Date Archives April 2016

Bream, Fennel, Prawn Bisque

April 24, 2016 Comments Off read Seafood

struggle with choosing my ‘last meal’ when asked on occasion but a bouillabaisse, bisque or seafood dish comes high up there with my true foodie loves hence my adoration of this simple bisque sauce. I have previously blogged this but due to its rich and deep flavour it only requires a simple and fuss free accompaniment so served here with roasted fennel and bream its devine. I am always staggered and amazed at the amount of flavour that the otherwise wasted shells and heads of the prawns make to a sauce! Such a depth of traditional flavours. Topped with fennel, simply fried fish and the meaty rewards of the prawns its a simple weekend feast that takes relatively no time, just some organisation, prep and speed and focus on delivery! Voila…

Note the lack of carb here purely due to the richness of the rest of the ingredients. But this would be lovely served with some buttery chive mash as seen here or with a thickly sliced and toasted sour dough crouton and punchy rouille seen here.

Serves 4

1 x Prawn bisque recipe (see here) using about 12 large, shelled king prawns (see note for shelling and deveining prawns)
4 sea bream fillets
2 bulbs fennel, halves vertically
Small glass white wine
Handful parsley and chives, chopped finely
1 large bag spinach
1 knob butter
1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with foil. Add the halved fennel bulbs and season well. Drizzle with a touch of olive oil and then pour over the white wine. Roast for about 40 minutes until tender and beginning to char.
Make the sauce as per the instructions and keep warm while you cook the seafood.
When the sauce is done and warming and the fennel is cooked the next few steps need to be done quickly so ensure that everything else is ready to go and at hand. I advise that you pop your serving dish (shallow bowls recommended) in the oven at this point so that they are warm on serving.
Heat a splash of oil in a large frying pan over a medium high heat. Cut each bream fillet in half and then score the skin to prevent it curling up on the hot pan. Season. When the oil is hot, add the fish skin side down and then throw in your cleaned shelled prawns.
Cook skin side down for about 2-3 minutes until he flesh on top is only pink in the centre and the flesh is starting to cook through. Add the knob of butter to the pan and flip the prawns and the fish and finish the cook for a final minute coating in the butter. Add the lemon before removing the prawns and fish from the pan and setting aside for 1 minute to rest while you cook the spinach.
Add the spinach to remaining pan oil and butter and wilt as you like.
To serve, place a handful of the spinach in the base of your serving bowl and top with a wedge of the fennel.
Top each with two halves of the bream.
Roll the prawns briefly in the chopped herbs and arrange around the outside.
Finally, spoon over around 4 tbsp of the sauce around the dish and scatter with any leftover herbs.

NOTE: To shell and devein a prawn. Take your raw prawn and crudely snap off the head and set aside. Now take the legs and peel outwards away from the body. The prawn has a thin and plastic like shell which peels away easily. You should be able to take this off in one piece, legs and tail too but its usually required broken into pieces. Set these aside too and then rinse the prawn in cold water.

Deveining is important. It removes the outer backbone intestinal vein which is unpleasant and unprofessional to leave in and eat. With a sharp knife carefully slice down the back of the peeled prawn vertically only cutting about 2mm into the flesh. You should see a black vein. Very carefully as it will break easily, get your knife tip underneath and prize out the vein and discard. The prawns will now also have a fanned outer edge giving the look they have when fried.

Turkish Spiced Meatballs

April 18, 2016 Comments Off read Meat

hilst the weather today has been glorious and sunny its still felt a little chilly around the ankles and certainly not the April weather I was hoping for! But as long as it isn’t April showers and May holds more promise then I can cope with that. So a Sunday evening after a long and satisfying gym session, run and ahem…jacuzzi session….a home comfort was required to replenish the nutrients and fuel me for another challenging week at work. But nothing on ‘forage in the pantry’ can be complete without the odd scattering of spice, dusting of chopped herbs or middle Eastern influence. So with Istanbul on the mind as the new top draw on my prized ‘must visit’ list, Turkish meatballs sprang to hungry mind and it wasn’t long before I was enjoying a satisfied hunger.

Serves 2

Meatballs

450g minced lamb
2 tbsp raisins
3 tbsp pistachios, roughly chopped
Pinch smoked paprika
Pinch ground cumin
Handful flat leaf parsley, chopped

Sauce

1 can chopped tomatoes
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin seed, crushed
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
50g pearl barley/100g giant cous cous
Large handful flat leaf parsley, chopped

Start by combining the meatball ingredients in a large bowl with some seasoning. Shape into 8 large golf ball sized meatballs and chill in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
Simmer the pearl barley/giant cous cous in boiling water until cooked according to packet instructions. Drain and set aside to keep warm.
Preheat the over to 170°C and remove the meatballs from the fridge. Heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.
Fry the meatballs to seal and brown for 2-3 minutes. Once well browned on the outside, wrap in some foil and place in the low oven to bake slowly while you prepare the sauce.
Fry the chopped onion in the leftover lamb juices in the same frying pan adding a little more oil if needed. Soften for 5 minutes until translucent and beginning to brown. Add the chopped garlic and cook for a few more minutes.
Add the ground spices and mix to coat the onion.
Add the chopped tomatoes and a little hot water to thin the sauce to the desired consistency and add some salt and pepper.
Simmer for 5 minutes before adding the vinegar, the drained barely and all but a handful of the parsley. Taste and adjust accordingly. Add a little more water if needed.
Remove the meatballs from the over and add, with any juices from the foil, to the pan. Simmer for a few minutes to heat through.
Serve in deep warmed bowls topped with a scattering of the remaining parsley.

