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Chipotle Salmon Fishcakes

These little beauties came about from an ostensibly long list of ingredients – but bear with me! Most of them are storecupboard and then you really just need a pack of salmon darnes. I’ll even wager one of those packs of precooked hotsmoked salmon fillets  wouldn’t be the worst to use in a pinch either. The recipe will make about eight to ten  6 – 8cm cakes. The first time I made them we ate them in the small size with a dip and a beer, the second time I made them slightly larger with a salad for dinner. You can exchange the lime for lemon or use a mix of the two.  The recipe would feed approx three adults with sides.

2 salmon darnes (240-250g total)
1 shallot finely diced
a three finger pinch of dried chipotle chilli flakes
fresh basil and dill, finely chopped – a nice handful 😉
2 tblsp chopped capers
50g mayo
1 tsp lime zest
1 tblsp lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 heaped tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
50g panko breadcrumbs and more for coating the cakes
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying

creme fraiche mixed with lime zest and chopped fresh basil to dip

Begin by preheating your oven to 180c and lining a small tin with foil and a slick of oil. Season the darnes and lay them on the foil. Roast in the oven until just cooked, then set aside to cool.

Meanwhile mix the egg, breadcrumbs, capers, garlic, fresh herbs, mayo, lime zest and juice, spices and dijon together with some seasoning in a bowl. Add the cooled salmon in flakes and mix until combined.

Now shape them into cakes, they can be stored covered in the fridge until ready to cook.

When you are ready to cook, heat a few spoon of oil in a large frying pan until medium hot (not mad not or the cakes will scorch) place the remaining panko breadcrumbs on a plate and briefly turn each cake in the crumbs, pressing gently, before adding to the pan – you may have to do this in batches.

They should take a few minutes each side depending on the thickness – you can press each cake down slightly if you like. Keep them warm in the oven while you cook the rest and then serve with the dip and a cold beer!

 

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Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese

So we did eventually get through January  but yet I can’t quite see the end of cold weather.  That does not seem fair, right?! Life is picking up pace and dinners are a little more, well dull and while it’s too difficult to heave oneself onto the saintly side of the table (well me anyway) during the week I am looking for simple and comforting, but not at the expense of time and labour. I know the title probably excited nobody, but bear with me. This gem yields stealthy reward for little or no early-in-the-day effort. All it asks is that you give it five minutes of your time and that glass of wine that you are NOT having till Friday right?! My kids love spag bol and this makes a nice big double portion -one for now, one for the freezer. Win win.

800g mince beef – I use the the 5% fat for this one (Aldi 380g packs of organic lean mince are spot on)
1 large onion, diced (Or cheat and use your eye to measure the same quantity of frozen diced onions!)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
130g pack of diced pancetta
2 tblsp dried oregano
1 tblsp dried marjoram
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tblsp balsamic vinegar
1 x150g tin tomato puree

2 tins of  diced tomato
150ml red wine

salt and pepper to season

Panfry the pancetta in a small pan – briefly – it does not have to be cooked through. Mix remaining ingredients in the slow cooker and then add in the pancetta.

Set on low for 8 hours.

Serve with spaghetti and oodles of freshly grated parmesan.

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Butterbean and Rosemary Soup

I am a sucker for a bowl of homemade soup and this is a fantastic solution for when you truly think you have nothing in your cupboard. You do! It’s ready in minutes and is so warming.

1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tblsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
knob of butter and a dash of oil
2 tins of butter beans, drained
1 litre of stock (I love Marigold boullion and always have it in my larder)

Melt the butter and oil in a medium pot and slowly saute the garlic and onions for a few minutes, without colouring them.

Now add in the rosemary (doesn’t it smell lovely?!) Add in the drained beans and stir, then follow with the stock. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes, then blitz to a smooth velvety consistency.

 

I sometimes swirl a teaspoon of fresh pesto on top if I have some which adds a little color and a nice extra dimension, but it’s perfectly delicious on its own.

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Home made Hamburgers with Bacon Jam

We have been feasting on yummy bacon jam this week. On our burgers, on a fried egg, on an open goat cheese sandwich, on a spoon (hmm) It’s quite the friend to lots of things. The following recipe is dead easy and requires just a gentle eye and slow cooking and bubbling. The reward is great and it measures a decent jar, which keeps for about a week in the fridge, theoretically.  I’ve included a recipe for homemade hamburgers too, one of the ways of channelling said jam to your belly!

