Hake and potato wedges with a ragu of summer vegetables

Paul had some lovely hake this Friday, so I thought we would have a treat.  Tasty wedges making a tiny change from chips, and some veg braised in wine finished it off. Yum.

Potatoes
Olive oil
Onion
Carrots
White wine
Stock
Cabbage
Hake

1.  Cut potatoes into wedges, toss in olive oil and bake for 45 minutes.
2.  After 25 ish minutes - Sautee red onion and diced carrot for a few minutes, in olive oil.  Add a cup of white wine and a cup of stock, simmer gently for a few minutes.  When you put the fish on add shredded cabbage and allow to wilt.
3.  Brush the fish with olive oil, and fry in a hot pan, skin side down first for a few minutes each side.
4.  Serve, scoff.

Spanish fish casserole

You could use any fish in this, really - but I had some lovely haddock and hake (from Paul the fish) in the freezer, so that was what went in for us.

The "spanish" about it is a little bit of heat, a little smokey paprika, peppers and garlic.  It was damn good.

Onion
Garlic
olive oil
Potatoes
courgette
Pepper (yellow or red)
White wine
Chilli flakes
Smoked paprika
Turmeric
Tin chopped tomatoes
Tomato puree
vegetable stock

1.  Sautee chopped onion and crushed garlic in olive oil.
2.  Add chunky diced potatoes - I keep the skin on, but peeled on not - either is fine.
3.  Add chopped courgette and pepper, add a pinch of chilli flakes, a pinch of smoked paprika and a smidge of turmeric.
4.  Pour in about a glass of white wine, and about the same of stock.
5.  Simmer, after 5 minutes add a tin of chopped tomatoes, a tablespoon of tomato puree and a tin of water.  Simmer again, covered.
6.  When the potatoes are just about done (15-18 minutes) add fish to the top, and cover again, to let it steam through for about 5-10 minutes (depends how big your fish is).
7.  Serve, scoff ... could have had crunchy bread and a green salad, could have topped with aioli - but it was delicious by itself.

Hake and chorizo, with roast potatoes and asparagus

Todmorden market win again.  Paul had some lovely hake, Garry had some irresistable fat asparagus (from Peru, oops not good on the food miles, but just this once I succumbed) - some chorizo from me at The Mediterranean Pantry and yum!

Olive oil
Potatoes
Asparagus
Frozen peas
Chorizo
Hake

1.  Slice the potatoes and toss in olive oil and salt, roast for about 30 minutes.
2.  Steam the asparagus, put the peas in the pan underneath.
3.  Chop the chorizo and fry briefly, remove from the pan.
4.  Fry the hake in a hot pan for a couple of minutes on each side - skin side first.
5.  Chuck the chorizo back in the pan with the fish to warm back through.
6.  Serve, scoff ... the veg dodger doesn't like asparagus ... madness, but more for me.


The pescatarian had the fish without the chorizo.

Hake with fennel and cavolo nero

Gorgeous silver hake from Paul the fish - some baby roasties and seasonal veg made a very delicious Friday dinner. The aniseediness of the fennel and the celery go very well with the fish, tied in together with a spritz of lemon.

Potatoes
olive oil
Onion
Celery
Garlic
fennel
white wine
cavolo nero
hake
lemon

1.  Chop potatoes into bite sized cubes and roast in olive oil.
2.  Sautee chopped onion and celery, then add crushed garlic and chopped fennel, spritz with lemon juice.  Add half a cup of wine, and the same of water, and simmer gently.
3.  Pan fry the fish, skin side down first - at the same time add shredded cavolo nero to the veg.
4.  Serve, scoff, watch veg dodger have seconds of green veg ... chuckle ...

Hake, on a bed of lentils

Paul the fish had beautiful hake today, so I adapted this from something I saw on the web - it might have been a Hairy Bikers thing.

All ingredients available from inside and outside Todmorden market.

The Mediterranean Pantry

Olive oil
Garlic
Lentils
Gluten free flour
Bouillon
Bay leaves
Mustard

Garry the veg

Onions
Carrots
Lemon
Spinach
Potatoes

Lots of places:  eggs

1.  Roast potatoes, in olive oil, in a hot oven for about an hour.
2.  Sautee chopped onion and carrot, with a little crushed garlic, in olive oil.
3.  When the onion is soft, add lentils - beluga in this case - but any small brown would be good.  Add stock made of bouillon, and bay leaves, cook until lentils are done.  Add more stock/water if required.
4.  Make lemon mayonnaise - whisk an egg yolk with 1/2 tsp dijon mustard and the juice of a lemon.  Slowly whisk in about a cup of light olive oil - it will thicken to a glossy mayonnaise.
5.  Dust the fish in flour, then dip into whisked egg.  Fry, in hot oil, for a few minutes...
6.  Serve, scoff ...

Baked hake with chickpeas, red pepper and courgette with crushed new potatoes

Fish on Friday has become a real tradition. There is no religious background to this, merely a pattern which has formed and is reinforced weekly by the lovely fish sold by Paul the fish on Tod market.

Tonight, a Spanish sort of treatment.

