Seafood Curry

Is it really 2014 already?

I started writing this post on the 14th July 2012 – not sure it was meant to take this long to write. Doesn’t time fly! What a roller-coaster 18 months…

Needless to say, with some gentle persuasion, getting back to this, was getting back to something I love and enjoy doing, and sharing with others. Life was so down and up, that I have missed all my old blogger friends on twitter etc. I wonder what the likes of Karen, Choclette, Dominic, Jack and Fiona and many others have all been up to? A lot of reading and catching up to come, me thinks…

So anyway, am I back? Is this just a passing phase? I hope not 🙂 I have already got another post to follow shortly 😉 I just hope the world of food blogging hasn’t changed too much and that I am not stuck in the old world of ‘2012 style’ posts!

I think this recipe originally came from a BBC email I received way back when, while I was going through a spicy fish phase in my life, having previously done the Spicy Seafood Stew.

So seeing this half-finished post sat in my draft pile, I decided to re-try the recipe. I was surprised that this had not been cooked again in the last 18 months, it was that good! With the availability of social media and sharing images real-time, it meant I was now able to send photos to family members as I was making it, with replies such as ‘yumm’ and ‘can you save me some pls?”

The best part of this recipe is the curry sauce – this is something that took very little time creating and can be cooked up long in advance and potentially used with any accompaniment of your choosing. And of course, if you like it hotter, just add more chillies 🙂

Ingredients:
75g ghee (you can substitute with margarine)
300g skinless white fish like pollack, cut into large chunks
200g skinless salmon , cut into large chunks
200g raw peeled prawns
100g mussels (optional), cleaned and de-bearded


For The Curry Sauce:
1 onion , roughly chopped
100g ginger , chopped
50ml vegetable oil
2 tsp garam masala
½ tsp asafoetida (if you have it)
1 tsp turmeric
1 red chilli , deseeded and finely chopped (leave the seeds in if you like it really hot)
400g can chopped tomatoes
good handful coriander leaves


1. For the curry sauce, whizz the onion and ginger together to a purée. Heat the oil in a large pan until smoking. Add the garam marsala and sizzle for 30 secs, then add the onion and ginger purée, reduce the heat and slowly cook for 5 mins. Add the remaining spices, fry for 1 min, stir in the chilli and fry for another min, then add the tomatoes and a good pinch of salt and grind of pepper, and stir well. You can do this way in advance, then just throw the curry together on the night – the sauce will freeze or keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

2. To make the curry, melt a third of the ghee in a large pan. Cook the white fish for 2-3 mins until lightly browned, then set aside on a plate. Repeat this process with the salmon and prawns, adding another third of ghee each time. For the mussels, heat a medium-sized saucepan on a high heat. Add the mussels with 2 tbsp of water, cover tightly with a lid, and steam for 3-4 mins, shaking the pan every so often. Drain and set aside with the other seafood.

3. Bring the sauce to the boil, stir the fish and mussels in gently, bring to the boil again, then remove from the heat and leave for 3-4 mins – the fish will finish cooking in the heat from the sauce. If you like, add some coriander leaves and serve with rice!

Enjoy!

Spicy Seafood Stew With Tomatoes And Lime

The majority of my blog posts are usually recording the family recipes being passed down to me, or sharing new recipes I find and like the look of, to try out at home. Rarely do I get the chance to cook for friends, trying out a recipe that is new and untested, all at the same time.

I’m glad I got the opportunity to try this out on a new audience as I had had this recipe bookmarked for a while and hadn’t managed to cook it yet. Having never been a huge fan of stews or Mexican food, I thought I could try and conquer two hurdles at the same time. 🙂

While this recipe may be Mexican in origin and while it technically should be called a stew, I would not call it one, in comparison to those I am used to, from the hazy days of school dinners with dodgy dumplings. This was seriously a world far away better!

