Valentine Warner Eats Scandinavia

"Valentine Warner Eats Scandinavia" is a super new series on Good Food Channel - some terrific recipes and a lovely look at Scandinavia - food and landscape.  Here's one of his recipes - most are pretty simple and look just delicious.

Salmon Scotch Egg
500g fillet of salmon - very finely chopped  (food processor)
1 medium egg yolk
1 medium egg
4 tbls. plain flour seasoned with 1 tsp of salt
1 egg beaten for egg wash
4 tbls. toasted breadcrumbs
sunflower oil for deep frying - parsley to garnish

1. Flatten the salmon with a knife until it's completely minced (or use a food processor)

2. Place the salmon in a bowl and add the egg yolk - mix thoroughly and season with salt and black pepper.

3. Boil the egg in a pan of hot water for a couple of minutes until it's parboiled, peel and dry it thoroughly and sprinkle with salt.

4. Pack the salmon mixture very gently around the egg.

5. Roll the egg carefully in the flour, then in the egg wash - coating it thoroughly, then in the breadcrumbs.

6. Fill a saucepan 2/3 full with funflower oil and set over a med. heat.  When the oil is hot, and has reach 170 deg.C - use a slotted spoon to lower the egg into the pan, and deep fry for 7 minutes until golden brown.

7. When done, remove the egg from the pan and place it on a piece of kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil.

8. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve.

!delicious!

Rhubarb SemiFreddo - Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's

This is a - delicious - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Recipe

Serves 8 to 10.
For the rhubarb  
1kg cleaned rhubarb, cut into 5cm pieces  
150g caster sugar


For the semifreddo  
6 large egg yolks  
175g caster sugar  
100ml double cream  
150ml plain, whole milk yoghurt  
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod


1. First, cook the rhubarb. 
2. Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. 
3. Put the rhubarb in a large, wide oven dish with just the water that clings to it after washing, toss with the sugar, cover with foil and bake for 30-60 minutes. 
After 10 minutes, turn over gently, so as not to break up the rhubarb, 
then check after 25 minutes, and regularly thereafter, poking it with the tip of a sharp knife – you want to catch it at the point when it's perfectly tender but still holding its shape. 
4. Transfer three-quarters of the rhubarb and its juice to a dish and refrigerate. (If you're making this more than two days in advance, freeze this compote and defrost in the fridge before serving.) 
5. Puree the remaining rhubarb and juice.


6. Line a 1kg loaf tin with clingfilm (make the tin slightly wet first, to help the clingfilm to cling). 

7. Put the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and whisk for five minutes (ideally, use an electric whisk) until thick, pale and creamy. The mix should hold a trail when you lift the beaters – ie, ribbons of the mix should sit on the surface before sinking back in.
 
8. Fold the puree into the moussey mixture, then transfer to the fridge.


9. When the rhubarb custard mixture is cold, whisk the cream, yoghurt and vanilla seeds until they just hold very soft peaks (if it's too stiff, it will be hard to fold in). 
10. Gently fold into the custard with a large metal spoon, keeping in as much air as possible, pour into the prepared tin and freeze until solid. 

11. Transfer the semifreddo to the fridge an hour before serving, to soften, then turn out of the tin. 

Cut into thick slices and serve with a spoonful of the compote.


My version of easy Vanilla Ice Cream (semifreddo)
 

Rick Stein's Spanish Christmas

What a gorgeous programme.  There were so many recipes I want to try.

Here's A LINK where you can get a few of his recipes.  I love the Orange Caramel Cream recipe as this seems like a delicious, light dessert without gelatine - so vegetarians can eat it, and no cream included!

Raymond Blanc - The Very Hungry Frenchman

I hope you've been watching Raymond Blanc's new series The Very Hungry Frenchman. This week's episode was in Provence and was just delightful.  Check out the recipes.

The Hungry Sailors

I have been watching Dick and James Strawbridge (father and son) - The Hungry Sailors - at 4 pm each week day on ITV1- it's absolutely delightful. (Dick strawbridge is an ex-Masterchef winner).  He and his son, James,  have been sailing around our coastline on the Amelie Rose, stopping off at various places and cooking dishes from produce they find locally.  All of the dishes are uncomplicated, as they only have a galley to cook in, but the combination of looking around an area, finding lovely products/producers, and cooking for them - is super.

They do also, (however), make the odd contraption or two - for example - a windmill-type-sail construction attached to a coffee grinder, hoisted on a pole - to get the wind force to grind coffee! :)  It is fun!

The ITV Recipe section has closed down, but here are some links with some Dick Strawbridge recipes:

BBC 1.
BBC 2.
AMAZON BOOKS
Recipes

Great British Menu 2011 - critique ......

I have been watching this series - (I love Friday's judging day), with Matthew Fort, Pru Leith and Oliver Peyton. Oliver Peyton grumbles his way through the judging and is usually very critical. I don't find anything wrong with this - as his judgement is often right. I love Pru Leith, who seems to calm both men down from almost coming to blows, and her criticisms are also very on target. Matthew too is a major part of this team. They work extremely well together and I love watching them.

However, when watching Oliver on The big day of the "Street Banquet" - - he was just a joy to behold. He seemed to be having a wonderful time, and was thoroughly proud of the occasion. Somehow or other, they come up with the goods, and it looked as if absolutely everyone enjoyed the day too. It must have been a very stressful event for the Chefs, but the food looked tremendous

Recipes Link

Banquet video

Valentine Warner - What to eat now!

