Thai red seafood curry

Carrying on with aquatic theme, I have a recipe involving some of the seafood shacked up in my freezer. Like many of the recipes I use, it's totally adaptable to other meats or vegetables so if all things fishy doesn't take your fancy, by all means swap it out for beef, chicken or even something like butternut squash. 

I was lucky enough to be treated with a trip to a wing yip supermarket (amazing Asian superstore) the other weekend. It was a compromise really as first on the list was IKEA but this was quickly ruled out by my other half. Instead he got to watch me marvel at every single shelf while trying not to cry with boredom, I know, he is a lucky guy. 

I already had the seafood and curry paste (cheating a little bit but they are so handy!) All I needed was some fresh herbs and vegetables, to stock up on some rice and get some tinned goods. Obviously I ended up with a little more than that but I don't think I did too badly in terms of pointless purchases.

I did find some coconut oil which is meant to be great to cook with. I used it in the curry and I have to say it did seem much less oily than usual. I also picked up some palm sugar and tamarind paste which is pretty essential in finishing Thai dishes but I've just been substituting with brown sugar and lime. They definitely made for a more authentic tasting dish and I'm very pleased that I invested in them. 

The key of all Asian cooking is achieving balance with hot, sour, sweet and salty and it's the secret to its addictive taste. Obviously I'm nowhere near an expert on Asian cuisine but I know what I like and I'm ok with playing around with it and getting it wrong once in a while. Confidence is key and worse comes to worse you can always just have beans on toast if it all goes tits up. So give it a try and remember to taste, then season and  then taste again. 

Thai red curry

Serves 4 

1 shallot or onion, finely chopped

50g red curry paste (add more or less depending on your spice levels)

1 aubergine, cut in to cubes

1 tin of coconut milk

2 kaffir lime leaves (this really makes a difference!)

2 tbsp tamarind paste or to taste

1 small piece of palm sugar,chopped or some brown sugar to taste 

1 small tin bamboo shoots

1 handful of sugar snap peas and/or baby sweet corn

Half a red pepper chopped

1 handful of mixed seafood/prawns/meat of choice

Fish sauce to taste

Roughly chopped coriander, Thai basil and some bean sprouts to finish. 

Start by frying off the shallot in the coconut oil or vegetable oil for a minute or so until translucent then add in the aubergine. Fry for a little while, the aubergine will soak up some of the oil but this is ok. Next add the paste and fry that off for a few minutes then you can add in the coconut milk and kaffir leaves. 

Now add the tamarind, bamboo shoots and sugar then leave the curry to cook down for 5-10 minutes allowing the flavours to develop. If using meat then add in now to give it time to cook through. 

The last stages are to add in your vegetables in the order of their cooking time though they should be nice and crunchy. Lastly the seafood goes in, if using, making sure not to over cook. Serve with some jasmine rice, the herbs and bean sprouts sprinkled over top. 

Top tip: large supermarkets should sell kaffir lime leaves and they keep beautifully in the freezer ready to go straight in to Asian curries and stir fries. They add that extra something! 

 

Stupidly simple scallop starter

When it comes to hosting dinner at your house, I'm a firm believer in keeping it simple so you can actually spend most of the time with your guests rather than holed up in the kitchen. That and when you start cooking have a glass of wine or g&t at hand. There is nothing worse than hearing everyone having all the fun while you are slaving away in the kitchen, trust me! Dishes that you can prepare in advance and then just assemble when you're ready will become your trusty friends, especially if they have hardly any components to them. This dish in particular only has two things to cook and one of them you can get ready beforehand. The latter is a rather fancy sounding vegetable puree but really it's super easy to make. The veg in question is celeriac ('the ugly veg') which really is extremely underrated. It goes very well with pork as well as scallops and the truffle oil I used to finish this dish. I'll put some variations at the bottom with the recipe in case truffle oil is too expensive for your budget or you don't like the humble celeriac. Essentially this is something to play around with, is simple but still gives the wow factor. 

