RFJ: Sambuca Orange Salmon with Spelt Crackers

Last month Peter won the Royal Foodie Joust with his Halvas, and selected fennel, parsley and dairy for his three ingredients.

I loved Peter's choice - and it took me a while to choose what to make, but in the end I decided on an appetiser of home cured salmon, with crackers and a chunky fennel sauce.

The salmon I cured with orange juice, sambuca and ground fennel seeds. It was the first time I have done anything like this, and I was really impressed by how easy it was - not to mention how tasty the final product was! I used two skinless salmon fillets, that had been lightly smoked.

I served the salmon with spelt crackers topped with parsley salt, and a chunky sauce of fennel, orange zest and yogurt. I was a bit concerned about the yogurt sauce as I'm not a big fan of raw fennel. However, the orange zest tempered the anise beautifully - I was really happy with how the flavours came together.

Orange and Fennel Cured Salmon

Inspired by Pixen's recipe here.

• 2 large fillets of lightly smoked salmon, skinned and deboned
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• 2 tbsp coarse sea salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
  
• A shot of Sambuca (or any other anise liquor)
  
• 1 orange, halved

Prepare the Rub...
Dry toast the pepper and fennel for a couple of minutes - keep the pan moving, and turn the seeds into a mortar and pestle when they start to smell good!

Let cool for a couple of minutes.

Bash them up until pretty fine, then add the salt and sugar. Give it a bit of a bash - but don't obliterate the salt entirely - leave some bit chunky!

Prepare the Salmon...
Wash and dry your salmon thoroughly - removing any wee bones that are left in there.

Put the spice rub out onto a flat surface, and coat each fillet well. Give it a bit of a rub to get the flavours going!

In a bowl, mix any left over salt mix with the sambuca - and the same quantity of orange juice from one of the orange halves.

Lay one fillet out, and top with slices of orange from the other half orange. Lay the other fillet on top.

Place into a small food bag, and pour in the orange sambuca mix. Squish out excess air, and tie. Now tightly wrap in clingfilm, place in a bowl in case it leaks! And put something heavy on top. I used my mortar... or pestle... whichever part the base is anyway - it's one of those huge thai stone jobs, so pretty heavy!

Cure...
Leave for at least 24 hours - I left mine for about 36, though I probably wouldn't recommend much more than 48.

Turn every 12 hours or so, replacing the weight when you do.

Cured!
Remove from the food bag, and wash off the salt mix in cold water. Pat dry with paper towel and use a sharp knife to cut finely across the grain.

Parsley Salt

• 5 tbsp coarse sea salt
• small handful parsley leaves
• 1/2 clove garlic, crushed

Preheat oven to 140c.

Put the garlic and parsley into a mini-blender and blitz til smooth. Scrape into a mortar and pestle, then add the salt. Pound until the salt is fine to medium ground, and the parsley mix is thoroughly incorporated.

Tip the mixture onto an oven sheet and spread it out. Put in the oven for 6 minutes, then give it a bit of a stir. Put it back in for another 6 minutes, or until it has dried out, but still green.

Allow to cool, then put back into mortar and pestle, and grind.

Parsley Salt Crackers

 Inspired by Helen's recipe here.

• 0.5 cup plain white flour
• 0.5 cup spelt flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch salt
• 25ml olive oil
• water to mix
• parsley salt
• 1 egg, beaten

Preheat over to 140c.

Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder, then mix in the oil. Add enough water to make a dough.

Knead for a minute or two, then leave to rest for 15 minutes.

Cut the dough in two, then roll one piece out as thin as you can. Poke marks in it with a fork to stop it puffing up. Brush with beaten egg, then sprinkle with parsley salt to taste.

Cut into what ever shape you like and lay onto a non-stick baking sheet.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden and crispy!

