Holey Cluck!

This is the kind of dish that makes garlic breath totally worth it, to say nothing of the garlic burps!

What? I never pretended to be a classy lady.

There are a few flavour combinations that never fail to excite me, and they're usually indigenous to places a lot warmer than the British Isles and with considerably more frightening insects. Thai, Indian, Mexican, North African and Middle Eastern cuisines are all charactarisd by the generous amounts of fresh mint, citrus and coriander to foil the firey chillies and smoky spices that are essential parts of their culinary identity.
As much as I love European foods, there's something so lively and almost celebratory about a plate of food filled with such contrasting colours, textures and flavours. It scratched a culinary itch that meat and two veg never could.

Moroccan food, with the characteristic combinations of harissa spices, contrasted with creamy tahini dressings, fruit and cooling salads is something I've loved since I can remember and never gets old. Guaranteed to give you serious garlic breath, it's the kind of thing that makes your whole mouth feel like it's on vacation, whatever the weather outside.

This dish isn't strictly Moroccan, more like a Moroccan who's having an affair with a Lebanse with loose morals. It's fairly quick and definitely easy to make, with the harissa being the most time-consuming part. I usually make about 4 times this much and just keep it in a jar in the fridge under a little olive oil.

Harissa-Spiced Chicken with Cool Rice Salad 
Serves 2, takes 1 hour (ish)

2 each, chicken thighs and drumsticks (or if you're cooking for Cauldron Boy, 2 breasts;-) Skin removed, bones left in.
1 cup plain yoghurt

For the harissa:
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
1 fresh red chilli, sliced
2 tsp red chilli flakes
2 tsp caraway seeds
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin seeds
1tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp sea salt

For the salad:
1 cup (240ml by volume) basmati rice
1 1/2 cups water
7cm (3") cucumber (English/hothouse) de-seeded and diced small
1/2 cup pistachios, blanched for 15 minutes and leathery skins removed, roughly chopped
 4 radishes, diced finely
1 tbsp white sesame seeds
1 sm clove garlic, crushed
2-3 (depending on size) sprigs of fresh mint, leaves pulled and finely chopped
Juice of one fresh lemon
1 tbsp olive oil

Tahini sauce:
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
2 tbsp tahini
1 small clove, garlic, finely grated
2 pinches, salt

To serve:
coriander (cilantro) leaves
sliced pickled onions or gherkins

To make the harissa, put all of the ingredients into a pestle and mortar and grind well to form a semi-smooth paste.
Use a very sharp knife to cut lots of slits in diagonal rows all over the chicken. This will help the marinade penetrate the meat well and will look attractive when served.
Mix the yoghurt with the harissa and then add the chicken pieces, rubbing the marinade well into all the cuts, nooks and crannies then put the dish off to the side at room temperature while you do the rest.

Rinse the rice really well until the water runs clear, then in a small saucepan, add just shy of 1 1/2 cups of water and a little salt and bring to the boil. As soon as bubbles start to break on the surface, turn the heat almost all the way down, cover the pan and leave the rice to cook for 6-7 minutes, until all of the water has been absorbed.
When the rice is cooked, tip it into a bowl and drizzle over with the tbsp of olive oil and 1/2 of the lemon juice. Fluff well with a fork to coat each grain and prevent sticking. Set to the side in a cool spot until no longer steaming, then pop in the fridge while you prep the veggies for the rest of the salad.

To cook the chicken, put your grill on HIGH and put the grill pan underneath to allow it to get as hot as possible. When stonking hot, place the chicken on the rack of your grill pan and put under the grill, closing the door and leaving to cook for 7-8 minutes, until black sports start to appear, then turn over and give it another 5 minutes. Let the chicken rest for a few minutes before serving.

To make the tahini dressing, simply stir the ingredients together well until smooth. If it's not loose enough for you, add a little more lemon juice.

Serve the chicken with the rice salad and a big spoonful of the tahini sauce. Scatter with the coriander leaves and your choice of pickled veggies.

I'm terribly sorry about the appalling photos, they're even worse than usual I'm afraid... Moroccan Style Chicken

Mini Update!

