Dukka Spiced Mackerel, Parsley Lentils, Roasted Hazelnuts

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Mackerel isn’t everyone’s first choice when choosing fish from the supermarket counter. A brownish muddy coloured complexion doesn’t exactly win any beauty competitions and ball your over with a sense of freshness and health. Although popular these days as being cheap people often give it grief for being a ‘dirty fish’. However…its full of excellent healthy oils, is reasonably priced and can importantly handle bold flavours such as Thai marinades, soya sauce and curried spices. Crusted in dukka and served on some nutty lentils here made a satisfactory Friday night supper.

Serves 2

  • 2 mackerel fillets, scored on the skin side
  • 1 tbsp dukka (see here, leave out the mint)
  • 4 oz Puy lentils
  • 1-2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
  • Very large bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
  • ½ lemon
  • 25g hazelnuts
  • Mint leaves for garnish
  • Coconut/light olive oil
  1. If large, cut your fillets in half and season in a shallow bowl. Scatter over the dukka and add a slash of olive oil and massage the spices over the fish. Set aside until ready to cook.
  2. Simmer the lentils for about 18-20 minutes until tender but still with a bite/texture and the drain.
  3. Meanwhile, roast the hazelnuts in a very hot oven for about 8 minutes until toasted and the skins are beginning to peel off. When cool enough to handle rub off the skins and chop roughly into halves and set aside.
  4. Saute the crushed garlic in a little oil in the pan you cooked the lentils in until soft. Return the lentils to the pan and season generously. Add the parsley and lemon juice and mix to combine the flavours. Cover the pan to keep warm and set aside while you cook the fish.
  5. Heat a frying pan with a little coconut or olive oil until hot. Fry the fillets scored (to prevent them curling up) skin side for about 3 minutes until crisp. Turn for the final minute or so to finish the cooking and add the chopped hazelnuts to the pan at this stage also. (The mackerel will take a matter of minutes so don’t overcook of they will dry out)
  6. Serve the lentils topped with the mackerel fillets and scattered with the toasted hazelnuts and a few sprigs of mint. Could do with a dollop of lemony homemade mayo and some wilted greens.

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Creamy Dijon Lentil Gratin

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Like many of my dishes this one came about from a fridge of leftovers and a willing pantry. With a craving for a side dish with a little extra added effort I knocked out this gratin. In an almost ‘mystery box’ Masterchef challenge, some simply simmered lentils, a dousing of deep creamy Dijon dressing, some soft goats cheese speckled with parsley and all liberally blanketed in some cheesy breadcrumbs and butter and baked could only taste delicious.

Serves 2

  • 4oz Puy Lentils
  • 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
  • 4 tbsp creme fraiche OR 4 large tbsp creamy goats cheese e.g. Chèvre
  • Handful chopped flat leaf parsley
  • 2 large handfuls breadcrumbs
  • 1 large handful grated parmesan
  • Knob of butter
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
  2. Simmer the lentils in boiling water for about 20 minutes or until soft but with a slight bite and not mushy
  3. Drain and return to the pan. Stir in the parsley, creme fraiche, mustard and plenty of cracked black pepper and salt.
  4. Spoon into an oven proof dish.
  5. Mix the breadcrumbs and cheese in a bowl and season. Scatter over the lentils and top with a few knobs of butter.
  6. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until golden and crispy on top.

WINE: If using Sancerre’s famous Chèvre, this dish is perfect with a beautiful crisp Sancerre wine to match. Try Fernand Girard, 2014 Sancerre which is available at Armit Wines.

Jess - SancerreJess - Sancerre

Banana and Cardamon Loaf

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This is my go-to banana loaf recipe for when those bruising and sweetly turning bananas are slowing deteriorating in the fruit bowl, unaware of their potential. This loaf is easy to knock out and can be kept for a while in the cake tin. Here I’ve added the beautifully pungent ground cardamon but this can be left out or substituted.