Chunky Fennel Sauce

• 1 bulb fennel
• 150ml yogurt
• 1 tsp orange zest
• parsley salt, to taste

Strain the Yogurt...
Place a couple of sheets of strong tissue in a sieve and balance on a bowl. Tip in the yogurt and leave to sit for as long as possible to let the liquid strain off. ideally overnight, but at least a couple of hours. If you don't have as long, then spread out the yogurt as thinly as possible to accelerate the process.

Prepare the Fennel...
Remove the fronds from the bulb, finely chop and set aside. Remove any discoloured outer leaves and discard. Finely chop the rest of the bulb.

Put the Sauce Together...
Mix together the fronds and the fennel flesh, and mix with the orange zest. Mix in enough strained yogurt to hold the sauce together. Mix in the parsley salt to taste.

Serve!

RFJ: Double-Dipped Ginger & Orange Oaty Bites

I won, I won, I won! :D

And this morning I got my apron in the post! No pics of me in it as yet (and definitely not in the Greek style!) but I'll see what I can rustle up over the weekend!

The Royal Foodie Joust is a monthly event hosted by Jenn the Leftover Queen. Last month the selected ingredients were Sesame, Seafood and Cilantro - and my submission was voted top - an incredible honour.

As well as the prize of an apron, I was allowed to select the three ingredients to be used for the following month's event. I chose whole grains, ginger and citrus.

Check out all the submissions here - and if you have a food blog, be sure to vote next week!

And here is my submission!

Double-Dipped Ginger & Orange Oat Cookies

• 1 orange, juice and zest
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups wholemeal flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 225g butter
• 0.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 75g crystalised ginger, chopped
• 100g plain chocolate

Heat your oven to 175c.

Prepare the Cookies...
Mix together the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, ground ginger and chopped crystalised ginger.

In a pan, melt the butter with the honey, orange zest and juice. Once completely melted, add the bicarbonate of soda, stir to mix in, then add to the dry ingredients. Mix well - the mixture should be crumbly, but hold form when squeezed.

I wanted to make small bites rather than huge cookies, so I rolled these into small balls about an inch an a half across. I put them on a lightly greased baking sheet and pressed to flatten slightly. Make sure you leave room for them to spread!

Bake the Cookies...
Pop in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes - do not allow to colour too much!

Take them out of the oven and allow to cool before attempting to move them.

Dip the Cookies...
Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in whatever manner you see fit. (Not by chucking it in a pan over direct heat. Trust me - this never works!)

Once the cookies are cooled, dip their bases into the chocolate. Drip off the excess and put onto a flat surface. Put into the fridge until set.

I wasn't happy by the amount of chocolate that clung to my cookies - so I repeated this step - hence double-dipped!

Serve with a good strong coffee. Not for children!

RFJ: Seafood, Sesame and Cilantro - A Trilogy!

I think I may have mentioned in an earlier post, my weird obsessiveness around the number three...

My alarm goes off at 07:09... or occasionally 06:57. I'm eternally greatful that our time system is base 60... cook for 30 seconds, 15 minutes, 45 seconds, lovely... I even make friends' coffee with three 2/3 teaspoons of coffee instead of just 2!

Now... are you still there? I'm not that weird, honest - it's just one of my little quirks ;) I can skip it if I need to... I'd just rather not!

It's not just me - Chinese people consider the number three to be lucky because it sounds like the word 'alive'. And in many other cultures, it is considered a significant number due to the trinity of mind, body and soul.

So anyway, I love that the Royal Foodie Joust has three ingredients, and this month I decided to propogate the three-love by using the three ingredients to make three fingerfoods and three dipping sauces!

The three ingredients were selected this month by Peter of Kalofagas fame, who won last month's joust with this amazing Apricot and Pistachio Cake. He chose Seafood, Sesame and Cilantro/Coriander - as soon as I read the list I knew I was going to have fun with this one!

Seafood, Sesame and Cilantro - A trilogy!

The first of the three is seared marinated tuna (in the middle!), coated with crushed coriander, szechuan pepper corns and sesame seeds. I served this with a thick tahini dressing, complete with a garlicky cilantro swirl.

