Smoked Basa Fish, Poached in Milk

A beautiful Smoked Basa fish fillet from Morrisons, poached in milk, and served with potatoes and Brussels sprouts.

The potatoes were boiled in salted water for twenty minutes, and the sprouts for seven.

The fish was added to a skillet already heated, and with a knob of butter sliding around. Then about 100mls of milk was added. The fish should be cooked at a slow simmer under glass, for between 12 and 15 minutes (the fish changes colour when it is nearly ready). It does not need to be turned.

Decant the vegetables to the serving plate, add the fish (carefully!), and drizzle some of the poaching milk over it.

This fish poaches very well, though it is not usually included in lists of fish which do. Delicious flavour, and delicate texture. One of the most popular dishes on this site, as of March 2021.

Cajun Maque Choux

This is a variation on a well known Cajun dish from Louisiana, which is essentially a stew made with sweetcorn.

I browned some diced leek in sunflower oil (normally diced onion). I added some pre-soaked chickpeas (not a standard ingredient), cooked earlier in some turmeric and Cajun spices (I used a commercially available Cajun spice powder, which contained garlic, chilli powder, paprika and cumin. But you could easily make this up from your spice cupboard). Stir-fried together for a little time. Then I added boiling water, some powdered ginger, a pinch of cumin seeds, and vegetable stock. and the sweetcorn.

Diced green pepper is usually also an ingredient, but I used diced green beans instead. I also skipped the addition of tomatoes. Finally I added a large pinch of dried coriander, plus another dash of Cajun spices, and stirred them through. Allowed to simmer for about twenty minutes under glass, at a low heat.

Served with basmati rice (or American long grain). The dish was served with a dusting of coriander. Delicious! Can be served with diced chicken.

Baked Bean Curry

An ideal student dish (inexpensive, easy to prepare, and tasty). Made with half a medium sized leek, eight chopped baby plum tomatoes (or similar), about 120g of tomato passata (or paste), half a standard tin of baked beans, half a dessert spoonful of curry powder, half a teaspoonful of powdered ginger, half a teaspoonful of dried coriander, one red chilli (deseeded), plus a pinch of cumin seeds (or powdered cumin).

The leek was divided lengthwise, and the halves were further divided, then diced. Added to a small pan with a drizzle of sunflower oil, and cooked at a medium heat until the leek pieces soften and begin to brown. The the chopped tomatoes were added and stirred through. Cooked until thoroughly softened (about ten minutes or so).

Add a little water. Add the tomato passata, and stir. Allow to simmer until the mixture thickens (watch carefully). Add the curry powder, the red chilli, the cumin seeds, the coriander, and the ginger. Stir through for a minute or so.

Finally, add the half tin of beans. Allow to heat close to boiling, then serve with a halved garlic and coriander naan bread, cooked in a toaster until it begins to sizzle!

Cabbage, Beansprouts and Green Bean StirFry

Made with julienned red onion, two colours of cabbage, sliced carrot, diced green beans, beansprouts, curried rice boiled with turmeric (drained), and a whole red red chilli.

Stir-fried for ten minutes altogether in some sunflower oil, first at a high heat, and then turned down to a low to medium heat.

Served on a spiral of dark soy sauce.

Beef Chilli with Potato and Mange Tout

Beef and Potato Chilli, served with diced mange tout.

Ground beef mince, browned in sunflower oil, for around twenty five minutes. After that, diced carrot and onion were added to the beef, along with a single chopped garlic clove, and some deseeded red chilli.

Cooked for a further twenty minutes under glass, after which about 200 mls of boiling water, along with the beef stock. In addition, I added about half a dessert spoonful of cornmeal, mixed with cold water, and stirred the mixture into the beef.

The potatoes were cooked in a separate small pot for twenty minutes in salted water. After thirteen minutes the diced mange tout was added to the pot, and simmered under glass for another seven minutes. Drain, and serve with the beef chilli.

Chicken Stew with Sweetcorn and Peppers

A simple and tasty dish, made to use up the meat from two roasted chicken drumsticks in the fridge.

First I fried some diced carrot in a flat pot, along with spring onions. Cooked until soft at a low heat under glass (about half an hour), and then the chicken pieces were decanted into the pot. Then after that, about two hundred mls of boiling water.

I added the peppers (cut into think strips - one third of a pepper each), boiled potato pieces, some diced brocolli stems, the sweetcorn (cut from the cob), two red chillies (deseeded), some diced button mushroom pieces, and the chicken stock.

Mix some cold water with half a teaspoonful of powdered arrowroot, and add to the pan. Stir through thoroughly. Simmer under glass for another forty minutes or so.

Served with basmati rice cooked with a small pinch of powdered turmeric. Add some fines herbes or tarragon if you like.

Chicken and Ham Pie

A chicken and vegetable soup made a couple of days ago was augmented with some diced roast unsmoked gammon from the joint I cooked yesterday.Thickened with a teaspoonful of arrowroot (you can use cornflour instead - mix while the soup base is cold).

Placed in an ovenproof glass dish, along with some boiled potato, and covered with a square of pastry dough, rolled flat, and crimped around the edges. Make a hole in the centre with a sharp knife, to allow steam to escape from the dish.

Preheat an oven to 180 degrees, and cook on the middle shelf for between 45 to 50 minutes. Watch carefully, and turn the heat down a little if the pastry browns quickly. Served here as the pie emerged from the oven. Delicious!

