SALT FISH AND CHICKPEA STEW

I spent 3 weeks in Andalucia in the late 1990’s and was bowled over by it: the Moorish architecture, the food, the people, the ‘manyana’ attitude and the overwhelming scent of jasmine everywhere. I loved it and it is high on my list of places to go back to – especially Seville. Memorable dinners included half a roasted lamb – a lamb so tiny that the kidney was the size of a quail egg and the flesh was meltingly tender, with the scent of rosemary and smoke…

So when I heard that Rick Stein was doing a series of programmes from Spain I had to watch them – and buy the book. The series got mixed reviews from food bloggers but I enjoyed them, and I love the book.  So over the next couple of months expect to see a few of those recipes but they may be slightly adapted, as this one is.    

Quite apart from sustainability issues, cod is expensive. I popped into Morrisons to buy 350g of cod and it was nearly £4, whereas 400g of pouting, a smaller relative of cod, was under £2 - no contest. Pouting is a smaller fish nut in a dish like this the smaller flakes don’t matter as you can leave the fish in chunks and the flavour is comparable. Rick salts his cod overnight and then soaks, before cooking it separately and adding to the chickpeas.  I find it easier to salt the fish for two hours before you want to eat then rinse it off well and cook in the stew.  I also didn’t have the time today to cook my own chickpeas so I used a can (KTC variety, which are nice and big and very tender).  Rick uses saffron but I didn’t have any - I don’t think the dish suffered from its absence.  So here we are – Peckham Salt Pouting with Chickpeas and Spinach.

Serves 2

400g pouting or other firm white fish

2 tblsp sea salt

2 tblsp. olive oil

1 medium onion, finely sliced

1 clove of garlic, crushed

2 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. dried red chilli flakes

2 tomatoes, finely chopped

1 small potato, chopped into 1” cubes

200 g spinach washed and roughly shredded

Chopped parsley to garnish

Skin the fish, remove any bones and place on a non-metallic plate or dish.  Sprinkle over the salt and leave for 2 hours, then rinse off well and cut into chunks. 

Heat the oil in a wide deep sauté pan and fry the onions and garlic gently with the paprika and chilli flakes until soft and slightly browned. Add the tomatoes and cook until softened then add the potatoes and 500ml water and a pinch of salt. Simmer until the potato is just cooked. Crush some of the potato into the sauce.

Add the spinach and cook over a high heat until cooked down into the sauce. At this point there should be a fair amount of liquid in the pan. Lay the fish chunks over the chickpea mixture, cover and cook for ten minutes until the fish is cooked through. Check and adjust seasoning.

Spoon into bowls with the parsley sprinkled over and serve with some crusty bread if particularly hungry. 

CHEEKY PORK VINDALOO

Pig cheeks have been a bit of a revelation to me. They are inexpensive (I get them at Morrisons for around £2.70 for 500g), meaty and when properly cooked have a yielding gelatinous quality that gives all the unctuousness of a fatty bit of pork belly without the fat. I’ve braised them plainly with onions and beef stock, and also Chinese stylee, but the lovely Mr Redding suggested that next time I felt like making a vindaloo I use them – and Reader, I did.  Vindaloo likes a reasonably long cooking time, which suits this cut, and they turned out rather deliciously. I don’t like my curries very hot so only used 3 dried red chillies but if you like it hotter then use more, and add a whole green chilli (or 3!), slit up the middle, to the pan when simmering.

This needs marinading overnight, after an initial 2-3 hour rub, so be warned!

And I don't know what happened with my camera but this is the only photo I have, so use your imagination!

500g pigs cheeks, each cut into 3

1 tsp salt

3 tblsp red wine vinegar

Spice paste

3 (or more) dried red chillies

½ tsp. cumin seeds

3inch cinnamon stick

6 cardamom pods

7 cloves

½ tsp. black peppercorns

1 tsp. turmeric

1 tblsp. red paprika

5 peeled garlic cloves, crushed

1 inch piece of ginger, grated

3 tblsp. red wine vinegar

2 tblsp. vegetable oil

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 large onion, finely sliced

2 large tomatoes, chopped

1 tsp.sugar

1 or more whole green chillies slit in half lengthways

 Rub the salt and vinegar well into the pork and set aside for 2-3 hours. 

Grind the chillies, cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and peppercorns to a fine powder in a coffee grinder, or mortar if you’re feeling strong.  Combine with the turmeric, paprika, garlic, ginger and vinegar to make a thick paste. Add to the pork, rub in well, cover and refrigerate overnight (seal tightly because it’s quite pungent). 

