I’m not entirely convinced that this recipe is in any way authentically creole, but it is authentically delicious and isn’t that what really matters đ It’s also another one of my mum’s recipes that I’ve been cooking since Uni (at least) but I’d always made it with chicken… Until now! Mum made us her fish version last month and the whole family were completely converted, so much so that I don’t think I’ll ever make it with chicken again – tasty as that was, with fish it’s even tastier đ
This is a properly comforting dish and is perfect for chasing this last lingering bite of winter away. The warmth of the paprika and chilli just goes so well with the garlicky tomatoey stew, and its heartiness is a perfect contrast to the delicate flakey buttery cod.
Speaking of butter… This is a dish that lovesbutter, and lots of it. I’ve tried subbing corn oil in an attempt to make it healthier but ended up with a pale shadow of the real thing, so much so that I’d rather not have it if I can’t go all out on the butter in a James Martin stylee (!) My compromise, then is to just not make this too often đ
If you do want to make it with chicken instead then use thighs not breast (so much more flavour!), keep the pieces pretty big and sautee off to seal and brown before cooking in the stew for 30 minutes.
PS – how cute are my little fishy bowls! They’re actually measuring cups but serving fish in them was too good an opportunity to miss!!
Fish Creole
2014-08-16 14:21:57
Serves 2
Cod in a rich, spicy, garlicky tomato stew, comfort food Creole style.
1 green pepper, cue into vaguely triangular shapes
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp paprika (not smokey!)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 chicken stock cube or pot
pinch of sugar
butter
juice of 1 lemon
white flour
salt and pepper
Cook!
Put a wok, or large saucepan, over a medium-high heat and melt a generous tablespoon of butter until itâs starting to bubble and saute off your onions for a couple of minutes until the edges are starting to brown. Add the green peppers until the skin has blistered a wee bit and then add the garlic and saute for another minute or two, taking care not to let the garlic burn.
Add the tomatoes, spices, chicken stock cube and a generous pinch of sugar. Fill the empty tomato can about a quarter full with water and give it a good swirl to pick up any last bits of tomato, and add.
Now, the measurements Iâve given for the spice is probably a little cautious. That and Iâve long since stopped using actual measures of spice for this dish so donât actually know what the measures are! Taste and add more parpika and/or chilli to suit.
Leave the tomtoey stew to simmer away for 30 minutes.
When the timeâs up, pat the cod fillets on kitchen roll until theyâre as dry as you can get them â this stops them from tasting fishy (apparently!) Cut the cod into generous sized chunks, about 2 inches by 2 inches which should hold them together while cooking. Shake some flour onto a dinner plate and season with salt and pepper. Roll your fish chunks in the flour to just coat them, and then lift out with a shake to get rid of any excess flour.
In a frying pan, melt another generous tablespoon of butter and as soon as it starts to bubble lay your fish chunks gently in the pan. Give them 2-3 minutes and then gently turn over. The flour should colour up nicely so that youâve got some lovely brown bits on the fish. Give the other side 2-3 minutes as well and then move the pieces of fish from the frying pan into the tomatoey stew. Add the lemon juice and then give everything a gentle stir before leaving to simmer for 12-15 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through. Add a final tablespoon of butter to give the sauce a lovely glossy sheen, stirring until it melts.
Serve on a bed of fluffy white rice, and try not to think of all that butter⊠đ
I’ve always been a fan of Delia when it comes to the classics and her Shepherd’s Pie recipe has never let me down, but I’ve always had a hankering to make it the traditional way from leftover roast. Unfortunately, there never is any leftover roast when my family gets together, and making roast lamb just to turn into Shepherd’s Pie seemed a little extravagent. This Easter though, neither my brother nor I could make it home but my mum still made my dad his festive lamb roast and surprise surprise (not!), without the presence of two greedy children and their spouses, there were leftovers! Which were very kindly dropped off as the parentals passed by on their way out for lunch the next day, so that they wouldn’t go to waste. And waste them we did not…
Hubby is the King of the world slow cooking, his pulled pork is legendary đ so I left it to him to figure out how to render down the lovely piece of leftover roast lamb into the perfect filling for a Shepherd’s Pie. He did not disappoint đ The lamb just fell apart in the pot, and after all that time slow cooking in gravy and stock had soaked up their lovely flavours while maintaining that slightly sweet note that lamb has. As lovely as Delia’s version using lamb mince is it wasn’t a patch on using leftover roast, and I honestly don’t think I’ll be able to go back to Delia after this, the trad style was just that good. What a fab last Shepherd’s Pie to end this winter on đ
The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed a distinct lack of carrots in amongst the lamb… It was the only thing we didn’t have to hand đ Since they wouldn’t survive the slow cooking process I’d probably dice them up and then cook them off vichy style, and then stir them into the pot of lamb just before you make the pie up.
