Salmon Tray Bake

Having tried the recipe off the front cover of a previous edition of delicious magazine for my last blog post (The One-Pan Roast), I thought I would also do the same thing again from this month’s edition, titled “One-Pan Winner”. Writing my blog is not only about learning and sharing old family favourites and secrets but also about sharing recipes that I want to try and would try for an evening’s supper, regardless of writing my blog or not!

The idea of these simple ‘one pan recipes’, that use fresh ingredients and that are easy to put together after a long day in the office, is great. Another bonus, is that it is something new to try, rather than reconstituting the same quick meals (with minor variations) that we normally throw together after working long days! If I see anymore of these style dishes on the cover in coming months, then I shall have to review and cook them as well, making a feature about them on the blog!

Being big fish fans and always being able to find Salmon in the fridge, we thought this would be perfect, based partly on the fact that the last one (One-tray roast chicken with white wine, zesty potatoes and asparagus) worked so well. The whole recipe was very aptly named as we thoroughly enjoyed it, not just from the taste but that it was very healthy too, which is never a bad thing.

What I like about these ‘one pan recipes’, is that ‘in theory’ you can try just about anything you want, that your imagination lets you come up with. If anyone has any other ‘one pan recipe’ favourites they love cooking, then please Comment on this post and let me know (including a quick recipe guide) – for the ones that grab my attention the most, I will do a cookup and review in a future post.

Ingredients:
2 Red Onions, cut into wedges
2 Red Peppers, sliced into strips
1 Yellow Pepper, sliced into strips
1 Courgette, halved lengthways and thinly sliced
1 Garlic Bulb, halved across the middle
2 Medium Tomatoes, halved
3 tbsp Olive Oil, plus extra to drizzle
270g Cherry Tomatoes on the vine
2-4 Salmon fillets (depending on how many you are cooking for)
Squeeze of Lemon Juice
Handful of fresh Basil leaves


1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6. Tumble the onions, peppers, courgette, garlic and medium tomatoes into a roasting tray. Pour over 3tbsp olive oil, season with sea salt and ground black pepper, then gently toss to coat. Roast for 20 minutes.

2. Add the vine tomatoes to the tray and lay the salmon fillets on top. Season, then drizzle with a little more oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Return to the oven for 10-12 minutes until the salmon is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.

Scatter with fresh basil leaves to serve.

Enjoy!

Chicken Breast with Langoustines

After making the Tomato Sauce, I got all the other ingredients ready to make this Floyd dish. I had no idea how this was going to turn out, so was definitely looking forward to the eating stage and trying it out!

The recipe said that it serves 4, due to it being a chicken breast per person. As there were only 2 of us we only used 2 breasts but kept the rest of the recipe the same, so there was lots of sauce left over. Next time I make this recipe, I will halve the sauce ingredients too.

You can tell there is a real French heritage behind this dish, using the Langoustines and Cognac and the final results were typically French too – flavours that I wouldnt normally put together to create a fancy and very rich tasting Floyd dish. This is not a recipe you want to make if you are on a diet. Having said that, we both polished the meal off and wished there had been a bit more chicken and a few more langoustines too. Floyd says to serve with boiled rice, which we did, but next time I think I will serve it with green vegetables and french green beans.

(Printable Recipe)

Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 Chicken Breasts
4 Langoustines per person - Large Crevettes or Whole King Prawns can be used
1 tbsp Onion, finely chopped
1 Clove Garlic, chopped
1 tbsp Parsely, chopped
1 cup of Tomato Sauce
½-1 cup of Double Cream (I used ½ cup and this was very creamy)
2 oz Butter
1 large glass White Wine
1 measure Cognac or Brandy
Pinch Thyme
Salt and Pepper
1 tbsp jellified Chicken Gravy
1 tsp Dry Sherry

1 Season the chicken and fry in the butter for 10 minutes.

2 Add the onions, garlic, thyme and langoustines (I removed the shells but the recipe didn’t say what to do).

3 Flame with the Cognac and add the white wine. Allow to simmer for a few moments.

4 Add the tomato sauce and the cream and if possible a tablespoon or two of jellified gravy. Taste the sauce, it should not be too creamy.

5 Season with salt and pepper. At this stage a teaspoon of sherry could be added to sharpen the sauce a little.

Serve with plenty of boiled rice and a green salad.

Enjoy!

Floyd’s Tomato Sauce

I thought it was about time to try something from ‘Floyd’s Food’ so I decided to cook up something I would never normally choose, in this case “Chicken Breast with Langoustines” (recipe to come) and one of the ingredients was a coffee cup of his own “Tomato Sauce”. So I found the recipe and set about cooking this sauce that reminded me of a very fragrant mediterranean pasta sauce. I’m going to make this again to use with other dishes in future!

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:
14 oz/400g Tin Tomatoes
2 Cloves Garlic, chopped
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh or dried Basil
1 tbsp chopped Parsley
1 tbsp White Sugar
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Black Pepper

1 Fry the onions and garlic in the olive oil until soft.

2 When soft, add all the other ingredients and cook over a low heat for 15 minutes.

3 Then liquidize the lot. This sauce can be served either hot or cold.

Enjoy!