I love banana loaf as its one of those ‘cakes’ that is less restricted by Paul and Mary’s dreaded ‘science’ of baking. This recipe for example only has one egg in the entire mixture but still manages to set with a lovely rich texture. The recipe is therefore hugely open to adaptation and I change mine practically every time. Try these little additions which I’ve done in the past:

  • Ground cardamon, cinnamon or ginger
  • Replace hazelnuts for your classic walnut
  • Add chunks of chocolate chips
  • Add a handful or desiccated coconut
  • Add a decadent molten layer of peanut butter/salted caramel/Nutella inside
  • Top the mixture with a crumble mixture before baking
  • Soak the bananas in rum for a bit…

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Makes 1 loaf (Taken from Delia Smith’s ‘All in one Banana Loaf’ with a few adaptations)

  • 75g butter, softened
  • 110g caster sugar
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  •  225g plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground cardamon (or other spice of choice)
  • 4 ripe bananas, mashed
  • 70g hazelnuts, toasted and chopped roughly.
  • Handful demerara sugar
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a loaf tin with parchment.
  2. Place the butter, sugar and egg in a food processor and combine (or use an electric hand whisk)
  3. Sieve over the flour, spices and baking powder and combine (don’t worry if it looks dry!)
  4. Add the bananas to the processor and combine until you have a smooth and creamy batter.
  5. Stir through the nuts (or any chocolate chips, coconuts additions etc)
  6. Pour into the loaf tin and sprinkle generously with the demerara sugar (or crumble) to create a nice crunchy topping. (If adding a layer of peanut butter/caramel etc, add half the batter to the tin, dot with the chosen filling and then spoon on the remaining batter to cover before baking)
  7. Bake for 50-55 minutes until cooked.
  8. Leave to cool in the tin before removing and slicing

Gorgeous sliced, toasted and layered with cinnamon butter

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Mexican Roast Chicken Feast

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Sometimes an English roast can be boring (shoot me now)…especially in summer. I’ve experimented with a Spanish roast (see here) but it was time for a Mexican Roast chicken over the weekend as my craving for dark creamy black beans took over. This chicken recipe is a great BBQ favourite of mine…and Jamie’s. You know a good marinade when you make it in the morning, refrain from eating there and then and think about it all day until that charcoal is ready! The sweetcorn puree adds a lovely sweetness to this to counteract the savoury beans and spicy chicken and greens.

Mexican Roast Chicken Feast – Serves 4

BBQ Chicken

  1. Marinade the chicken the night before if you can. Massage over the chicken making sure you get it into all the cracks.
  2. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 180°C.
  3. Line a roasting tray with foil and place the chicken on top with the excess marinade. Wrap in foil and roast for about 1hr and 20 minutes depending on the size. For the final 15 minutes or so, turn up the heat to 200°C and remove the foil to allow the skin to crisp up and brown. (This recipe is actually best cooked in the oven first to keep it moist and then finished on the BBQ so you get that charred outer crust and moist meat).
  4. When cooked remove from the oven and leave to rest for at least 15 minutes wrapped in foil while you finish the side dishes.
  5. When ready to serve, carve rustically, scatter with fresh mint and give everyone a wedge of lime for squeezing over.

Black beans

  • 2 x tins black beans, drained (retain the juice only if not salted)
  • 2 large spring onions, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • ½ red chilli
  • Bunch coriander chopped
  • Lime juice
  1. Fry the spring onion in a little oil to soften for a few minutes then add the garlic and chilli and soften for a few minutes.
  2. Add the beans and top up with a little hot water or the bean can juice (as long as it is not salted). Add enough to cover them gently and allow to simmer.
  3. Simmer gently for about 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly. The consistency you want will depend on how you like them so simmer longer for a thicker texture. I like mine to be quite loose but still sit on the plate.
  4. Use a masher to lightly crush and mash some of the beans. This will help thicken the mixture and add texture but leave most of the beans whole.
  5. Taste and season. Add the coriander and a squeeze of fresh lime before serving.