Secondly, for your delectation, I present sesame-crusted squid (on the right!) with a cilantro and chili yoghurt dipping sauce.

Last, but by no means least - crispy fried wontons (on the left!) with a spicy fish and prawn mousse filling, served with sweet cilantro chili dipping sauce.

I had so much fun thinking up and making these dishes - I hope you like them!

If you like what I've done here, then head on over to the Joust forum and give me a vote ;) But even if you don't, get yourself over there to see the amazing dishes other people have created!

Seared Coriander And Sesame Crusted Tuna

• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice wine
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 crushed garlic clove
• 3 tbsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted
  
• 3 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp szechaun pepper corns
• 2 thick tuna steaks
• ground nut oil for searing
• 1/3 cup sesame seeds (for the tahini)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Large handful cilantro
• 2 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp rice wine
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  
• Zest and juice of half a lemon
  

Marinate the Tuna...
Mix together the sesame oil, soy, rice wine and mirin with the garlic and ginger.

Cut each tuna steak into long thick strips (give 'em three, four sides or more - your call!) and add to the marinade. Coat well and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.

Make the Tahini Sauce...
Take the third of a cup of sesame seeds and toast in a dry pan for 3/4 minutes - being sure to keep them moving and not over-colour.

Once cooled, place them in a mini-blender and blend until smooth. Slowly add the EV olive oil until the sauce is still really thick but not like glue!

Add the lemon juice, 1 tsp rice wine, 1 clove of garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Blend again - it should now be a pourable texture (if not add a little water to loosen).

Make the Cilantro Swirl...
In the mini-blender (time-saving secret - I didn't bother washing mine from the tahini ;) place the cilantro, garlic and lemon zest and blend til smooth. Add olive oil until it reaches a pourable consistency.

Put the Sauce Together...

Put the tahini sauce into the serving dish, then add a dollop of blended cilantro. Attempt some swirly things... probably twice... (I had hoped this was going to come out more 'cheffy' than this - but it wasn't to be! ;)

Cook the Tuna...
Once the tuna has finished marinating, remove it from the fridge.

Pound the coriander seeds and szechuan together until coarsely ground. Place this mixture onto one plate - and the toasted sesame seeds onto another.

Remove the tuna from the marinade and coat each length in either the sesame seeds or the spice mix.

Heat a little oil in a very hot pan, and sear the tuna for no more than a minute on each side - the centre should still be very pink!

Serve!
Slice the tuna and arrange on serving dish with the tahini cilantro dipping sauce.

Sesame Squid With Cilantro Yoghurt Dip

• 1 medium squid, cleaned
• oil for deep frying
• 1 cup milk
• 3 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted and cooled
• 4 tbsp cornflour
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 large handful cilantro
• 1 green chili
• 3/4 cup natural yogurt
• 2/3 drops of sesame oil
• lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the Squid...
Cut the squid into strips and gently criss cross the inside to create a hatch pattern.

Place into the milk and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Mix the corn flour, flour and sesame seeds together in a food bag.

Once the squid has soaked, remove from the milk, shaking off the excess, then place in the bag. Shake bag thoroughly until the squid is well coated.

Remove the squid from the bag and place back in the fridge for at least half an hour - this is what makes the batter so crunchy!

Make the Sauce...
In a mixer, blend the cilantro and the chili together until fairly smooth. Turn out to a bowl and add the coriander and the yoghurt. Mix well, then add lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper to taste.

Refrigerate until required.





Cook the Squid...
Heat the oil until a cube of bread browns in 30 seconds.

Gently drop the squid in - shaking to separate, and being sure not to overcrowd the pan.

Cook for approximately 45 seconds, then remove and drain on some kitchen paper.

Serve with the chili cilantro dipping sauce, and enjoy!

Spicy Seafood Wontons with Sesame Chili Dressing

• 300g white fish (I used cod!)
• 100g prawns
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 12 wonton wrappers
• 2" piece ginger, finely chopped or grated
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• Zest of 1 lime
  
• 2 thai red chillies, finely chopped
  
• 2 egg whites
• 50 ml rice vinegar
• 50 ml water
• 75g sugar
• 1 tsp cornflour
  
• 1 tsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted
  
• Soy sauce to taste
  

This made way more fish mousse than required - but can be used for great leftovers!

