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!

Green & Red Tomato Chutney

It’s halfway through October and with a lack of sunshine I still had approx. 30 green tomatoes on my plant outside. Now with the first frosts at the tail end of the year about to happen, I didnt want them to go to waste so decided to have a go at another chutney after making my Spicy Green Tomato Chutney last month.

I found another great recipe that looked delicious as well perfect for my needs, as I wanted something less spicy this time.

I only had 8ozs of green tomatoes from my plant, so added 8ozs of red tomatoes to make up the pound in weight.

As with my last chutney, this didnt require any finesse to make, but was great fun and the smells around the kitchen were amazing. While it was cooling, we were already tucking into it with some cheese as it looked so good. The best bit is that it tastes as good as it looks.

This is definately one recipe I will be making again if I am left with a glut of green tomatoes next year!

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:
1 lb Tomatoes - green, red - or a mix of either
1 lb Cooking Apples - peeled and cored
1 lb Demerara Sugar
1/2 lb Onions - peeled
1/2 lb Sultanas
1 pt Malt Vinegar
1 level tbsp Salt
2 tbsp Flour
1/2 tbsp Ground Ginger
1 tsp Mustard Powder

1 Roughly dice and chop the tomatoes, apples and onions and put them all in a good heavy based pan, mixing it well.

2 Add 3/4 pint of vinegar, the sultanas and the salt, bring to the boil and simmer until it turns into a pulp, stirring frequently – Approx 20-30 mins.

3 Add the demerara sugar, stirring in to dissolve, then bring it all gently back to the boil and then continue simmering gently for a few minutes.

4 Then mix the flour, mustard and ground ginger with the rest of the vinegar together in a small bowl.

5 Add in the above mixture, stirring it well to stop it from sticking to the pan.

6 Bring it all gently to the boil again, and stir until it starts to thicken (for about 5-10 mins).

7 Spoon into sterilised jars and enjoy either after standing for a while to let the flavours develop or immediately if you are impatient like me.

Enjoy with anything savoury!

Spicy Green Tomato Chutney

Now, having nearly given up with my small tomato plant ever ending up bearing me red fruit before the first frosts of the year (which will be upon us soon), I decided to pick about half of the large green tomatoes (1lb worth) to make a recipe that was suggested to me on the UK Food Bloggers site – Green Tomato Chutney.

I found so many that were so overly complicated and some that required soaking things in vinegar for days at a time. Being too impatient, I wanted to find a recipe that would allow me to prepare it all from my cupboard in next to no time and allow me to get cooking straight away!

The following recipe was perfect – it didnt require the finesse of a Michelin Starred Chef to make and the addition of the spices sounded great.

An hour later after starting to cook and I was already trying some on a cracker with some cheese while it was cooling and it tasted great.

I’m glad I didnt let my tomatoes go to ruin and now know I can make this excellent chutney any year again when we dont have a sunny summer!!

See also: Green & Red Tomato Chutney

1 lb Green Tomatoes
1 lb Red Onions
1/2 lb Sultanas
1/2 lb Brown Sugar
2 tbsp Salt
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Ground Green Cardamom
500ml Malt Vinegar

1 Chop everything up – there is no need for a perfection, and put it in a good heavy based pan, mixing it well.

2 Bring it to the boil and then turn down the heat , simmer for about an hour until it is all reduced to a thick pulp.

3 Spoon into sterilised jars and enjoy either after standing for a while to let the flavours develop or immediately if you are impatient like me.

Enjoy with anything savoury!

If you make this recipe, please come back and let me know!