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Sweetcorn Puree

  • 1 x tin sweetcorn, drained.
  • Milk to cover
  • 1 knob butter
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Drain the sweetcorn and add to a saucepan. Add enough milk to just cover and bring to the simmer making sure the milk doesn’t boil over (not speaking from experience at all…..).
  2. Simmer for about 5 minutes then drain reserving the cooking milk.
  3. Add to a food processor with some salt and pepper and a large knob of butter. Puree for a good few minutes until really soft and creamy. Add a few tablespoons of the reserved milk as it blends to thin it out until you have the consistency you’re after.
  4. Sieve the mixture into the pan to remove the tough shells and produce a really creamy velvety puree (this is optional, just as good left non sieved). Set aside to keep warm.

Garlic-Chilli Broccoli

  • ½ red chilli, sliced thinly
  • 2 large cloves garlic, sliced very thinly
  • Sunflower oil for frying
  • Broccoli
  1. Heat a good glug of oil in a frying pan until hot. Fry the chilli and garlic for a few minutes until beginning to turn golden and crispy but make sure you don’t burn it. It can turn very quickly so remove from the heat and pour into a serving dish just before it looks ready, as it just turns golden as it will keep cooking a little after.
  2. Cook the broccoli al dente and drain well. While still warm, toss in the garlic-chilli infused oil and serve.

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Toscakaka – Caramel Almond Cake

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Aside from the fact that this cake tastes undeniably devine, one of the things I like about it the most is the subtle way you can pick off the sticky caramel almonds from the top when no one is looking with fairly unnoticeable consequences. Its not the done thing to swipe a greedy finger through the icing on a cake but you can get away with it here. Be warned, once you start you may end up with a topless and naked sponge cake and some unimpressed guests. If there was ever an award for moreish-ness (excuse the made up word) this cake would triump.

Its a super light sponge base which I decided to spike with cinnamon and vanilla, basted and topped with a crunchy caramel almond praline which is left to set and encase the pillowey cake. This recipe is from ‘Scandilicious Baking’ and is therefore (I’m told) a classic Scandi treat which quite frankly just makes me want to visit the region even more. I took the recipes advice and added a tsp of coffee to the praline topping which adds a really deep and intense flavour.

Serves 10-12

Cake

  • 150g caster sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
  • 150g plain flour
  • Pinch cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp fine salt
  • 75g melted butter
  • 75ml buttermilk (or add a tsp of lemon juice added to normal milk)

Praline topping

  • 150g flaked almonds
  • 125g soft light brown muscovado sugar
  • 125g butter
  • 50ml milk
  • Pinch fine salt
  • 1 tsp instant coffee
  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C and line a loose bottomed tin (8cm of so wide) with parchement. If making your buttermilk add the lemon juice to the milk now and set aside for a few minutes.
  2. Whisk the eggs, vanilla and caster sugar on a high speed for at least 5 minutes until really thick and creamy to get in as much air as possible. It really will pay to do this for a good length of time.
  3. Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Sieve over half this dry mixture into the eggs and extremely gently using a metal spoon fold in making sure retain the air.
  4. Add half the buttermilk and fold in. Add the remaining flour, fold in and finally the rest of the buttermilk.
  5. Finally fold in the melted butter.
  6. Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for 35-40 minutes until golden and set. It is important it is set so that it doesn’t collapse when you coat it in praline!
  7. While that bakes, toast the almonds in a dry frying pan or hot oven for a few minutes until golden and fragrant.
  8. Add to a saucepan with the butter, sugar, milk, salt and coffee.
  9. Heat until all melted together and then bubble for a few minutes until thick.
  10. When the cake is ready remove from the oven and increase the heat to 200°C. Pour the praline over the cake, smooth out and bake for 8-10 minutes at this higher temperature until the top is golden and gooey.
  11. Leave to cool before cutting to allow the caramel to set and encase the cake.