Prepare the Fish Mousse...
In a food processor, blitz the white fish until pretty smooth. Add one egg white, one chili, half the ginger, half the garlic, the lime zest, sesame oil and half the fish sauce and blitz again until it becomes 'spongey'.

Roughly chop the prawns and mix into the fish mixture with a spoon or your fingers. (Don't blend this time - we want the prawns to remain fairly intact!)

Prepare the Sauce...
In a mini-blender, blend the other half of the ginger, the other half of the garlic, one chili and a handful of cilantro until finely chopped but not totally pureed.

In a small pan, bring the rice vinegar/ water and sugar to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Mix the cornflour with a spot of water then add to the syrup, with the ginger/garlic mix and a couple of drops of sesame oil. Simmer for another minute or so and remove from the heat.

Prepare The Wontons...
Whisk together one egg white with a little water.

Place a wonton wrapper on a lightly floured surface and brush with the egg white mixture. Place a small teaspoon of filling in the middle and fold over, gently squeezing out all the air and pressing the edges together. Make into a shape if you want - I just kinda folded the long corners in and stuck them togther... I had a crazy idea about pan-frying the seam with a sesame seed mix. Which didn't work out - more on that in a sec!

Place in a steamer (make sure they aren't touching!!)

Cook the Wontons...
Once they are all prepared, steam for 4-5 minutes, then remove from the heat...

... right, so it was at his point that things started to go wrong... some of my wontons were touching - and when I tried to separate them the wrapper tore...

Emergency re-think required. My original thought had been to coat two side of the wonton in sesame seeds and pan-fry for a minute or two to give a lovely crunchy edge. But that wasn't going to work with my poor little torn wontons... So, noticing that my oil was nicely hot I decided to briefly deep-fry them instead!

Woo hoo - they were delicious! Make sure the oil is really nice and hot - these have already been cooked, we're just crisping them up. Fry for a minute or two then drain on kitchen paper.

Beware - they are still sticky little buggers, don't do too many at once - and keep them moving!

Serve!
With a squeeze of lime juice and sweet chili and cilantro sauce!

Royal Foodie Joust: Lime Raspberry Stuffed Cupcakes

Hmmm... I really can't think of a good name for these cupcakes! Raspberry lime cupcake surprise? Marzipan, Lime and Raspberry cupcakes?? Lime and Raspberry Marzicupcakes??? I give up, and apologise for the unimaginative title!

This is my entry to the Royal Foodie Joust, hosted by newly-wed Jenn over at The Leftover Queen. This month's challenge was to use limes, raspberries and almonds. And for some reason I had a total mind blank! I don't usually do sweet - and no savoury inspiration was forth-coming... Until last week, when I thought about making some marzipan from scratch... which made me think of almonds... then the joust... and in the space of an hour I had this recipe pretty much planned!

Now, as I mentioned I don't usually do much with sweet foods - I even had to go out and buy a muffin pan! But now that I have had a go and realised it isn't so scary (and it's a shame to let my shiny new bakeware go to waste ;), I have some more muffin/cup cakes recipes just desperate to be tried. My work mates will be pleased too - they got to eat the fruits of this experiment!

Lime Raspberry Stuffed Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes!

• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 50g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 small pot raspberry yoghurt
  
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup of frozen raspberries
• 250g ground almonds
• 250g icing sugar
• 4 limes
• Raspberry jam
• Icing sugar to make frosting

Prepare the Marzipan...
Sift the almonds and sugar into a bowl (I was feeling lazy again, so used my processor!) Mix in one beaten egg and the zest of two limes and mix to a stiff dough. If the dough is too dry mix in some of the lime juice - if it is too dry add some lime juice to moisten, if it's too wet add some more icing sugar. Knead for a couple of minutes, wrap tightly in clingfilm and put into the fridge overnight.