Just one quick thing.
Yesterday I mentioned that I was going to try cooking the small side shoots of the asparagus ferns growing outside.  Well, I cooked them for about one minute in some butter until they were just tender and served them alongside some hazelnut and herb-crusted lamb chops. YUM!

Like the tiny leaves growing out of baby beets  and courgette flowers, these are some of the best things about growing herbs and veggies. You get to experiment with the things that never make it to the grocery store.

It's a Rap!

I really am so daft that when I'm cooking dinner, I will put on music that fits what I'm cooking. Usually this means listening to some Banghra or some Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan while making a curry or Dean Martin while tossing a pizza. What can I say, it gets me in the mood.
While making these Chinese beef and enoki mushroom lettuce wraps, because I don't have any classical Chinese music (my MP3 library THAT varied), I thought Wraps! Raps! And so I put Tupac on my iPod dock and made a genius play list.

There's nothing like the sound of an overly sensitive smoke detector mixing with the dulcet tones of Lil Kim's Hard Core album to get you slicing and dicing like there's no tomorrow. Maybe it's a Big Momma Thing?

These speedy little treats were inspired by fellow foodie blogger Cajun Chef Ryan, who always tempts and delights with bold flavours and clever techniques.

My recipe isn't really the same as Ryans, because I wanted to use up a spare steak I had and some bits I've picked up during my grocery shopping. I also know that if I don't serve carbs with dinner (especially if it's Chinese!) my stepson will be hungry again .0445837 seconds after he's cleaned his plate.

The rice is cooked with star anise and lots of black and white sesame seeds, which give a lovely perfume and texture. The stir-fry is soft and spicy, while the lettuce is cool and crisp, so the combination of the three is lovely. Just as I did after reading the Cajun Chef's post, you can totally tweak this to make use of what you have knocking about in your fridge or your personal preferences. Shrimp or minced pork would be a particularly lovely substitution for the beef.

So go put on some Snoop Dog or Pitbull and get cookin'

Rump Steak and Enoki Mushroom Lettuce Wraps with Sesame Rice
serves 4, takes 30-40 minutes


400g (14oz) rump steak, trimmed of fat sliced 5mm (3/16") THIN
1 large onion, sliced top-to-bottom into half-moons 
1 bundle enoki mushrooms, bottoms trimmed, separated carefully
200g white cabbage (or napa) sliced very thinly

2cm fresh ginger, roughly chopped
2 whole red chillies, roughly sliced*
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp Szechuan peppercorns*
2 tbsp preserved black beans*

1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce (yes, I know this isn't Chinese, but it tastes really good so there.)
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (or dry sherry)
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp oyster sauce
100ml (4oz) water
2 tsp corn starch

2 tbsp ground nut, sunflower or canola oil

16 baby gem lettuce leaves (or the top half of romaine leaves) washed and dried


1 cup long grain rice
1tbsp white sesame seeds
1 tbsp black sesame seeds
3 star anise
1/2 tsp salt


sliced spring onions to serve

As with any Oriental meal, it's best to get all the prep done before the flame meets wok, as things move pretty quickly. I usually freeze meat that I want to slice v.v. thinly for an hour or so to make it easier to slice.


Mix together the soy sauce, fish sauce, corn starch and rice vinegar and stir the beef slices into this mixture and set aside while you do the rest of the prep.

Put the chillies, ginger, garlic, Szechuan peppercorns and black beans in a pestle and mortar and pound for a few minutes to make a coarse paste.


Wash the rice for a few minutes in cold running water, then put into a small saucepan with 1 1/2 cups of cold water, the salt, star anise and sesame seeds.
Bring the rice to the boil then immediately turn down the heat to low, cover and leave to finish cooking for 7-9 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed. Leave the cover on the rice until you're ready to serve.
While the rice cooks, start the stir-fry.


