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The Random Recipe Thread
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Combining two items which formed a staple of the Scottish crofters diet over many centuries, herring coated in oats is a traditional, tasty, nourishing dish rich in Omega Oils. These two ingredients would have also been staples in Connemara, although I don't think they were used together in this part of the world.
Herring are an under-rated fish, healthy, commonly available and economical.
They are also one of the most environmentally responsible species.
This quick and easy meal is without doubt one of the simplest and tastiest meals to cook, great with salad and soda bread or new potatos later in the year. If you are lucky enough to have them, mashed jeruselem artichokes are great with this dishIngredients:
Allow 2 herrings per person
Rolled Oats - unsweetend like Flahavans porrage oatlets.
Salt and pepper
Knob of butter
Method:
Cut along the underside of the herring, lay it on a table, cut side down and hit across the backbone in a few places with a rolling pin or your hand.
Remove the backbone and as many of the smaller bones as possible.
Scrape the scales from the fish with a knife, remove heads and tails.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and either toss them in a plastic bag with plenty of rolled oats or put the fish on a plate and coat them with oatmeal - you may have to press the oats into the fish to ensure it is fully covered.
Put a knob of butter in the pan - cooking oil or dripping also work - put them in with the skin side upwards first.
Fry until lightly brown, turn and cook the other side. It should take 5/7 minutes.
Drain the fish on kitchen paper (paper towels).
I'd suggest serving with lemon and parsley - old Scots would not have known such refinements!0 -
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This recipe I developed to stretch lobster also works well with crab as a much cheaper alternative, and is just as delicious.
Quite simply, the whole concept of a kitchen garden is to deal with what you have at hand, and what is available.
Dont forget to retain all the shells left over as a base for bisque or chowder.
Lobster, an utterly delicious food, but ridiculously expensive. Lobster, for me, is a very welcome gift from local fishermen, and it normally comes around Easter or Christmas.
So, with a little imagination, two small lobsters can go a long way - and produce a rich, warm meal rather than a salad.
This recipe can also be done as a pasta sauce, stretching the lobster even further.
The thing is, we have been conditioned to serve the food on the shell with a salad and a light sauce, and that is perfect if you can afford it - but if your feeding more than 4 a half lobster each, then it gets very pricey very quick.FOR THE PASTAIt could not be simpler, you do not need a pasta machine you might use 6 times a year, all you need is a rolling pin.
2 cups flour
2 large eggs, whole
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. sea salt
3 tablespoons water
Put all the ingredients in a food processor and process for 30 seconds.
Check consistency and add a small amount of flour is pasta is too wet, or a small amount of water if pasta is too dry. Whizz for another 30 seconds to incorporate any additions.2 lobsters (1 1/2 to 2 pounds each)
Turn dough out onto a pastry board, large chopping board or work surface sprinkled lightly with flour and knead by hand for a minute or two, until smooth.
Place the dough under a bowl to rest for 20 minutes before rolling, or refrigerate, tightly wrapped in plastic and stored in a plastic bag if not using right away.
Use within a few hours for best results.
Roll pasta out. Fold dough over and roll through again, gradually making the pasta thinner as it becomes smoother; dust lightly with flour as needed, but not too much.
It helps to brush off excess flour with a pastry brush.
When pasta is thin enough it is ready for use in making ravioli.
Use the pasta sheets as soon as they are rolled; dry pasta sheets don't seal as well at the edges as fresh sheets, causing the ravioli to separate when cooking.
If your pasta sheets have dried out, brush the edges with an egg wash or water (where the pasta is crimped together).
For this recipe you will need two sheets of pasta. The first one made can be draped over the back of a chair on a clean dishcloth, the second - base layer, can be left on the board - but make sure the board is well floured. You do not want this sticking when you lift.
FOR THE FILLING AND SAUCE
3 tablespoons olive oil
250 ml (1 teacup) white wine
125 ml (1/2 teacup) sherry or Madeira
500 ml (2 teacups) heavy cream
salt
cracked pepper
pinch of cayenne
pinch of nutmeg
Beurre Manie (the uncooked roux - flour/butter paste for white sauce, without the milk as in Galway Gougere recipe)
For Ravioli parcel
Freshly chopped chives
Pinch of paprikaRECOMMENDED EXTRASI love to add a good tablespoon of chopped tarragon to the sauce, it really adds to the flavour.
Recently I also added mussels and cooked them in the sauce, they look fantastic, their dark shells surrounding the ravioli parcels.PROCESS1- kill the lobster** (see footnote)
2- Turn the lobster around and cut the tail and body in half long ways.