Shepherd's Pie Traditional Style
2014-08-16 16:45:21
Leftover roast lamb, slow cooked in gravy and baked under a thick layer of fluffy mashed potato.
Cut the lamb into bite size pieces and put in a large saucepan or stew pot.
Roughly cut the ends off the onions, quarter and add to the pot with the lamb. Peel and mash the garlic and pop those in too.
Add the remaining ingredients, making sure that the lamb is covered by about 1 inch / 2.5 cm of liquid. Cover and simmer for two hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so.
After two hours remove the lid, and continue to reduce the liquid on a low simmer, stirring occassionally, until itâs a rich sauce. This may take another few hours.
Make the mashed potato topping when youâre in that last phase of reduction â Cut the potatoes into even sized pieces before placing in a pan of boiling salted water. Cook until theyâre tender and then drain. Return the cooked potatoes to the hot pan, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to steam for about five minutes. Add the butter and mash, season to taste. Donât be tempted to add milk like you would a normal mash because you want this mash to be firm on top of the pie. Set aside until youâre ready to put the pie together.
Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F, gas mark 6.
When the lamb is ready, drain the can of petit pois before tipping into the pan. Give it all a good stir before spooning the lamb and petit pois into your baking dish. Level the mixture out with the back of the spoon without packing it down.
Lastly, spread the mashed potato on top of the lamb. The best way Iâve found to do this is to use a spatula and spread large blobs of mash around the inside of the dish until youâve got a ring of mash, leaving a gap in the middle for you to dollop the last bit on to cover â this method gives you an even spread of mash without dragging mash and lamb all over the place. I like to roughly fork the mash topping, it encourages the forked up bits to go all lovely golden and crispy.
Pop in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the mash is crusty and golden. Share and scoff!
Well, as fifi mentioned in her last post, Autumn is right upon our doorstep, and with it comes crisp air, the rich, musty scent of Autumn leaves, and warming food that sticks to your ribs. Count me in!
Being an American, cold-weather food for me will always have to include casseroles, and this is just one of many that I like to foist upon Fi. This one’s a bit different though; a result of a lot of tinkering with combinations, that owes a lot of its influences to Asian flavours, and on paper, doesn’t look like it should work. Trust me, it totally does, and you won’t be sorry to try it. Other Americans may be tempted to cover this with cheese (let’s be honest, it’s the go-to topper for casseroles) but, while tasty, it doesn’t need it at all. This manages to be tasty and fulfilling without needing a lot of heavy cream and the like. Give it a try, and let me know what you think!
Without further ado, then… time to get cooking!
Chicken, Mushroom & Broccoli Rice Bake
2014-08-17 10:23:53
Serves 4
A delicious rice bake that is perfect for when the weather starts to turn.
2 medium leeks (one large white/yellow onion works too)
4-5 large portobello mushrooms
2 chicken breasts or 4-6 thighs (boneless and skinless all around)
1 small bottle (20 cl/1 cup) white wine â Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc both really suit this dish.
150 ml double (heavy) cream
1/2-1 tsp ketjap manis (or use dark soy sauce and add 1/2 tsp molasses or treacle, and mix well)
1/2-3/4 tsp Knorr chicken powder (optional, you can crush and fluff a chicken stock cube if you canât find Chicken Powder)
couple of dashes of Maggi liquid seasoning (optional)
1 tsp Thai fish sauce
salt and pepper to season
1/2-1 tsp Tarragon (dry or fresh, but remember that fresh will be much more strongly flavoured)
oil or butter for cooking
1.5 cups of uncooked rice (long grain or Thai jasmine rice both work well, 2:1 ratio water:rice when cooking)
Other stuff youâll needâŠ
Wok or large frying pan
Saucepan
Shallow casserole dish or high sided baking tray
Rice cooker (Cooks rice perfect every time. If you donât have one, you can cook it in a covered saucepan on stove top).
Prep!
First things first, get your rice on. Itâll take about 45 minutes to cook through, in the measures given, which gives you plenty of time to get the prep done.
Pop the broccoli florets into a saucepan, and set them aside for now.