Heat a wok or a large frying pan over a high heat until smoking and add the oil. Add the beef to the hot oil and stir-fry quickly for 3-4 minutes until well browned and going a little crisp, then remove to a plate with a slotted spoon. If there's not much oil left in the wok, add another tbsp and toss in the chilli-bean paste you've made. Stir-fry for a minute until very fragrant and beginning to go golden, then add in the onions and cabbage tossing well into the paste for a minute before adding a little water, any leftover beef marinade and the oyster sauce. Cook for about one more minute, until the veggies are *just* going tender, then toss in the mushrooms and turn off the heat, as they really don't need more than a second's cooking time.

Serve the rice and stir fry with the lettuce leaves and some sliced spring onions, letting everybody build their own wraps, so that the lettuce stays crisp and cool.


*These ingredients may be replaced with a couple of tablespoonsful of a good quality chilli bean paste if you like.

Spicy Asian Lettuce Wraps

We're Monsters.

It's true.

We're a couple of murderers.

Those of you who read my blog semi-regularly might remember that we've had an uninvited guest living in and off of our compost bin for the past couple of months. It had been digging tunnels between the bin and the greenhouse, shifting phenomenal amounts of partially-decomposed veggie scraps and lawn clippings and eating its way through discarded old potatoes and apples.

We've been going back and forth about what we thought it might be for weeks. Logic says 'rat' but the copious amounts of poo he/they left behind were much bigger and rounder than my pet rats' used to be. To be honest, I didn't WANT it to be a rat, because I knew what Drew would insist on doing with it and I didn't want to hurt him. I had visuals of him laying on his back in the dark, on top of banana peels and tea bags, rubbing his swollen belly in a blissful euphoria. That thought made me smile.

It was a rat.

Drew flushed him out of the little hole he'd dug at the base of the bin by giving the compost a really good poke with a bamboo cane. He shot out the back and raced around the corner, behind the greenhouse and down another little hole he'd dug under the fence into our neighbour's garden. I wasn't there to witness this, but apparently, he was "THIS BIG!!" (about 12").
Despite my protests, Drew went off to Homebase and purchased two very angry-looking black plastic and steel traps. Ugh.

Two days later, while weeding the asparagus, I noticed that one of the traps in the gauntlet Drew had set up at the corner of the greenhouse was no longer visible.

Ohsweetbabyjesus, shall I look?

And there he was. A pretty little grey-brown fluffkin, eyes still open, looking at me as if to say "You let him do this to me! I wasn't doing you any harm, I was just after your old apples and potatoes! This is my family's summer home and now the kids wont have any vacations anymore because you killed their Dad and they'll have to go to a little rat orphanage! Murderer!"

I felt like Myra Hindley.

Drew SWEARS that the rat he flushed out was HUGE and that this rat is not him (Which makes it even WORSE!)
Drew is convinced that if we don't catch him, one of the dogs will and will catch some nasty disease that will end up on my lap on the sofa, then he'll put his head in my lap to watch TV, catch the disease and then will give it to me when he kisses me.

So if the little fella we murdered ISN'T Aubrey (the rat's name), then the one buried in the garden is basically the victim of a roadside bomb. OMG, maybe he was one of Aubrey's kids??

Drew says that the alternative is poison scattered in the compost, but I use that compost to fertilize our veggies. I think that we should use live traps and release him into the wild (or another neighbour's garden? That old lady who last Christmas told me I was "naughty" for picking a few branches of holly from the MASSIVE woods behind our house, that I (thankyouverymuch) keep clean and tidy with regular litter pickings! Old bat.)

So I have decommissioned the traps. I can't go through another burial. I can't handle the guilt. I wonder if I can put them in a tree to catch a couple of wood pigeons? They're tasty!

So really, the reason for the hyper-vigilance on our part with regard to the compost is because of the vegetable garden. It stayed cold for a long time this spring and we were too broke to buy seeds for a while, so we're a little behind.  If you like, have a look at some of the fun stuff we have coming up outside.

There are a lot of seeds coming up in the greenhouse, which will be transplanted to the bare spots in the veg patch and I'm trying to do it all organically again this year, which means I'm cutting back on my brassicas, because one person can only pick so many cabbage white caterpillars off leaves in a day.


