Granddad Ken’s (not my granddad) crispy grilled trout with parsley and lemon

From Cook with Jamie
Serves 2

ingredients

2 x 300g/10½oz whole trout, scaled, cleaned and gutted
olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a large bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped
2 lemons, 1 zested and sliced, 1 halved
a few knobs of butter

Preheat your grill to full whack. Slash each trout with a knife, about ten times on each side. Each slash should be about 0.5cm/¼ inch deep. Rub the trout with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavities with plenty of chopped parsley and the lemon slices. Place the fish side by side on a baking rack over a roasting tray.

Put the lemon zest on top of the fish and place the lemon halves on the tray too. Dot the trout with the butter and place it 15cm/6 inches from the grill. Cook for around 6 minutes on each side until crispy and golden.

Squeeze the roasted lemon over the top of the fish and serve with a simple crunchy side salad.

Something simple and healthy for Sunday lunch. As you can see from the picture, I did not use parsley for the fish. Instead, I used up the leftover dill and rosemary in my fridge. Be careful with the lemon, if you are not into sour foods, might be a good idea to show some restraint in the squeezing of the roasted lemon.

Thai grilled chicken

From Chicken – the best ever recipe collection
Serves 4-6
Ingredients

900g chicken drumsticks or thighs
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
4 tsp sugar
2 tsp paprika
2cm piece fresh root ginger peeled
3 garlic cloves crushed
15g fresh coriander, white root or stem, finely chopped
3 tbsp of vegetable oil
salt

Chop through the narrow end of each chicken drumstick with a heavy knife. Score the chicken pieces deeply to allow the marinade to penetrate. Set aside in a shallow bowl.

Grind the peppercorns, cumin seeds and sugar using a pestle and mortar. Add the paprika, ginger, garlic, coriander and oil and grind to a paste.

Spread the marinade over the chicken and place in the fridge for 6 hours

Preheat the grill or prepare the barbecue. Cook the chicken for 20 minutes, turning once. Season with salt to taste.

It’s the hottest day of the year in England so far; 30 degrees and I don’t think a casserole is at all appropriate for a day such such this. So settled on this thai grilled chicken (although I am not too sure that it’s thai even though the cookbook claims that it is, I am quite sceptical as it doesn’t really taste “thai” and so I have chosen not to categorise it as Thai.)

To get the BBQ effect, I went for the griddle pan. The chicken was tender and the skin crispy (especially since I scattered some sea salt on top of it before sending it onto the griddle pan)l Accompanied with spinach, tomatoes and rice, it’s a good meal to get over the abysmal play of the England team.

Grilling’s quite as well, the taste isn’t exactly the same, but the chicken seems to be juicer when cooked this way.