Posts tagged lime

Indian Fish

March 29, 2015 Comments Off read Seafood

You can use any fish here. I made this with a generous plumpy salmon on Mother’s Day, a clean mango ribbon salad, coriander lime chickpeas and Peshwari naan. However, sea bass this evening served with pistachio, coriander and cinnamon raisin rice and greens was equally as delicious and adoring. Both with this creamy, cooling cardamon laden, lime spiked yoghurt splashed slap-handedly over the spicy garam marsala crust is enough to satisfy even the most adoring Indian take-out stalker.

Serves 2

2 x salmon or seabass fillets
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp olive oil
150g natural yoghurt
Juice and zest 1 lime
1 tsp ground cardamon

Mix together the garam masala and oil in a bowl and coat the fish fillets with your hands. Set aside in the fridge to marinade for 2 hours or so
Meanwhile, mix together the yoghurt, lime zest and juice and the cardamon. Season and taste.
If using salmon, preheat the oven to 200°C. When ready to cook, bring a frying pan up to a high heat. Add 1tbsp of olive oil.
When hot, add the fish skin side down and hold down to prevent the skin curling up.
Fry for 2 minutes until eh skin is lovely and crisp. If using sea bass, fry until just cooked and turn onto the flesh side to finish cooking for the final minute (about 3 minutes cooking in total). If using salmon, fry until the skin is crisp and then place in the hot oven for about 7 minutes depending on their size. If they are thick fillets (2inch or so) allow this time. If thinner (1cm or so) allow about 5 minutes, Do not overcook!
Serve the spicy, warm and soft fish fillets with a spoonful of creamy yoghurt and scattering of fresh coriander leaf.

Harissa Salmon

March 14, 2015 Comments Off read Seafood

This is a beautiful salmon recipe. Not just aesthetically but a taste bud teaser too. And not just for salmon….the first time I made this I used a lovely white sea bream fillet which also stands up to the harissa flavour well. Harissa is a lovely firey Tunisian paste made form red peppers, hot chillis and spices and has a natural affinity with rose from its neighbouring Moroccan friend. Salmon filliets rubbed in this spicy paste and cooled with a vibrant lime and turmeric yoghurt were a match made in North African Tunisian heaven.

Serves 2

2 salmon (or sea bream) fillets
1 heaped tsp harissa paste
½ tsp ground cumin
150g natural yoghurt
1 lime, juice and zest
Small knob of fresh turmeric
½ tsp ground turmeric
Coriander to garnish
Rose petal to garish (optional)
Brown rice/couscous to serve

Begin by marinading the salmon fillets. Mix together the cumin and harissa in a bowl and rub the salmon fillets in this paste all over. Season and set aside for a few hours in the fridge to infuse
Meanwhile, make the yoghurt. Mix together the yoghurt, zest and ½ the juice of the lime and season. Grated in the turmeric root (careful it will stain your hands!) and finally stir in the ground turmeric.
Season well and taste. Add more lime juice if you think it needs more zesty taste. Set aside
When ready to cook your salmon, heat to over to 190°C.
Heat a frying pan over a medium high heat and add 1tbsp oil.
Fry the salmon, skin side down to crisp the skin for about 1-2 minutes. The harissa may catch and look burnt but this is ok. Turn to sear on the flesh side for a further minute to create a golden crust.
Immediately transfer to the oven on a foil lined baking tray and cook for about 5 minutes depending on how thick your salmon is. Don’t be tempted to over cook this! Salmon will take no time at all in a hot oven and will carry on cooking when removed anyway.
Serve the salmon on a generous spoonful of your creamy yoghurt. Top with a scattering of rose petals and chopped coriander alongside some rice or couscous.

BBQ Chicken, Lime Slaw, Cheesy Polenta Chips

October 21, 2014 Comments Off read Poultry

I love American food but it can be pretty big and diabetes inducing at times. But it can be done in a more refined way. Who doesn’t love the taste of spicy, sticky BBQ sauce lathered chicken. And as if not enough, a cooling, creamy and sharp tangy lime slaw is as welcome here as an ice cream in the Sahara.Tempted by spicy sweet potato chips I went for an alternative (like my demeanour) and a more health conscious unbeatable crunchy cheesy polenta chip. They were awesome. Girls, this is not date food mind (well first date food) I think there was more sauce on my face, hands, table and elbows (yes elbows…!) than on the chicken. Made to be devoured in the most unclassy fashion with a beer on a windy rainy October.

