Fish Molee

From Great British Chefs
Serves 4

Ingredients

lemon sole, filleted, skin-off and sliced
2 tbsp of coconut oil
1 onion, sliced
1 knob of ginger, julienned
2 green chillies, de-seeded
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 sprig of curry leaves
150ml of water
400ml of coconut milk
6 baby plum tomatoes, halved
25g of samphire
salt to season

In a medium-sized saucepan heat the coconut oil. When warm, add the sliced onion, ginger and green chillies. Sauté over medium heat until the onions are softened

Add the turmeric powder and curry leaves and sauté for a further 2 minutes, then add the of water and simmer for 5 minutes

Add the sliced lemon sole and simmer for a further 4 minutes, then add the coconut milk, tomatoes and salt. Simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat. Check the seasoning, then garnish with samphire and serve immediately with steamed rice

 

Slow cooker beef hotpot

From BBC Food
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, cut into 1cm/½in slices
1 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
800g/1lb 12oz beef brisket, trimmed of excess fat and cut into matchbox-size cubes, or long, thick slices
5 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
5cm/2in piece fresh root ginger, finely grated
1 fat red chilli, shredded (I leave the seeds in)
2 tbsp light muscovado sugar
1 tbsp miso paste, optional, but this will add extra depth to the sauce
6 tbsp light soy sauce
300ml/½ pint beef stock
1 tsp sesame oil, plus more to serve
2 bunches spring onions, trimmed then cut into finger-length pieces
few handfuls fresh beansprouts

Place the onion and carrots into a slow cooker. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan, then fry the beef in two batches until golden-brown, transferring to the slow cooker when ready. Scatter with the garlic, ginger and chilli.

Stir the sugar, miso, soy, stock and sesame oil into the juices in the frying pan then bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the miso and sugar. Pour the hot liquid over the beef and vegetables, cover with the lid and cook on Low for 7½ hours.

Scatter with the spring onions, re-cover the slow cooker then cook for another 30 minutes until the onions are tender. Stir in the beansprouts, then drizzle with a little more sesame oil.

Guinness and beef stew

From Guinness Storehouse
Serves 4

Ingredients

200ml of GUINNESS® Foreign Extra Stout
400g stewing diced beef
1 medium onion – diced
1 large carrot – diced
1 large celery – diced
1 large parsnip – diced
1 Litre of thick beef stock
Sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary
Champ potato (creamed mash potato and spring onion)

Stir fry the beef, add the vegetables and cook till tender, then pour the GUINNESS®
and reduce by half. Add the beef stock and herbs and simmer very slowly for between an hour and an hour and a half. Serve with the champ potato and honey roast carrot and parsnip.

Brazilian fish stew

Adapted from Simply Recipes 
Serves 2

Ingredients
Marinade:
2 garlic cloves crushed
Juice of 1 lemon
salt
1 tbsp of paprika
2 1/2 tsp of dry cumin
1 1/2 tsp of freshly ground black pepper

2 salmon fillets cut into bite sized chunks
2 haddock fillets cut into bite sized chunks
Olive oil
2 small onions, sliced
1 green pepper, seeded, de-stemmed, and sliced
3 plum tomatoes, sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 can of coconut milk
1 large bunch of curly parsley
Freshly cooked rice for serving

Mix together the marinade ingredients. Let the fish marinate in this paste for at least 2 hours. The longer, the better.

In a large pan, add a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Add a layer of  1/2 the sliced onions, and then a layer of  1/2 the peppers, and a layer of 1/2 of  the sliced tomatoes. Place the fish pieces, with the marinade, on top of everything, and start layering again – onions, peppers, and tomatoes. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Add about half of the curly parsley to the top. Pour coconut milk over the top. Drizzle generously with olive oil over the top (several tablespoons).

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, until the vegetables are cooked through.

Serve with rice; garnish with remaining curly parsley

 

First time using coconut milk as the base for the stew; normally it’s tomatoes or cream but this works very well. Not too overpowering and it blends well with the spices. Love the balance. Key modification of the recipe is that I used curly parsley instead of coriander because I couldn’t find coriander at Waitress. But interestingly curly parsley works quite well too, I don’t think it adds much in terms of taste but I like the difference in texture that it gives; crisp.

One pot Spanish fish stew

From More One Pot Recipes
Ingredients
Serves 4

Handful of flat parsley leaves – chopped
2 garlic cloves – finely chopped
Zest and juice of a lemon
3 tbsp olive oil (plus extra to serve)
1 medium onion – finely sliced
500g floury potatoes – cut into cubes no bigger than 2cm
1 tsp paprika
pinch cayenne pepper
400g can of chopped tomatoes
1 fish stock cube
200g raw peeled king prawns
half a 410g tin of chickpeas – drained and rinsed
500g skinless fish fillets, cut into large chunks

In a small bowl, mix the parsley with ½ the garlic and lemon zest, then set aside. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large sauté pan. Throw in the onion and potatoes, cover the pan, then sweat everything for about 5 mins until the onion has softened. Add the remaining oil, garlic and spices, then cook for 2 mins more.

Pour over the lemon juice and sizzle for a moment. Add the tomatoes, ½ a can of water and crumble in the stock. Season with a little salt, then cover the pan. Simmer everything for 15-20 mins until the potatoes are just cooked.

Stir through the prawns and chickpeas, then nestle the fish chunks into the top of the stew. Reduce the heat and recover the pan, then cook for about 8 mins, stirring very gently once or twice. When the fish is just cooked through, remove from the heat, scatter with the parsley mix, then bring the dish to the table with the bottle of olive oil for drizzling over and some crusty bread, if you want.