When you are ready to cook, heat the oil in a wide frying pan until medium hot. Add the garlic and onions and fry until brown (but not burnt!).  Add the tomatoes and the green chilli if using. Stir until the tomatoes start to soften, add the sugar then the marinated meat and all the spice paste.  Fry on a fairly high heat for 5 – 10 minutes until the meat is browned and the spice mixture is cooked out.  Turn down to a medium heat, add 500ml water, and once the pan has come to the boil lower heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours.  Remove cover for the last 30 minutes so that the sauce thickens and coats the meat.

I served mine with some dhall.....

Spinach cooked with finely sliced onions and ginger, and rice with cardomom pods....

SALLY AND SILVENA

OK, last post for a while on all things Persian/middle eastern – promise. My Dad asked me what I wanted for my birthday (at nearly 50 he still buys me a birthday present) and I said I’d like some cookery books. I consulted Amazon and amongst them was Silvena Rowe’s ‘Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume’.  So when my great friend Sashimi Girl came over for lunch I thought I would try out a few recipes on her, along with a main course from ‘Persia in Peckham’.  For a more in depth view of lunch, including cocktails and pictures of my gorgeous kitten see her blog.  I won’t detail the recipes here; they’re either in Silvena’s book or Sally’s.  It was all delicious (even though I do say it myself) and there wasn’t much left….

We started with Warm King Prawn Salad with Pink Radish and Red Onion from Silvena, but I don’t like raw onion in salads so I left it out….

Then we had Sally’s Ghormeh Sabzi…

With Silvena’s pilaf with Vermicelli, Apricots and Pistachios, I left out the chickpeas as we already had enough protein….

And her Tomato, Pomegranate and Sumac salad with a Pomegranate dressing….

 

And to finish up the Pistachio Revani with Passion Fruit Syrup….

 We didn’t have much room by the end of it and rolled away from the table replete…thanks Ladies!

PERSIAN KEBABS

I should just re-name my blog ‘What to do with a pack of lamb mince’, probably far more representative at the moment.  I do believe it is an extremely useful thing to have in the freezer and being of limited means....

Anyway, I have mentioned before Sally Butcher and her shop Persepolis on Peckham High Street for all things Persian – I am also the proud owner of a signed copy of her cookbook ‘Persian in Peckham’.  These kebabs are a slight variation of her recipe for Chelo kebabs …I add a couple of teaspoons of ras-el-hanout and a bit more baking powder.  The baking powder is a revelation – makes the kebabs light and succulent and ‘bouncy’, avoiding any hardness that a lot of meatballs have. 

This time I served them with some baba ganoush, beetroot in yoghurt, salad with lots of mint and coriander, wraps, and the relish in Sally’s recipe (which is HOT to my palate, so be warned!!!).  On other occasions I have made a chickpea salad with a tin of chickpeas, some harrisa, yoghurt, lemon juice, fresh dill and coriander, spooned that over salad leaves, put the kebabs on top and sprinkled with lots of coriander and finely diced cucumber.  

Chelo Kebabs

Serves 2 as a main course

250g minced lamb

½ shallot finely diced

2 tsp. Ras-al-hanout

1 tsp sweet smoked paprika

2 tsp. baking powder

Salt and pepper 

Relish 

1 small green chilli finely chopped

1 onion finely chopped

Olive oil

1 dessertspoon carrot or quince jam

2 tsp. malt vinegar 

To serve:  salad leaves, fresh coriander and mint

Combine the kebab ingredients in a bowl and knead together using your hand.  Do this for a good ten minutes until the mixture becomes sticky and homogenous.  Wet your hands then form into balls or patties or mould round skewers – whatever takes your fancy. Rest in fridge while you make the relish. 

Fry the chilli and onion in a splash of olive oil until softened, then add the jam and vinegar and simmer gently for ten minutes or so.  Spoon into serving pot. 

I generally grill the kebabs, in a futile gesture to losing weight, quite gently, 7-10 minutes a side. 

Line a plate with salad leaves and generous handfuls of mint and coriander then arrange kebabs on top.  Serve with the relish, baba ganoush, grated beetroot with yoghurt, plain thick yoghurt and flat breads to wrap it all up in. Some Persian pickled cucumbers are nice as well. And remember something to wipe your hands with!!!

HAM HOCK TERRINE AND A RATHER NICE TART

We had my Dad over for lunch this Saturday and I decided to go for French – probably still my favourite kind of food if I had to choose.  Much as I love Indian, Thai, Chinese, Spanish, Italian (to a point) and all things Middle Eastern, my last supper would be French, with wines to match.  So this lunch menu included ham hock terrine with soused vegetables, duck breasts with cherry sauce and potatoes dauphinoise and lemon, orange and almond tart.   

For the terrine I turned to Raymond Blanc for guidance, from his latest book Kitchen Secrets.  I didn’t follow the recipe slavishly but the general gist is there – I didn’t use enough gelatine so the set was a little softer than I wanted but the flavour was delicious, and the soused vegetables set it all off beautifully. 