After taking over my friend’s kitchen, I set about diligently following the recipe, until I had all the pieces of the dish ready to cook together. The smell of the sauce was incredible and tasting the sauce as I was cooking it, just seemed to get hotter (chilli wise) as time went on.

Serving it up at the table, it was like a feast had been created from a simple recipe, especially with all the accompaniments and tortillas it was served with.

It tasted amazing and within seconds of it being tried, I was rewarded with comments such as “You can make this again!”

I asked for a quote from my friends, to add to the post and this is what I was sent… 😉

“A sensational dish jam-packed with all the variety vibrancy and va va voom of a Fiesta”

Based on a recipe by John Torode

Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 dried chillies
1.0 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion , chopped
4 garlic cloves , chopped
1.0 tsp chipotle paste
1.0 tsp ground cumin
700.0ml chicken stock
250.0g chopped tomatoes , from a can
200.0g large peeled raw prawns
300.0g halibut or other firm white fish fillets, cut into 2.5cm pieces
300.0g mussels or clams
500.0g small new potatoes , halved and boiled
juice 2 limes


1. Toast the chillies in a hot dry frying pan for a few moments (they will puff up a bit), then remove. Deseed and stem chillies, and soak in boiling water for 15 mins.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, season and cook for about 5 mins or until softened. Add the chipotle paste, reconstituted chillies, cumin, stock and tomatoes. Sauté for 5 mins, then purée until very fine in a blender.

3. Pour back into the pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 mins. When close to eating, add the prawns, fish fillets, mussels and potatoes. Place a lid on top and cook for 5 mins over a medium-high heat. Add the lime juice and serve with avocado, coriander and red onion.

Additionally serve with soured cream, if you want it a little cooler.

Enjoy!

Jamie’s Italian

^{Photo © Jamie’s Italian}

For my birthday last week, (on the hottest day of the year so far), we decided to go out to dinner to Jamie’s Italian in Guildford, rather than the ‘local’ curry house or chinese restaurant which are within walking distance of home, as I wanted to enjoy something different. I had heard mixed reviews of the restaurant, with some giving it high praise and others telling me it was below average. I still wanted to try it out regardless.

We booked in advance, which allowed us to have a side booth for the evening, meaning we were not as crowded as others in the very full (good sign) main eating area. The staff, who were welcoming and very attentive as soon as we arrived, got us seated with menus to browse, without the usual forcing us to order drinks as soon as our backsides were planted. We liked the ‘urban’ kitchen eatery décor of the place, as it seemed to match that of Jamie himself, from the good old early days on TV. I’m not sure I would like to have been sat in the middle of the crowded main area though, as people did seem to be sat on top of one another, while some were dodging pillars. Sat on the side, I was wondering for the sake of a few covers, if re-arranging would have made it more enjoyable for the others?

Anyway, after a short period, we noticed that many were there celebrating their birthdays too, as a procession of cakes, puddings and candles kept leaving the kitchen pass area, with ‘Happy Birthday’ ringing out in various tones and keys, across the restaurant (some sang better than others). This prompted my other half, to inform our waiter that it was my birthday too and ‘could my pudding possibly have a candle in it as well’, when it eventually came out. 🙂

We were not in the mood to drink ‘too’ much, especially with it still being 25C+ outside at 8pm and one thing we both really liked, that you don’t really see in many other restaurants, is being able to buy wine by the carafe (50cl rather than 75cl), which went down great, (along with all the water we were drinking to stay hydrated), especially as we ordered one carafe each, Montepulciano Red and Pinot Grigio Rosé.

We didn’t have to wait long for the food to arrive once we ordered it and for what we ordered, I personally do not think it was overpriced. In fact, for the starters we had, I was expecting it to be more expensive, having had ‘similar style’ first courses for more inflated prices elsewhere.

For our starters, we both chose the Antipasti Meat Plank which consisted of cured meats, Italian cheeses, pickles and a crunchy salad, which set the scene for the rest of the evening.

For our mains we had Black Angel Spaghetti (which probably had a bit too much chilli for our tastes) and Seaside Risotto which was delicious.

