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. 

Mexican Steak and bean wraps with homemade guacamole.

You may have noticed that although I love food made from scratch, I'm not shy of using a few shortcuts here and there. As with any sane person, time is precious to me. If there is a chance of saving some without compromising the final product, I'm in! This time it came in the form of a tin of mixed beans from tesco. I was looking at the shelf for some mixed beans in water but saw 'Tesco taco mix beans and Mexican sauce.' Hello shortcut. 

I made a simple stew by adding some fresh ingredients to the beans and served it inside the homemade tortillas with cheese, steak strips and guacamole on the side. A little naughty but all those vegetables make up for it, right?

Mexican bean stew with steak

Serves 2 with leftovers

1 courgette or 3 super cute baby courgettes, sliced

1 tin taco mixed beans

1 small tin sweet corn

Half a red pepper, chopped

Half or a whole chilli finely chopped (to taste)

3 or 4 spring onions, sliced

2 thin cut steaks

Firstly take the courgette and fry off in a pan until slightly browned. Next add in the beans, corn, peppers, and chilli. Allow to cool down slightly, add in some water if it gets too dry. 

Leave the beans on a low heat and get a pan really hot. I used the pan I had been cooking the tortillas in so it was already nicely hot, nearly smoking. Add in a small amount of oil and butter, let it froth and then pop in your steaks. The thin cut steaks really only need about 3 minutes cooking if you want them pink. Start with 2 minutes on one side, leave it to cook quickly and then turn it. Take it off the heat and leave to rest for a couple of minutes before slicing in to strips. 

Lastly add in the spring onions to the bean mix and serve. 

Fresh guacamole

Makes 4 portions depending on size of avocados

Take half a chilli and finely chop, along with a handful of chopped coriander and mix together. Add in 3 small ripe tomatoes that have cut in to cubes. Halve the avocados and peel, then chop roughly. Add in to the other ingredients and mash with a fork. Last add lime juice and salt to taste, mix through and it's ready to eat. 

Homemade tortillas

I've always thought having some tortilla wraps in the kitchen is a good idea. They are so versatile you can easily have a wide number of breakfasts, lunches or dinners from these little heroes. I normally keep mine in the freezer as they defrost so quickly in a warm oven.

Having said that, despite how much I love tortillas, I've never actually made them from scratch. I suppose I've always thought that seeing as they are there to make rustling up dinner easier then I should buy them. This time I made the extra effort and I was glad I did. They were soft but had a slight crunch on the outside that the shop bought counterpart lacks. I served mine with a bean stew, steak and guacamole on the side (recipes to follow.)

Tortillas

Makes 8 medium or 6 large

275g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

50g lard at room temperature (butter can substitute this)

150g warm water

Combine the dry ingredients then take the lard and rub it to it, until fully incorporated. Then add the water until you have a sticky dough. Or if you have a mixer chuck it all in and use a dough hook. Work the dough until soft and bouncy. If it feels too sticky and some flour but it is meant to be quite a wet dough. 

Leave in a covered bowl for 30 minutes to rest. 

Tip the dough on a floured surface and then split in to 8 equal balls. Take the first ball and shape in to a disc. Put a heavy bottomed pan or skillet on a medium high heat. 

Roll out the dough as thinly as possible using flour to stop it sticking, it may feel fragile but it will hold up to some pressure. (I did read about being able to roll in between two pieces of a freezer bag though I didn't try it. Might help with the sticky dough.) 

Once rolled, carefully place in the hot pan. While that's cooking, carry on rolling the next tortilla. 

The first one is ready top flip when bubbles appear and it begins to colour slightly. 

Continue with this cycle of cooking one while rolling the next, it will speed up the whole process. Serve them immediately or allow to cool, wrap and store in the fridge or freezer. 

German sausages and the marvel of lidl.

I hadn't visited a lidl properly since my time at university and even then it was just because of the excitement of a new shop (being a student full-time has its dull days.) However recently I'd been told that they do some really good quality products at ridiculously low prices. Fortunately there is a lidl about 5 minutes away from my house so when I had the opportunity and some space in my fridge and freezer I headed down to have a look. There is a great selection and the prices are definitely reasonable, especially for the German sausages. I stocked up on a couple for breakfasts and dinners, putting a packet in the freezer. Fast forward a few weeks to a rather sad looking bank account and a fully stuff freezer, it was time to bring out the sausage. 

When I normally cook bratwurst or bockwurst, I do a pretty tasty currywurst after falling in love with it in Germany. This time I wanted a change, so I researched some recipes to use with my bockwurst (a smoked version of bratwurst.) One of the common recipes that came up was bockwurst or pork with a creamy mustard sauce. I decided this would work well seeing as it was a particularly cold spring day. I served it with mashed potatoes to soak up all the gravy and some green beans on the side. Simple and comforting. 

Bockwurst with a creamy mustard sauce. 

Serves 2

Start with a knob of butter. About 40g. Let it melt down then add in a shallot, diced finely. Cook them until transparent and soft then sprinkle over a teaspoon of flour, you want a bit to thicken but not enough to turn your sauce to the thickness of bird's custard. 

Once you've whisked it in and the flour has cooked out, add a generous splash of beer or white wine, depending on preference. I went for a lovely German beer we have had in the flat the last few months. Let the beer reduced down a bit until thickened slightly. 

At this point you can add in the mustard, Dijon, about 1-2tsp should do it. You can always add more in at the end if you feel it needs it. Lastly add another generous dash of double cream. Let this all boil down until you have a lovely pouring sauce. Taste then add salt and pepper. 

I grilled the bockwurst and served it all with mash, green beans and chopped parsley stirred through the sauce at the last minute.