Olive oil
Onion
Garlic
Red pepper
Courgette
Paprika
White wine
Stock
Chickpeas
Oregano
New potatoes
Chives

1.  Gently sautee the onion and garlic in olive oil until a bit soft.
2.  Add chopped red pepper and courgette.
3.  Sprinkle in some smoked paprika, chopped oregano and add some drained chickpeas.
4.  Add a splash of white wine and/or stock and simmer gently for a few minutes.
5.  Transfer to an oven dish, put hake steaks on top (or other fish), drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a little more paprika.  Bake for about 20 minutes in a medium hot oven.
6.  Meanwhile boil new potatoes.
7.  When the potatoes are done, drain them, splash in a little olive oil and a small handful of chopped chives, crush with a masher.  (They can be crisped up in the oven if you fancy)

Scoff

Baked hake with potato and fennel gratin

Well, I call it gratin but there is no cheese involved, so really it's just a bake.

This is a gorgeous meal, with every single item available from Todmorden market - every single one!

So, from The Mediterranean Pantry ...

olive oil
garlic
salt and pepper

from Paul the fish

Hake

from Gary the veg

Potatoes
Onions
Fennel
baby plum tomatoes

(If you haven't got roasting dishes or a sharp knife, they are also available from the iron mongers!)

1.  Wash and thinly slice potatoes.
2.  Thinly slice peeled onion and fennel.
3.  Splosh a little olive oil in 2 roasting dishes.
4.  Squish some garlic, mix into a few tablespoons of olive oil.
5.  Arrange the sliced potato, fennel and onion in one of the dishes - season each layer, and splash in a little of the garlic oil.
6.  Stick potatoes in microwave for 10 minutes, then transfer to a medium hot oven for 40 minutes.
7.  Meanwhile, in the other roasting dish, roast halved tomatoes.
8.  After 20 minutes (ie. 20 minutes to go) add the fish to the tomatoes.
9.  Serve, scoff, receive adoring praise.

Fish and chips ... Moroccan twist this time

 I am going to have to improve both my presentation and photography skills, because neither of them do this food justice!  Also, I am really beginning to understand the benefits of working in the market - today the spice mix  Ras El-Hanout (top of the house), and the olive oil came from my stall, the hake came from Paul the fish, and the potatoes came from Gary the veg!  It's a good life :)  The cavolo nero came from the organic veg box - because we still enjoy the benefits of seasonal and organic to the door ...

So ....

New potatoes
olive oil
onion
cavolo nero
white wine
hake
ras el-hanout spice mix
seasoning

1.  Wash and parboil new potatoes, relax - nibble olives, drink wine etc etc ... for about 10 minutes
2.  Chop potatoes into bite sized pieces, ready for sautee-ing.
3.  Chop onion, and start to fry gently in olive oil.
4.  Coat fish in spice mix.
5.  Chop cavolo nero, add to onions, on a low heat.
6.  Start to sautee drained potatoes in olive oil, sprinkle with rock salt.
7.  Heat olive oil to fry fish - fry skin side first - for 2-3 minutes each side.
8.  Splash wine into cavolo nero mix and allow to evaporate.

Scoff.  I did half of the hake in spice, and half on its own.  I was really pleased with the result.  The spice gives a lovely aromatic floral interest (it's not hot at all), but the hake was so delicious that I wanted to savour the flavour of that too.

Bring on summer - spicy hake with 3 salads

There was some sun today - hurray! So, I thought I would try to prolong the good sunshiny vibes with a salad dinner.  I had spicy hake, but also chucked a burger in for the victim ... just as well, as spicy fish was properly poo-pooed (silly! was delish).  OK - in order of cooking - beetroot, borlotti bean and mozzarella, coleslaw, waldorf (kind, sorta, ..ish) salads... spicy fish "goujons", green salad.

recipes - such as they are - beetroot, borlotti bean and mozarella salad.  I had beetroot and borlotti beans in the veg box this week, so made it from scratch - vacuum packed beetroot, and tinned beans would be proper tasty, and much less time consuming.  So, starting from the raw state... roast washed (but not peeled) beetroot in a tray with garlic, slosh of olive oil and splash of balsamic until beetroot is soft - I cover tray in foil and test after about an hour, knife should go in with very little resistance.  Meanwhile, pod and then boil borlotti beans - takes about 12 mins from boiling - but depends on beans.  Cool beetroot, cool and drain beans.  Skin beetroot (I always use gloves) and cut into bite sized pieces.  Mix together beetroot pieces, beans, chopped radish, mozarella - torn into bite sized bits, basil leaves, seasoning, olive oil - taste...yum yum - add splash of lemon juice/vinegar if needs a little sharpness.  Sorta waldorf ... well, as kids we hated walnuts, so Mum invented this with almonds... it may have morphed over the years, but it's proper simple, so morph it yourself.. Chop a fair bit of celery into small, but still chunky, chunks, add some chopped onion... chop apple - add - squirt with lemon/lime juice - mix up until all apple has touched acid juice, at this point I added chopped orange and red pepper.  Chuck in handful of almonds, small spoon of mayonnaise, good teaspoon of horseradish and about 2 tbsp of natural yogurt - season - taste, adjust... should be crunchy, savoury and refreshing.  Coleslaw... everyone has their own recipe - but finely shredded red onion, about 3 times as much red cabbage and white cabbage, grated carrot - lemon/lime juice or cider vinegar, and good pinch of rock salt... let sit for 30mins, cabbage will start to soften slightly.  Stir in splodge of mayonnaise and some natural yogurt (adjust proportions depending on whether you are trying to reduce fat (0% mayo lowest fat... all mayo if you are a skinny imp wanting to chunk up).

Spicy fish - was hake (could've been most white fish, tuna or salmon) - cut into strips and tossed in flour and fish curry spices - fried - hot and quick...

Delish.

Lettuce... OK - for completeness - I tossed it in lime juice and a whisper of olive oil.