Finally, for our desserts we had Sicilian Cheesecake and Panna Cotta, with a candle stuck out the top of my Panna Cotta when it arrived, along with a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’. I chose the Panna Cotta as I wanted to see if it was as good as the one in my last blog post. I also got my hands on a menu that was signed by all the Chefs and the front of house team working there, which was a great reminder of the evening.

To top the evening off, just before the bill arrived, we were presented with two shot glasses of Limoncello on the house, which would always go down very well!

To sum up it all up, I would say it was a really good experience, with very friendly, attentive staff and with very tasty food that you don’t really get elsewhere and the price wasn’t too bad either. I would go back again, to try something else from the menu, without a second thought, to see if it was as good! I’m glad I dismissed the negative reviews and shows that if you want to judge somewhere, you have to try it out for yourself.

Fish Korma

It seems ages since I wrote a blog post, what with the house move to a whole new county, taking over our lives for the last 4 weeks!

Broadband has now finally been installed and there are fewer boxes in each room, allowing us to start cooking again properly and getting back in touch with the foodie community again. There are lots of people I will be catching up with over the next few weeks, plus learning about our new corner of the world and seeing what foodie goodies are available nearby.

One big bonus is that our new home has a big blackberry bush at the bottom of the garden, so thats me sorted for my wines, vinegars, coulis’ and compotes again this year.

This recipe below was one of the last dishes I cooked before we left our old house and was chosen as a blog post, as we needed to use up what we had left in our fridge and freezer. With all the fish we had left, this recipe seemed perfect to go with the Very lazy Ginger we had been sent!

Contrary to general belief, Korma is not a dish but one of techniques used in Indian cooking. This Fish Korma is easy to cook and has an irresistable aroma and taste.

Source: Curry Bible – Mridula Baljekar

(Printable Recipe)

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
700g/1lb 9oz Fish fillets cut into large pieces (we used Salmon and Monkfish)
1 tbsp Lemon juice
1 tsp Salt
55g/2oz Raw unsalted Cashews
3 tbsp Olive Oil
5cm/2in Cinnamon Stick
4 Green Cardamom Pods, bruised
2 Cloves
1 Large Onion, finely chopped
1-2 Fresh Green Chillies, chopped
2 tsp Ginger Purée
2 tsp Garlic Purée
150ml/5fl oz Single Cream
55g/2oz Whole Milk Natural Yoghurt
¼ tsp Ground Turmeric
½ tsp Sugar

1 Place the fish on a large plate and rub in the lemon juice and ½ tsp of the salt. Set aside for 20 minutes.

2 Soak the cashews in boilng water for 15 minutes.

3 Heat the oil in a large pan over a low heat and add the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Let it all sizzle for 30-40 seconds.

4 Add the onion, chillies, ginger and garlic purées. Increase the heat slightly and cook, stirring frequently for 9-10 minutes, until the onion is soft.

5 Drain the cashews and purée them with the cream and yoghurt.

6 Stir the turmeric into the onion mixture and add the puréed ingredients, the remaining salt and sugar.

7 Mix thoroughly and arrange the fish in the sauce in a single layer. Bring to a slow simmer, cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and shake the pan gently from side to side.

8 Spoon some of the sauce over the pieces of fish, re-cover and cook for a further 3-4 minutes.

Serve with Indian Bread or Basmati Rice.

Enjoy!

Spicy Crab Linguini

As our home looks like a warehouse, with all the boxes about the place ready for the big move, I decided I would make something quick for supper so that it didn’t create too much more mess and washing up! And as it was my girlfriends birthday over the weekend, I made sure she chose what she wanted me to cook up. By the time I got home from work, she had chosen this recipe from one of James Martin’s books, as she loves seafood dishes.

As James says in his in book, if you want a quick but impressive-looking pasta dish, this is it. Once the ingredients are prepared and the pasta has been cooked, it takes just 5 minutes to make the crab sauce, but looks and tastes as if you spent hours laboring over a hot stove.