Cut the tail into sections.
3- Remove the claws and reserve.
4- Along the center of the lobster are three kinds of viscera, the dark green are the stomach and intestine that can be scraped out and discarded.
The yellow green and red coral are the tomalley and the roe which are delicious and may be left in.COOKING THE LOBSTER TAILHeat the olive oil in a heavy based pan.
Sear all the lobster tail meat pieces until bright red.
Remove lobster tail meat from pan - at this point you can start to de-glaze the pan (see further on) and cook any extra shellfish.FOR THE RAVIOLIMix the cooked lobster tail with the chopped chives and paprika, and place on the ravioli sheet, about a tablespoon per parcel.
If you want extra zing, a little chili or a squeeze of lemon juice can be added.
Again, be sure that the surface under the base pasta sheet is well dusted with flour and will not stick to the work surface.Then apply a light eggwash beween the food clusters and drape over the second sheet.
Press down between the food parcels, then using a glass or a cookie cutter cut carefully around them.
Crimp the edges with a fork to seal.
5 minutes before the sauce is ready, drop the ravioli parcels in boiling water. They will float to the surface when cooked.
If you are in any way nervous about the parcels splitting, you can also use a steamer or fish kettle, although this will make the pasta a little dry, but it's still niceFOR THE SAUCEWhile preparing the lobster ravioli packages, put the white wine on the pan to deglaze.
Reduce by half.
If you have mussels, cockles or other shell fish, you can also add these to the wine during the reduction process to cook.
I now always use mussels as it adds to the presentation
When the wine is reduced remove and put aside any extra cooked shellfish.
Add cream, Madeira/Sherry and seasonings, add the lobster claw meat to the pot and cook until the meat is cooked through, about 8 minutes.
Whisk in beurre manie a little at a time until sauce begins to thicken.
Simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes.
Return any extra shellfish 5 minutes from the end of cooking, the same time as you start to cook the ravioli parcels.
Adjust seasonings and serve sauce over cooked ravioli, surrounded by the extra cooked shellfish.This meal is very rich, and very adaptable. If you don't like the idea of making ravioli parcels, use the fresh pasta to make tagliatelle instead, and serve all the lobster meat over the pasta as a sauce, this will stretch the lobster meat even further.
** An illustrated guide to killing the lobster in a humane way is at my garden blog, reader discretion is advised.0 -
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There are a few very simple dishes that always work well.
Bisque and Moule mariner are two, and by making and freezing shellfish stock, you always have ths at hand - it's simple, tasty and straight forward.
Making the shellfish stock is easy, and also gives you more value for money - and another helpful addition to the garden.
Whenever I have finished with the shells, I put them in the ash grate of a fire.
This way they toast or bake dry. I then break them up coarsely and spread them on the garden pathways. I hope that like egg shells the sharp, broken shell helps in the struggle against slugs and snails, besides, it's a form of recycling and can't do any harm.
The shellfish stock serves as a basis for two fish soups I like to do. The first is the simplest, and a classic Belgian staple - also very popular in the Zeus region of the Netherlands, served on the street every year outside De Mug - one of my favorite pubs in one of my favorite towns in the world.
There are several variations on Moule Mariner, but this one works for me and is pretty true to its Belgian origins but might be better described as a Mussel Bisque with more depth, using shellfish stock.
Quite often the soup in Belgium has additional kick added to it by adding a dash of Pernod, but I just add fennel buld for that same aniseed flavour.
Perfect served with freshly made soda bread. More pictures on the blog.
FOR MOULE MARINER
Ingredients:
1 Kilo Mussels
750 ml Shellfish stock*. (See footnote)
3 sticks celery, finely sliced
1 bulb fennel, finely sliced
1 leek, finely sliced.
1 Onion, finely diced.
2 Cloves Garlic finely sliced.
250 ml dry white wine
Parsley to garnish
Cream
Method:
In a heavy based pot, add a knob of butter and heat until foaming.
Add the sliced veg until softened.
Add the wine and mussels, steaming the mussels for 5 minutes - or until open.
Remove the mussels and set aside, add the shellfish stock and bring to the boil.
Return the mussels to the pot and heat up.
Serve in large bowls with a dash of cream and garnish with parsley - serve with soda bread, warm and delicious.
FOR BISQUE
Bisque is just a richer version without the aniseed flavours and contains more meat in the soup.
The mushrooms add richness. Rather than the aniseed flavour of fennel, this gets a kick from cayenne pepper.
Its more a winter/autumn soup than the Moule Mariner.
You can vary it to your own taste of course, one version pictured here was served with lobster shell for decoration and sliced, raw Oca to decorate and to add a citrus style zing to it.
