Monday 29 August 2016
Am I watching too many food shows on TV???
Just started watching the new series of "Great British Menu" on BBC2 and I actually recognised Adam Handling from when he was on "Masterchef, The Professionals" in 2013... Should I be worried?
Saturday 27 August 2016
Salmon with Green Beans, Cherry Tomatoes, Black Olives, Anchovies and Basil
This is one of or family staples. We got it originally form Jamie Oliver's "The Naked Chef" (page 97). Believe me, that page is showing some serious signs of wear. However, these days we don't even get the book out anymore for this recipe, it is delicious, simple, we have made it so many times and we adjusted it slightly to our taste.
To start with, the idea of the original recipe is that all gets cooked in the oven on just one plate and when we were cooking just for my wife and me that worked fine. However, four salmon filets and the veg for four work much better on two trays.
In our version the veg tray goes in for about 25 to 30 minutes at 180C and the salmon tray joins them for 10 - 15 minutes depending on the size of the filets and how you like your salmon cooked.
for the vegetable tray we mix some olive oil with finely grated garlic and mix it with the green beans, the tomatoes, the basil and the black olives. Actually, before mixing the tomatoes in we pierce them with a sharp knife as the juice coming out of them when baking is creating the sauce for this dish. Distribute the mix over the tray and drape anchovy filets over them. We then add salt and pepper, but be careful with the salt as the anchovies already provide saltiness.
For the salmon I like to used individually vac-packed filets from Regal. The come fresh and suitable for home freezing and that is what we usually do. You can then simply choose how many you need at any given time and you know that you have a really good quality ingredient. They don't pay me to say things like this, I simply like what they do. However, they have asked me to put together a few recipes for them, so watch this space...
Back to the salmon, grease the tray, sprinkle the filets with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Unlike the original recipe we then cover the salmon in tin foil, so technically the fish steamed rather than baked.
Not the best looking plate ever, but it's full of flavour!
To start with, the idea of the original recipe is that all gets cooked in the oven on just one plate and when we were cooking just for my wife and me that worked fine. However, four salmon filets and the veg for four work much better on two trays.
In our version the veg tray goes in for about 25 to 30 minutes at 180C and the salmon tray joins them for 10 - 15 minutes depending on the size of the filets and how you like your salmon cooked.
for the vegetable tray we mix some olive oil with finely grated garlic and mix it with the green beans, the tomatoes, the basil and the black olives. Actually, before mixing the tomatoes in we pierce them with a sharp knife as the juice coming out of them when baking is creating the sauce for this dish. Distribute the mix over the tray and drape anchovy filets over them. We then add salt and pepper, but be careful with the salt as the anchovies already provide saltiness.
For the salmon I like to used individually vac-packed filets from Regal. The come fresh and suitable for home freezing and that is what we usually do. You can then simply choose how many you need at any given time and you know that you have a really good quality ingredient. They don't pay me to say things like this, I simply like what they do. However, they have asked me to put together a few recipes for them, so watch this space...
Back to the salmon, grease the tray, sprinkle the filets with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Unlike the original recipe we then cover the salmon in tin foil, so technically the fish steamed rather than baked.
Not the best looking plate ever, but it's full of flavour!
Friday 19 August 2016
Guess the fish
Yesterday we went to the Golden Retriever gastro pub for a family meal. We like the Golden Retriever as they have good, solid pub food and they are only 5 minutes walk from our house. All in all we had a lovely evening, but one element went a little wrong. My wife and I both ordered the fish special.
Halibut should be strong enough to stand up against the robust flavors of chorizo mash. Unfortunately by the time the dishes for all 9 of us arrived the halibut had turned into a sole.
The sole was perfectly cooked and the mash was lovely, but the poor little fish didn't stand a chance against the mash. I was quite upset as we were all hungry and therefore a change was not really an option.
To be fair, they apologised immediately, admitted that it was their fault, took a good chunk of our bill and gave us our desert / cheese board for free.
As I said, overall we had a lovely evening and we will certainly continue to go the the Golden Retriever. Mistakes can happen anywhere - the question is how you deal with them.
Halibut should be strong enough to stand up against the robust flavors of chorizo mash. Unfortunately by the time the dishes for all 9 of us arrived the halibut had turned into a sole.
The sole was perfectly cooked and the mash was lovely, but the poor little fish didn't stand a chance against the mash. I was quite upset as we were all hungry and therefore a change was not really an option.
To be fair, they apologised immediately, admitted that it was their fault, took a good chunk of our bill and gave us our desert / cheese board for free.
As I said, overall we had a lovely evening and we will certainly continue to go the the Golden Retriever. Mistakes can happen anywhere - the question is how you deal with them.
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