Salsa Verde (another excellent pasta sauce)

This is a really interesting, different pasta sauce. All of the ingredients are used raw so it gives a really fresh flavour and is also nice and healthy too. Serves 4.

8 anchovy fillets
1 clove garlic
2 tsp capers
2 tsp grainy mustard
juice of 1 lemon
lots of herbs (parsley, coriander, basil - what ever you have in the garden)
16 black olives (or green if you don't have black - black make a better colour contrast though)
4 ripe tomatoes
olive oil
400g spaghetti/linguine

Crush the anchovies and garlic in a mortar and pestle. Add to the capers, lemon juice, mustard, herbs and olives and some olive oil. Stir carefully as to not break up the ingredients but well enough to throughly mix the flavours. Finely chop the tomatoes, add to the other ingredients and put to the side (preferably on a sunny Italian window ledge - just in case you have one handy!). In the mean time, cook the pasta, this sauce works especially well with spaghetti or linguine. Once the pasta is cooked, sir in the sauce and make sure the pasta is well covered. Enjoy!

Courgette and feta fritters with a tangy tomato salsa

I cut this recipes out of a magazine a while back and have only just got round to making them. Not bad for a first go. Make sure you cook them well, or they will be raw in the middle. We had to put our back in the frying pan for a second round of heat. Serves 3.

3 large courgettes
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
100g self raising flour
2 eggs
1/2 pack feta cheese (cut into cubes)
olive oil for frying
2 ripe tomatoes
olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste


Coarsely grate the courgettes and place into a large mixing bowl with a good pinch of salt. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Blend the tomatoes, with the lemon juice and a dash of olive oil, season to taste. Put the grated courgettes into a clean tea towel and wring out the juices. Then return them to the bowl and add the onion, garlic, beaten egg, flour, feta cheese and seasoning. When the ingredients are combined well start to heat up the oil for trying. Place tablespoonfulls of the mixture in the pan and flaten with a wooden spoon. Fry on both sides until golden and cooked through. Serve with the tomato salsa and new potatoes, or corn on the cob.

A slightly complicated pasta sauce

Ok, this sounds a like a lot of work for a pasta sauce, but I promise you it's worth it. It has been known to be eaten straight out the pan by a neighbour who dropped in on us while we were having dinner! This recipe should serve about 3 people.

6 large tomatoes
1 red onion
1 clove garlic
1 red chili
1 pack spinach
1/2 pack feta cheese
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
parsley
squeeze lemon juice
parmesan
200g linguine

Cut the tomatoes and onion into quarters, and finally chop the garlic and chili. Place in a roasting tray with a generous covering of olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven at 200 degrees C until juicy and crispy (about 40 mins). Meanwhile cut the feta into cubes and marinate in the parsley, lemon juice, a splash of olive oil and seasoning. Wash the spinach and wilt. Cut into small pieces and add a splash of balamic vinegar. Meanwhile cook the pasta. When the roasting in finished, add the feta and spinach mixtures to the roasting tray and stir well to mix the flavours. Serve with linguine and freshly grated parmesan.

Sea Bream with White Wine Sauce, Anya Potatoes and Samphire

Serves 2

4 fillets of bream. skin on
1 onion
olive oil
butter
1 glass white wine
splash of cream

150g samphire
anya potatoes

Fish:
Season and leave to rest while making sauce and cooking vegetables. Make cuts into the skin to stop the fish curling up as it cooks. Fry in olive oil and butter until golden and crispy on the outside an opaque in the centre.

Sauce:
Fry onion in butter and olive oil until soft. Add wine and heat until it reduces, add cream, season to taste.

Samphire:
Clean and remove any woody stems. Remember samphire does not store well so eat as fresh as possible. Simmer in a pan of water for 1 minute. Samphire is very salty so serve with unsalted butter and don't add salt to the cooking water.

Serve with boiled anya potatoes.

Fish Cakes in a Flash

I love these fish cakes, they are quick and easy and oh so scrummy. They are also a little bit messy :)

1 pack smoked mackerel
3 medium/large potatoes (for mashing)
a knob of butter
a dash of milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp of mustard
flour
oil
1 egg

Make mash potato as usual. Break up the mackerel into pieces with a fork and discard the skin and any bones. Mix the mackerel into the mash when ready. Whisk the egg and put onto a plate. Put some flour onto another plate. Now comes the messy bit. Form the mixture into fish cake shapes with your hands. Cover each fish cake first in egg, then in flour and put them on a place ready for frying. Now wash your hand and heat some oil in a large frying pan. Try the fish cakes for a few minutes on each side until golden. Serve with something green like green beans, spinach or salad and of course, don't forget the ketchup!

Lasagna with roasted vegetables (serves 4)

2 cloves garlic
2 onions
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
2 courgettes
4 tomatoes
6 mushrooms
1 tin tomatoes
plenty of olive oil
fresh or dried herbs such as oregano
lasagna sheets (fresh or pre-cooked)
1 tbsp flour
1pt milk
50g butter
1 tsp mustard
salt, pepper

Set the oven to 200 degrees C. Chop all vegetable into even chunks and place on a large roasting tray, cover liberally with olive oil, herbs, salt and pepper, the garlic cloves can be left whole in their skins. Roast the vegetables for 40 mins to 1 hour, turning occasionally. Once they are soft and blackened round the edges, add the tin of tomatoes.