French breakfast radishes

Sorrel

THREE different kinds of courgette!

Peas!

A few varieties of potato and some Jerusalem artichokes in bags

A crab apple tree we inherited with the house and some rhubarb I planted last year.

See that teeny tiny green spot on the ground to the right of the tree, about three feet away? That's a lavender bush I just planted. I buried Mr. Rat right next to it. sigh

There is a big ol' patch of empty in front of that tree and I'm going to try a 'three sisters' planting like the South Americans do. The idea is that you grow corn (my seedlings are TEENY!) in a grid and then you plant beans at the base of the stalks so they climb up them. You then plant squash on the ground in between because the big leaves shade the soil and keep the ground moist. Beans are a brilliant companion for a lot of veggies because they pump all kinds of nitrogen into the soil.

I'll be interested to see how it all comes along and will be sure to update you! 

I bought a book of veggie growing three years ago and it's just about the smartest thing I could have done. If you only buy one book about growing veggies at home, make it this one. It could almost be called "for dummies" and takes you all the way from sowing, through feeding and care and then harvesting and storage of your crops. Useful tips about companion planting are great for organic growers too.

Here's our modest little asparagus patch.

We've had two good harvests already, so I'm letting them grow into ferns now so that we can have a bumper crop next year. It's incredibly hard to restrain myself, but I discovered last week that the little shoots that grow off each spear are exactly like mini, super-tender asparagus spears, so I think I'll steal a couple off of each plant to have with dinner later.

As for the rest of the attempts at veggie self-sufficiency, we have garlic, carrots, turnips, salsify and parsnips already poking out in the dirt outside and in the greenhouse we have chillis, peppers, tomatoes, herbs and lettuces.

The one and only flower bed we have has land cress, rosemary, thyme, garlic, rocket and MORE lettuces, because they look so pretty.

The goal is to buy as little veg as we have to, and if the past two years are anything to go by, we should be pretty successful. Last year I went a bit nuts and planted 62 different varieties of veg and herbs, which was retarded because we live on a small plot in suburban Bracknell, not Southfork Ranch.

I was just thinking I would go out and play in the dirt for a bit, maybe have a word with the strawberries, but it's started raining. 

That's the great thing about greenhouses:-)

Farmers Market Treasures

We're pretty lucky here, because we have access to some very decent farmers markets within a thirty minute drive. The first Thursday of every month is market day in Wokingham, a small village about ten minutes away and is my favourite of all because of the range of local meat and game that's always available.

I usually try not to spend more than about £20 on these market trips, because in the end, it is all part of the grocery budget and I only have so much fridge/freezer space.
The veggie growers often sell some tasty looking seasonal treats and the pies and breads on offer always tempt but I tend to spend the majority of my money on meat and fish. Our organic and free-range producers need all the support they can get in this age of two-for-a-fiver intensively reared supermarket chicken and when it comes down to it, I can grow my own veg and bake bread (ish) at home.

So this week, for my £20, I was able to get a lovely big slab of Hereford skirt steak, an oak smoked trout, a nice piece of Old Spot pork belly, some oak-smoked back bacon, a few chipolatas, two pheasants and two rabbits. Top top it all off, I found a gently used copy of Larousse Pratique in the Cancer Research shop in the market square!

I got home feeling triumphant, with ideas swirling through my head and spread all my treasures out on the kitchen worktop, like Richie Rich counting his stacks of coins. I stopped short of rolling around on my bed in a pile of meat though, I thought that might put the guys off their food...

I put most of my haul in the freezer but kept the trout back to make this lovely quiche. I Am undecided as yet about what I am going to do with the pheasants and bunnies, but I think I might try my hand at making some bacon with the pork belly, although Drew is anxious for me to have another go at the pork I cured and cooked slowly in olive oil. Despite the slight saltiness, he really loved that dish, which says a lot, because there isn't much food he gets excited about (grr!)

