Roast trout, salsa verde and coleslaw

Friday - so, it'll be fish then ... no surprise there.  The beauty of this meal is that is suits everyone - the veg dodger likes coleslaw (albeit slathered in mayonnaise) and we all like fish.  I made a punchy salsa verde just to ring the changes, which wnet down well - I love the sharpness of the capers and cornichons chopped into the parsley and garlic - so dolloped on a load.  Others had a modest taste, but declared that it was surprisingly tasty.  This mix is firmly on the make again list.  It's also dead easy apart from some chopping.

Baby potatoes
Olive oil
Trout
Lemon
Spring onion
Red onion
Salt
Carrots
White cabbage
Cider vinegar
Sesame seeds
Parsley
Garlic
Capers
Cornichons

optional mayonnaise

1.  Parboil baby potatoes, then roast in olive oil.
2.  Put slices of lemon in the fish, fold them closed, drizzle with olive oil, roast covered in foil - for 30 minutes (about 160).
3.  Make the coleslaw - thinly slice onions, toss in a salad bowl, sprinkle with salt to start breaking them down.  Add julienned carrots (or grated) and finely shredded cabbage.  Toss gently and leave to stand.  After 10 minutes sprinkle on sesame seeds, splosh in some olive oil and a splash of cider vinegar.  Toss again, more throughly.  (at this point add mayonnaise/yoghurt if your household likes it - some of mine don't, so we have have it on the table for DIY concoction).
5.  Finely chop a pile of parsley with a small handful of capers and cornichons and a couple of garlic cloves.  Put the lovely green-ness into a bowl, add olive oil and stir until it looks and tastes right.
6.  Serve, scoff ... have seconds ... fight over last potato, leave leftover coleslaw for lunch tomorrow.

Cod baked with fennel, with parsley oil

Lovely cod fillet in the organic box today, and some fennel, courgette and new potatoes.  Loads of parsley growing in the trug.  The sun was also beating down, so time for a delicious summer supper.

New potatoes
Fennel
Lemon juice
Olive oil
salt and pepper
Courgette
Cod
Parsley

1.  Wash new potatoes and put on to boil (about 15 minutes).
2.  Chop fennel into 3/4 cm strips - removing outer tough leaves.  Place in oven proof dish and splosh on olive oil and the juice of half a lemon, season - and microwave to soften for 5 minutes (if I had more time I would steam).
3.  Chop courgettes and add to fennel. 
4.  Layer cod onto veg and drizzle with olive oil, spritz of lemon juice, season and bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes or so.
5.  Zizz huge handful of parsley in olive oil, add a spritz of lemon juice and a turn of salt and pepper.  Zizz a bit more, strain through a fine sieve.  Drizzle over the fish and veg when it is served.

This was light and very tasty.  Fennel and parsley oil is particularly delicious, and not something we had tried before.  Definitely a do again dinner.  Next time I might fry the courgette briefly first, and add some petit pois for colour, but it doesn't really need it.

Parsley and lemon crusted fish, with chips and green vegetables

Traditional Friday night dinner - small ringing of the changes.

"Chips" ... boiled and roasted in olive oil.  Boil - 5ish minutes - into hot fat, in hot oven, for about an hour.

The fish is Alaskan pollock in a batter made from 1 whisked egg, a splash of soya milk, a half cup of polenta and a fistful of chopped parsley, with salt and pepper and the grated zest of a lemon.  The fish was coated in the batter, and then fried, a couple of minutes on each side just before serving everything else.  Drain on kitchen paper.

The vegetables - leeks, softenned in olice oil, then added crushed garlic, some mushrooms and a knob of butter.  Sautee gently, then season and add a splosh of white wine.  Simmer briefly, transfer to oven dish - tip on handful of frozen peas, and some baby spinach.  Cover with foil and stick in the bottom of the oven.

Fnatastic batter, really fresh tasting.  And the veg ... oooo ... lovely, buttery and garlicky and fresh.

Mushroom risotto and braised red cabbage

The braised red cabbage thing benefits from being started first, but you also need to leave time for the mushrooms to soak to get the full flavour into the risotto.  So, boil a kettle, chop the onions and start the two dishes at the same time.  The red cabbage dish can be chucked into the oven for up to about 2 hours.  The risotto, when the dried mushrooms have been reconsistuted will take about 30 minutes.


Braised red cabbage

1 onion, chopped
olive oil
1/2 a red cabbage
crushed garlic
fennel seeds
cumin seeds
chopped apple
red wine
seasoning
water

mushroom risotto

onion, chopped
olive oil
garlic
risotto/paella rice
dried mushrooms (shitake in this case)
chestnut mushrooms
vegetable stock
white wine
parsley
parmesan, grated

1.  Soak the dried mushrooms in boiling water.
2.  Start the braised cabbage - gently sautee onions and garlic with a tsp fennel seeds and half a tsp cumin seeds.
3.  Add chopped red cabbage and chopped apple.  Chuck in glass of wine and simmer.  Add water (not much, just dont let it go dry) and seasoning.
4. Simmer very gently, or out in lowish oven, for about 40 mins (or longer, let it take its time... stir it and taste it)

Risotto

1.  Sautee chopped onion and garlic in olive oil.
2.  Add rice (a small handful per 2 people), turn over until every grain is coated.  Add slosh of white wine and finely chopped fresh and rehydrated dried mushrooms.
3.  You will have fished the rehydrated mushrooms from hot water - this is the stock, at least to start with - add it ladle by ladle full to the risotto and let it simmer away.
4.  It should take about 20 minutes, stir every now and again, add more water ans seasoning as you think.
5.  Turn off heat and leave to stand for a few minutes to suck up the juice.
6.  Stir in chopped parsley, grated parmesan - freshly ground black pepper - and serve.

YUM.  Seconds of  risotto all round.  red cabbage was lovely, but saving it for salad tomorrow - when it will have softenned a bit and mellowed in flavour for a cold lunch.  Not so keen on cold risotto!

Fish pie with steamed vegetables

onion
bay leaf
soya milk
mixed fish (cod, salmon, smoked haddock)
cornflour
potatoes
olive oil spread
parsley
salt and pepper

green beans
carrots

Fish pie

Poach the fish, in bite sized pieces, in the soya milk flavoured with the onion and bay leaf, for about 7 minutes.
Peel, boil and mash potatoes.  Season well, add butter/olive oil spread and soya milk to taste.
Pull fish from soya milk with a slotted spoon, put into oven dish.  Discard onion and bayleaf.  Thicken sauce with slaked cornflour in soya milk/water, over a lowish heat.  Add loads of chopped parsley and freshly ground black pepper.
Add sauce to fish (shake oven dish to distribute evenly).  Top with mashed potatoes.  Keep any spare sauce to have with the veg for extra luxury.
Bake at 180 for about 25 minutes until golden.

Steam vegetables.

Scoff