Pan fried scallops with celeriac puree and truffle oil. 

Serves 4 

1 small celeriac, peeled and roughly chopped in to cubes

Milk

A dash of cream 

A knob of butter

Salt and pepper

12 large scallops, with or without the roe

Truffle oil

A green herb to garnish such as lemon thyme, chives, parsley or thyme. 

First place your celeriac in a pan and pour over the milk until it's covered. Add some salt and put on a medium heat being careful as the milk will burn quickly. Bring to the boil and then lower the heat. Simmer until very tender. Once cooked, drain off the milk but keep it and pop the celeriac in to a blender. Add a little of the milk and blitz, adding more if you need it. It shouldn't be runny at all (no soup here!) but should be smooth and thick. Add in a tiny bit of cream, butter and adjust the seasoning. Leave in a container until ready to serve. 

Take a large frying pan and get it smoking hot. Add in some oil and a bit of butter then quickly add your scallops. Don't worry about burning them, you want a nice golden brown colour on them to get some extra flavour. After about 2-3 minutes flip them over and give them another 2 minutes. Take off the heat and warm through the puree if it's cooled down completely but if it's still warm go ahead! 

Put a dollop of puree on the plate, feel free to make it fancy if you want, then place the scallops round and drizzle with a little truffle oil. Garnish with the herbs and serve. 

Variations with scallops:

Celeriac and apple - same recipe but add some peeled and sliced apple with the scallops. 

Celeriac/cauliflower with bacon lardons - same but cook some lardons first, take out the pan and then cook the scallops in the bacon fat. 

Curried scallops with califlower - make a califlower puree in the same way as above and dust some curry powder on the scallops before cooking. 

Califlower with chorizo - same as above with the bacon. 

'Poor' man's pasta

This is the ultimate easy pasta dish that packs a punch but not in your pocket. It's one of my favourites that I will always go back to because 9/10 times I'll have all the ingredients sitting in my fridge and cupboards. It is also a good recipe to use up bits of meat/seafood sitting around in the fridge or you can dress it up in to something a bit special. The main three ingredients are lemon, garlic and chilli but this time I added in prawns to make it more of an event. It will go nicely with bacon, chicken, mixed seafood or even some broken up sausages with the skins removed. Ready in about 15 minutes what's not to love? 

Garlic, chilli and lemon pasta

Serves 2

3-4 minced or crushed garlic (this is important so the flavour gets all over the pasta

1-2 fresh chillies with seeds (or without depending on tolerance to spice)(you can also use dried flaked chilli instead of fresh but don't go crazy as that stuff can be very spicy)

1 whole lemon, zest and juice

A healthy glug of olive oil (this is the base of your sauce so be generous) 

15-18 uncooked prawns or a meat/fish of your choosing (optional) 

Spaghetti for two people

1 small handful of chopped parsley

Start by getting the pasta cooking, boil some water and add plenty of salt, don't worry about using too much it will drain off. Add your pasta and then get a large frying pan on the heat.

Begin with a medium heat and add the oil, garlic, chilli and zest of the lemon saving the juice for later. Turn down the heat so you don't burn the garlic and slowly cook down. Keep stirring and if the garlic starts to catch then lower the heat. 

When the pasta is nearly cooked add your prawns and turn the heat up a little so they start to cook and go pink. Add a little salt and black pepper to taste. 

Drain the pasta but make sure you save some of the water it was cooked in. When you can see the prawns are cooked through then add the parsley and pasta to the frying pan with some of that cooking water. Keep stirring through until all the pasta is coated and the water and oil have thickened in to a sauce (the starch from the pasta will have done this for you and this is the secret to this dish.) Serve with a simple green salad. 

Mackerel fillets with beetroot and horseradish.

It's coming up to my last week at my current workplace and I've managed to buy some fish and seafood from them at a very reasonable price, ready to stock up my best friend, the freezer. So expect a theme to my blog posts over the coming months as I try my hand at all things oceanic. Don't panic, I'm sure there will be something for those that aren't friends with fish. 