This quiche is lovely for a light lunch or after-school snack and was even elicited a few moans from the same husband who doesn't like fish or egg dishes (go figure..) It would be handy for a pot luck because it's best served at room temperature and is quite simple to make. I would say that the most important thing would be to get as much moisture as possible out of the spinach and tomatoes, to avoid getting a soggy crust. Try to buy un-dyed fish (which is sustainably sourced), as it will definitely effect the colour and flavour of the final product.


Rustic Smoked Trout, Spinach and Tomato Quiche
Serves 8, takes approx 2 hours+ cooling time

For the pastry:
300g (10.5oz) plain (all purpose) flour
1/2 tsp salt
150g unsalted butter, very cold, cut into cubes
<1 egg
ice cold water

For the filling:
1 medium smoked trout, skinned and boned (take care to look for any hair-thin bones)
7 eggs
400g (14oz) washed baby spinach
2 ripe, red tomoates
150ml double (heavy whipping) cream
100ml whole milk
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper
2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan
1/2 tsp white pepper

To make the pastry, put the flour, salt and butter into the bowl of a food processor and pulse for a maybe 20-30 seconds, until you have the consistency of fresh breadcrumbs- the coarser, the better.
Beat the egg together with a couple of tbsp of ice cold water and pour about half of this mixture into the processor. Pulse again for a few more seconds, until the moisture is well distributed then lift the lid and see if the mixture will hold together when pressed with the tips of your fingers. If it does, remove the mixture and form a loose ball. If the mixture is still a little dry, add more of the egg mixture a few drops at a time while pulsing the dough until it JUST holds together, then wrap this in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

While the pastry is resting, prepare the veggies. Blanch the spinach for 30 seconds in salted boiling water and then plunge into ice cold water to stop the cooking. Drain well, squeezing out as much moisture as you can; a tea towel can be really helpful here, just heap the squeezed spinach into a ball in the centre, then bring the corners of the towel together and twist hard to wring out any last bits of moisture.
Slice the tomatoes about 1/4" thick and sprinkle with a little salt. Lay the slices on a double layer of kitchen towel with another double layer on top and press gently to absorb as much water as possible. Leave the tomatoes within the layers of towel until you're ready to use them.

Beat the eggs together well with the cream, milk, some salt and the white pepper, then preheat your oven to 190C (375F) and roll out your pastry.
Put your ball of pastry between two layers of cling film and roll into a circle just larger than a 25cm (10") quiche tin, including the sides. Use one of the layers of cling film to move the pastry to your quiche tin, pressing well into the corners and the scalloped edge, then, with the clingfilm still in, fill with dried beans or rice (I have a bag of rice that I keep for this purpose, as it's useless after you blind-bake with it once) and blind bake the shell for twenty minutes.
Remove the shell from the oven, turn the heat down to 160C (320F) and use the cling film to lift the rice/beans out of the shell.
Lay the tomato slices over the base in one snug layer and then scatter with the drained spinach leaves. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and black pepper and grate the nutmeg over the top in an even little shower.
Pour the egg mixture evenly over the lot and then flake the smoked trout over the top, jiggling the pan a little to settle it all into the custard. Grate the parmesan over the top and bake for 30-40 minutes, until the edges are beginning to brown and the centre is set.
Remove from the oven and gently break off the excess pastry around the edges (I did say 'rustic') then allow to cool completely before serving. Simply dressed rocket (arugula) leaves are a particularly lovely accompaniment.

The Nettles Strike Back.

A few weeks ago I posted a little about my love of cooking with stinging nettles and used them in some tasty ravioli. In my book, the only thing better than really tasty food is food which is not only delicious, but mostly free, incredibly healthy and so local that the food distance can be counted in yards rather than miles.

I went nettle picking again on Monday and had planned to get just enough to make a risotto similar to one Alex Rushmer made over at Just cook It. When my little dog Violet and I got out to the woods though, I saw that many of the nettles were just starting to form flower heads, which aren't tasty and pretty much signal the end of nettle-eating season. I decided there and then that I would pick a LOT and would make a pesto, which will last me a while so that I can still be munching long after the nettles are no longer worth picking.