Make the Marzipan Discs...
Take about a third* of the chilled marzipan onto a surface lightly floured with icing sugar. Roll it out to be about 3mm deep. Spread with raspberry jam and roll up like a swiss roll. I ran into some difficulty here as the marzipan was stuck to my board - so I'd recommend rolling it out on greaseproof paper that has been 'floured' with icing sugar :)

Ideally put these rolls back in the fridge to chill before slicing them into 4-5mm thick rounds just before you use them!

Make the Cupcake Batter...
Again, I used my processor with the dough hook attached to make these - no idea if that was the best thing to use - but they turned out as expected so can't have been too bad!

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the butter and pulse lightly til the butter looks like very large bread crumbs.

In a separate bowl mix together the milk, yoghurt, vanilla extract and 2 eggs. Once mixed add into the flour mixture in two goes - being careful not to over-mix it! Add the raspberries, give it a stir and we're good to go!

Prepare the cupcakes...
Pre-heat oven to 170c & line a muffin tray with paper cases.

Place a tablespoonful of batter into each case, then lay a marzipan/jam round into each one. Divide the rest of the batter equally between the cases.

Bake for about 20 minutes - they should feel firm to the touch (Note that the skewer test will be skewed (groan!) as the marzipan centre will make it look unclean even if the batter is properly cooked.

Cool on a wire rack.

Decorate!
Mix 6 tablespoons of icing sugar with just enough lime juice to make a very thick paste. Mix in some raspberry jam to make it pretty and pink! (I had to sieve my jam first to get out the seeds...)

Top each cupcake with a spoonful of icing sugar, a couple of almonds and a marzipan disc!







* that's all you need for this recipe. I should probably have decreased the recipe more. Lime zest marzipan is good though - so I'm sure you'll think up some use for it!

Help - food blog OD!

Ok, just relax... breathe into the brown paper (deli) bag...

...in through the nose... out through the mouth...

Breathe in......

...... and out......

(I think I can smell coconut based curry... and chocolate... eek, it's all in my head... olfactory hallucinations!)

...... and in......

...... and out......

Ok, ok, I'm starting to feel a little more composed.

I came online to put up a post (I cooked shrimp for the very first time last night... no I didn't... I mean squid - I think I'm having a foodie meltdown! Anyway, the post can wait!) But I got a little distracted by the Royal Foodie Joust Entries. I decided to load them all into tabs and have a proper read of them all - a big task, there are over 30 listed!

And that was when my problems began. Many of the blogs I hadn't visited much (if at all) and I began getting twisted into a web of food posts. My stomach was rumbling, my mouth watering. I was simultaneously craving chocolate truffles, shrimp and empanadas... My google reader was starting to bulge... I was already way behind with my subscriptions... which were expanding at an alarming rate...

So much fabulous food to find out about... I consider myself lucky to have have to chance to read about it - even if I have to accept there aren't enough mealtimes in a lifetime to try to cook everything I want to! But with so much information and amazing ideas, isn't it great to know you need never cook the same meal twice!

So, I just remembered I took some flowery pics from my garden over the weekend, so thought I'd post them here as a calming measure! And to remember that Spring is most definitely here! The Clocks have changed now - it's daylight well into the evening. Hopefully soon I'll be able to start taking my blog pics by natural light - woo hoo!

A type of heliboris... hmmm fairly sure it isn't spelt like that!

It's an... erm... I have no memory for garden things... except herbs!!

Anyway, it's back to work for me for a bit... then I'll be back to post about squid!

Royal Foodie Joust: Malaysian Fish Kebabs

This is a strange post. Partly, because I already know it is going to seem inordinately long for the final effort. But also because I am currently flying over Carlisle at a cruising speed of 34,000 feet. Or so Pete, our captain, has just informed me! And finally, because I haven’t even finished cooking my dish yet (nor am I likely while at this altitude).

