Category: Recipes
Smoked Halibut and King Prawn Kedgeree

Smoked Halibut and King Prawn Kedgeree

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Kedgeree is often thought of as a breakfast dish, but I can tell you categorically that I have never, nor will ever, make this for breakfast.  To me, the combination of smoked fish and spicy, fragrant, curried rice, with the added bonus of sweet, succulent prawns in this recipe, is definitely something to be enjoyed with a glass or two of white wine, and even I draw the line at drinking wine at breakfast.

This recipe is inspired by one of the fantastic products on offer at Southwest Smokehouse.  The method is a little different to many recipes for kedgeree as the fish doesn’t need to be poached before being added to the dish.  Don’t be put off by the length of the ingredients list; most of the ingredients are really common and everything except the Halibut can be found in all good sized supermarkets.

TIPS: If you want to use smoked haddock (the typical choice for this dish, and more widely available) it will need to be poached first, but can then be added to the dish at the same step. That said, it is well worth getting your hands on the smoked halibut I used – it is divine.

Smoked Halibut and King Prawn Kedgeree

Serves 2

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2tbsp vegetable oil
½ tsp Ground coriander
½ tsp Ground turmeric
1½ tsp medium curry powder
½ tsp ginger paste
150g Basmati rice
1tsp salt
100g frozen peas or petit pois
150g raw peeled king prawns
Small bunch parsley, finely chopped
Small bunch coriander, finely chopped
1 lemon – half juiced, half cut into wedges
100g smoked halibut
A few twists of freshly ground black pepper
1 med red chilli, finely chopped (optional)

 

Method

  1. Rinse the rice under running water then soak for 20-30 mins in cold water.
  2. Hard boil the eggs by placing in boiling water for 7mins. Strain the boiling water off and run refill the pan (with the eggs still in it) with cold water. When you are ready to peel the eggs they should be cool enough to handle without being cold.
  3. Heat the oil over a medium heat in a large saucepan then fry the onions until soft and translucent. Add the ground spices and curry powder, fry for another minute or two before adding the ginger paste and frying for a further minute.
  4. Strain the rice and add to the pan, together with the salt and stir gently to coat the rice in the spices. Don’t over work the rice. Add 275ml of boiling water. Bring back to the boil, then turn down to a gentle simmer and cover with a heavy lid or seal up tightly with tinfoil. Leave the rice to simmer for 10 minutes then turn off the heat and leave the rice with the lid on for a further five minutes.
  5. While the rice is resting, cook the peas by blanching in boiling water for a minute or two. Strain and keep to hand.
  6. When the rice is finished, remove the lid and add the prawns. Push each one down into the rice – the residual heat will cook them.  Cover with the peas and put the lid back on the pan.
  7. Chop the fresh herbs, setting a little aside for garnish, juice half the lemon, and flake the smoked halibut. Once this is done, add these ingredients to the pan along with some black pepper, then stir in gently with a fork (using a fork will help to fluff the rice rather than breaking it).  Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.
  8. To serve, put the kedgeree on a large serving platter or bowl, garnish with the eggs, halved; lemon wedges; reserved herbs and fresh chilli (if using). Then get stuck in!
Mushrooms on Toast with poached egg

Mushrooms on Toast with poached egg

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Given the name of this site, I figured it was about time I got a toast based recipe up here.  This dish was inspired by some gorgeous shimeji mushrooms from Forest Fungi that I picked up at The Exeter Food Festival but could be prepared using any fresh mushrooms you can get your hands on.  It is also ridiculously quick to throw together. Just make sure you have everything ready to go before you start cooking, because it all comes together in minutes.

TIPS:

  • A fairly dense bread works best as the moisture from the mushrooms will quickly soften your toast if you use something too soft. I used a spelt and sunflower loaf that I got from Sainsbury’s which kept its texture brilliantly.
  • Shimeji mushrooms are well worth finding, but if you use something else, you may need to adjust the cooking times slightly. The bigger the pieces, the longer they will probably need. (For the photo, I actually bulked the dish out a bit with oyster mushrooms because I was a little short).
  • Try replacing the paprika with a spoonful of chopped tarragon. This will give the dish a fresh, aniseed flavour that works brilliantly with mushrooms.

 

Ingredients

30g unsalted Butter

1 large clove garlic

100g white shimeji mushrooms (or what you can get – see above)

¼ tsp smoked paprika

Salt and pepper

1 medium egg

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 or 2 slices of good quality bread

Butter for spreading.