I wore surgical-style latex gloves just as I did last time, but you know, I think that the little buggers have toughened up over the couple of weeks since my last harvest. I felt a few prickles through my gloves, by rather than walk the whole hundred feet back to my kitchen for thicker gloves, I toughed it out and continued picking until I had almost a grocery bag full.
When I got home, my fingers were tingling and prickling a little, as one might expect, but I must have been prickled more than I thought, because

HOLY CRAP.

All evening and into the night, my fingers on my right hand felt as though they'd been hit with hammers and were being repeatedly electrocuted. It wasn't until the following evening -so about 36 hours later- that the sensation subsided and I stopped whining about it.
So let this be a lesson to you all. Seems obvious, right? Wear thick gloves when you're picking nettles.

I made this pesto in the traditional way, but substituting nettle for almost all of the basil. We had it on some pizza that night and it was very tasty on some poached eggs the following morning.

There is still the hint of basil, but the predominant flavour is the fresh nettle, which is predictably lovely with the parmesan and walnut flavours. This recipe makes quite a lot but should survive well in the fridge. If you're not feeling generous enough to give some away, it should freeze well for months.

Stinging Nettle Pesto
Makes about 1 kilo (2 lbs)

350g (12oz) well-washed nettle tops
150g walnuts
500ml extra virgin olive oil
2 sprigs basil
75g parmesan, finely grated
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

Blanch the nettles and the basil in salted boiling water for 30 seconds, then plunge into ice-cold water to stop the cooking. This will kill the prickles and will help the leaves retain their bright green colour long after the pesto has been put away in the fridge
Put all of the ingredients except for half of the olive oil into a food processor and pulse for 30 seconds or so, until fairly uniformly chopped, scraping down the sides with a spatula if need be.
With the food processor running, pour the remaining olive oil in, until you have a thick, paste-like consistency. Really, you can make your pesto as thick and course or thin and smooth as you like just by adjusting the amount of olive oil.
I don't salt my pesto because I never know what I'm going to use it on, but you absolutely can if you prefer it a little seasoned.

Put into jars and pour over a little olive oil to help preserve it. your pesto should keep for several week in the fridge like this.

I also made an all-sourdough pizza crust that night. It was incredibly crisp and chewy and quite sour, which my husband really loved. I'm going to do it one more time before I post the recipe though, just to make sure I get the same result.

06/05/10 P.S. Nettles are known for their hay fever-relieving properties. Christian came home from school today with red eyes, sneezing and congestion so I jumped into action and gave him a big spoonful of this pesto with a slice of quiche (recipe to follow) and within the hour he was feeling fine. Not just better, but totally fine. As James Wong would say "This was not a clinical trial, but many people find that natural remedies are as effective as conventional medicines"

Two Dishes Are Better Than One

Making our weekly menu is one of my favourite and one of the most frustrating times of my week. I get to let my imagination run (a little) wild and use some of the ideas I've picked up from my favourite foodie blogs and magazines, while trying to incorporate seasonal delights and some family favourites.
As I've said (or ranted) before, the list of foods that my husband doesn't like is a long one, and I tend to try not to incorporate too much of that list into one week, but sometimes I just can't take it anymore and simply must have a curry, tagine or, in this case, a lovely piece of salmon.
We don't eat much fish really, which is such a shame because two of the three of us love it. When I do make a food that Drew doesn't like, I try to soften the blow a little by combining it with flavours and techniques that he does enjoy.

I had bought a lovely piece of Scottish salmon for supper, which I wanted to cook simply with just some salt and pepper and some local asparagus. Because Drew loves Thai flavours, I thought that a beurre blanc perfumed with lemongrass would be a nice twist. Some lovely organic Devon cider made a nice change from using white wine as a base for the sauce and was a particularly nice compliment to the asparagus.

This was a really tasty meal in its own right, but what I have been the most excited about is what I did with the left over salmon the next morning.

Christian was having a sleep over at his BFF's house, so I had more salmon than I really needed. I decided to cook it anyway and figured that I'd just use it in a salad for lunch the next day.
The beurre blanc was so good that I packaged the left overs with the piece of cooked salmon even though I knew it would split in the fridge (which it did).