I thought I'd start with mackerel fillets as I'm attempting something like a health kick and have started attending a gym(!) It was designed to be ideal for a post workout meal, an oily fish packed with omega three, fresh veg and some light carbs too. I know very little as to what makes a good meal after the gym but this is what I imagine it would be and that's good enough for me. 

The unsung hero on this plate for me is the lowly beetroot. It's an absolute favourite of mine, especially with a salad! I always try to buy the ready boiled vacuum packed packets in the salad section as they last for yonks. Have it cold on the side of a plate, blitz up with vegetable stock for a soup or roasted. It's a much more interesting alternative to carrots. It also pairs very well with horseradish, as does our friend the mackerel. Who said three is a crowd? 

Mackerel fillets with beetroot and horseradish sauce. 

Serves 2

4 mackerel fillets (2 whole fish)

1 large handful of new potatoes

2 whole boiled beetroot cut in to cubes

5 or 6 asparagus spears cut in to smaller pieces

Hot horseradish or even better fresh root.

Start by getting the new potatoes on the boil or whatever type of potatoes you prefer. 

Then take the fish fillets and put them skin side up, take a sharp knife and make  3 or 4 slits in the skin being careful not to go all the way through. I didn't get a photo of this as I didn't remember until I'd already put one lot in the pan but you can kind of see in the final shot. 

Get a frying pan very hot and then add a little oil. Place the fillets in skin side down and hold for a few seconds to stop them from curling, the slits will help this too. Let them sizzle away, the skin acting as a nice little barrier for the fish. They should be cooked in about 6-8 minutes depending on thickness. 

Next just cube up the beetroot and put to one side then cut the asparagus for quick cooking. About 2 minutes before the potatoes are done add in your asparagus. 

When everything is ready, drain the veg, flip your fillets over to skin side up, take off the heat and serve with horseradish sauce mixed with a little light mayo (or double cream/creme fraiche if you're being naughty.)

Egg and soldiers with a twist.

Excuse the absence of my usual Monday blog post, general life and lack of back dated written entries has got the better of me. The post I've been working on has been slightly lengthier than I intended, mostly down to the amount of photos taken and needed for it. For now, here is more of a serving suggestion than a recipe but tasty nonetheless. 

I managed to aquire some duck eggs and wanted to do something other than make sexy scrambled eggs with them. 

Dippy eggs came to mind but I wanted to keep it carb free so I thought to use fresh asparagus instead. To jazz it up a bit, I wrapped the asparagus with prosciutto, turning it in to a delicious meaty soldier. Served with a peppery rocket salad it was a lovely light dinner, perfect for a warm (ha!) summers evening. 

Boiled duck eggs and asparagus soldiers. 

Serves 2 

4 duck eggs

10-14 sticks of asparagus

4-6 slices of prosciutto/Parma ham 

Handfuls of rocket dressed in olive oil

Take two pans of water, fill with water and bring to the boil. In the first, carefully drop the eggs in to the water once bubbling. Keep your eggs at room temperature and use a slotted spoon to prevent the eggs cracking, they are more fragile than regular hens eggs. Start a timer for 6 minutes (mine managed to freeze so the eggs were a little over but this should be perfectly dippy with the average duck egg.) 

Next cut the woody ends off the asparagus or simply bend it at the end and it will break off naturally. This way you know you're just getting rid of the stringy bit. Pop in the other pan of boiling water with some salt and boil until the bottoms are slightly soft when you pinch it. Don't over cook or it will be impossible to dip and you'll lose all the flavour! 

Once cooked, drain off and when it's ok to handle, wrap with the prosciutto/Parma ham. Drain off the eggs and serve in egg holders with the tops cut off. 

N.B. A nice but naughty variation would be to use streaky bacon in place of the prosciutto. Simply parboil the asparagus instead of fully cooking. Cool, wrap with the bacon and then either grill, griddle or BBQ until brown and crispy.