The Oca really works for this recipe, its tart, sharp apple/citrus flavour cuts the richness giving a very nice tang to the meal.
The other photo has cream and lardon crutons.
FOR BISQUE
Knob butter
Handfull button mushrooms.
One onion, finely chopped
One leek, finely sliced
Two good stems chopped celery sticks
One chopped carrot
1 litre shellfish stock*. (See footnote)
teaspoon salt
1/2 (half) teaspoon cayenne pepper
120 ml dry white wine
225 g cooked lobster, prawn, crab or other crustacian meat
Cream
1.Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.
Add the mushrooms, onion, celery, and carrot. Cook and stir until tender, about 10 minutes.
Stir in the shellfish stock, and season with salt and cayenne pepper.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
2.Pour the vegetable and broth mixture into the container of a blender,
and add half the crustacian meat.
Cover, and process until smooth.
3. Return to the saucepan, and stir in the cream, white wine, and remaining crustacian meat.
Cook over low heat, stirring frequently until thickened, about 30 minutes.
SHELLFISH STOCK
Very simple and straight forward. Take any shellfish remains, crab claws, lobster, prawn etc and break up.
Cover with cold water, add some salt, pepper, bay leaves, a small onion, small carrot and some celery.
Bring to the boil, simmer for an hour and a half. Allow to cool and strain off liquid.
Shells can be put in the ash drawer of a fire, dried out, broken up and spread on garden paths or veg beds to deter snails and slugs as eggshells are.0 -
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This is not an expensive meal, smoked fish, potato and eggs are the basis.
The mackerel was sourced from the Connemara Smoke House - eggs from the neighbours.
A few years back I was working in Australia, where I was introduced to Eggs Benedict-or more properly a variation that is common in Australia known as Eggs Montreal or Eggs Royale which substitutes smoked salmon for the ham in the classic dish.
After that I toured New Zealand, and ordered Eggs Royale in the So Hotel in Christchurch, near Tuam street and on Cashel street!
I think my favorite hotel in the world, with a great story behind it
They served their Eggs Royale with a small fillet of smoked salmon cut thickly rather than the usual slices, and I loved it.
The Maltese sauce is another variation on the classic - funny thing is, although I had the sauce in Malta - its actually a French Recipe!
Smoked fish and eggs is a classic combination, salmon and scrambled eggs, kedgeree in Scotland with smoked herring, eggs and rice - there are many examples.
I can't wait until the perennial bed comes up next year so I can use asparagus spears with the mackerel and garnish with samphire - Nevin watch out!!
With that inspiration, I came up with this brunch, with the usual Irish twist - as the mackerel came from Ballyconeeley I'm calling this one Eggs Errislannan
FOR THE MALTESE SAUCE
The Maltese Sauce is the hardest part of the meal to make, but the great thing about it is that you can make it in advance and re-heat.
80ml freshly squeezed orange juice
1 Tsp orange zest
1 duck egg yolk (you can keep the white or chuck in the boxty mix if you like)
230 grams Cuinneog butter (using Cuinneog really adds to the flavour)
1 Tsp dried Tarragon
Good pinch of Cayenne
Melt the butter at a low temperature and keep warm in a bowl. Keep about 2 tsp in reserve for the boxty.
In a small saucepan, combine the orange juice and orange zest, and place over medium-high heat.
Bring the saucepan to a boil and reduce by 2/3, about 3 minutes.
Remove from the heat and strain into a bain marie bowl.
Add the duck egg yolk, Cayenne and Tarragon - whisk.
Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water and continue to whisk until the egg starts to thicken, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove the bowl from the heat, and slowly drizzle a little of the butter into the egg mixture.
Whisk constantly to incorporate.
Return the bowl to the heat, whisk again, and when the egg starts to thicken again, continue to add more of the butter to the egg.
Remove from the heat periodically to cool the bowl, and return it once it cools slightly.
Continue in this on-the-heat, off-the-heat fashion until all of the clarified butter is incorporated.
The moment the butter is incorporated remove the bowl from the saucepan, transfer the sauce into a cool sauce boat, and season with the salt and pepper.
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As a base for the meal I used buttermilk Boxty, I did try buttermilk whey chapatti, but this gives more depth and richness.
FOR THE BOXTY BASE
250g, peeled, grated, squeezed
250g cold mashed potato
100ml Cuinneog buttermilk
200g plain flour
1 heaped tsp baking powder
1-2 tbsp melted cuinneog butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
If prepping from scratch, you can also add the duck egg white left over from the maltese sauce.
