Swordfish (Smoked Salmon) Parcels

From The Silver Spoon
Ingredients

Serves 4
250g mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
250g clams, scrubbed
150ml olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 garlic clove
150g raw prawns, peeled and deveined
2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 yellow pepper seeded and cut into large slices
6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
4 swordfish steaks
1 fresh flat leaf parsley sprig, chopped
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Cut four large squares of foil. Discard any mussels or clams that do not shut immediately when sharply tapped, then place the shellfish in a pan with 3 tbsp of the olive oil and the garlic. Cook over a high heat for about 5 minutes until the shells open. Discard any that remain closed. Drain the shellfish, reserving the cooking liquid. Heat 2 tablespoons of the remaining olive oil in another pan, add the prawns and cook for a few minutes. Add the mussels and clams, still in their shells, the tomatoes, yellow pepper, basil, chilli and reserved cooking liquid and simmer for 5 minutes. Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan, add the swordfish and cook for 5 minutes on each side.

Place a swordfish steak on each square of foil, season with salt and pepper and spoon the seafood mixture on top. Sprinkle with the parsley and drizzle with olive oil. Fold the foil over and seal the edges, transfer the parcels to a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. Place the parcels on a warm serving dish, opening them slightly.

Ok, the recipe is long and complicated if you are not used to managing seafood and well, I didn’t do it that way. Instead, I went to Waitrose and bought a pack of seafood mix. This is after all London, land of expensive and not that plentiful seafood. Ok fine, I am also too lazy to sort out all that seafood. Well, my point is, if you buy a pack of seafood mix, this recipe is ridiculously simple. All you do is dump in the seafood with the vegetables and let it simmer before adding it to the fish. Which brings me to another modification. Again, london, seafood, limited. I used salmon instead, ah but not a normal salmon fillet, a lightly smoked salmon fillet.

The end result of the recipe (and all my modifications): an extremely tasty baked seafood dish, the wonderful flavours of the mussels, squid and prawns combining well with the yellow peppers and tomatoes and most importantly, the chilli (i love baked seafood dishes with chilli and tomatoes) and underneath all that, the smokey taste of the salmon. My first response when I ate it: “this is f****** good!”

Vichyssoise (Leek and potato soup)

Ingredients

600g leeks, white parts only, thinly sliced
250g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1.5 litres of chicken stock
butter

Melt the butter in a heavy pan and cook the leeks, covered, for 15-20 minutes, until they are soft but not browned.

Add the potato chunks and cook over a low heat, uncovered for a few minutes.

Stir in the stock with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and partly cover the pan. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.

Cool, then process the soup until smooth in a blender. Sieve the soup into a bowl. Taste and adjust the seasoning and add a little water if the consistency of the soup seems too thick.

One of my favourite French soups and one that I make on a regular basis. I think this is supposed to be a cold soup; I am just a bit apprehensive about having it that way…

Chickpea, Kale and Rice Soup

Lovely for a cold spring day.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, sliced or diced
• 4 stalks of celery, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• a dash of paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cups cooked chickpeas (or 2 cans, drained and rinsed)
• 4 pieces of chicken drumsticks (or whatever chicken parts you prefer to use)
• 4 cups of water and 4 cups of chicken stock.
• 1 large bunch kale, thick center ribs removed and chopped (at least 8 cups)
• 1/2 cup of brown rice or grain of choice.
• salt and pepper

Heat some olive oil in a dutch oven. Brown the chicken pieces and remove to a plate.

Add onion and cook until onion becomes soft. Add all other vegetables and garlic and cook for 3 minutes.

Add spices and cook for a minute.

Add water and chicken stock. Make sure you deglaze the Dutch oven to get all the goodness stuck at the bottom into the soup. Add the chicken, chickpeas and rice.

Simmer for about 30 minutes or until chickpeas are soft and chicken pieces are cooked.

Remove chicken pieces from the pot. Shred the meat on the chicken pieces and set aside.

Add kale and simmer for another 10 minutes or until kale is soft. Return shredded chicken into the soup. Add salt and pepper.

Serve with crusty bread.

I love kale, and I love chickpeas. And being Cantonese, I love soups, all kinds of soup. I came up with this recipe after reading so many recipes online and not liking anything I’ve read. I decided to invent my own soup with whatever I have in my kitchen and it was perfect for a rainy Spring afternoon. Even the soup-hating husband loved it as a meal. And by the way, don’t trust my measurements, when I cook, I usually measure by instinct, not with cups and spoons unless I’m following a recipe.