The tart recipe comes from Mireille Johnston’s French Cookery Course Part 1.  She had two television series in the early 1990’s and both books are very useful additions to the cook’s library, packed with regional French dishes.  The television programmes were lovely, it's a shame they have never been repeated - my ex had quite a crush on Ms Johnston! 

For the terrine I used my Le Creuset terrine dish. http://www.lecreuset.com/nl-be/Export-Products/Cast-Iron-Cookware/Oven-Dishes/Terrine-rectangulaire-28cm   I bought it years ago so that I could make an iced orange souffle from the La Potiniere cookbook.  The Potiniere was a near legendary restaurant in Gullane, East Lothian (near Edinburgh) where there was a three year waiting list for Saturday dinner.  It was run by husband and wife team David and Hilary Brown (he did front of house and wine, she cooked) and they offered a fixed menu - no choice at all - and only opened for lunch time four times a week and Saturday evening. Their book,  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Potiniere-friends-Hilary-Brown/dp/0712620435 gives a flavour of what it was all about.  The restaurant is still there but no longer run by the Browns. I was forunate enough to have had two memorable lunches there.

But enough reminiscing..... 

Ham Hock Terrine 

1 ham hock (or knuckle) approx. 2.5kg in weight

A bouquet garni comprising 2 bay leaves, parsley and thyme

10 black peppercorns

10 g leaf gelatine

1 carrot diced

10 sprigs flat leaf parsley 

Soused vegetables 

400ml water

80ml white wine vinegar

80 g honey

Pinch white pepper

Large pinch sea salt

Sprig of thyme

1 bay leaf

100g carrots cut into 4cm sticks

100g cauliflower cut into small florets

60g cornichons 

Put the ham hock into a large saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to the boil and skim off any scum. Bring down to simmer and add the bouquet garni and black peppercorns.  Simmer for 2 ½ to 3 hours until ham is coming off the bone. 

Remove hock from pan, leave to cool and strain liquor and reserve 500 ml. The rest can be used as a base for soup etc.  Remove meat from hock, taking care to remove most of the fat, tendons, membranes etc.  Reserve six large pieces of ham and chop the rest roughly. 

Cook the carrot until just tender, strain and allow to cool. Chop the parsley finely. 

Soak gelatine leaves in cold water for ten minutes then add to the warm ham cooking liquor. 

Line the terrine with a double layer of cling film. Put in a layer of chopped ham, then half the chopped parsley, half the carrot, the large pieces of ham in a single layer, the rest of the carrot, then the parsley, then the rest of the chopped ham.  Pour over the ham liquor until the level of liquor rises above the ham.  

Fold the cling film over and put the terrine in the fridge and cool for at least twelve hours. 

To make the vegetables, put all sousing ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to boil. Add carrots and cook for 20 minutes, then add cauliflower and cook for a further ten minutes.  Remove from heat. Cool rapidly and add gherkins. 

Serve  the terrine in thick slices with the soused vegetables and some good bread.

Tarte au Citron et a L’Orange 

First a word of warning…when this goes in the oven it looks highly unlikely it will ever turn into something solid and edible.  Just stick with it – it may need a little more cooking than the recipe says but once it has set to a wobble bring it out and let it cool.  It will be wonderful…

I use jus-rol sweet pastry.  I am perfectly capable of making it but I find this product so good I don’t see the point unless I am really in the mood…. 

I pack Jus-rol sweet pastry

For the filling

3 lemons

2 oranges

75g caster sugar

70g butter

2 eggs

4 tblsp sieved marmalade

25g flaked almonds

Icing sugar to dust 

Roll the pastry out quite thinly and line a 23 cm loose bottom flan tine.  Bake blind at 190 for 20 minutes until set and lightly browned.

Grate the rind from 1 lemon and 1 orange.  Squeeze the juice from 2 lemons. Peel oranges and 1 lemon with a knife, cutting off the pith, then cut down through the membranes to release segments. Add any juice collected to the squeezed lemon juice. 

Beat together the sugar, butter and orange and lemon rinds until light and fluffy, gradually beat in the eggs and then the lemon juice.  It will all start looking curdled but don’t panic.  Put the mixture into the pastry case, level off, and arrange the orange and lemon segments on top.  Brush over with the warmed sieved marmalade and sprinkle with the almonds.  Bake for at least 20 minutes at 190, but if it still looks too wet leave for another 10 minutes.  Leave to cool in tin for at least 10 minutes then transfer to serving plate and dust with icing sugar just before serving.

Chinese braised pork cheeks

I was browsing the meat shelves in Morrisons a couple of weeks ago and saw packs of pig cheeks – so of course, I had to buy some, and at £2.75 for 500g it seemed churlish not to. The first time I cooked them I used Essex Eating’s recipe, and they were delicious, but the texture of the meat – soft and yielding with that delicious gelatinous quality, made me think of chinese pork belly and all those other bits they cook.  So why not make chinese style pig cheeks?

