potato slices, add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil.
7 Bake for about 20 minutes - or until the co is cooked and the potatoes crispy.

Ready to Eat!!

Italian Roast Chicken with peppers and olives

This recipe highlights the problem of watching Saturday Kitchen. You watch, hungry, on a Saturday morning - and then can't get a particular dish out of your mind.
This particular recipe is one of Nigella's - I have changed it only slightly, and added a couple of medium chillis to give a background heat.
When I first made it I thought the veg looked a bit burnt when it came out of the oven - but it is just right, and the gravy the dish creates is out of this world.

Serves 4 well with some leftover

1 chicken - approx. 1.5kg - the best quality you can buy
1 unwaxed lemon
I small bunch of fresh rosemary
3 leeks (washed and trimmed)
2 red peppers
1 orange pepper
1 yellow pepper
2 large chillis
100g pitted dry-packed olives
60ml olive oil
sea salt and pepper to taste

1 Preheat the oven to 200c
2 Cut each leek into 3 'logs', and then slice lengthways. Place in a roasting tin large enough to hold the veg and the bird.
3 Remove the core and seeds of the peppers, and slice into strips, adding theses to the roasting tin. Deseed the chillis
put in the olives. Pour over most of the olive oil and mix the veg gently, ensuring everything is coated.
4 Untruss the chicken , and sit on top of the veg. Pour the remaining olive oil over the chicken and rub in.
5 Place the two halves of lemon into the cavity, with a few sprigs of rosemary.
6 Add the remaining sprigs of rosemary to the veg, and season the chicken and the veg with salt and pepper.
7 Place uncovered in the oven for 1hour to 1 1/4 hours, by which time the chicken should be cooked through. Test by putting a knife into the thickest part of the thigh - the juices should run clear.
8 Place the chicken on a carving board, and return the roasting pan to the oven - switching the oven off at the same time.
9 Allow the chicken to rest for approx. ten minutes and then carve onto a serving plate.
10 Remove the roasting tin from the oven and remove the veg with a slotted spoon onto a serving dish, and pour over the gravy. I put some additional gravy into a small dish so more could be added at the table.
11 Now you are ready to serve - I followed Nigella's example and made a 'risotto' from pearl barley flavoured with saffron (recipe to follow).

Potato and Leek Al Forno

This recipe was the result of a lazy Saturday morning watching Saturday Kitchen. The recipe is from Theo Randall - he used this side dish to accompany pork chops. I had it with rib eye steak and grilled baby gem lettuce.
It is a very rich dish - and the aroma when the oven is opened is reminiscent of walking into an old school Italian restaurant - it must be the garlic and the cream - but it is beautiful.
You will see the recipe includes anchovies - which I realise are a bit 'marmite' - but they really do add a depth of flavour to this dish. I would say that my wife would never eat an anchovy as they come out of the tin - but loved this dish.

Serves 4 as a generous side

1kg charlotte potatoes ( or alternative waxy potato)
250g leeks
1 garlic clove
1 small tin of anchovies in oil, drained (30g)
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
400ml double cream
40g dried breadcrumbs
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Preheat the oven to 180/160 fan.
2 Cut the potatoes and leeks into 1.5 - 2cm discs.
3 Parboil the potatoes for 10 minutes, drain and set aside
4 Parboil the leeks for 5 minutes - drain and place on a baking dish with the potatoes
5 In a saucepan heat the oil and briefly fry the anchovies and garlic, stirring to help dissolve the anchovies
6 Add the cream and cook gently for 5 minutes.
7 Pour the cream over the leeks and potatoes and mix well.
8 Cover with foil and cook for 30 minutes.
9 Remove the foil - sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and return to the oven.
10 Cook until the breadcrumbs become browned on top - about 10 minutes.
11 You are ready to serve.

These go really well with grilled meats - but you do need something fresh and green alongside to cut through all of the richness.
Enjoy - this dish is worth making just for the aroma alone!

Beer Onions - great for the BBQ

As we head into barbecue season these are a great accompaniment to grilled meats - fantastic with sausages - a great all rounder.
Made with beer - you want something dark, but not too bitter.
The onions are cooked slowly - you are looking for the sweetness to come out.
You can make these in bulk - and I find they keep in the fridge for a good few days.

