Freshly Caught Trout

I was a bit scared when LBF said that he was going to learn fly fishing ,it’s not that I am squeamish or have ethical objections . No it’s the gear… there is a lot of gear , rods , flies , stools tackle boxes even tents. . I once worked at an antique fishing tackle auction (Yes, they do exist) , people spent hundreds , even thousands of pounds on antique fishing flies and stuffed fish.

But LBF is no fool, he knows exactly how to get round me , “I will catch you a fish” , “Pff forget the macho posturing”. But he is no fool and delivered the one killer line,  “Think how bloggable that will be.”  I was sold I even packed him off fishing at stupid o’clock on a Saturday morning with roasted pork sandwiches.

True to his word on his first ever fishing trip he caught a 2lb rainbow trout, which I generously let him gut and cook. It was incredibly delicate tasting and pale white flesh rather than the luminous pink I am used to.

We cooked it simple wrapping the fish in foil with a scattering of fresh leeks , fresh lemon , sprigs of fresh thyme , butter and a twist of salt and pepper.

Fresh Brown Crab with Crusty Bread & Mayonnaise

Simple is good , and you couldn’t get any simpler than last nights dinnner , brown crab with lemon mayonaise and crusty bread. It has been years since I had whole fresh crab and they have been calling to me across the fish counter for a while now.

We got to the fishmonger a little later than ideal so all the live crabs were gone but there were some cooked ones , my Dad grew up in Portland Dorset and we would go back most summers he would always stop off and buy about half a dozen live crabs ( brown and spider crabs) that would blow bubbles all the way back home until boiled. I have very clear memories of him sitting with a big hammer working his was through crabs.

You can buy some pretty expensive gear to work through seafood but we have some little olive forks for winkling out the flesh and a hammer from the toolkit.

I think the way you tackle a crab I think says something about your personality , I eat mine a bit at a time as soon as I have release it from it crustaceous prison no patience but the  LBF works the whole crab out onto a plate, engineer style  and then eats it at the end.

BBQ Tapas, Razor Clams , Baked Figs and Sardines

I thought that BBQ season was over but yesterday it was so hot and sunny , so we had some lovely BBQ grazing food

Razor Clams with chorizo and garlic
Smokey Sardines
Figs with ham and goats cheese

Each course smallish bites cooked sequentially on the BBQ  with plenty of bread & lovely wine. Perfect Saturday night

I have wanted to cook razor clams since I saw Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall gathering them on a beach, pouring salt into their burrows until they popped up . Its on my list of things to try foraging but for now there are plenty on sale in Nottingham market , from my favourtie fishmonger for clams and sardines.

The smell of hot shells as they BBQ’d was perfect , the flavours was  cross between squid and mussels , a not overly chewy text combines with the chorizo and garlic I could have eaten hundreds.

Razor Clams with chorizo and garlic

12 Razor clams
1 50g peice of cooking chorizo finely chopped 1/2cm cubes
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
4 tbsp of fresh chopped parsley
1 tbsp pf olive oil

1. Mix together the chorizo , garlic , parsley and olive oil
2. Season with salt and pepper
3. Placing the razor clams on the BBQ shell side down, as they begin to open add the chorizo mixture and cook for a few minutes
4. Serve with a squeeze of fresh lemon

BBQ Sardines
I haven’t cooked sardines for ages they need to be lovely and fresh since they are very delicate fish , they are ideal to BBQ or grill a good salt combination gives crunchy sardines

BBQ Sardines

Allow 2 sardines per person for tapas, 6 for a full meal.
Once gutted and washed  I rubbed the sardines with a mix made equal parts salt , smoked paprika , parsley and a few drops of olive oil. The sardines cook in a few minutes either side on the BBQ.

The result once cooked is delicious spicy salty crunchy sardines.

There are some beautiful big purple figs around the markets at the moment and I have long wanted to try figs baked with ham and goats cheese . I picked up some  serano ham and goats cheese at Sourced Market . I was really pleased with how these turns out my favourite combinations salt and sweet.  The hot fig juice happily rolling down my wrists and chin as I at them . They cooked perfectly on the BBQ in just a few minutes and perfect drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

Figs stuffed with serano ham and goats cheese
Fresh figs
Finely sliced Serano ham
Goats Cheese
Thyme
Salt and Pepper

1. Cut a cross in each fig at the top slicing half way down
2. Fill with a piece of goats cheese and ham
3. Add a sprig of thyme, season with a little salt and pepper
4. Place on the BBQ for 3 minutes or in a hot oven 180degC for 10 minutes

Grey Mullet with Tomatoes and Celery

I went to the market intending to get some lamb shanks or another slow cook meat, for an autumnal meal but by the time I got to the market the weather had turned sunny and bright and I was in the mood for something light so I headed over to the lovely fishmonger he gets busy on a saturday morning often with lovely Chinese ladies buying bags and bags of fish heads, I really need to ask them what they do with them but I am too scared

Although I haven’t got to the economy level of fish heads just yet,  I was thinking affordable and sustainable. Alongside Mackerel , the cheapest fish on the stall is Grey Mullet a flathead fish not related the oh so showy blushing red mullet. This fish hangs around coastal waters so it can sometimes taste a little muddy.