Cataplana seafood stew

From Traditional Portuguese Cookery
Serves 4

Ingredients
200g of monkfish
200g of white grouper
200g of snapper
150g of shrimp
150g of fresh clams, cleaned
100g of chorizo
2 onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 tomatoes
1 pepper
200ml of oil
200ml of white wine
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Season all of the fish with salt. Peel the onions and garlic, chop up the garlic and cut the onions into half moons. Wash the tomatoes and slice it. Cut the peppers into strips without the white skin and seeds. Thinly slice the chorizo.

Place half of the onion, garlic, pepper, tomato and chorizo into the “Cataplana”. Add the bay leaf and season with a little salt and pepper. Sautee at medium heat until softened. Add the fish and cover with the rest of the onion, garlic, tomato, pepper and chorizo, adding the parley. Add the oil and white wine. Close the cataplana and cook the mixutre for 20 minutes at low heat.

After adding the clams and the shrimp. Let it cook gently for another 10 minutes, then the mixture and place the Cataplana on the table. Serve with boiled potatoes.

“A Cataplana is an item of cookware used to prepare Portuguese seafood dishes, popular on the country’s Algarve region. It is traditionally made of copper and shaped like two clamshells hinged at one end and able to be sealed using a clamp on either side of the assembly. The cataplana was invented by Armando Luz (1927-2002), better knowned by its nickname, “Pató”. “Pató” was an artist that work crafting the copper and the stainless steel, and was recognized with an award back were he lived in Portugal, with the key of the town and a silver medal that was offered to him due to his contribution to the Algarve. He was also the inventor of the machine to make cataplanas using stainless steel and was the only one who produced such a product.”

Obviously I don’t have a cataplana and so I used my cast iron pot instead. The stew is effectively a lighter version of a rich tomato based stew (i.e. with a can of tomatoes thrown in) and its the white wine that’s the star of this dish. You can use any combination of fish for this.

Beef Semore (Thick Beef Stew)

From Robin’s Eurasian Recipes
Serves 4

Ingredients

4 tbsp oil
1 large onion, sliced
3 cm piece of ginger thinly sliced
1 stick cinnamon (5cm)
10 cloves
2 star anise
3 cardamon pods
10 peppercorns
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1 kg chuck tender beef, cut into 3cm cubes and marinated with 5 tbsp light soya sauce and 2 tbsp pepper for 20 mins
2 tbsp light soya sauce
2 tbsp dark soya sauce
50ml water
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 cm pieces
2 potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 tbsp vinegar

grind together
3 big onions
3 cm piece of ginger

Heat the oil in a pot, add the sliced onions, ginger, cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise, cardamon pods, peppercorns and nutmeg. When the onions start to brown, add the ground ingredients.

When the oil rises, add the marinated beef and soya sauces. Fry the beef for about 5 minutes, then add the water and boil for another 5 minutes. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook till soft.Add the vinegar.

Remove from heat and serve hot.

My first attempt at cooking a Eurasian dish for the Eurasian gf. I think I passed…

Anyway, it’s a nice contrast to the usual western beef stews I have cooked, the taste is a lot more complex because of the combination of spices.

Mussel, haddock and salmon stew

From BBC Saturday Kitchen
Serves 4
Ingredients

1litre/2 pints fish stock
1kg/2lb 3¾oz mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded
pinch saffron
¼ tsp curry powder
500ml/1pint double cream
For the stew
250g/9oz smoked haddock, cut into 1.5cm cubes
200g/7oz salmon, cut into 1.5cm cubes
4 carrots, cut into 1cm cubes and blanched
2 potatoes, cut into 1cm cubes and blanched
1 leek, cut into 1cm cubes
2 tbsp flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
4 slices country bread, griddled

Bring the stock to the boil, then add the mussels and cook for 3-4 minutes until the mussels are open. Discard any mussels that do not open.
Strain the stock into a saucepan, reserving the mussels.
Pull the mussel shells in half, discarding the halves without the mussel meat, and keep to one side.
Place the pan with the stock back on the heat and reduce the temperature to a simmer.
Add the saffron, curry powder and cream, then bring it back to a simmer.
Add the fish, carrots, potatoes and leek and simmer for 2-3 minutes until tender.
Add the parsley and cooked mussels and stir through.
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Serve with the griddled bread.

This is now my current favourite cream based fish stew. The addition of saffron and curry powder brings this stew to a completely new level!

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.

Irish coddled pork with cider

From BBC More One-pot Recipes
Serves 2
Ingredients

small knob butter
2 pork loin chops
4 rashers smoked bacon , cut into pieces
2 potatoes , cut into chunks
1 carrot , cut into large chunks
1⁄2 small swede , cut into chunks
1⁄2 large cabbage , cut into smaller pieces
1 bay leaf
100ml Irish cider
100g chicken stock

Heat the butter in a casserole dish until sizzling, then fry the pork for 2-3 mins on each side until browned. Remove from the pan.

Tip the bacon, carrot, potatoes and swede into the pan, then gently fry until slightly coloured. Stir in the cabbage, sit the chops back on top, add the bay leaf, then pour over the cider and stock. Cover the pan, then leave everything to gently simmer for 20 mins until the pork is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.

Serve at the table spooned straight from the dish.

At the end of the day, I still think soft cabbage with bacon and soup is the best comfort food you can get for winter.