Flat-leaf parsley for garnish (optional)

Method

  1. Get a pan of water boiling for poaching the egg. Keep at a low boil until ready to use.
  2. To cook the mushrooms: Put the butter into a frying pan over a med-high heat and heat until foaming. Turn the temperature down slightly, add the garlic, peeled and partially crushed with the flat of your knife, and allow it to infuse into the butter for a minute or so.
  3. While the garlic is infusing is a good time to get the toast on. Cook to your own liking!
  4. Turn the heat back up to med-high. Add the mushrooms into the frying pan and stir to ensure they are all evenly coated in butter. Leave to fry unmolested for a minute, shake them up again then give them another minute or so.  Add the paprika, and season with salt and pepper.
  5. To poach the egg: As soon as the mushrooms are in the frying pan, break the egg into a ramekin and add the vinegar to the boiling water. Stir the water to create a whirlpool in the centre of the pan, then gently pour the egg into the centre.  Leave to poach for 2-3 minutes – as soon as the white is even coloured and opaque it is cooked.  Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and leave on the spoon to drain, until ready to serve.
  6. Finally, butter the toast and place it on a plate, pile the mushrooms on the toast then top it all off with the poached egg. Finish with a little black pepper, a pinch more paprika and some chopped, flatleaf parsley if you want.  Eat immediately.
Spiced Banana Bread

Spiced Banana Bread

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I love banana bread but find that some are a little sweet for my tastes, so I have developed this recipe through a bit of trial and error.  It is still undeniably banana flavoured, but the addition of black treacle and a little spice creates a slightly more complex, interesting flavour.  I would argue that this recipe is a bit more grown-up but my two year old goes mental for it so what do I know? Still, it is dead simple, has very little hands-on time and is a great way to use up a couple of bananas that are past their best.

TIPS:

  • You can make this recipe with self-raising flour (I don’t tend to bother buying it anymore after reading a post on Nigella.com on the subject which you can see here). Simply use the same quantity of flour but only one tsp of baking powder.
  • Stand the spoon you are going to use to measure the black treacle in boiling water for a minute or two before using it.  The treacle will come off the spoon much more easily.
  • If you want to step things up from tasty tea-time treat to an indulgent dessert, try toasting thick slices of banana bread until the edges start to colour, then top with vanilla ice cream and maple syrup. It is honestly far greater than the sum of its (already pretty awesome) parts!

Spiced Banana Bread

Ingredients

100g  unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing the loaf tin

175g  soft light brown sugar

2 medium eggs

1tbsp black treacle

2 overripe bananas (200g approx.)

2tbsp milk

1tsp vanilla extract

225g plain flour

3tsp baking powder

1tsp ground ginger

1tsp ground cinnamon

 

You will also need:

1 loaf tin 17x9cm (approx.)

 

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 160C fan. Grease the loaf tin generously.
  2. Put the butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, ensuring each one is completely combined with the butter and sugar. Add the black treacle to the bowl and mix thoroughly.
  3. In a separate bowl, place the bananas, milk, and vanilla extract, and mash together until they form a fairly smooth puree. Don’t worry if there are a few small lumps. Add this mixture to the butter, sugar and eggs and stir to combine.  The mixture will almost certainly curdle at this point but this is normal. Don’t panic.
  4. Mix the flour, baking powder, ginger and cinnamon and sieve into the wet ingredients. Stir until all the flour is combined. Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and give it a little shake to level the mixture out.
  5. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer poked into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
  6. Allow to cool for a few minutes in the tin, before running a knife around the edges of the tin and turning the loaf out onto a cooling rack.

Eat as soon as it is cool enough to do so.  Wrapped tightly in tinfoil and stored in a sealed container the banana bread will keep for a couple of days, if it lasts that long…
Double Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookies

Double Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookies

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I spotted a bag of peanut butter chips while doing my weekly shop the other day. As Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are among my favourite chocolate treats,  I couldn’t resist grabbing them. Although I’m sure they could be used to make a variety of treats, I immediately decided to use them to make cookies.  Below is the recipe I came up with. It produces thick, soft cookies with crisp, crunchy edges and a lovely balance of bitter cocoa, sweet milk chocolate and salty peanut butter.

TIPS:

  • The uncooked cookie mixture will keep in the fridge for a couple of days and can be sliced into cookies when you are ready to bake them. If you want to store it for longer, slice into pieces and freeze with a layer of grease-proof paper between each slice.  These can then be baked from frozen; just add 2-3 minutes to the cooking time.

Double Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes 16-20 cookies

Ingredients

225g  softened, unsalted butter

125g  caster sugar

1 medium egg

1tsp Vanilla Extract

225g Plain Flour

50g Cocoa Powder

100g Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips

75g Milk Chocolate Chips

 

Method

  1. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until the sugar is no longer grainy.Add the egg and vanilla extract to the bowl and mix thoroughly then sieve the flour and cocoa into the bowl and mix until completely combined.
  2. Add the peanut butter chips and chocolate chips to the rest of the mixture. Knead briefly by hand to ensure the chips are evenly distributed through the mixture.
  3. Place a couple of sheets of cling film onto the work surface. Shape the mixture into a sausage approximately 2 inches in diameter and then roll up in the cling film. Place the mixture in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up.
  4. Heat the oven to 170C Fan.
  5. Slice the cookie mixture into pieces approximately 1cm thick pieces (each cookie will be roughly 45-50g) and place each slice on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Leave plenty of room between each cookie as they will spread while baking.
  6. Bake for 10-13 minutes. Keep an eye on the cookies while they are cooking as a minute or two will make all the difference between soft or crunchy cookies. They are ready when the tops have formed a cracked crust but the cookie itself is still soft and squidgy.
  7. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave on the baking sheet to cool for ten minutes.
  8. Eat with a glass of gold-top milk (or a White Russian). If you must, store in an airtight container for a day or two.