Asian Trout

Asian Trout

1 inch chunk of ginger

3 garlic cloves

1 shallot

1 chilli

1 inch chunk of lemongrass

1 squirt fish sauce

1 squirt soy sauce

2 squirts sake

1 squirt lime juice

1 whole large trout

New potatoes

Broccoli

Place all paste ingredients in a food mixer and blitz

Wash trout thoroughly

Place trout in a foil bowl

Smother paste over and inside fish

Fold up corners

Place in a steamer for 8 minutes

Place broccoli beside fish and cook for another 3 minutes

In the meantime, boil potatoes

Open foil and pull fish off the bone. Serve on plate with buttered potatoes and broccoli.

Drizzle sauce over whole dish.

Fabulous Falafels

Falafels

1 can chick peas

2 shallots

2 garlic cloves

Lime juice

coriander

1 tsp coriander seeds (crushed)

1 tsp cumin

2 tbsp flour

1 tbsp olive oil

Oil for frying

In a food mixer, put garlic and shallots and blitz.

Add chickpeas and blitz.

Add lime juice, olive oil and flour.

Add spices and coriander.

Blitz until a smooth paste.

Form into small balls with your hands and set aside.

Fry in a hot frying pan until crispy on both sides.

Serve in pita breads with crated cheddar, lettuce, grated carrot, sliced red pepper and sour cream.

Marvelous Moules

Marvelous Moules

4 shallots

4 cloves garlic

Olive Oil

Salt and pepper

1/2 bottle dry white wine

2 lbs fresh mussels

Thyme

Scrub and wash mussels thoroughly. Remove beards. Remove any that are open.

In a large, heavy pot add a glug of olive oil and shallots and fry for 2 mins.

Add garlic and fry for 1 min. Add 4 branches of thyme.

Add wine and simmer for 2 mins.

Increase heat, add mussels and put lid on. Cook on high heat for 3 mins.

Open lid and mussels should have opened.

Serve in deep bowls with fresh crusty bread.

Mmmmmmm........

Fragrant Thai Soup (Dan's favourite)

Fragrant Thai Soup (Dan's favourite)

Paste
1 cm chunk of lemongrass, crushed
1 green chilli
1 red chilli
4 cloves garlic
2 cms ginger
2 glugs soy sauce
2 glugs fish sauce
squirt lime juice
bunch coriander stems
4 kakfir lime leaves
1 shallot
1 glug olive oil
1/2 tsp pepper
salt

Soup
1 can coconut milk
2 cups veg stock
1 rib-eye steak
1 pack bean sprouts
1 bunch coriander leaves
1/3 savoy cabbage

In a small food mixer, blend all past ingredients until smooth.

Season steak and in a frying pan, sear and leave to rest. Steak should be rare to blue as it will cook further in the hot soup.

In a non-stick deep pot fry paste for 2 mins.

Add coconut milk solids and fry for 1 minute.

Add coconut milk and stock and stir well.

Simmer for 10 minutes.

In meantime, stir fry cabbage in same pan as steak, season.

Add meat and cabbage at last minute and serve in deep chinese bowls.

Serve with fresh coriander, raw bean sprouts and thinly sliced red chilli.

Seattle

Pike Place Market

Seattle, Washington State

Bread!

Bread!

3 cups flour (mixed)

1 tsp salt

2.5 tsp dry yeast

2 tsp sugar

1 cup warm water

Extra four

4 tsp virgin olive oil

Fresh rosemary

Tip warm water into a bowl and sprinkle over sugar and yeast.

Stir and leave for 10 mins until bubbles start to form.

In another bowl add flour, salt and finely chopped rosemary.

Stir in olive oil to yeast mixture.

Add the dry ingredients to the yeast mixture and mix together with your hands.

Kneed the mixture to at least 10 mins on a floured surface. Form into a ball.

Rub olive oil round a baking pot and put dough ball into the bowl.

Put the oven on low, put baking pot ontop of oven and cover with a clean tea-towel for at least an hour.

Once risen, punch down and kneed on a floured surface for 5 mins.

Place back in the olive oil covered pot and leave to rise again.

Once risen, season with salt and pepper and bake in an oven for 40 mins at 425 degrees.

Turn out onto a rack and allow to cool.

Serve still warm with butter.

Delish!

Halibut with bacon and clams

Halibut with bacon and clams

Two pieces of Halibut

1 lb of fresh clams

Four slices of smoked bacon

2 cloves garlic

2 shallots

1 cup white wine

Thyme

Salt and pepper

Season Halibut and place in a pan, in olive oil, skin side down. Fry til crisp. - 2 mins.

Turn over and cook for another 3 mins. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add chopped bacon to the pan and fry for 2 mins. Add garlic and shallots, cook for 2 mins.

Add white wine, thyme and simmer for 2 mins.

Scrub clams and wash several times. Discard any open ones.

Add clams to pot and cover. Cook for 2 mins.

Open lid and place halibut in the liquid to serve,

Serve with stir-fry rapini or spinach.