This can be enjoyed on its own or with healthy lashings of custard

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Slow cooked shin of Beef with Cinnamon and Star Anise

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There’s something about slow cooking which quickly prepared meals (regardless if wholesome and homemade) just cannot replace. Depth of flavour, love and attention and a melt in the mouth texture. Slow cooking allows so much time for the flavours to develop and infuse. I was skeptical at the extent to which just a small star of wooden star anise and a cigar coil of cinnamon could impart but it really is amazing at the subtle but very evident punch a pinwheel of spice can offer. Don’t worry, the chocolate cannot be tasted in an offensive way just a rich silky background to a beautiful sauce. Although I will warn you….don’t think about adding your favourite Cadburys bar. Keep it dark.

Serves 3-4

  • 1kg beef shin (allow a little more if feeding hungry chaps or leftovers)
  • 2 large onions, sliced
  • 1 pint red wine
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 star anise
  • 5 black peppercorns
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 pint beef stock
  • 25g dark chocolate (85%+)
  • Flat leaf parsley
  • To serve – roasted cumin carrots, savoy cabbage, creamy mash
  1. If you can, soak the cuts of beef in the red wine with the cinnamon and star anise over night.
  2. When ready to cook preheat the oven to 120°C. Heat a large heavy bottomed casserole dish with a splash of light oil, pat dry the beef and season well. Brown in the oil on all sides until golden and then set aside.
  3. Add the chopped onion and gently cook until soft for about 15 minutes making sure they don’t catch on the bottom.
  4. Add the beef back to the pan and turn up the heat. Add the wine, the cinnamon, star anise, pepper and bay leaf.
  5. Bring to a simmer and simmer gently for a few minutes until the wine has reduced a little. Top up the pan with enough beef stock to cover the meat and prevent it from drying out on cooking.
  6. Place in the oven and cook for 3 hours with the lid on by which time it should be deliciously tender and falling apart.
  7. After 3 hours, remove from the oven and take out the beef and as many onions as you can and set aside.
  8. Drain the sauce (adding a little more stock if it has reduced too much) and discard the spices. Place the sauce in a saucepan and simmer gently to thicken slightly spooning off any fat. Season to taste.
  9. Add the chocolate and stir in until melted.
  10. Return the beef to the pan and heat through.

Serve with a sprinkling of chopped parsley with some deliciously creamy mash potato. Soften some chopped garlic in a knob of butter before adding some shredded savoy cabbage and braising until soft. Cumin roasted carrots with a charred edge are also a delicious pairing.

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Black beans and Cajuan Cod

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Comfort food. Creamy, hearty, deeply flavoured and undeniably satisfying. I really love Mexican inspired food such as this. It also seems to be on trend on the foodie scene at the moment with variations on the ‘Pulled Pork’ brioche bun carving their across gastro chalks boards from Chiswick to Stratford with varying degrees of authenticity and quality.

You can actually add anything to these beans. Keep simple as in my below recipe with plenty of seasoning or go wild with the spices adding cumin, coriander or dried soaked chipotle or habaneros. Make this to suit your tastes but the black garlic will give it real depth and a sweetness that will add another dimension. The longer and slower you cook and simmer the beans to infuse the flavours the more depth you’ll get as a result but these are equally as delicious boshed out in 10 minutes.

Serve the black beans on their own with lashings of grated cheese, spoonful of soured cream and homemade guacamole, sliced jalapenos or crunchy salty nachos for dunking.