Oatmeal Horchata

My husband and I both love horchata, so imagine my excitement when I found a recipe for oatmeal horchata in a Mexican cookbook I was reading. It was the perfect way to get rid of the rolled oats (we have since converted to steel-cut oats) I have in the pantry.

Recipe

1 cup rolled oats
4 cups water
1 4-inch Mexican cinnamon stick, broken
Sugar or other natural sweetener, to taste.

Soak the oats and cinnamon in water for a minimum of half an hour. Blend, strain, and sweeten to taste. Serve over ice or well-chilled.

The recipe is insanely easy. I added 2 cinnamon sticks instead of 1, and threw in a dash of cinnamon powder too (I do love my cinnamon). I also soaked the oats for about 2 hours to make sure we get a good creamy taste. For sweetener, I used honey as that was the only sweetener I have in my house currently. I really do need to go stock up my pantry. But yes, I’m excited to try making horchata using rice next and see how different it will taste.

If available, get a 9-month old to help stir in the sweetener. The horchata will taste better.

Chinese style braised beef one-pot

From BBC GoodFood More one-pot recipes
Serves 4
Ingredients
3-4 tbsp olive oil
6 garlic cloves , thinly sliced
good thumb-size piece fresh root ginger , peeled and shredded
1 bunch spring onions , sliced
1 red chilli , deseeded and thinly sliced
1½ kg braising beef , cut into large pieces (I used beef brisket)
2 tbsp plain flour , well seasoned
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
2 star anise
2 tsp light muscovado sugar
3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry
3 tbsp dark soy sauce , plus more to serve
500ml beef stock

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large, shallow casserole. Fry the garlic, ginger, onions and chilli for 3 mins until soft and fragrant. Tip onto a plate. Toss the beef in the flour, add 1 tbsp more oil to the pan, then brown the meat in batches, adding the final tbsp oil if you need to. It should take about 5 mins to brown each batch properly.

Add the five-spice and star anise (if using) to the pan, tip in the gingery mix, then fry for 1 min until the spices are fragrant. Add the sugar, then the beef and stir until combined. Keep the heat high, then splash in the wine or sherry, scraping up any meaty bits. Heat oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2.

Pour in the soy and stock (it won’t cover the meat completely), bring to a simmer, then tightly cover, transfer to the oven and cook for 1½-2 hrs, stirring the meat halfway through. The meat should be very soft, and any sinewy bits should have melted away. Season with more soy. This can now be chilled and frozen for up to 1 month.

Leek, butter beans and chorizo gratin

From BBC GoodFood 101 More on-pot dishes
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
75g pack chorizo , roughly chopped
4 large leeks , thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves , sliced
100ml dry sherry
2 x 400g cans butter beans , drained
500ml vegetable stock
85g bread , torn into pieces

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Heat the oil, fry the chorizo for a few mins until slightly crisp, then scoop out, leaving the oil behind. Add the leeks and half the garlic; cook for 5 mins until soft. Pour in the sherry, beans and stock. Season, then bubble for 5 mins.
Meanwhile, blitz the bread to coarse crumbs with the remaining garlic. Tip the leek mixture into an ovenproof dish, stir in the chorizo and scatter over the crumbs. Bake for 10 mins until golden, then serve with crusty bread.

Been away for the last two weekends. New York and Dublin and haven’t done any photo cooking for ages. I did cook but more simple stuff for the parents when they were around. Am glad to get back into the mix and get my hands dirty so to speak

I like this recipe for his simplicity and complexity. Simple because it’s easy to execute. Complex because there’s a lot going on in this dish. The strong tastes of the sherry and chorizo, balanced by the starchiness of the butter beans and the crispness of the leeks. The bread crumbs help to soak up the sherry and in the end a wonderful combination of flavours emerges.

Spinach and feta cannelloni

From BBC GoodFood 101 Mediterranean dishes
Serves 4

Ingredients

4 large sheets no-pre-cook lasagne
1kg frozen spinach , defrosted
200g pack low-fat feta cheese
generous grating nutmeg
large handful olives , pitted and chopped
1 tbsp capers , rinsed
400g can chopped tomatoes
25g parmesan , grated

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Put the lasagne sheets in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak for 5 mins or prepare according to pack instructions. Meanwhile, squeeze as much water as possible from the spinach, then mix with the feta, nutmeg and some seasoning. Drain the pasta, then cut each sheet in half vertically. Spoon 4 tbsp of the filling along the centre of each half, then roll up to enclose. Place in a lightly oiled baking dish.

Mix the olives, capers and tomatoes together in a bowl, season, then spoon over the cannelloni. Sprinkle with parmesan, cover with foil, then bake for 20 mins.