Next, finely slice your leeks (or onion), peel your mushrooms of their thick outer skin and remove the stems before cutting into slices, and cut your chicken into bite sized pieces.
Cook!
On a medium flame, heat a wok or large frying pan before adding oil/butter (or drizzle a little oil over the butter, which will give you the best flavour while preventing the butter from burning). Now add the leeks/onions and season with salt (this, again, helps to stop them burning) before frying gently for 4-5 minutes, or until tender.
When the leeks/onions are cooked, add a bit more butter, and then add the sliced mushrooms. Season these with a little more salt (this helps to get the moisture out) and cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
In the meantime, put the kettle on and preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
Retrieve your saucepan of broccoli florets and sprinkle on 1/2-3/4 tsp chicken powder (optional), 1tsp fishsauce and a splash of dark soy. From the kettle, add just less than 1/3 cup of hot water (the water doesnât need to have just boiled). Cover, and steam, covered, on high heat for approximately 5 minutes.
While the broccoli is cooking, go back to the leek and mushroom mixture and add the wine to it before turning the heat up to medium/high. Reduce the liquid right down, until its about a quarter of the original volume. Stir now and again while itâs reducing down.
When the wine has reduced down, lower your heat to medium and add the chicken to the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink.
By this time, the broccoli should have cooked for approximately 5 minutes, in which case turn the heat off but leave the lid on to steam cook the last of the hardcore crunch out.
Back to the wok, and season the chicken, leek/onion, mushroom and wine mixture with black pepper and approximately 1/2-1 tsp of tarragon, or to taste. Then add the double cream and stir everything in. Cook for an additional 2 minutes on a low heat before tipping in the broccoli, liquid and all. Add about 1/2-1 tsp of ketjup manis and a few dashes of maggi seasoning (optional) and stir the lot gently before turning the heat off completely.
Now add the cooked rice to the wok, and stir until the rice is evenly coated with everything. Ideally, you want the rice to be a bit wet with the sauce rather than bone dry, so you may not need to use all of the cooked rice.
At this point, transfer the rice mixture into a shallow casserole dish or a high side baking tray and use the back of a wooden spoon to spread it out to an even thickness. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake for 12-14 minutes. I find that covering the dish with foil helps to prevent it from drying out, and cooks it through more quickly.
Apologies for the recent radio silence but life got very stupidly busy all at once, as Hubby started a new job (in the Scottish food industry, no less!) and my gorgeous scrumptious beautiful nephew arrived into the world! So yes, much distraction has abounded of late, but hopefully this is me back in the blogging swing of things đ
And to ease me gently back in, a mind-boggling easy recipe that a work chum shared with me years ago and became an instant favourite with Hubby . Bear with the randomness of the ingredients, because thrown together they are quite simply, if somewhat surprisingly, delicious – the sweetness of the apricots go really well with the saltiness of the onion soup mix. And the ingredients really are literally thrown together and then thrown into the oven! Seriously. The most work youâll have to do on the night is the washing upâŠ
Serve it up with some lovely fluffy boiled rice for the best ever lazy (but no less tasty for it!) dinner.
Apricot Chicken
2014-08-17 13:21:09
Serves 2
Tender chicken in a lush, savoury onion-cream sauce with sweet bites of apricot keeping things interesting.
1 can of apricots in juice or light syrup (only get full on syrup if thatâs all there is)
1 packet of Knorr Onion Soup powder or Liptonâs Onion Soup & Dip Mix
300ml single cream
Boiled rice
Instructions
Throw together!: (Iâm too embarrassed to use my usual âCook!â for this!)
First things first, get the oven on and preheat to 200 C.
While youâre waiting for the oven to warm up, grab the oven dish and in it strain the apricot juice (keep the fruit in the can for now) before adding the single cream and then the onion soup powder (fifiâs top tip â this order is much less messy than if you put the soup powder in first, trust meâŠ).
Whisk it together with a small fork or small whisk until the powder isnât lumpy anymore.
Gently place the chicken breasts into the mixture, and either spoon the mixture over them or give them a quick roll over in the mixture, before adding the pieces of apricot. I generally use the apricot to fill in any gaps, giving them a gentle poke to submerge them.
Put in the oven and cook for 40-45 minutes.