I chose a large fish and once I had, gutted it ( you can see I am no expert)  cleaned it and removed the head and tail just to fit it into the oven dish , wrapped in foil with thyme , bay leaves and a slosh of white wine plenty of salt and pepper at 180degC it cooked whole in 25 minutes. For the last ten minutes I opened up the foil and added , chopped celery , tomatoes ( from the garden) and a slosh of red wine vinegar.

The result was a lovely summer dish,  light and fresh , the fish was moist and melting, the fish has large bones so it is really easy to eat the spine just lifts out.

Salt Fish , Chorizo, Roasted Pepper and Onion

A few weeks back I bought a packet of salt fish I wasn’t really sure what to do with it , a little googling revealed it goes well with chorizo so after a good soak and rinse, I combined it with some cooking chorizo and plenty of onions and roasted peppers. Delicious

Salt Fish , Chorizo and Roasted Pepper and Onion
100g of cooking chorizo cut into 1cm rings
200g of salted fish soaked for 4  hours cut into 2 cm
2 large onions finely sliced
3 cloves of garlic grated
1 tbsp of paprika
300g of chopped tomatoes
2 roasted peppers
1 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper

1. Fry the onion , chorizo,  garlic in the olive oil until softened
2. Add the salt fish , peppers and paprika
3. Add the tomatoes , vinegar and bake at 200degC for 20 minutes

Fish Pie

I love fish pie it a conforting dish and made with everything in one dish. The weather has turned again with rain replacing the scorching BBQ weekend so I wanted something conforting.  With a day working from home I was back earlier enough to have some proper cooking time. Once all the preperation is done this is one of those classic dishes for serving to a big family. It doesn’t need an accompanients really.

Pies are also a good way of using up ingredients in this case languishing frozen scallops and salmon neither of which standout enough to be principal but contributing delicious texture in a pie.

For the topping and a summer theme a new mashed potato topping this
time of year skins remain papery enough light they can just be scrubbed
and mashed.

Perhaps wanted a hint of smokey BBQness I added a little smoked salmon which goes a long way but for added smokiness in the topping a little recently picked up some Lincolnshire Poacher Cheese a strong mature cheese the smoked version is delicious and deep flavour.

Smokey Summer Fish Pie
Serves 4 ( or two greedy people)

Filling
50g of Smoked Salmon cut into 1cm strips
250g of fresh salmon steaks skin removed cut into 2cm square chunks
4 small scallops cut in half
100g of peas ( frozen is fine but if you can get fresh even better)

Potato Topping
400g of new potatoes scrubbed
50g of smoked cheese ( Smoked Lincolnshie Poacher
20ml of milk
1 tbsp of butter

White Sauce
300ml of milk
1 tbsp of butter
2 tbsp of flour
1 medium onion

Method

1. Slice the onion and place in a pan with the milk , salt and pepper
2. Bring to a gentle simmer then turn of the heat cover and leave to steep for at least 20 minutes
3. Meanwhile scrub the new potatoes cut any that are larger than a large egg in half place in a pan cover with water bring to the boil until soft about 20 minutes.
4. Prepare the fish by seasoning well with salt and pepper in put it in the bottom of a oven proof pie dish with the peas.
5. Melt the butter in a sauce pan add the flour and slowly add the milk and onion to form a roux sauce add half the cheese
6. Mash the potatoes with the skins on , add butter and milk
7. Pour the roux sauce over the fish top with the mashed potatoes and finally scatter over the remaining cheese.
8. Bake in a hot over ( 200degc) for 20 minutes until golden on the top.

This doesn’t require anything to serve it with

BBQ Bream In Newspaper

We headed out for a long walk but got stuck in endless traffic but we did end up going past a DIY store there are some big discounts on BBQs to be had a result of the no-show BBQ summer,we have a small BBQ that has been doing us proud over the last few months with BBQs most weekends. However  I have been lusting after a lidded affair the easier to cook joints of meat, a few supermarket affairs have been rejected as looking unsteady or being too small , finally we have treated ourselves to a swanky Weber .

It was tested out on Saturday night with Hugh FW recipe for BBQ fish wrapped in newspaper.  We have had a couple of bream in the freezer since a trip to Nottingham Market , last time we cooked bream on the BBQ , they are such thick fish I resorted to slashing them to ensure they cooked through without drying out . Cooking in paper guaranteed the fish stayed moist.