Within a couple of minutes I was already being asked if we can have this again as it tasted so good – perhaps once we have moved?

I think this is my first pasta dish that I have done on my blog and hopefully it will be the first of many.

(Printable Recipe)

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
7oz/200g Linguini
1oz/25g Butter
2 Shallots, peeled and chopped
1 Garlic Glove, peeled and chopped
2 Green Chillies, finely chopped
½ tbsp Thai Green Curry Paste
4fl oz/110ml White Wine
7fl oz/200ml Chicken Stock
Good Pinch of Saffron
7fl oz/200ml Double Cream
14oz/400g Mixed Crab Meat, white and dark
½oz/10g Flat-Leaf Parsley
½oz/10g Coriander Leaves, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 Lime
Salt and Black Pepper

1 Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, add the linguini and cook for 10-12 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2 Melt the butter in a large saucepan set over a medium heat and add the shallots and garlic. Fry for about 1 minute, without browning, then add the chillies and curry paste and cook for 2-3 minutes.

3 Pour in the wine, bring to the boil and reduce the liquid by half, then add the stock and saffron and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Pour in the cream, bring back up to the boil and remove from the heat.

4 Add the crab meat to the sauce and heat gently for 2-3 minutes, then add the cooked linguini and warm through, stirring the sauce and pasta together. Remove from the heat, then stir in the parsley, coriander and lime juice, and season with salt and pepper.

Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Seafood Risotto

I’m still relatively new to making a risotto and after it seemingly being national risotto day on the Good Food Channel the other day, I picked up the first cook book to hand, Gordon Ramsay’s World Kitchen and started looking for one to make. I started flicking through the Italian section and found this Seafood Risotto. I thought this would be perfect as we both love seafood and thought it would be similar to the stunning seafood linguine I had at Carluccio’s last year. After watching 3 celebrities ladling various stocks on their various risotto’s over a period of time, I made sure I lovingly prepared mine with the same flair they all used!

To say this was good is an understatement. The food was only half-eaten by the time my girlfriend asked me to make this again next week. Any risotto lovers should try this.

As I was making it for the two of us, I halved all the ingredients and that was perfect for a delicious supper.

(Printable Recipe)

Serves 4

Ingredients:
300g Mussels
300g Prawns
200g Baby Squid, sliced
200ml Water
300ml Dry White Wine
800ml Fish Stock
Pinch of Saffron Strands
2 tbsp Olive Oil
40g Butter
1 Shallot peeled and chopped
1 Garlic Clove peeled and chopped
350g Risotto Rice
Finely grated zest of 1 Lemon
Sea Salt and Black Pepper
Flat Leaf Parsley, leaves chopped

1 Pour the water and 200ml of the wine into a large pan and bring to the boil over a high heat. Tip in the mussels, cover the pan and give it a few shakes.

2 Cook for 2-3 minutes until the mussels have opened. Drain them in a colander set on top of a pan to collect the juices. Shell the mussels and set aside, discarding any that remain closed.

3 Add the stock and saffron strands to the mussel juices and bring to a simmer.

4 Heat the olive oil and half the butter in a large pan. Add the shallot and garlic and fry until softened for about 6-8 minutes.

5 Tip the rice into the pan, stir well to coat and cook for about 2 minutes until the rice starts to turn translucent.

6 Pour in the remaining wine and let it bubble until all the liquid has been absorbed.

7 Add a ladleful of hot stock and stir until it has all been absorbed. Continue adding the stock in this way until the rice is creamy with a slight bite. (You may not need all the liquid.)

8 Stir in the prawns and squid and simmer for 2 minutes until they are just cooked through, adding the mussels for the last minute.

9 Finally stir in the grated lemon zest and remaining butter and taste for seasoning. Take the pan off the heat and leave to stand for a few minutes.

Serve at once, sprinkled with the chopped parsley.

Enjoy!