NOTE: This BBQ sauce recipe is very much like this one here. Use either!

Serves 2

Chicken

2 chicken legs, jointed into thigh and drumstick is you like
½ tsp cumin seed
½ tsp fennel seed
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 ½ tsp smoked paprika
Zest and juice of ½ orange
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
75ml ketchup
Sprig of thyme and rosemary

Crush the cumin and fennel together in a pestle and morta with the rosemary and thyme.
Add to a bowl with the rest of the marinade ingredients and add the chicken.
Leave in the fridge to marinade for about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the chicken in a dish and cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes.
After this time, turn the heat up and remove the foil. Cook for about 10 more minutes until the skin and topping is crispy and the chicken is cook through. I popped mine under the grill at this point too to get a really sticky crispy coating.

Slaw (pretty much open to any crunchy raw vegetables. I used a mix of the below)

1 red pepper, sliced thinly
Handful of sugar snap peas, sliced thinly
½ small cabbage
1 small carrot, sliced thinly, grated or julienned
Bunch mint, chopped
Bunch coriander, chopped
3-4 tbsp natural yoghurt
1 tsp mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
Zest of 1 lime, juice of half

Mix the vegetable together in a bowl
Add the herbs and the lime zest
Add the mayo, yoghurt some good seasoning and the lime juice together in a mug and stir well.
Use as much as necessary to coat the vegetables.

Polenta Chips

100g fast cook polenta, plus a little extra for dusting
400ml (half water half milk)
½ small chilli, chopped
Handful coriander, chopped
Large handful grated parmesan
Salt and pepper

Oil/line a shallow soup bowl or baking tray that will hold the polenta and create about 2cm thickness.
Heat the milk and water in a saucepan until it just comes to the simmer.
Season the polenta well and add to the hot liquid in a thin stress stirring all the time. Keep stirring and it should begin to thicken very quickly and bubble. Keep stirring for a few minutes before adding the cheese, coriander and chilli. Keep stirring until it is thick like custard or porridge. Remove from the heat.
Pour into the greased bowl.tray and smooth out to the thickness of 2cm. Chill quickly and leave to set for about 20 minutes.
When cooled and set, turn onto a chopping board and cut into chip sized chunks. Dust with excess polenta
Fry in a hot pan in a little oil until golden brown and crispy. Drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle with flaky maldon salt.

Cool as a Wardlaw…

October 1, 2014 Comments Off read Drinks

If you’ve ever been on an activity watersports holiday you’ll know that you usually return home needing a rest with an aching body equivalent to a bed bound OAP. A week in sunny Greece wakeboarding by day and re-hydrating on cocktails by night with bowlfuls of Greek salads and hog roasts set me up for some inspiration on my return home. Sadly the limes don’t grow fresh from the trees in London so Waitrose will have to do.

After and intense day on the water followed by an ‘Ab attack’ class this refreshing, healthy and downright delicious drink was the perfect way to cool our angry abs. Post workout it started as this innocent cucumber, mint and crushed ice drink….

But once showered and the clock hit 6pm it even more deliciously turned into this….a gin laced version we got the barman to ‘knock up’. I like to call it the ‘Cool as a Wardlaw’.

Serves 2 (ish)

1 small cucumber
Large bunch mint
2 shots (Innocent) apple juice
1-2 shots fresh lime juice
Crushed ice
Optional – 2 shots gin and cucumber to garnish

Mix in a blender until combined. Add more ice or any other ingredient to taste and balance. I only watched in awe from behind the bar as this was made so measurements were by eye and were to taste. It tasted different each time, more savoury post-workout, sweeter and punchy with lime as an evening tipple. Experiment!

Use Innocent apple juice. Not only as my loving sister happens to work for Innocent but it is delicious and conveniently on tap for me. Plus, the halo seems to reassure you that gin is a good addition, yes a good addition……?!