My first Supper Club…

April 11, 2016 Comments Off read Uncategorized

or anyone who knows me they’d have been aware of my longstanding but parked dream of launching my first supper club on behalf of ‘forage in the pantry’. A live blog if you will. During university I very nearly undertook the challenge but the devils of revision, a busy lab schedule and an unhealthy bank account were not the ideal ingredients for a successful supper club. So only around 4 years later I have finally accomplished one of my many foodie ambitions that has stood tall and proud on my new year resolution list for some time now.

When the venue essentially found me it was Stefan at ‘Porter at Embassy Gardens’ who’s niche, original and cosy cafe-come-restaurant charmed me on arrival within moments of stepping over the threshold. The chequered floor, the cured hanging meats, the piano or simply the smell of freshly ground coffee it wasn’t a case of shall I do my supper club here, it was when!

With Moroccan and middle Eastern cuisine having a heavy place in my culinary heart my menu was created. Tickets sold out in two exciting days so it wasn’t long before the night arrived and 30 hungry guests graced Battersea for an evening of spice, flavour and charm. And what a night it was…..

A quick moment before the first of my guests arrived to capture the dream team girls who helped make the night what it was and for who I cannot thank enough!

ictures say a thousand words. But nothing can quite capture how truly special this night was for me personally but for the amazing atmosphere that my fantastic foodie guests created. Excitement, hunger, intrigue and pride. The drinks were flowing, the smells of Morocco filled the room and the gentle candles silently calmed our moods and transported us far from the busy lives of London.

This evening was truly one of those moments in my life I will remember forever. I can certainly recall a handful of memories that are embedded on my metal pin bin as being so significantly memorable. Degree results, graduation, holidays and job offers. The moments that you can draw on at any low point to bring a smile to your face. And this is now one of them.

Moroccan spiced lamb leg with Ras el Hanout and chilli, butterflied and roasted, carved and served….

…a top a creamy lime and cardamon yoghurt and green herb bulghar wheat salad, studded with toasted almonds, juicy raisins and pomegranate seed gems…

Followed by my favourite blackcurrant and almond tart with homemade coffee and cinnamon ice cream, and a girly scattering of rose petals.

And if I hadn’t been smiling enough, it was the charming and simply magical tones of my dear friend singer songwriter Doll Duncan who performed what can only be described as my favourite cover of my favourite song of all time that topped off this event. What a special evening and heres to the next! There will be another, so watch this space for your tickets as you won’t want to miss it trust me!

All photography and video courtesy of my good friend Keith Hammond at http://www.gigshooters.com

Harissa Chicken With Orange Herb Barley Salad

April 6, 2016 Comments Off read Poultry, Vegetables and Salads

ts safe to say I’m a fan of Greece. The food, the weather, the glassy wakeboard inviting waters and the calming pace of life. I’ve even been partial to the odd Greek wine! I visit every year for my dose of Vitamin D and halloumi and to brush up on my water sports. But I’ll focus on the food for the time being. After experimenting with a unassuming pack of Odysea’s deliciously authentic Saganaki cheese last year it was time to venture into their range a bit more with my appreciation of Greece and the Med. Being the good natured Greek loving company that they are I arrived home one Friday evening after work to a box of delightful goodies to sample and experiment with!

And sample I did.

This recipe is adapted from a Bill Granger combination I once saw and with all the right flavours from Odysea (with the odd ‘forage in the pantry’ twist) it was the perfect foundation for my med inspired dish to help prolong the recent spring sun. The roasted oranges add a really unusual touch here along with the gentle spicing which are a perfect match with Odysea’s punchy, creamy and crumbly feta cheese. Heaps of mint, dill and lemon juice bring it all to life and sooth the post harissa spice! One to give a go on a sunny but still brisk Spring evening.

Serves 4

2 small oranges
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp ‘Odysea Wild Thyme & Fragrant Honey’
2 tbsp olive oil
200g pearl barely or spelt
Juice 1 lemon
1 carrot grated
200g ‘Odysea Greek Feta‘, crumbled in large chunks
Large handful mint leaves
Small handful dill, finely chopped
2 small poussin (or 4 joints of chicken e.g. chicken legs, thighs etc)
4-6 tbsp of ‘Odysea Harissa spread‘ or 2 tbsp harissa paste
2 large garlic cloves
Salad to serve – I used a crisp mix of chicory, little gems and watercress dressed in some lemon and extra virgin olive oil (Odysea of course)

Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Marinade the poussin in the harissa, seasoning well and then add 1 pealed, gently crushed garlic clove to each cavity and set aside.
Slice the oranges thinly and place on a lined baking tray evenly spread. Grind the fennel, cumin and chilli flakes in a pestle and mortar and then add the honey and olive oil and mix well. Coat the oranges slices in the mixture.
Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, keeping an eye on them until they begin to caramelise and char. This time with vary depending on how juicy the oranges are. Leave to cool slightly.
Cook the barely or spelt according to the packet instructions until tender then drain well and leave to cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, turn the oven down to 190°C and place the poussin on a lined baking tray. Bake for around 40 minutes until tender and the juices run clear. Set aside to rest while you finish the salad.
Add the warm oranges slices to the drained grains.
Stir in the juice of the lemon, plenty of salt and pepper and the chopped dill.
Scatter in the crumbled feta, the grated carrot and stir to combine.
Finally, roughly chop the mint at the last minute and add to the grains and stir.
Loosen with a little more lemon or a splash of extra virgin olive oil if needed
Carve your rested poussin in half and serve half each alongside the grain and green salad, scattered with extra mint if you like

NOTES: This would also be lovely with a side of warm pillowy flatbreads, dipped into a cleansing and fresh lime and coriander yoghurt or tzatziki.

For a wine match I would suggest a fresh Chenin Blanc or the slightly aromatic taste of Viognier.