Smoked mackerel and bacon salad

9 May 2013 By Leave a Comment
Smoked mackerel and bacon salad

Smoked mackerel and bacon salad

As you may know, I am enjoying eating fish more regularly recently as part of the Fish is the Dish Healthy Happy Hearts campaign. Not only is this a highly nutritious meal which is great for a quick but filling lunch, it is very convenient to make, as smoked mackerel and bacon have quite a long life in the fridge. As I am away so much, these are ingredients which I generally have to hand or can leave in the fridge for days when I haven’t managed to go shopping.

This is one of those fallback meals which I rely on so frequently, using good ingredients, prepared simply.

Smoked mackerel and bacon salad

Serves 2

Ingredients 

2 smoked mackerel

2 rashers smoked back bacon, cut into thin strips

A couple of handfuls salad leaves

¼ red onion, thinly sliced

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp capers

Salt and pepper

Some fresh basil leaves

Method

Remove the skin from the mackerel and flake into chunks. Set aside.

Cook the bacon in a non-stick pan until golden and crisp. I use a non-stick pan and don’t add oil, but you can use 1 tsp oil if you like.

Lay the leaves and onion out onto plates. Place the remaining ingredients into a bowl and whisk together to make the dressing.

Add the mackerel and bacon to the lettuce leaves and pour over the dressing.

Serve immediately with some nice bread or new potatoes.

Filed Under: Dinner, Lunch, Recipes Tagged With: , , , ,

A day with Lesley Waters

28 April 2013 By 6 Comments
Pumpkin seed, sage and thyme plait loaf

Pumpkin seed, sage and thyme plait loaf

Last week, I had a really fun day at the Lesley Waters cookery school down here in Dorset. I spent the day with Lesley and a small number of other guests cooking in her beautiful cookery school kitchen which has recently been custom built adjacent to her Dorset home.

We spent the day cooking a number of Lesley’s signature dishes which was most enjoyable and included bread making, preparing and cooking fresh Dorset seafood, and some fantastic ideas for fresh, quick and absolutely delicious meals. I came away feeling really inspired, thanks to Lesley’s  enthusiastic way of teaching and her generosity with ideas.

Most of the food we made on the day we ate for lunch, with the exception of this delicious loaf of bread we made. I took it home and it was such a hit, I found myself making it again in the week.

The pumpkin seed, sage and thyme plait loaf is absolutely delicious and is great to enjoy at this time of year with salads, and even in a bacon sandwich. It is an adaptation of this recipe found here, with 5 tbsp of toasted pumpkin seeds, and 3 tbsp each of finely chopped fresh sage and thyme added at stage 6 of the recipe and worked into the dough.

It was also a fantastic use of my lovely new Mermaid baking sheet which I was sent to celebrate National Bread Week which worked really well here. A lipless baking sheet is really helpful when making complicated loaves of bread as you can simply flour the bread and slide the loaf on to the sheet, rather than having to pick it up and transfer it, which can result in a misshapen loaf.

Filed Under: Baking, Dinner, Lunch, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Super simple baked chocolate pudding

23 April 2013 By Leave a Comment
Super simple baked chocolate pudding

Super simple baked chocolate pudding

On a colder evening, a hot pudding makes the perfect end to a meal. A chocolate pudding is extremely simple to make, requires very few ingredients and doesn’t take too long to cook.

This chocolate pudding is a very straightforward recipe to prepare, and one which need not feel too ambitious or daunting. It is one which I will gladly make on a weeknight, as it will cook whilst we eat our main course.

The key to making this pudding really special is the quality of chocolate you use. I used 70% cocoa French dark chocolate from Thornton’s. It has a wonderful flavour and adds a really rich chocolatey flavour to the pudding. This may sound like an obvious thing to write, but using a lower quality chocolate does not work as well, as it has a high fat and sugar content, and the chocolate flavour does not come through as well. Make sure your eggs are as fresh as can be, too. I get mine from the local farm who do weekly home deliveries, and they are infinitely superior to supermarket free-range eggs.

Super simple baked chocolate pudding

Serves 4-6 people

Ingredients:

20g butter

200g dark chocolate, I used 70% cocoa French Dark Chocolate from Thornton’s

100g caster sugar

5 large free-range eggs, separated

Method:

1)        Start by preheating the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6

2)        Take a 1 litre capacity oven proof dish and butter the inside well.

3)        Break the chocolate into squares and melt either using the microwave or in a bain marie. Set aside to cool for a few minutes once melted

4)        Place the sugar and egg whites together into a bowl. Whisk together until they form stiff peaks.

5)        Now, add the egg yolks to the melted chocolate and beat together until smooth.

6)        Add the egg yolk a tablespoon and at time and mix into the chocolate. Try to mix as gently as possible so that you don’t knock too much air out of the egg whites.

7)        Spoon into your prepared ovenproof dish, smooth the top and back for 25-30 minutes until it forms a slight crust on tip. It will be light and spongy with a gooey centre.

8)        Serve hot or cold. Delicious served with cream or ice cream.

Filed Under: Baking, Dinner, Recipes Tagged With: , , ,
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