Homemade Bacon Jam

260g pancetta (basically two of the double packs from the supermarket)

1 large onion, diced

2 tsp liquid smoke (if you don’t have this you can use the smoked pancetta – it does add a lovely flavour)

2 tblsp dark brown sugar

3 tblsp maple syrup

3 tblsp cider vinegar

3 tblsp strong coffee

water, as needed throughout

In a heavy pot, begin by frying the pancetta until it begins to crisp, remove to a plate lined with kitchen paper. Add the onion and garlic and gently soften until they being to soften.

Add the bacon back in and all the other ingredients except the water. Cook up until the onions are very soft and simmer on a low head for 90 minutes or so, stirring every so often.

Check every 15 minutes or so and add a few tablespoons of water to loosen up the mixture, stirring it in again. It will smell gorgeous!

When it is rendered, glossy and jammy looking, let it cool and then decant into a food processor where you can pulse it a few times – I liked mine with a bit of texture but you can of course make it smoother if you like. Jam will keep in a clean jar for about a week in the fridge.

 

Homemade Hamburgers (makes 6)

600g mince beef

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 egg

30g breadcrumbs

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 tsp tomato puree

salt and pepper to season

I mix all the ingredients in a large bowl until well combined. Form into patties and chill, covered in the fridge until ready to cook.

Pan fry or grill until cooked through and serve in a bun (toasted or heated if that is your preference) Dill pickles are mandatory in this house, but the choice of toppings are endless.

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Goat Cheese and Dill Potato Cakes

Here’s a quick and easy supper or lunch solution – tasty and not totally making you go cold turkey (!) this January 😊 Baby steps!

500 g leftover mashed potato (well mashed, cooled)

100g creamy goat cheese (I used St Tola)

3-4 tblsp fresh dill, chopped finely

1 egg beaten 1 tblsp fresh lemon juice

flour to coat the cakes

oil for frying

rocket and garlic mayo to serve

Mix the mash with the cheese, dill egg, lemon and garlic in a bowl until they are well combined. Chill in the fridge for an hour which will make the mix easier to form into patties.

Scoop the mix into golf ball sized amounts and gently flatten and dust with flour. Handle gently they are delicate!

Heat the oil in a pan and gently fry until golden and cooked through. Serve with the rocket and mayo.

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Chocolate Biscuit Cake

First, an acknowledgment. This is the second post in a row that includes Baileys. Not intentional, though my use of it at Christmas is entirely so. This lovely lovely recipe is one I have had for a good many years handed over to me from a friend, V. It’s fabulous and moreish and no-bake. It keeps for ages in the fridge, though we have no first hand experience of this 😉 I like to pass it on as gifts though I do confess we have been nibbling on it all week!

You will need two loaf tins, lined with cling film in both directions – enough to fold over the top and sides and then with a strip of parchment at the bottom.

 

400g chocolate (I favour the darker one – Lidl and Aldi have great cooking choc)

225g butter

1 tin condensed milk

600g (about 1.5 packets digestive biscuits)

large handful of raisins or dried fruit of your choice (see below)

large handful of nuts of your choice (I like to use a mix – cashew, pecan, hazelnut, almonds, brazil and pistachios for colour)

80-100ml of Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur

Melt the chocolate, butter and condensed milk in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring.

Roughly crush the biscuits in a large baking bowl – only roughly as you do want some texture.

Pour the Baileys over the biscuits and stir to combine, followed by the nuts and fruit.  (This time I used dried cherries and cranberries. Lidl do a lovely new pouch of Cashew and Cranberry which I loved in this.) Use your eye to gauge how much fruit and nut to add – you are looking for balance.

Now mix in the melted ingredients and stir very well. Pour into two loaf tins, pressing down well.

Fold over the cling film and chill in the fridge until set.

This is best kept in the fridge and removed a while before serving if you like. I like to cut it into slices and then into smaller bitesize pieces.

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Baileys Blondies with Pecans and Coconut

So my previous Christmas post on the Santa Hat Brownies was for children (big and small alike) and this one is more for the adults, but I do confess my kids enjoy these too. These are the blonde version of the brownies. I am all for equality, me. They make a quite a few, 24 the way I cut them, and they last for a few days and even longer in the freezer well-wrapped. I think anything with Baileys in it has quite the Christmas edge!

 

50g pecans
25g coconut chips
225g butter
380g light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3 tblsp Baileys
300g flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g chocolate chips (I prefer plain/dark)

Preheat the oven to 160c and toast the pecans and coconut chips on a baking tray for 5 minutes, watching carefully so that the coconut doesn’t burn. Chop the pecans and set both aside for later.

Now increase the oven to 170c. Grease and line a 13×9 brownie tin with baking parchment and set aside.

