Ottolenghi Oats

Foxcroft

These cinnamon scrolls are to die for. Served warm with apple inside mmmm.

Lovely coffees on berwick St

Foxcroft & Ginger,Soho

Cinnamon French toast at ottolenghi

Creepy...

Looks like a science project. China town.

Bartersea pie shop, Covent garden

Delicious pies! But you have to eat with k&f they fall apart. Steak and Guinness!!!

me on the set of market kitchen

Such a funny day!

Met the guys from this blog - sorted - it's actually a great idea, really awesome format and it looks like fun: www.sortedfood.com

Edith's Aubergine Parmigiana

From Market Kitchen today radio one presenter Edith was on.  She made a really nice chicken kebab - chicken chunks marinated with yoghurt and spices, alternated with onion and cherry toms on the skewer, then grilled on a griddle pan.

Aubergine parmigiana
Slice aubergines lengthways
Roll in flour and then egg
Fry in oil

Sauce
Slice 2 cloves garlic finely
Bunch of parsley - break the stalks off and chop finely
Fry garlic, then add parsley, then add a couple of cups passata
Can add chilli also

Layer tomato sauce, then aubergine, then fontina cheese.  Keep layering, spinning aubergine so you get more in.  End with parmesan and fontina.

Put in oven.

Deutsche essen und trinken

               Düsseldorf's Killepitsch

Mandatory late night wurst

Ilse's pork stroganoff, heavy on the senf

Ilse is the most fantastic cook!!! And she loves it so much

Apfel strudel - mum you would have loved it!

Berliners!

Ich Liebe Frühstück

Monmouth Original Store, Covent Garden

Monmouth is the coffee that has taken over London.  They make the yummiest coffee and all the good coffee shops (including Fleet, Flat White, Foxcroft and Ginger) have it.  They also have a store at Borough Market.

The original store is in Monmouth Street Covent Garden.

They sell their beans in store.

Really nice coffee - rice, creamy, delicious.  Probably about an 8/10.  My only criticism is they only serve full cream milk - not even soy.  Not very nice for the lactose intolerant.  But I guess they are just intolerant to the lactose intolerant.

A nice selection of pastries - the almond croissants really tempted me...but they'll do that.

Heading to Deutschland today for the Karneval - so get ready for some posts on bratwurst, spetzle and all other fabulous things German.

Testing London's best

I downloaded the app 'London's best coffee' and am now working my way through the listed establishments.

Today it's Kaffeine on Great Itchfield St in Soho.

Coffee about 7/10. It's nice and beautifully presented but a bit bitter and not as full and creamy as I like. ]

Atmosphere really nice - good space with exposed brick etc reminds me of the front room in Zekka, King Street.  The food looks ok - lots of sweet stuff - pastries, friands etc. One Brekky style sandwich with omelette and pancetta in ciabatta.

Jamie's Italian Round 3

Went to Jamie's Italian with Georg Mont.  Absolutely fantastic food as always (but still a bit of a wait for a table - 1 hour on a Wednesday...)

We had:

entree...

HERBY MARINATED WHITEBAIT
£4.10
Whole whitebait pickled with chilli, capers and parsley. Served chilled

Marinated whitebait - yum but I prefer crispy

ITALIAN NACHOS
£3.55
Crispy, fried four cheese ravioli with 'angry' arrabiata sauce

DELICIOUS Italian nachos 

mains...

COCKLES LINGUINE
£8.20/£13.35
Sweet cockles steamed open with garlic, chilli and parsley tossed with linguine, butter and lemon - beautiful.

cockles linguine

RABBIT RAGU PAPPARDELLE
£7.15/£11.35
Slow braised wild rabbit finished with mascarpone, lemon and crunchy herby breadcrumbs

and for dessert...

AMALFI LEMON CURD
£4.95

With toasted pistachios and English raspberries

wine


PRIMITIVO DI SALENTO, CANTINE LUIGI SCRITTI 13% 2008 PUGLIA
£16.75
Primitivo is the father of the zinfandel grape. Notes of cherries, cloves, wild blackberries and spice. Delicious!

Chorizo and Cannellini bean stew

Serves 4-6

glug olive oil
1 chorizo sausage, diced
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 crushed garlic cloves
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
1 teaspoon paprika
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 L chicken stock
800g tinned cannellini beans, rinsed
salt and pepper

(parmesan and sour dough for serving)

Heat the olive oil in a large pan over high heat and cook the chorizo for 3–4 minutes until crisp. Drain on kitchen paper.

Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the onion, carrot and celery to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–7 minutes until softened.

Add the garlic, thyme and paprika and cook, stirring, for 1–2 minutes until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and cook for another minute.

Return the chorizo to the pan with the stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add the beans and cook for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper before serving.

Serve with a crusty sourdough and some grated parmesan.

Grublover comment

This stew is really yum and easy - just a joy to cook and eat.  I will definitely be making it again.

Bagels times tables

Bella Napoli

The food in Napoli was divine. They are famous of course for their pizza and we tried it on the street (for just 1 euro for a mouth-watering slab of margherita), and at the restaurant made famous by 'Eat, Pray, Love': Da Michele. We had to line up for about half an hour to get a table but it was worth it. They only sell pizza - margherita or marinara - beer and water. My dream restaurant!

Like all Italians simplicity is the key - the margherita was to die for with fresh tomato, creamy mozzarella and a single basil leaf.

