Goan Fish Curry.

One of the advantages of working as a lodge cook in Scotland is you do get some fantastic kitchen sink views. This is a photo of one that I think is hard to beat. The disadvantages include your kitchens looking like this! Having said that this particular kitchen might be basic but at least the oven is consistently hot which is a rare treat.

I am afraid I must again apologise for another not great photo, this dish doesn't hold very well and there weren't any left overs for me to stage a more artistic photo with. This is more of an aromatic curry that a hot one. I always make it with cod loins but you could use monk fish or some prawns as well if you have them. I tend to serve this as a main course but you could probably serve it in smaller porions as a starter.

1 onion finely chopped
1 tsp mustard seeds
A lump of fresh ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
4 garlic cloves crushed
2 red chilies
2 tsp tamarind paste
2 tomatoes roughly chopped
400ml coconut milk
500g white fish cut in large chunks
Handful of fresh coriander

Soft the onion with the mustard seeds over a medium heat. Add in the rest of the spices and cook for a couple of minutes to release the maximum flavour from the spices. Add in the coconut milk, tomatoes and 100ml of water bring to the boil, allow to simmer for 10 minutes or so until it has thickened slightly. The length of time needed will depend on your coconut milk if you are using low fat milk this will take longer as it is thiner than the full fat version. At this stage the curry can be left to sit until just before you wish to serve it. Add in the fish and bring to back up to a simmer it will only take about 3 minutes for the fish to cook, it should be translucent. Don't over cook the fish or it will simply fall apart and you will end up with a curried fish soup! Serve with a smattering of chopped fresh coriander

Calamari.

This recipe originally came from nigella express and in my opinion it is one of her best recipes. It make a great light meal with salad or a super easy canape. Don't bother buying fresh squid for this, it is more expensive and you should always freeze squid before cooking it as it tenderises the fish anyway. Waitrose sell it for £8 kilo


2tbsp flour
2tbsp semolina
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper
300g frozen squid
vegetable oil for deep frying


Place the flour and seasoning in a sandwich bag to mix. Chop up the squid into mouthful sized pieces and add to the bag. Shake to cover the squid in the mix. Deep fry in batches in smoking oil they should not take more than a minute or so. Let them cool for a brief moment on kitchen towel this will get rid of a surface oil. Serve with mayonnaise with a small amount of raw garlic stirred in.

Baked smoked haddock creams.

I made these the other day for my brother for lunch and served them with salad from the garden. But they are designed to be a starter. I'm afraid I did not manage to take a picture. The best way I can describe them is a quiche with no pastry so they felt much lighter than having a quiche. If you are on a diet or just generally very healthy I can't see why you could not use single cream instead of double. 

300g Smoked haddock un-dyed is nicer

1 Bay leaf

150ml Milk

150ml Double cream

3 Egg yolks

1tbsp Chives chopped

Nutmeg

Pre heat oven 175C or in a 2 door Aga bottom of the roasting oven on the grid with one cold shelf. I found that this was fine but if your Aga is hot you may need to watch them and put in a cold shelf. Skin the fish then poach it for 5mins in the milk with pepper and a bay leaf don't add salt the smoking should have made the fish salty enough. The fish should be only just cooked at this point. Flake fish into 6 separate 4oz ramekins. In a mixing bowl mix yolks, cream, chives and nutmeg whisk thoroughly. Whisk in the hot milk and pour over fish. fork the fish to the top of the ramekins. Bake for 15-20 mins then leave them out of the oven resting for 10 minutes. I was in a rush and to my detriment tried to avoid this stage don't do this. The ten minutes cooling slightly allows the egg to set enough to turn them out with out overcooking. They should be nice and golden brown around the edges. Run a knife around the edge before turning out the look nicest if you serve them cooking side up. These can be cooked in advance and reheated at the same temp they are cooked at. I don't know how many days in advance you can make them as I have yet to experiment but you can definitely do them in the morning for a dinner. 

Moule Mariniere.

While I was out this morning Simon the Fish arrived. Simon is a white van man who drives up from the coast and every other Thursdays visits us selling whatever looked good from the catch that morning. My Father bought enough mussels for the two of us for lunch. He is blissfully happy at the moment putting up plaster board in my parents new bathroom, why pay some one else to do it when you can do it yourself? Fortunately for us he is quite the Mr fix it, so for the most part it is not a bodge job although he does believe that there is not much that cannot be fixed with either gaffer tape or cable ties. Having so said he came home last weekend with his thumb nail held together with a piece of gaffer tape. He had split the nail with a hammer whilst re-tiling the barn roof. This has now elegantly been replace with nail glue and an off cut of silk. 


Anyhow back to the recipe we cook mussels a lot in Scotland where they somewhat give me the heebie-geebies as we collect them of the beach and they are full of pearls. Not the kind of pearls which you want to keep but the kind which you crack your teeth on. If I must eat mussels even pearl free ones, I do always think that they are better as plain as possible. This is for two.


1.5kg Mussels
1-2 Shallots depending on size
2 cloves of garlic crushed
A handful of parsley 
salt and pepper
100ml white wine or cider
150ml cream optional


First de-beared the mussels and scrape off any barnacles then wash them with cold water. Finely chop the shallots you can use onion but it is not as sweet. Sweat off the shallots and garlic then add the mussels and wine. Turn up the heat bring to boil with the lid on and allow the mussels to steam for 3-4minutes shaking the pan occasionally. Once all the shells are open they are cooked. At this point you can either serve it or remove the mussels and tinker with the sauce. Once you have taken out the mussels you can season, reduce it if you prefer it a little thicker of add some cream. Finally sprinkle liberally with chopped parsley.