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Serves 2

Black beans

  • 1 tin black beans, juices retained
  • 1 large clove black garlic/normal garlic, chopped
  • ½ red onion or shallot very finely chopped
  • ½ lime
  • Pinch ground cumin
  • Salt and pepper
  • Bunch coriander, chopped

Cod

  • 2 cod fillets
  • ½ tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp chilli powder
  • OR 1 tsp Cajuan spice mix
  1. Marinade the cod in the spices with a few tbsp of olive oil for as long as you like.
  2. Heat a little oil in a pan a very slowly and gently fry the chopped onion for about 5 minutes until soft.
  3. Once softened, add the normal garlic if using and fry for a few minutes before adding the spices and stirring to combine.
  4. Transfer to a saucepan with the beans and some generous seasoning. If using black garlic mash to a soft paste before whisking into the beans.
  5. Add as much of the beans drained juices to allow the beans to simmer away gently. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes, topping up with the retained juices if it starts to dry out or turning up the heat to bubble more intensely for a thicker consistency.
  6. Before serving taste and add more seasoning if needed. Stir in the chopped coriander and the juice of ½ lime.
  7. Cook the cod in a hot frying pan skin side down until cooked/ grilled/baked in the oven for around 8 minutes or so depending on the thickness of your fillets.

I served mine with a green beans salad garnish with slow oven roasted cherry tomatoes, chopped red onion and coriander.

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Blackcurrant Lemon Madeleines

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Not many things beat a gift box of homemade goodies especially when they’re madeleines. Delicate, pretty, elegant and gorgeous. A sweet crusty cinnamon-sugar coated Parisian madeleine is the personification of a classy French lady. I baked a fresh batch of these the morning before visiting an old and very special friend (you know who you are) to take as a gift.

Makes about 12

  • 100g unsalted butter, melted
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 100g plain flour
  • 1 level tsp baking powder
  • 2 large eggs
  • Grated zest 1 lemon
  • 50g blackcurrants/blueberries
  • 50-100g cinnamon sugar (made with a ratio of 1 large tbsp: 300g golden granulate sugar)
  1. Whisk the eggs and the caster sugar together until pale and creamy.
  2. Add the flour, baking powder and lemon zest and lightly whisk in with the melted butter to prevent overdeveloping the gluten. Mix in the berries.
  3. Set aside for anywhere up to 3 hours. Apparently, the longer you leave the batter to chill the better as it chills and hydrates the flour. This helps to give you that bump on the back that is characteristic of a madeleine.
  4. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease your madeleine tray with a little melted butter and a dusting of flour if it is liable to sticking..
  5. Fill the moulds making sure you don’t overfill. The mixture will settle into place in the oven so don’t worry about smoothing them out.
  6. Bake for 8-12 minutes depending on how big you made them and how large your madeleine pan is.
  7. Once golden and cooked, remove from the oven and, while warm, coat in a generous blanket of cinnamon sugar and then leave to cool on a wire rack before eating
  8. Best eaten fresh on the day or the sugar will make them sticky. Try with some cream/creme friache and some slow roasted strawberries.

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Wild Garlic Pesto

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Free ingredients feel cheekily delicious. Whether its that buy one get one free packet of salad, that suspect lemon that apparently didn’t scan in the hands of the conveniently incompetent cashier or, in this case, the hand foraged bunch of wild garlic my sensitive foodie nose kindly led me to on a country walk this Easter. Growing in the hedgerow and just dying to be plucked and cooked these leaves are fragrant with a garlic punch.

Wild garlic should be treated more like a herb- a hardier basil. It can be sauteed in butter but not cooked as hard as a cabbage. I decided to make pesto which can be made in a pestle and mortar and I always find this satisfying and a lovely idea where you really can adjust the consistency, taste and vitally the texture to your own preference steadily and carefully. However my solid granite pestle and mortar weights a tonne and after a long day at work and a run home I wasn’t in need of a weigh session or the horrors of having to unsuccessfully scrape my delicious pesto creation into a bowl and wash up my granite weight. So….shamefully the magi mix came out to do the job for me. I bought a beautiful Godess-like pot of bushy Greek basil on the way home today and couldn’t resist adding a handful to the mix as a nod to the classic pesto but go easy as it is punchy and will overpower the beautiful garlic leaves if added too heavy handidly.