This new series is just super. Lovely programme - delicious recipes and VW has such a lot of enthusiasm - it's a joy to watch.

Maman Blanc's Soup - (slightly tweaked!)

I made Raymond Blanc's maman's vegetable soup - which is very quick and easy, and delicious,
but I have very slightly tweaked the recipe .... (sorry Raymond) ....

(from Simple French Cookery - Raymond Blanc)

I used:
Ingredients:
4 medium carrots peeled and thickly sliced into rounds
1 onion peeled and roughly sliced
3 - 4 celery stalks - sliced (not too thinly - about same as carrots)

If the celery you have has large stalks, 2 - 3 stalks will be fine. You may need to peel them if they are very green and a bit stringy.

Olive oil and a knob of butter

1/2 cucumber (peeled) or 1 courgette - sliced, as above.
2 ripe tomatoes - roughly chopped
1 litre of hot stock (chicken or vegetable)
1 handful of chopped fresh Chervil - this gives the soup a very fresh taste
Seasoning (S&P)

1. heat the oil and butter and add the carrots, onion and celery - saute for about 5 mins., stirring, until veg are just soft - do not colour.

2. Add the other veggies and the hot stock and season.

3. Boil quickly until vegetables are just done - not overcooked.
Adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Add the chopped chervil before serving.

You can also add a knob of butter or a little creme fraiche before serving.

I only slightly tweaked this recipe - - - it makes a lovely, light summer soup. I had a couple of bowls and felt quite full - it might also be nice cooked with small chunky potato pieces for a light and quick supper.

Duck, Orange & Prune Casserole

This is a Simon Rimmer recipe from Something for the Weekend. It's very easy and very tasty.

Ingredients:
1 pt. 7fl.oz. red wine - (I used Madeira)
12 fl.oz. chicken stock
4 Duck Leg Portions
2 tsps coarse sea salt
2 red onions - peeled and cut into wedges - (I used regular onions)
4 cloves of garlic - peeled and chopped
12 prunes
1 or 2 bayleaves
1 orange (zest only) - (I used squeezed fresh juice from one orange)
1 tblsp chopped fresh chervil - (I didn't use this)

Method:
1. Bring the red wine and stock to the boil, simmer for about 20-25 mins. to reduce down to about a third. Set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 150C / 300 F/ Gas 2.

3. Heat a separate pan to fry the duck.

4. Rub salt all over the duck legs and when the pan is hot, add these and fry for 2-3 mins. on each side until browned. (Remove excess fat if necessary with a spoon.)

5. Place the onion, bayleaves, prunes and zest (if using) at the bottom of your casserole dish and place the browned duck legs on top.

6. Gradually pour in enough of the reduced wine mix. to reach 1" up the side of the dish - (I poured the liquid in until it just reached the duck legs.) Save any remaining for gravy.

Cover with a lid and bake for about an hour. Turn the legs over & bake for another 40 mins.

I served this with roasted potatoes, which I'd par-boiled, seasonsed & coated with a little butter and olive oil and roasted till golden - and green beans .........................

delicious -thanks Simon!

Brian Turner

I love Brian Turner's down-to-earth/no fuss cooking style - checkout his website and recipes. The good old classic Sticky Toffee Pud is there and also Bakewell Tart - both extremely yum!

Also check out CooksforCooks.com - tons of videos and recipes from a hoard of chefs and cooks.

So much to do - - just not enough hours in the day ----- and Christmas is coming up!

Lamb and apricot curry - Rhodes Across India (uktvfood)

Ingredients:

200g pitted Dried apricots
2 medium Potatoes, floury
vegetable oil, for shallow frying
2 large Onions, finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cm Ginger, finely grated
500g boneless lamb, from the shoulder, cut into 4cm cubes
1/4 tsp ground Turmeric
1 tsp mild chilli powder, preferably Kashmiri
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 Tomatoes, skins removed, de-seeded and chopped
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
2 sprigs Mint, leaves shredded

Method

:

1. Soak the apricots in 300ml water for at least four hours.

2. Cut the potato into matchstick shreds. Heat a 2.5cm depth of oil in a heavy casserole pan. Fry the potato shreds in batches until golden and crisp. Drain on absorbent paper and set aside.

3. Carefully drain off the oil, leaving behind about 2 tablespoons in the pan. Add the onions to the pan and fry for 5 minutes until soft and golden before stirring in the garlic and ginger. Fry for a minute before adding the lamb.

4. Stir in the turmeric, chilli powder and cumin. Fry for a minute before adding the cinnamon stick. Pour over enough water to barely cover and simmer for 1 hour - 1 hour 30 minutes until the lamb is tender and the masala thickened. Add extra water if the curry needs it and stir regularly as it cooks.

5. Prepare the apricots while the curry is simmering. Heat the sugar in a small pan and cook until it turns a deep caramel. Add the soaked apricots, along with their soaking liquid and remove from the heat.

6. When the lamb is tender, stir in the tomatoes and the apricots with their syrup. Reheat and scatter with the potato matchstick strips. Scatter with chopped coriander and mint leaves and bring to the table.

This is a Parsee dish, and you can find some other Indian regional recipes at:
http://www.indianfoodsco.com/RecipesRegionalIndian/Parsee or Zorastrian Recipes.htm

Mark Hix - Taste of Summer - Recipes

Super collection of summer recipes - including Lamb Salad (above photo), Beetroot & Sorrel Salad, Chicken Tikka flatbreads with yogurt, Summer Squash Antipasto, Seafood Salad, Gazpacho and others.