I looked to the master, Ken Hom, for inspiration, and amended his recipe for braised pork belly, marinating the meat first and not using as much hoi sin.  The result, served with egg fried rice and oyster sauce stir-fried vegetables, was delicious. 

Serves 2 

500g pigs cheeks 

Marinade 

3 tblsp. Chinese rice wine

Clove garlic, thinly sliced

2 tsp. five spice powder

2 tsp. soy sauce

2 tsp. sesame oil 

Cornflour 

Braising ingredients 

4 dried chinese mushrooms, along with the soaking water

5 slices ginger

1 tblsp. whole yellow bean paste

3 tblsp. chinese rice wine

2 spring onions, sliced diagonally

2 tsp. hoi sin sauce

Combine marinade ingredients and marinade pig’s cheeks for up to 3 hours.

Remove cheeks from marinade and reserve liquid. Dry cheeks, dust with cornflour and brown in vegetable oil. Set aside.

Combine all braising ingredients and left over marinade in a wok or shallow pan.  Bring to boil, add pig’s cheeks then lower to simmer, covered.  Cook for 2 hours, but for last 30 minutes remove cover to allow sauce to thicken.

Before serving, slice each cheek into three and return to sauce – makes eating easier with chopsticks!!

LIVING ON PECKHAM RYE.....

I often tell people we live between different worlds…. we live right on the East side of Peckham Rye, a wonderful green place where William Blake once saw a vision of an Angel and where now people of all ages, colours and creeds play football, frisbee, cricket, run, jog, take their dogs for walks, picnic and sunbathe. The picture at the top of my Blog is the view fromthe bus stop outside our flats....

Behind us is Nunhead, across the Rye on the west side is East Dulwich and up the road is Rye Lane, leading to Peckham High Street.  I am going to make sweeping generalisations about these areas that may upset some people (if anyone is actually reading this!!) but they are my personal observations after living here for three years.  

East Dulwich is definitely the poshest of the three areas, a typification of yummy mummy-ism.  Stroll down Lordship Lane on a Saturday and you will be dodging three-wheeler jog-buggies and careering toddlers.  There are lovely shops on Lordship Lane – East Dulwich Deli which has great bread, Roses the butchers, Moxons the fishmongers, Green and Blue wine merchants and Franklins grocers.  There are also more Indian restaurants than you can count, a Thai, Chinese, Turkish, Mexican, a very idiosyncratic French restaurant and gastro pubs – anyone who follows me on Twitter knows I am particularly fond of Franklins, in the same family as the grocers and serving great seasonal food all day.  Northcross Road Market also offers some of the best hot dogs in London on a Saturday, courtesy of The Dogfather.

Nunhead feels completely different, almost like a town street from the 1960’s – but in a good way.  Two great butchers, Ayres the Bakers, Sopers Fishmongers and a lovely greengrocer means you can pick up most of what you need…and coming soon is Bambuni, a coffee shop and deli which will fill a big hole in the whole area I think. 

And last but not least, the direction I often end up heading in (and not just because there is a big Morrisons at the end if it) is Rye Lane. Rye Lane is an incredible experience for anyone used to shopping in the ordinary High Street.  My dad, now 85, was in the Merchant Navy in the 1940s and 1950s and spent a lot of time shipping to and picking up from West Africa. The first time I took him down Rye Lane he said ‘I could be in Lagos’…and that’s how it feels. Most of the shop have open fronts with stalls, selling every variety of fish, meat and vegetable you can think of.  It’s not all African – Indians and Arabs look after the fish and meat, whilst Africans will sell you any kind of palm oil you can imagine.  A Chinese supermarket selling the biggest prawns, razor clams and crabs you’ve ever seen completes the picture.  And there has to be a special mention for Persepolis, a Persian oasis on Peckham High Street, where Sally will sell you everything to make the most amazing Persian meals…including a cookbook!!

And shopping in Rye Lane makes it so easy for me to make the sort of food I love – handfuls of coriander, mint and dill for 70p a bunch; three bunches of spinach for a pound; two aubergines for a pound; four packs of pitta for a pound …a bit of a theme emerging there.  And all the lamb and goat I have bought from the butchers is excellent, and you always get service with a smile.  For me, walking down Rye Lane is life affirming… I love the way people greet each other; the little kids that are so well behaved; the African ladies dressed in their batik cloth dresses and headwraps and men in slinky trouser/tunic combos.  And teenage girls, full of attitude, talking about A levels and going to University.

 

So come on down and visit us…FoodStories, Hollowlegs , Tehbus and ginandcrumpets can give you the lowdown on our many restaurants….and Franks Campari Bar is open for the summer ….  SE15 ROOLS…