Almond Blackcurrant Tarts with Salted Lime

September 29, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

I spent a gorgeously sunny few days at home in Wiltshire this weekend and had to make a batch of my favourite sweet treat. The recipe is from one of my previous blog posts but adapted slightly with some lime salt which I thought was a quirky experiment. I love salt with sweetness and the sharp lime and blackcurrant in this recipe make sure you’ll never forget the taste. Served with coconut ice cream it would happily top off my last meal…

Recipe

1 x Blackcurrant almond tart recipe
1-2 limes
2 tbsp icing sugar
Pinch salt
Mint to decorate

Make the basic tartlets as per the recipe link above adding the zest of 1 lime to the frangipane mixture.
For the icing, mix about 2 tbsp of icing sugar with a tiny amount of lime juice and mix until thick. Add more icing sugar if its too runny. Spoon into a plastic piping bag and snip off the end.
Once cool, ice a neat pattern or random design on top.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 75°C. Place the zest of 1- ½ a lime on a piece of parchment on a baking tray and dry in the low oven for about 20 minutes to intensify the flavours. Alternatively you can leave it to dry overnight. Mix the dried zest with a tiny pinch of salt.
Scatter sparingly on top of the tarts and top with a few dainty leaves of mint.

Lime Curd Bounty Bites

September 27, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

A little experiment from another Greek treat my sister and I recently collapsed over in owe and love on our recent holiday. ‘Calm down’ you may say, its basically a bounty stuck on a biscuit? Agreed. But a good one and after a 5th evening of baklava, this was most welcome.

On returning home I’ve adapted my own version. I usually use recipes, books and blogs just for inspiration more than a guide and I’m not one to steal recipes like for like without my own twist. But the filling needed a starting point so I’ve used the solid recipe from a fellow blogger (see here….but please return!) and spiked mine with lime curd. Like I say, it was an experiment and apparently lime curd doesn’t freeze? (see recipe for more detail on this) But these still turned out pretty awesome.

PS. No I didn’t stick mine to a biscuit but a ginger snap wouldn’t go a-miss here. Or anywhere for that matter?

Makes about 15

140g unsweetened desiccated coconut (and some for decoration)
40ml coconut oil, melted
30ml maple syrup
Lime curd – optional (enough for 1tsp/bite)
Zest 1 lime
100g Green & Blacks 85% dark chocolate (Also good here would be their lemon flavour bar)

Begin by combining the coconut, 35ml of the coconut oil, syrup and a pinch of salt in a food processor until well combined.
Use a ice cube tray or mini cupcake mould and line with cling film. If using the lime curd, drop a small tsp into each.
Fill each hole with a tsp or so of the coconut and push down until compressed well on top of the curd (if using)
Freeze until set for about 2 hours.
After this, melt the chocolate over simmering water and set aside.
Remove the coconut from the freezer and take each from their wells and place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. The lime curd will probably be a bit sticky but go with it if you can.
Dip each piece using two forks into the bowl of melted chocolate until covered fully and place flat side down on the baking parchment
Repeat with the remaining pieces and top with a sprinkle of coconut and lime zest while the chocolate is still not fully set.
Place in the fridge until set and then store in an air tight container so they don’t pick up any nasty fridge odours…!

Sticky Soy Chicken with Baby Chilli Courgettes

August 26, 2014 Comments Off read Poultry, Vegetables and Salads

A sticky ‘packs-a-punch’ glaze for some succulent chicken pieces courtesy of Bill Granger. I’ve managed to make it through my growing culinary life without (shamefully) having had Bill’s influence on any of my dishes? It could be his Australian roots that have kept his foodie inspiration at bay or perhaps (more likely) the Jamie Oliver shaped blinkers strapped to my head that had maintained my tunnel vision since discovering cooking? Who knows? However, with ‘Granger’s & Co’ round the corner from work and a growing love for Asian/Fusion cooking I have been sampling some of his culinary delights from Bills Asian Cookbook which is where this chicken marinade comes in. Baby courgettes courtesy of Portobello Market but normal ones work fine too!