50g butter
1 tbsp oil
2 large onions - sliced
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
150ml beer

1 Melt the butter and oil in a large heavy bottomed pan that has a lid.
2 Add the sliced onions - give a good stir and cook gently, for 10 minutes, with the lid on.
3 With the onions now well softened, add the beer, honey and mustard.
4 Cook gently with the lid off until the beer has reduced and you are left with a relish like consistency - as in the photo.
5 Enjoy hot or cold - really great with sausages!!

Asparagus wrapped in pancetta - one for the BBQ

This is a really quick, really straightforward recipe - it's so simple it doesn't really need a recipe.
The 'bundles' can be cooked on the barbecue - which gives an added flavour - or under the grill.
The English asparagus season runs from St Georges day to the summer solstice and we are promised a bumper crop this year.
I used pancetta in the photo - but you can use any thinly sliced bacon, prosciutto or pancetta.
When the pancetta is cooked the asparagus will be cooked.
I have finished with a shop bought balsamic vinegar glaze (from Waitrose) - which works brilliantly to cut through.

1 bunch asparagus
1 pack pancetta
To dress - Balsamic vinegar reduction

1 Bend the asparagus spears until they break and throw away the woody end (younger, smaller asparagus may not require this)
2 Arrange the asparagus into small bundles - how many spears will depend on their thickness, probably a minimum of 2, a maximum of 5.
3 Wrap the bundles in the pancetta
4 Secure one end of the pancetta with a cocktail stick for cooking
5 Cook on the barbecue or under the grill.
6 As soon as the pancetta is crispy you are ready to remove the cocktail sticks and serve.
7 I drizzle with the Balsamic Vinegar glaze

Enjoy

Szechuan Style Prawn

This is a great, authentic tasting dish- the heat can be turned up a bit by adding more chilli flakes - or perhaps a fresh red chilli, sliced.
Really straightforward to make - and check out some of the other chinese dishes on the blog to try it with.
The level in the recipe is warm - rather than hot!

Serves 4

600g cooked, peeled large prawns
1 tin chopped tomatoes
3 large onions - sliced
1 tbsp grated ginger
3 tbsp oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
3 tsp chilli flakes
salt and pepper

1 Heat the oil in a heavy casserole
2 Add the onions and ginger and cook until the onions are soft and translucent.
3 Add the tomatoes and soy sauce, sugar and chilli flakes.
4 Season and leave to simmer on a low heat until you have a smooth, thick sauce - approximately 20 mintues.
5 Add the prawns to the sauce, and warm through.
6 Check the seasoning and serve.

Prawn Cocktail - back to the old school!

For Valentines I decided to go back in time - with an old school favourite - prawn cocktail, followed by a T-bone steak!

For the prawn cocktail I struggled to find the appropriate glasses - but managed to source a couple in a local charity shop.

For the basic sauce I reverted to my old recipe for mini prawn cocktails:

500g prawns

200 ml mayonnaise

3 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tbsp lemon juice

Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper

1 Make the marie rose sauce. The only thing that is important here is to add everything to taste. Put the mayo and tomato ketchup in a bowl and mix, add the lemon juice to taste, and a few drops of Worcestershire sauce, which adds a background hint of heat.

2 Season the sauce and then add your prawns and mix well.

For the salad - I had thought it was traditionally just iceberg or little gem lettuces - but found there were lots of different versions. This was what I went for:

3 little gem lettuces

10cm piece of cucumber

1 avocado

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 Cut the cucumber lengthways - use a spoon to scoop out the seeds

2 Cut the cucumber into small dice

3 Peel the avocado and cut into cubes.

4 Place the avocado and cucumber into a bowl with the lemon juice and toss well

5 Shred the little gems and mix well with the avocado and cucumber.

6 Split between four bowls - leave a dip in the middle to scoop in the prawns.

7 Dress with a lemon slice, or a prawn with the shell on for full 70's points - and perhaps a sprinkling of cayenne pepper.

Get some Demis Roussos on the gramaphone - live the dream........