Mussels in Garlic Butter

Fresh mussels cooked in garlic infused butter. Cooked under glass for seven minutes. A favourite dish!

Seafood Pie (Red Salmon, Haddock and Smoked Pollock)

This pie was made with a selection of fish pieces found in Sainsbury's supermarket. The fish was first blanched in boiling water, and then poached for seven minutes under glass.

I made a white sauce with cornflour, milk and some Blue Stilton cheese (about 100g). Stirred until the cheese had entirely melted. Add the fish pieces to the sauce, along with a couple of dessert spoonfuls of drained garden peas, and remove from the heat.

Four large potatoes were boiled until soft, then mashed with a little butter and pepper. The oven was heated to 150deg C while the potatoes were cooking on the hob.

Add the fish sauce mix to an oven-proof baking dish, then spoon the mashed potato on top. Texture the surface of the mash with a fork, until it looks a little like a ploughed field.

Cook the pie in the middle of the oven for about 45 minutes. Check frequently that the potato topping is browning. The pie will be ready when the topping is a golden brown.

Seafood Risotto, with Mussels, Prawns and Squid

I rarely escape Morrison's fish section without buying something. Yesterday I bought some fillets to go into the freezer, and also a selection of seafood which I thought might be part of a curry. I changed my mind, and decided on a risotto.

First I prepared diced vegetables - carrot, half a courgette, and half a yellow pepper. Plus two crushed cloves of garlic. Boiled for around twenty-five minutes under glass. Drained and set aside.

The rice was prepared next - cooked in boiling water for about 12 minutes, which is a bit longer than how long you would cook basmati if you were serving it with a curry. I wanted a sticky texture to the rice for this risotto. I used a quarter cup of rice for this dish.

The seafood was already cooked, so it was a matter of reheating it. I did this in a bowl in a steamer. Five minutes is enough, if the steamer is already steaming.

While the seafood was being heated, I added the vegetables and the rice together in a pan. I added lots of freshly ground black pepper to the mixture, and a few dashes of Tabasco sauce for heat. I added the seafood when it was ready, and stirred together. Then I decanted it onto a serving plate.

A really satisfying risotto, which disappeared from the plate very quickly!