BBQ Bream In Newspaper

2  bream cleaned ( bream have very thick scales which need scraping off
A few bay leaves and thyme sprigs
A few knobs of butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, plus wedges for serving

1. Lay each fish on some newspaper (three sheets of the Guardian) with a bay leaf , wedge of lemon, thyme sprig and knob of butter  in the belly.
2. Season with salt, pepper  then wrap it up so you have a snug parcel.
3. Soak the parcels in water until wet through.
4. The BBQ embers were white hot and we cooked the packages until charred  about 10 minutes on each side , its very strange cooking some on the BBQ but not really knowing how well they are cooking , but 20 minutes was enough to produce deliciously cooked moist flesh scented with the herbs

.Peeling off the paper the skin came too and it was hard not to get ash onto the fish but it was a really fun way of cooking definitey something to bear in mind for our next camping trip.  I was a bit worried about the safety of the ink , originally fish and chips stopped being served in newspaper due to concerns about hygeine and potential toxicity of the printing ink but modern ink are perfectly safe

To accompany, I sliced leeks and carrots thinly and placed them with a knob of butter , thyme , salt and pepper in a foil parcel which also went on the grills for 15 minutes. These were perfectly cooked and served onto the table in the foil

Salmon wrapped in Prosciutto with Broad Brean , Courgette and Fennel Salad.

Salmon wrapped in Prosciutto with Broad Brean , Courgette and Fennel Salad.

This was Friday nights dinner , broad beans from the vegebox are getting pretty large, once steamed for a few minutes and definitely need peeling , but I am proud some of the courgettes have survived a slug attack it is  worth squeezing them in a tea towel and they can make a dressing a little watery  . The dressing is slosh of olive oil and fresh lemon juice, a little salt pepper

Fennel goes really well with the lemon and the  salty meat and fish combination , while a lot of the herbs seem to be suffering in the rain the fennel goes from strength to strength it also delicious with another seasonal favorite beetroot

The salmon is wrapped in prociutto brushed with a little olive oil and roasted in the oven for 15 minutes at 180degC.

Sardines with Fregula Sarda Salad

The weather cannot quite decide,  if its being hot or cold but this was a dish for one of the warmer evenings.  I bought a very large bag of fregula sarda a Sardinian cous cous .Larger than the more common morrocan cous cous, which until a few years ago I thought was a grain . Cous Cous is made by  rubbing wet semolina wheat into little balls which are dried then toasted. I have been looking for this pasta for a while and I was delighted to find a massive bag for sale at the Continental Market which is being held on Fridays in Lower Marsh Market

Fregula sarda is lovely in soup like pearl barley or another small pasta orzo  but I wanted to try it in a summery salad , it needs boiling rather than soaking like normal cous cous a few minutes in a pan of salted water. You can then add a a range of delicious ingredients .

Grilled Sardines

1. Slash the sardines , season with salt and pepper and brush with a little oil
2. Grill for a few minutes either side under a hot grill or on the BBQ
3. Serve with a squeeze of lemon

Fregula Sarda Salad

200g of Fregula Sarda ( Italian Cous Cous)
1 tbsp of preseved lemon finely chopped
1 medium avocado , chopped into 1cm peices
100g of broad beans removed from the pods
3 tbsp of sundried tomatoes , finely chopped
1 handful of fresh parsley roughly chopped
Twist of pepper
1 tbsp of olive oil

1. Simmer the fregula sarda in a pan of salted boiling water for 5 minutes.
2. Steam the broad beans over the top of the water once cooked peel the broad beans.
3. Once the fregola is cooked rinse it in cold water and peel the broad beans
4. Mix in the preserved lemon , tomatoes , broad beans , parsley
5. Season with pepper and a slosh of olive oil.

Penne with creamy smoked salmon and asparagus

So for two days on and off I have been cooking Ox tongue , the weather has been throwing it down so I thought we would be ready for a slow-cooked stew . However this evening the sun broke through the sky turned blue and braised meat went out the window ( metaphorically rather than literally )

Rooting through the freezer I found some smoked salmon and we had  scored some asparagus in the vegebox this week , also some soft cheese with garlic and herbs.

This was a rather throw-together meal  , but asparagus and smoked salmon work really well together.

Penne with smoked salmon and asparagus

300g of dried pasta
150g of smoked salmon roughly chopped
1 bunch of asparagus cut into inch long pieces
3tbsp of soft cheese with garlic and herbs
Juice and zest of one lemon

1. Boil the pene for 10 minutes.
2. Steam the asparagus over the pasta for a few minutes.
3. Once the pasta and asparagus are cooked mix in the soft cheese allowing it to melt.
4. Add the zest and juice of the lemon.
5. Finally mix in the smoked salmon and asparagus.
6. Season with pepper.