Enjoy with – roasted fish, meats, roasted sweet potato jackets, mixed into pasta sauces, stirred into soups, mixed in salad dressings. I served mine here with pan fried seabass and red camargue rice.

Makes a small bowlful (depending on the amount of oil)

  • 100g wild garlic leaves, cleaned if foraged
  • Optional – a small handful of basil leaves
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • 50g finely grated Parmesan
  • 50g pine nuts, lightly toasted (or walnuts)
  • Salt and pepper
  • Lemon juice
  • Olive/rapeseed oil (up to 150ml. See note*)
  1. First, if foraged from the bushes, carefully wash the garlic leaves in cold water and pat dry or spin dry in an old school salad leaf drier.
  2. Place in a food processor with the pine nuts, garlic and basil (if using). Blend until chopped finely.
  3. Add the cheese and season.
  4. Now slowly drizzle in the oil until you get the desired consistency. I think I used about 2 tbsp for mine.
  5. Alternatively, bash the leaves with the nuts in a pestle and mortar before adding the cheese and stirring in the oil.
  6. Add seasoning to taste and adjust with whatever you think it needs, a hint of lemon juice perhaps!

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NOTE* – the amount of oil will depend on a few things but I personally like my pesto thick as its more concentrated and punchy in flavour and healthier as it uses less oil. It will also depend on how long you want to keep it. If you plan on storing in your fridge for a bit, pop into a sterilised jar and make sure there is enough oil to cover and seal it from exposure and oxidation.

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Spring Supper (Seabass, minted pea puree, roasted parsnips, chorizo)

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Finally the evenings are getting longer and the evening light is perfect for photography and dining in the sun (not warmth quite yet unfortunately). Home to the countryside for Easter weekend and the warm days continued. Good Friday called for good food. Naturally. This dish seemed to personify the start of spring and a spring cleaning of the diet and lifestyle. Except if you’d given up chocolate for lent that is. You folks will probably be in a cocoa comma still….this dish may help?

Serves 2

  • 2 seabass fillets
  • 250g peas
  • Handful mint leaves
  • ½ lemon, juice
  • Large knob butter
  • 100g chorizo, chopped
  • 2-3 parsnips, peeled and sliced
  • 4 tbsp grated parmesan
  1. Parsnips – season well and coat in olive oil. Roast at 200°C for 25-30 minutes until tender and crisp.
  2. Parmesan wafer – Line a baking tray with non stick parchment and spoon the parmesan into a cookie cutter to form a circle – don’t be tempted to press the cheese down as it will melt on cooking. Bake for 5 minutes at 200°C until melted and golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before peeling gently from the parchment.
  3. Minted pea puree – boil the peas with half the mint leaves for a few minutes until soft. Drain while reserving the minty cooking water and tip into a food processor. Add a large knob of butter, salt and pepper, the fresh mint leaves, lemon juice and blend to a puree. Add some of the reserved cooking water a bit at a time to thin it down until you reach the desired consistency.
  4. Chorizo – heat a frying pan until hot. Fry the chorizo in the dry pan until it starts to release its oily juice and crisp up. Keep warm.
  5. Seabass- season the seabass fillets well making a slit in the skin side to stop it curling up on cooking. Coat in a light drizzle of olive oil. Heat a frying pan to a medium-high setting and fry the seabass fillets, skin side down, for about 3 minutes until crispy skinned and mostly cooked. Turn for the final minute to finish the cooking and squeeze with a splash of lemon juice.
  6. Top serve – lay the roasted parsnips on the plate and spoon on some pea puree. Top with the seabass and spoon over the chorizo and drizzle with some of the oils. Complete with the parmesan wafer!

Delicious served with a chilled glass of Italian, Puglian Verdeca. I had the pleasure of working at a recent event with the producer – Masserai Li Veli. Delicious. humble and organically produced wines. See here for where to buy some!

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