Serves 2

Roasted Courgettes

6 baby courgettes
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
Bunch coriander, finely chopped
Juice ½ lime

Chicken

4 chicken thighs/chicken pieces
30ml dark soy sauce
25ml Fish sauce
55g brown sugar
2 garlic cloves
Light Olive oil

To Serve: Coconut rice (I made mine with red Camargue rice here)

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Heat a frying pan until hot with a little oil and brown the chicken all over until golden. Transfer to a baking dish and bake for about 15 minutes until cooked through.
At the same time, roast the courgettes. Slice in half if using baby courgettes or into chunks if using large ones. Drizzle with oil and place in a roasting tray. Roast with the chicken for about 20 minutes. This can keep roasting until tender while you finish the chicken on the hob. (The courgettes also work amazingly grilled or charred on a griddle pan or BBQ)
To finish the chicken, heat a little oil in a saucepan and fry the garlic lightly. Add the cooked chicken and the soy sauce and cover with a lid. Leave to simmer on a low heat for about 6-7 minutes making sure the pan doesn’t cook dry.
Turn up the heat and add the sugar and fish sauce and stir to dissolve and combine. Heat for just a few minutes until the sauce goes syrupy and glazes the chicken.
Remove the courgettes from the oven and toss with the chopped coriander and red chilli. Squeeze over a little lime juice.
Serve the chicken on creamy coconut rice with the chilli courgettes and coated liberally in any excess glaze.

Lime Salmon, Sesame Courgette Noodles

August 24, 2014 Comments Off read Seafood, Vegetables and Salads

Here is a delicious new salmon recipe I’ve been meaning to attempt! Inspired and adapted from ‘Moorish; cook book. Drying the lime zest here really intensifies the flavour and baking in a parchment parcel guarantees a beautifully moist salmon fillet. Serving suggestions are endless but I’m obsessed with my julienne peeler so not even my countlessly grated fingers (they are very sharp!) has stopped my experiments. Use here for a courgette ‘noodle’ salad. I literally think I’d choose these oven pasta in a blind tasting. Healthier and more delicious. Sorry Italy.

Serves 2

Lime Salmon

2 salmon fillets
1 tsp fennel seeds, lightly roasted and crushed
Zest of 1 lime
Pinch Cayenne pepper/Chilli powder
¼ tsp chilli flakes
2 tbsp olive oil

Courgette Noodle Salad

1 large courgette
½ small cucumber
Bunch mint, finely chopped
Bunch coriander, chopped
Small green chilli, chopped finely
1 tsp sesame oil
Juice ½ lime
Handful roasted salted peanuts

Preheat the oven to 75°C. Place the lime zest on a piece of parchment on a baking tray and dry in the low oven for about 20 minutes to intensify the flavours. Alternatively you can leave it to dry overnight.
Mix the dried zest with the fennel seed, chilli and cayenne.
Turn the oven up to 190°C. Rub the salmon in olive oil and coat with the spice mix. Place each fillet on an oiled piece of parchment and wrap into a parcel. If you fillets are the same thickness as mine, roast for 10minutes which will give you a lovely slightly pink centre.
Meanwhile, using a julienne peeler (recommended purchase for any health food/raw food junkie. They are so quick to use) julienne the courgette and the cucumber into a bowl. Add the chopped herbs and chilli and scatter with the nuts. Mix with the sesame oil and the lime juice and toss all together,
When the salmon is cooked, remove from the parchment and serve on top of the courgette noodles and rice if you like!

Rhubarb Sorbet and Ginger Treacle Tart

April 22, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

I really think this is one of the prettiest and simplest desserts that you can have this time of year. Nothing but some old stale breadcrumbs, humble hardy grown rhubarb and some sweet tangy ginger. Cold golf balls of frozen candy floss to top a pointy slice of warm ginger spiced treacle tart after the slow roasted spring lamb shoulder we devoured for Easter lunch.

I’ve always grown my own rhubarb letting it ripen naturally around the summer time into gangly red and green fingers of sweet and sour goodness. But Portobello market is bursting with the ‘forced’ type at the moment and I couldn’t resist bagging some of the leggy, blushing pastel pink stems for this killer sorbet.