But I unexpectedly have to return to my native Scotland for a meeting on Monday morning… and decided to take advantage of the trip to stop in and see the parents – for a hug, a natter and some good, Scottish home-cooking! Tonight, I have chosen steak pie… made from skirt of beef and beef sausages, served with creamy mashed potato and real gravy. And I even get a proper breakfast tomorrow – square sausage pieces with broon sauce! Yum yum yum – it doesn’t seem too difficult to say no to the budget airline’s reheated soggy panini - even though my belly is rumbling!

So back to why I am writing my post at 34,000 feet, when I haven’t finished cooking! The Royal Foodie Joust is hosted by HRH Jen over at The Leftover Queen. I have been curious about it since I started food-blogging, and finally registered on the forum a couple of weeks ago. Each month three ingredients are chosen, and each entrant has to make a dish which includes all three. This month, the ingredients are coconut, lime and something from the sea… These are my kind of ingredients, and I had worked out my recipe within a few hours of registering!

Coconut and Limes!

But real life kicks in, and between Easter weekend, illness and work I realised that the only night I would have to make my dish was tonight – Sunday. Which gave me one day to write it up – perfect!

But my unexpected trip has thrown that askew. I briefly thought about offering to cook for my parents, but I selfishly wanted my mum’s home-cooking (plus, I haven’t told them about my blog yet so the camera may surprise them!)

…

I am now in Edinburgh airport – my steak pie was fabulous, the sausage square, and my meeting concluded to the satisfaction of all. I have, however, just eaten a rather sub-standard chicken Caesar salad (not so good) and am quaffing a large glass of pinot grigio (much better!) So here goes for 40 minutes typing before I have to proceed to the gate!

So, tonight I am flying back to Brighton, where upon I need to go to the supermarket to buy some fish, prawns and cilantro (fishmongers will be closed by then!), before heading home to finish cooking my entry for RFJ. I hope that by preparing the curry paste and dipping sauce yesterday morning, then by starting my post in the air, I will actually make the deadline!

I wanted to make something a bit different. The ingredients obviously call out for Asian handling, and it seemed like ages since I did something new. Soup? No, I seem to have made a LOT of soup recently. Curry? Meh. No, fancy something different, really. Asian-Brit Fusion? (Think coconut breaded cod, with chips and a limey tartar sauce…) Hmm… maybe not!

I eventually hit on an idea – spicy fish kebabs, with a limey dipping sauce. But I had to make the paste, and the dipping sauce, from scratch… This has more of a Malaysian influence – containing the slightly earthier spices of Indian cusine, as well as the fresh/salty/sweet of Thai food! The three key ingredients: lime, coconut and the sea, feature in every element of this dish… I’ll let you know how it goes later!!

A lot of chillies - 15 Thai red chillies to make 6 kebabs! I love the Thai shop round the corner!!

Malaysian Fish Kebabs

200g raw prawns
450g cod fillets
Half a grated fresh coconut
4 lime leaves, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lime
1/2 cup Curry Paste
3 Thai red chillies
6 lemongrass skewers
1 tsp brown sugar
Fish sauce/Thick Soy sauce – to taste

Take about 2/3 each of the prawns and cod and blitz to a fine paste. Roughly chop the remaining prawns and cod – you want a bit of interesting texture to it!

Mix both sets of seafood with the curry paste, coconut, lime leaves, lime zest, chillies and sugar. Take a little dod of the mixture and fry it til cooked through. Taste this and adjust seasoning with fish sauce/ soy as required. I suppose you could have only added half the chillies to this point, and adjust the heat here too – but I like it spicy so didn’t bother!!

My coconut - took me ages to get it to this!!

Divide the mixture into six and squeeze round the lemongrass sticks. Put under a medium grill for about 10 minutes, turning frequently, until cooked through.

In their pre-cooked state!

Serve with the dipping sauce and wedges of fresh lime!

Yum yum yum!!!

If you like what you see, you can vote for me here - but do check out the other entrants - there are loads of fabulous entries - stores worldwide will be running out of limes and coconuts!