Crispy Salmon With Lemongrass and Cider Beurre Blanc
serves 2, takes 30 minutes (ish)

2 170g (6oz) salmon fillet (look for sustainably sourced)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot, medium dice
1 lemongrass stalk, bashed to bits with a mallet, then chopped into roughly 1" pieces
200ml ((6.75 oz) dry organic cider
75g unsalted butter, cut into 1cm cubes
pinch salt
juice of 1/2 a lemon (fresh, not bottled)

Heat a small saucepan over a moderate heat and drop in the shallot and lemongrass. Dry fry these for a minute or so and pour over the cider.
Simmer the cider mixture over a low heat for several minutes, until the liquid has reduced by about half.
While the cider is reducing, sprinkle the salmon on both the skin and the flesh sides with a little salt and pepper, then, over a moderate heat, heat the olive oil until shimmery.
Place the salmon skin-side down, and lower the temperature a little, leaving the fish to cook for 3-5 minutes, depending on their thickness.
When the salmon looks to be about halfway cooked, carefully flip over to finish cooking on the flesh side. The fish will continue cooking for over a minute after you remove it from the heat, so err on the side of under-cooking and remove the salmon when it's almost, but not quite done.

While your salmon is cooking and your cider has reduced, drop the temperature to almost a simmer and put a couple of pieces of butter into the pan, stirring or whisking well to incorporate. When the butter has melted into the mixture, add a few more pieces of butter, continually stirring until combined and continue in this fashion until all of the butter has been incorporated and the mixture is creamy coloured and smooth.
Strain this mixture into a small bowl which is sitting in a larger bowl filled with warm (ever so slightly warmer than body temp) water. Season with a little sea salt and stir in the lemon juice. While sitting in the warm bowl, the sauce should be fine for fifteen minutes at least, so you could make it before you start cooking the salmon if you like.

I served the salmon skin-side-up with peeled, steamed asparagus and some new potatoes tossed in butter, sea salt and fresh mint. I drizzled the sauce over the asparagus and around the salmon, so that it didn't make the crispy skin go soft.

So yesterday morning, when I was surveying the fridge and trying to figure out what I wanted for breakfast, there was last night's salmon, winking seductively from the shelf. I grabbed a handful of spinach, a pot of cream, some tomato and basil and went to work.
Ten minutes later, I had what was seriously the best breakfast I have ever had. Of course the soft egg yolk with the salmon and spinach were lovely, but what made the dish so special for me, was the subtly lemongrassy sauce mingling with all of the other flavours, bringing a slight tang, which was accentuated by the soft tomatoes. If you ask me, it would be worth making the salmon and sauce specifically for this dish if you're having a brunch party or want to treat your special someone with breakfast in bed.

Left Over Salmon and Egg Special Brunch
serves 2, takes ten minutes


1 piece of salmon fillet, cooked as described above
2 tbsp left-over lemongrass beurre blanc, doesn't matter if it's split
2 fresh, free range eggs
1 large, ripe tomatoes sliced about 1/4" thick
1 very large handful, washed spinach
1 sprig, fresh basil, leaves picked and cut into a rough chiffonade
2-3 tbsp double cream (optional)
rye crisp bread to serve
freshly ground black pepper, sea salt

Heat a heavy, oven-proof skillet over a medium heat, then tip in the butter sauce, stirring for a few seconds until melted, then flake in the salmon.
Add the spinach to the pan and fold in, without breaking the salmon up too much and cook for a few seconds until the spinach has started to wilt.
Crack the eggs over the top and tilt the pan to encourage the whites to flood over the spinach, drizzle over the cream, then lay over the tomato slices and scatter with the basil.
Sprinkle with a little sea salt and plenty of black pepper before putting under a hot grill for approximately 3-4 minutes. Check regularly until the whites are just firm but the yolks are still runny.

Serve immediately and groan lavishly as all the amazing flavours do a waltz on your tongue.
Seriously, this dish made my week.

Beurre Blanc