Serves 12

Rhubarb Sorbet

800g forced, pink rhubarb, chopped
175g caster sugar
100ml water
1 lime

Mix the chopped rhubarb with the caster sugar and and place in a saucepan. Heat gently with the water until beginning to soften and simmer for about 5 minutes.
When tender, remove from the heat, squeeze in the lime juice and leave to cool slightly.
Puree until smooth, taste and adjust with sugar or lime (it should be a little sweeter than you like as the freezing with dampen this) and then churn in an ice cream maker for about 30 minutes. Alternatively, pour into a container and freeze, mixing every 30mins-1hr to break up the ice crystals until set.

Ginger Treacle Tart

Pastry

125g chilled butter
250g flour
Zest ½ orange
Cold water

Filing

200g white breadcrumbs (the staler the better)
400g golden syrup
2 eggs, beaten
Pinch ground ginger
2-3 balls of preserved stem ginger, chopped finely
½ lemon, zest and juice

Start with the pastry. Mix the butter into the flour in a processor or with your hands until you form a breadcrumb like texture. Mix in the orange zest. Add a spoonful of cold water, a small bit at a time and mix into the flour and butter until you can form a smooth dough. Shape into a disc, wrap in cling film and leave to chill for about 30 minutes or so in the fridge.
Grease and line a 20-22cm tart tin and preheat the oven to 180°C. Remove the pastry from the fridge and leave to adjust to room temperature before rolling out on a floured surface to about the thickness of a pound coin. Line the greased tin pressing the pastry into the case. Chill the casing for about 10 minutes if you can.
Prick the base with a fork to stop it rising up when cooking and place a sheet of parchment on top followed by some heavy baking beans or dry raw rice. Push it right up to the edges to keep the parchment down.
Bake blind for 20-25 minutes until the casing if lightly golden and cooked. Remove the beans and baking sheet for the final 5 minutes to brown and cook the base.
Remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 160°C.
Now, warm the golden syrup in a saucepan until molten. Remove from the heat and add the ginger, lemon, breadcrumbs and stir to combine. Mix in the eggs making sure the mixture if not too hot first or these will scramble.
Pour into the pre-baked tart tin and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until golden and set.
Serve warm with the rhubarb sorbet and some slow roasted vanilla speckled rhubarb on the side or a good quality vanilla ice cream.

Sweet Potato, Cashew and Coconut Curry

April 2, 2014 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

With half a can of coconut milk left over in the fridge, some potatoes and not much else but a stocked pantry and an unwilling motivation to delve into my skinny looking purse I threw together a vegetarian (and equally as satisfying) version of my Keralan Fish Curry.

Serves 3-4

1 large onion
1 small red chilli, chopped finely
2cm piece of ginger, grated finely
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric
Bunch coriander, chopped
400ml coconut milk
200ml water
1 Kaffir lime leaf OR ½ juice of a lime
Handful of desiccated coconut
2-3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tsp tamarind paste
Large handful of cashew nuts
Few large handful of sugar snaps/mange tout/green beans

Par boil your sweet potatoes until just cooked but still a little firm. Drain and set aside.
Heat a little oil in a heavy based pan. Add the mustard, fenugreek and coriander seed and fry until beginning to pop and smell fragrant.
Add the chopped onion and fry on a lowish heat for about 5 minutes until really soft.
Once soft, add the chilli and cook for a few more minutes before adding the ginger and doing the same.
Add the ground dry spices and cook out for 1 minute or so.
Add the coconut milk, the stock and the lime leaf
Simmer gently for about 10-15 minutes until thicker and creamy.
Once nearly at the desired consistency, add a handful or two of dessicated coconut and a handful or chopped coriander, saving most for garnish. Add the tamarind paste for sweetness.
Add the sweet potato, the cashew nuts and throw in your vegetables for a few minutes.
(If not using a Kaffir lime leaf, squeeze in ½ the juice of your lime here)
Serve with rice or naan bread. Garnish with extra chopped coriander, sliced spring onions if you like and an extra handful or two of cashew nuts.