Melt the butter, either in a saucepan or in a bowl in the microwave (the latter is my preference) stir in the sugar until smooth and well combined. Now add the eggs, vanilla and the Baileys, stirring to combine well.

Now add the flour and baking powder stirring well – no sneaky pockets of white!

Finally add in the coconut, pecans and chocolate.

Add to the tin, smooth over the top and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes – I start to check from about 25 – a tester in the middle should just come out clean. Usually in my oven they are done between 30-32 minutes.

Leave to cool and then cut – this is much easier when they are cool. The blondies make a tasty accompaniment to a cup of coffee or go equally well with vanilla icecream.

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Santa Hat Brownies

It’s December! I can legitimately talk about some Christmas cooking and baking treats now. It’s our favourite time of year. The decorations went up yesterday, the lights in the village are being turned on later today and the Late Late Toy Show was on so the season has truly begun. We have a few favourite treats to go with the festive cheer and the first on our list are these little bites. I am a bit of a tart (!) when it comes to brownies having a favourites list of recipes stretching into double digits, but these are very cute and simple. The recipe came from a coworker of my husband’s in Toronto. He came home from work years ago raving about these little bites and was sent in with strict instructions not to return without the recipe, so thank you YuYen. She used a saucepan to make them, but I have used a bowl and a microwave with success and I have also used caster sugar here too. I gave them a festive twist with the addition of strawberries and cream, but you can also use buttercream for this too. I do like the fresh cream which works well with the sweetness of the brownies (and goodness knows there’s enough sugar floating around so for once I don’t mind eschewing it in favour of something a little more low key) The small size means they are a handy finger food dessert too.

Makes 25

 

170g chocolate (plain, at least 50%)

115g butter, very soft

60ml Chocolate syrup (note I use Hersheys which I have seen in Supervalu and Centra)

1tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs, beaten

75g flour

160g caster sugar

pinch of salt if you have used unsalted butter

To decorate:

25 strawberries, topped and tailed

150-200ml cream, well whipped

 

Preheat the oven to 175c. Butter and line an 8×8 inch tin. I like to line mine for ease of lifting them out.

Start by melting the chocolate in spurts in the microwave (if you are more comfortable melting in a saucepan, no problem!) I usually do it in bursts of 30 seconds to avoid burning, stirring each time.

Stir in the chocolate syrup, followed by the butter, beating  until well incorporated and smooth.

Now add the eggs and vanilla, mixing well.

 

Finally the sugar and the flour, mixing well and making sure there are no sneaky pockets of white lurking there.

Pour into the prepared tin, smoothing out and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes (checking before the end – mine are usually done around the 28 minute mark)

Allow to cool in the tin. These little guys are much easier to cut if you pop them in the fridge for a while (or even the freezer for five minutes) as you will get a much cleaner line. The picture below is what they will look like when you are in a rush to get to the neighbours but are running late and do not have enough time to do this, not that bad but if you are a perfectionist it may make you twitch ever so slightly.

 

When cool and just before serving, it’s time to decorate.

I use a Ziploc bag (or you can use a piping bag) with the corner snipped to pipe little mounds of cream on each brownie.

I then top with a strawberry and finish with a splodge  dot of cream.

You can dust with icing sugar too for that extra Christmas effect.

 

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Stoved Chicken

This really simple tasty comfort dish is the perfect winter supper solution. It’s almost store cupboard in terms of ingredients and takes care of itself. It gets the name from a scottish dish that uses potatoes and meat cooked slowly together on the stove-top, usually with dripping or butter.  Basically a stew! Whatever the term, it is just the thing for a sharp cold day like today.  The quantities I have given are somewhat approximate as you will need to base them around the casserole dish you use – I use a lasagne dish. what you will need is enough potatoes to cover the dish neatly in two layers.

1kg potatoes peeled and sliced thickly

2 onions diced

1 generous tblsp fresh rosemary finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

butter and oil

8 chicken thighs, skinless (I used boneless but you can use bone-in, which will take longer to cook)

130g pancetta

500ml hot stock

Preheat oven to 150c. Grease a casserole dish well with butter. Place one layer of sliced spuds in the bottom of the casserole dish. Sprinkle half the garlic, rosemary and diced onions on top and season well.

Now heat the frying pan with oil and a spoon of butter and brown the chicken and bacon well over a medium high heat. You are looking for flavour and colour here. Now place these in a single layer over the potatoes. Keep the butter/oil in the pan – you will need this later.