Layer the vegetable sauce with the lasagna sheets in an oven dish, finishing with a layer of pasta. Make a white sauce and cover the top layer, sprinkle with grated cheddar. Return to the oven for 30-40mins until brown on top.

Serve with a green salad and garlic bread.

Thai soup with rice noodles and salmon (serves 3/4)

1 tin coconut milk
1 tbsp thai red curry paste
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 butternut squash, cubed
150g rice noodles
1 head broccoli, in florets
2 fillet of salmon, cubed
1 cube fish stock
2 pints water
a splash of nam pla (thai fish sauce)
fresh coriander to garnish, chopped

Open the tin of coconut milk without shaking. Skim off the cream and add to a wok. Add curry paste and heat through while mixing. Once the ingredients have combined add the rest of the coconut milk. Chop the butternut squash into cubes, add add to the wok. Add the stock, nam pla and turmeric, then bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes until the squash is soft when you put a sharp knife in it. Meanwhile separate the broccoli into florets, take the skin off the salmon and cut into cubes. Add the broccoli and salmon and continue to simmer until cooked through (5-10 mins). Season to taste with salt if needed. Cook the noodles according to the instructions and lay in the serving bowls. Do not be tempted to add them directly to the soup because they will make it too thick. Pour the soup over the noodles and garnish with fresh coriander. This dish can also be made as a curry, use less stock and serve with basmati rice. Other green vegetables such as green beans can be used instead of broccoli.

Abbi's Lentil Pie (Serves 3/4)

This is a vegetarian version of shepherd's pie, a dish that became very popular with my friends at university. This is very morish so don't expect any leftovers!

a selection of veg such as mushrooms, carrots, pepper, courgettes etc
1 onion/a bunch of spring onions
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup lentils
1/2 pint stock
soy sauce
Tabasco
Worcestershire sauce
oyster sauce
1 tin of tomatoes
4 potatoes (mashed)

Fry garlic and onion in oil. Add diced carrots, pepper, mushrooms and any other vegetables you fancy. Fry for a couple of minutes. Add lentils, followed by the tinned tomatoes and some stock (not too much because you're not making a soup!). Add seasoning and a splash of each of the sauces. Simmer until the lentils and carrots are cooked and most of the liquid has evapourated (20mins to 1/2 hour). Meanwhile make the mash potatoes. Put the lentil mixture into an over dish and top with the mash potato, using a fork to make a bumpy pattern. Cook in over at 180 degrees C for about 1/2 hour until the potato goes brown on top. Best served with green beans and ketchup. Alternatively you can use slices of cooked new potatoes and cover with cheese.

Grant Loaf

This is just the bread I have been looking for, good and solid, excellent as buttered toast, and better still, really easy to make.
Grant Loaf

5 cups organic stoneground wholemeal flour
1 sachet fast action yeast (7g)
1 teaspoon honey
2.5 cups of warm water
1 tsp salt

Mix all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add water and honey and combine well, mixing vigorously for 1-2 minutes. The dough will be much wetter than a normal bread dough so don't worry! Put into a loaf tin (NB this bread will not work on a flat tray), and leave to rise in a warm place for about 35 mins covered with a damp cloth. Bake at 200 degree C for 35 to 40 minutes until the bread sounds hollow if you knock it on the bottom. Remove from tin to cool. Delicious toasted. Can be frozen for up to one month.

By the way, I tried covering it in sesame seeds but they all fell off, hence they are in the photo and not the recipe. :)

Focaccia in St Pauls

Last week we turned up at a freeconomy freeskilling event at the Midnimo Centre in St Pauls to learn the wonders of bread making. Anyway, this fun but serious session which started with an explanation of the woes of modern bread manufacturing (i particularly liked the phrase used to describe industrial dough as 'flour mousse'), also gave us a chance to have a hands-on go making chapatis and foccacia dough. Unfortunately the Midnino oven wasn't quite up to bread baking, but we did see the chapatis cooked in the street on a rocket stove. This small stove, made out of an old olive oil container and tin cans, and lit with twigs left over from basket weaving managed to cook the chapatis perfectly despite the rain. We walked home buzzing with plans for baking as I clutched a small balls of oily foccacia dough in my hands.

Since the workshop I have been hunting around for books on bread making, finding 'Breadmaking at Home' by Harold Bagust at the library near my office, and 'Bread' by Linda Collister at the Oxfam bookshop at the top of Park Street. I have also been sourcing ingredients also discovering that I already had some forgotten fast-action yeast. I am still on the hunt for stone-ground organic wholemeal flour to make a sourdough starter which I hope to pick up tomorrow at the Bristol Food and Wine Fair.

My first attempt was a pizza base which went pretty well except it was hard to stretch out and we ended up with a smaller, thinker pizza than we hoped for. My first loaf was pretty successful although I think it had too many rising as I was trying to fit it around work schedules. It also spread into a crazy shape which made it hard to get into the toaster! I have now invested in a loaf tin and am hoping to find some flour tomorrow to make the 'Grant Loaf' that I have read so much about.

Samphire in Weymouth

We have just come back from the Seafood Festival in Weymouth after trying an array of dishes including paella, brochette with scallops and bacon, and oysters (see Luis above) and buying a bagful of green succulent Samphire. I've heard a lot about this coastal vegetable, also known as sea asparagus but never been able to get hold of before, tomorrow will be a day of cooking experiments...