Wrap the grated potato in a clean tea towel and wring well to get rid of any excess liquid.
Add the grated potato to a mixing bowl with the cold mashed potato and mix until well combined.
Add the flour and baking powder to the potato mixture and mix until well combined.
Stir in the melted butter and season, to taste, with salt and black pepper.
Add the buttermilk, a little at a time, to the potato mixture, beating after each addition until the buttermilk has been fullyworked into the mixture. When all of the buttermilk has been added to the potato mixture it should resemble a thick, heavy batter. If the mixture is too sticky, add more milk as necessary. Set aside.
Heat some oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium to high heat.
Around this time its a good time to start poaching the eggs.
Add spoonfuls of the boxty batter to the pan, leaving enough space around each spoonful for the mixture to spread.
Fry the boxties on a medium to high heat for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until the boxties are golden-brown and the grated potato is cooked through. Remove the boxties from the pan using a slotted spoon, set aside to drain on kitchen paper and keep warm.
PREPPING THE MACKEREL AND PLATING UP
The fillets from the Connemara Smoke House have a beautiful and natural colour, particularly on the skin - but dont be tempted to leave it on, its best to remove it.
Place the smoked Connemara mackerel fillet, skin side up, on the warm boxty base. Remove skin and any excess bones.
For a brunch serve with some lightly dressed sliced tomatos - I just use salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice - or a micro salad.
Place the poached egg on top of the mackerel carefully. Spoon over the warmed Maltese Sauce and garnish with fresh kitchen garden herbs - serve and bask in the glory.
Thing is, although the meal is quality, filling and delicious, once you've cracked making the Maltese sauce, its very easy to prepare.0 -
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Radish is a very easy to grow crop. I find it most useful as a marker crop for slow growing plants like leek or parsnip.
Quite often radish is thrown into a salad almost as an afterthought.
This simple recipe shows off the radishes finer qualities, and that peppery flavour is an ideal accompaniment to beef steak.
Essentially it is a carpaccio of radish
I served just with a simple steak sandwitch. For the very daring, beef could also be served with this raw, very thinly sliced and with a mustard dressing - but I just fancied a warmed salad.
To add to that I use an anchovy and Parmesan based dressing to add a salty tang to the meal.
Anchovy are a member of the herring family anfound in large shoals all around the world. They are very strong tasting, but more salty than fishy in taste.
For a variation on this recipe, capers would be a good alternative.
At the moment I am back at work, sitting in Inebolu port, Northern Turkey, but had enough sense to bring away some photos of meals etc. with me to update the blog now and again.
My radish were quite small, but my mate Damiens were huge, about the size of a small carrot.
I have two types of radish at the moment, a red French Breakfast 3 type that is available in nearly all seed outlets, and a yellow french type called Jaune d'Or Ovale.
Many people don't like large radish, or find them too hot.
For this recipe I like that peppery kick, and the large size makes for better presentation.
For 4 people you will need about 4 large or, of the more usual size that you get in the shops, about 16.
INGREDIENTS
Enough radishes for people to be fed - 1 large of 4 small per person
50 grammes Parmesan cheese, grated
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons of Donegal Rapeseed oil.
Tablespoon chopped chives
1 clove garlic, finely minced
4-6 sustainable anchovy fillets, cut into small pieces
For the Anchovy HFW recommends fish-4-ever.com
Wash the radish. Using a veg peeler, slice into thin slivers as long as possible into a bowl.
Make a dressing using the garlic, oil, lemon juice, anchovy and grated Parmesan.
Pour the dressing over the radish and mix well.
Plate up and sprinkle over some chopped chives and a few shavings of Parmesan.0 -
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Just back from Italy, so for food still thinking like that.
This dish is very simple, using Irish dairy produce to enrich an Italian style flavour.
Using milk to cook fish is not something I found in Italy, but in more Northern countries it's quite common.
The poaching in milk process enriches the fish, and gives it a more creamy texture.
You will need:
Filleted and pin boned pollack - enough for each person. Another sustainable white fish like whiting is also good.
1 fennel bulb - trimmed and finely sliced
2 small shallots
knob of cuinneog butter
enough milk to barely cover fish
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 180 deg centigrade
Grease the dish with a little butter
Arrange the fish fillets in a single layer
Sprinkle over the finely chopped fennel and shallot
Add salt and pepper
Pour over milk until the fish is barely covered
Cook for 20-25 minutes at 180
When the fish is done, the liquid can be strained off to make the base of a parsley sauce.
Serve with new-ish potato's with a carrot and fennel salad with a lemon based dressing.0 -
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