Sprinkle the remaining onion/rosemary/garlic over the chicken thighs.  Now layer the remaining potato slices on top and pour the hot stock over the potatoes and brush the butter/oil/bacon fat over them. Season and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 90 minutes to 2 hours – bone in thighs will require a longer cooking time. You will need to check that the spuds are cooked through.

Enjoy!

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Daube of Beef and allweek dinners

 

This is one of our family favourites and comes from Economy Gastronomy by Allegra McEvedy and Paul Merrett, as is evidenced from my well spattered and well thumbed copy, pictured above! This is a little gem of a book. There’s a section of the book devoted to recipes like this one; you devote a little bit of prep, let it cook over a long slow couple of hours, then hey presto you have the most delectable building blocks for a few more meals. It’s just perfect for winter days.

In the original recipe, tins of beef consommé are used, but I have also used extra beef stock cubes instead with equal success. I have made it using half the quantities which I find goes quite far in terms of feeding us, but if you are going to the trouble, I figure you may as well make it as listed and freeze some for another day when you are short on time.

10 shallots, peeled, left whole

350g lardons of bacon

15g thyme, washed, but left whole

5 cloves of garlic, minced

olive oil

1 bottle of red wine

2.5kg diced beef (not too small)

1 litre beef stock (made with stock cubes)

2 tins of beef consommé (about 800mls total)

Preheat your oven to 170C (fan 150C) and put a bit roasting tin to preheat on the hob on a medium heat. Cook the shallots garlic thyme and lardons gently in a few spoons of olive oil until the shallots are soft and the bacon is browning. Now pour in the wine, stirring all the sediment from the bottom of the tray and bring to  simmer. Let this reduce for 10 minutes or so. Gently lay the meat on top (there’s no need to brown it – yay! just season well with salt and pepper) Now pour over the hot stock and the consommé, if using, making sure that the meat is covered. Bring to a simmer and cover with foil, tightly, before putting in the oven for 2.5 to 3 hours. Check after 90 minutes or so to see if the meat it at the stage where it is giving way. If so, then remove the foil for the last half an hour of cooking so that the sauce reduces a little.

This is just lovely served with mash and greens, as the authors suggest. If you do want to freeze it, spread it out thinly on a baking tray to allow it cool quickly before freezing.

 

 

Some of this leftover beef is very easy to transform into a tasty pasta dish, I sometimes shake it up with sliced peppers too. Don’t leave the salsa out, this really makes the dish and it is ready in two minutes!

 

400g of the beef, above

700ml sauce, above

300ml sliced mushrooms

250g dried pasta (tagliatelle, or any wide pasta is good, but any in the cupboard will work!)

salt and pepper

olive oil

butter

parmesan, grated

400g tomatoes, chopped

packet basil leaves, chopped

1 tblsp flatleaf parsley, chopped

1.5 tsp red wine vinegar

 

Put the beef, sauce and mushrooms into a wide pan and cook over a high heat on the hob for 30 minutes, stirring often and mashing the meat up with the back of your wooden spoon, letting nearly all the liquid disappear. While this is happening, get the pasta cooking and mix the tomatoes, herbs and vinegar together in a bowl and set aside for garnish.

Fold the drained pasta into the meat with a spoon of butter and the parmesan. Spoon the salsa on top and serve with more parmesan on the side. NOM!

 

Now, if you have not been persuaded to eat all of the above already, you can use the rest of the meat to make a third meal – Pasties! The original recipe calls for swede, carrots, allspice and peas, but I added a middle-eastern twist to mine for a change, but feel free to to add whatever is in your fridge.

300g of the meat reserved from the original recipe

40g butter

200g butternut squash, diced into 1cm

2 small carrots, diced small

1 red pepper, diced small

3/4 tsp sumac

3/4 tsp ground cumin

mint and coriander, about a tblsp each, chopped

500g shortcrust pastry

1 egg, beaten, to glaze

Preheat the oven to 200c or fan 180c. Take your pastry out of the fridge. Shred the leftover beef. Melt the butter in a large pan and gently sauté the vegetables with the spices, covering them with a lid, but stirring regularly. Add the cold meat and herbs, remove from the heat, taste and season if needed and allow to cool, chilling in the fridge while you can – this will make it easier to wrap in the pastry later.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured board, to prevent it sticking. cut out 4 x 20 cm circles and brush the edges with egg mix. Divide the meat mix in four and join the pastry together folding it gently in a half moon shape, crimping the edges together. Brush the pasties with egg and place on a baking tray, I find it handy to use a little bit of baking paper underneath to prevent it sticking. Bake for 30 minutes until piping hot and golden.