Unsmoked Gammon Joint

A bargain 1.4 kg gammon joint from Sainsbury's over Christmas. Oven roasted in a casserole dish with Spanish onion and diced carrots, and a drizzle of Olive oil.

Cooked for two hours altogether, on the middle shelf of the oven, at 190 deg. C. Take off the lid of the casserole dish for the last thirty minutes. A glorious smell in the kitchen!

Leave the joint to cool for an hour or two before carving with an electric knife.

Served with - in addition to the onion and carrots -  boiled potatoes,  cooked with coriander seeds. Also well served with Brocolli spears.

Garlic Sausage Stew

Made with diced Polish garlic sausage, onions or leeks, carrot and fresh sweetcorn, diced potato, tomato puree, garlic, ham stock, chilli powder, and some herbs (Basil, Coriander and Oregano).

Cook the vegetables first in a little sunflower oil until they soften. Add water, the tomato puree, the ham stock, and the chilli powder (half a teaspoonful is  fine). Add the diced sausage, and simmer under glass for between 45 minutes and an hour.

Add the herbs to the pot, and cook for a further ten minutes.

Served in this case with Basmati Rice.

Tamarind Soup with Beans and Mushrooms

Made with a soup base of diced leek, chopped carrot, and crushed garlic.

The vegetables were fried in olive oil under glass, until the leeks began to brown. Then 300mls of boiling water was added, and the soup was allowed to simmer for half an hour. Then the contents of the pot were mashed (blend them, if you prefer).

At this point add a quarter teaspoonful of tamarind paste, and stir through thoroughly. A handful of dried cannellini beans had been soaked overnight, and were added to the pot, along with half a dozen small and diced mushrooms, after the simmering. Plus some chicken stock,  tomato puree (two squirts), a quarter teaspoonful of paprika powder, and also a quarter teaspoonful of black pepper.

Simmer for another half an hour, stirring occasionally. Add more water to the pot if necessary.

Works well with other ingredients, in particular borlotti beans or chickpeas.

Ground Beef Chilli, with Spring Onions and Green Beans

Made with eight diced spring onions, and about 100g of diced green beans, plus a deseeded and chopped red chilli.

The ground beef was browned for twenty minutes in some sunflower oil, stirring occasionally, then the spring onions, the green beans and the red chilli were added to the pan. Cooked under glass for another twenty minutes at a reduced heat, stirring occasionally.

Then the beef stock was added, along with three squeezes of tomato puree, and a quarter teaspoonful of ground paprika Stir together. After that I added herbs to the pan - Basil, Oregano, and Coriander Leaf, to taste.

Allow to simmer under glass for another twenty minutes before serving, with rice or potatoes. 

Peppered Ham with Fried Onions and Mushrooms

A simple dish of peppered ham (sourced from Aldi), served with slow fried onions, and a little American mustard.

The onions were browned at a medium heat for ten minutes, stirring occasionally, and then for fifteen minutes under glass (also stirring occasionally).

The mushrooms were cooked in a separate pan in a little butter until browned. Around ten minutes or so.

The onions and mushrooms were mixed together for serving, and dressed in freshly ground black pepper. Delicious!

Pepper and Bean Sprout Stir-Fry

Beansprouts, red, yellow orange and green pepper, carrot, purple or red onion, dark cabbage, white cabbage, red chilli, garlic, stir-fried in sunflower or groundnut oil.

The peppers were added to the wok first, at a high heat for two minutes, then the heat was turned down low and the rest of the vegetables were added. Stir-fried for four minutes, and allowed to rest for a further minute before serving.

Served on a spiral of dark soy sauce. Also good when served with a red chilli sauce.

Chorizo Sausage, with Baby Plum Tomato and Scrambled Egg

A variation  on a favourite dish: Scrambled Egg with chorizo - in this case with fried baby plum tomatoes..

Two large eggs were cracked into a bowl with 300 mls of milk and a pinch of salt, and stirred thoroughly.

The Chorizo was diced and fried slowly in its own fat in a skillet. The tomatoes were diced and added to the pan, and cooked together for five minutes or so.

Then the eggs and milk mixture was added to the pan. and allowed to cook for two minutes before being broken up with a spatula. Stir occasionally. The dish is ready after about five to six minutes at a moderate heat. Serve on a little ground pepper.

Black Olive Salad

Two colours of lettuce, with chopped red onion, a quarter of a red pepper, and a chopped carrot, dressed in olive oil, salt, and vinegar. Mixed in a bowl, and allowed to stand for ten minutes or so. Then decant to the serving plate.

Add around twenty black destoned olives.  Cut ten cherry or baby plum tomatoes in two, and serve with the ensemble.

 Serve with black pepper.

Chocolate Muffins

Chocolate muffins for New Year's Day.

I made these on the spur of the moment, and didn't follow a recipe as such (I've made them before). I used 250g of spelt flour, three teaspoonfuls of baking powder, a dessert spoonful of sunflower oil, six dessert spoonfuls of drinking chocolate powder, six teaspoonfuls of black treacle, a dash of nutmeg and half a teaspoonful of mixed spice. Plus two large eggs and two pinches of salt.

I added the eggs to 300 mls of cold water, the treacle, and the salt. Beaten thoroughly. Then I began to add the dry assemblage of the spelt, chocolate powder, baking powder, plus the nutmeg and the mixed spice. Beat thoroughly together along with the sunflower oil. Allow to stand for ten minutes or so.

The oven was preheated to 180 deg C. Add three dessert spoonfuls of the muffin mixture to each muffin case. Cook for thirty minutes, watching progress carefully.