The chicken should be lovely and tender at this point. I usually pluck them out (shoogle all the sauce off because you donât want to waste a delicious drop!) and slice them into bite sized pieces, then put them back into the sauce, give everything a good stir, and then serve the lot over rice.
fifigoesnom https://www.fifigoesnom.com/
Sadly, our local supermarkets have all stopped stocking packet onion soup powder, but there are substitutes. Iâve been assured that Ainsleyâs Onion Cup Of Soup mix works just as well â use a whole box worth and be sure to pick the croutons out first â but I havenât tried it myself as we found Lipton’s Onion Soup & Dip Mix that is a perfect match. We get ours from Lupe Pintoâs, a local Mexican deli that also imports lots of tasty things from the USA including the. Luckily for us they are local, but they also deliver if youâre not.
I have a couple of signature dishes, things I’ve been making ever since I learnt to cook and have fed my friends for years. If I could only pick one though, this would be it. There’s just something about the rich and silky sauce that just warms my heart (and my tummy!). And not just the strog that I cook. My favourite ever strog was from the Hong Kong Football Club away back when I was sulky teenager in the 70’s, and then Jimmy’s Kitchen (also in Hong Kong). The two dishes were so similar that I’m still convinced Jimmy’s knicked the HKFC’s chef!
There must a dozen variations, and then some, on how to cook this though. I remember having a pretty lengthy discussion with a friend at school about whether it should or shouldn’t have paprika, and whether the sauce should be beige or orange (it was an all girl’s school, so it wasn’t like we had any boys to talk about…). A recent article over at lovefood.com looks at even more ways to make this, as well as its history, and how it’s not Russian but French.
This is also my ex-flatmate’s favourite, who I used to catch eating the leftovers cold, off the serving ladle, straight out of the pot! I took it as a compliment, and still cook it for him when he visits đ
As to why it’s my favourite… did I mention the rich and silky sauce, or “jup”, a Chinese catch-all word for all things saucey and gravy that you will ALWAYS hear my family asking for more of, including Hubby (I suspect that may have been the first Chinese word he picked up from us!) And the fat little bites of succulent mushroom. And the melt in the mouth tender strips of steak. And… and… do you really need any more reasons than that?
And now for a wee health warning… This dish shines because it’s cooked in butter. Full fat, tasty, butter. You can use cooking oil instead, but prepare to be totally underwhelmed if you do because oil is not a satisfying substitute for butter. I’m just saying.
As a note on the serving size, I’ve noted that this feeds four, and it happily will. Three, if you’re feeding hungry people. Or, if my ex-flatmate is involved… two. At a push.
Beef Stroganoff
2014-08-17 11:13:21
Serves 4
My absolute signature dish, savoury and satisfying on so many levels.
Slice up the onion, I think chunkier onion slices work best with this sauce so donât fret if theyâre not cheftasticly thin. Same goes for the mushrooms, wipe them clean and then slice them so that you get four thick slices per shroom.
Slice the rump steak up, but unlike the veg, slice thinly.
Then mix together the flour, mustard powder and a generous grinding of black pepper in a bowl and roll the steak pieces in it until they are all well coated. Set aside for 15-30 minutes.
Cook!
In a large frying pan, or wok, melt some butter over a medium heat and then fry the onion until its translucent.
Add the mushrooms, and a sprinkle of salt, and cook for another couple of minutes.
Then remove the onions and mushrooms to a plate, and return the wok to the heat with some more butter.
When the butter starts to bubble, shake the excess flour/mustard from the steak before adding and turn up the heat. Donât worry if some of the loose flour/mustard goes in as it will help thicken the sauce, you just donât want all of the flour/mustard leftovers in there.
The steak will initially stick together, in which case a meat fork or chopsticks are really helpful to shoogle the steak up and separate the pieces. Treat this like a stir fry and brown the steak off quickly to keep it tender.
When the steak is browned off (I like to stop while it's still pink in the middle) turn the heat down to medium and add the tomato puree, stirring it in so that it coats all the steak pieces. Give it a minute or two before adding the vegetables back in. Put the kettle on at this point, and when its boiled pour half a pintâs worth over a stock cube, and then pour it into the pan to cover the steak and veg mix. Stir well before turning the heat back up.
When the liquid starts to bubble up, turn the heat down again so that the sauce is gently simmering. Taste, and season with salt if required, and then leave it to simmer away for 10 minutes.
After the 10 minutes is up, add the lemon juice, stir through and then take the pan off the heat. Stir in the sour cream (or creme fraiche) before dishing up generously over boiled rice.
Sprinkle with parsley if youâre poshing it up đ and then tuck in!