Mailie eating Pizza Margherita in the old town

We had an amazzzzing dinner at Taverna do re - a little restaurant we stumbled on while looking for a late night wine.  We were really looked after with complimentary champagne to start and a bottle of limoncello to drink at the end! Lovely!  The food was fantastic - I had a dish that was a specialty of Napoli - Pasta Genovese - it is a meaty pasta dish with lots and lots of onions!  Very rich and absolutely delicious.

Salad - divine

Penne genovese

Tortellini funghi

Pho at Song Que

I love Kingsland Road aka the Pho mile. The Pho at 134 Kingsland (supposedly best in London) did rival our favourite little spot in Perth, Dao Vien - the broth fresh and clear. As always quick as a flash (we had to laugh when they seated us and said 'Can you be done in one and a half hours?', as we all knew it would take less than 15 minutes to nail a pho).

I bought this tortellini at borough market - it is fresh pasta stuffed with wild boar. You serve it simply with olive oil, parmesan and lots of black pepper. Belissimo!!!

 

Aunt Netty's Impossible Pies

Netty told me about her famous 'Impossible Pies' at Christmas this year. The rasberries in London are so fresh and cheap (only 1 pound for a box near uni - I will often just buy them as a snack) - I will definitely be trying the impossible rasberry flan.

IMPOSSIBLE RASPBERRY FLAN 

Serves 6

2 Cups frozen raspberries or any other fresh/frozen berries
3 eggs
50g butter melted
½ cup plain flour
1½ cups milk
¾ cup sugar
1 cup desiccated coconut
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
1 teaspoon vanilla

Thaw raspberries. Place all ingredients except fruit into bowl of food processor. Process until combined. Place raspberries over the base of a round 20cm ovenproof dish or quiche dish. Pour . mixture over. Bake at 280 degrees C fo 50 minutes or until set.

FRUITY IMPOSSIBLE PIE

4 eggs
125g butter melted
½ cup plain flour
2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup desiccated coconut
2 teaspoons vanilla
415g can fruit diced and drained.

Beat all ingredients except fruit in a large bowl until smooth. Fold in fruit
Pour into a 23cm pie dish.
Bake in moderate oven (180C) for 40-45 minutes or until firm
Serve hot with ice-cream or custard.

SAVOURY IMPOSSIBLE PIE4 eggs
125g butter melted
½ cup plain flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 cups milk

FILLINGS
200g can tuna or salmon drained
½ cup grated cheese, q/2 cup parsley

Or

Bacon, tomato, diced onion

Or

asparagus, cooked macaroni and cheese

METHOD

Blend all ingredients together and pour mixture into 25cm greased pie plate. Place pie plate in a baking dish with some hot water to half depth of pie plate. Bake 180C for 1 hour or until firm.

These is of course the kind of recipe you can mix up and put whatever you like in them.  I would like to try the savoury pie with mushrooms and feta. Mmmm.

Greta Anna Cake

This is the best cake - dead easy, only one bowl required and delicious result.  You can substitute whatever fruit is in season at the time.

Recipe

The finished product - blueberry and cherry

Brekky Pods

Brekky pods

Wendy showed us this recipe - great for brekky, really simple and best thing is no clean up!  Really yummy served cold too - perfect when you have just got back from a surf.

Makes 6
6 pieces of bread, crusts cut off
2 rashers of bacon, diced into small pieces
6 eggs
A few tablespoons of tomato sauce or chutney
Salt and pepper
Grated cheese - gruyere, cheddar - whatever you have in the fridge

Grease a tray of large muffin cups.  Press a piece of bread into each cup.
Put bacon into the bottom of each cup.  Add sauce.  Crack one egg over each one.  Salt and pepper.  Sprinkle grated cheese over the top.
Put in oven for 10-15 minutes.
Enjoy!

Best cupcakes

These are from cake decorating class I took.

http://thecocoabox.blogspot.com

Cupcakes cases vary in size.  Try to get a ‘deep’ case and if in doubt use a muffin case.

Oven temp

-        most ovens have hot spots so turn the baking tray half way through cooking.

Ingredients

Use the best quality to fit your budget.

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

Wash your eggs (don’t know where they came from)

If you want a flat cake, use margarine (good for fondant). Butter rises, will make them have a dome/peaked shape (good for buttercream).

Basic recipe

150g margarine

150g flour SR

150g caster sugar

2 eggs

½ teaspoon of vanilla extract (NEVER use vanilla essence) or one vanilla pod

*For chocolate substitute 25g flour for 25g cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 160/200C.

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy and pale in colour.  This should take about 3-5 minutes.

Slowly add the egg.  To avoid curdling add 2-3 Tb of flour.  Always sieve.

Add sieved flour to the mixture.

Mixture should be dropping consistency.

Filling the cases

Pipe mixture into cupcake cases.  Use a piping bag without a nozzle.  Try not to get any mixture on the sides or top of case as it will burn.  Aim to fill the cake mixture just over half full in order to allow for fondant topping.

Place in oven for 11/12 minutes.  Turn then leave for 8/10 mins.  You may find you need more or less depending on the oven.

Buttercream

250g unsalted butter

300g icing sugar

5ml vanilla extract

chocolate buttercream

250g butter

300g icing sugar

125g melted dark chocolate – 70% solids

Method

Add all ingredients together and mix until light and fluffy.  This will take up to ten minutes.  You are looking for a light consistency.  Add milk if the mixture is thick.

Fondant icing

You can use a pre made packet mix or you can make your own using Tate and Lyle icing sugar.

Banoffee Pie!

Made this Banoffee Pie for a dinner party held by all the LLM crew where you do a pot luck type thing.  It was really yum and pretty easy too - big hit!

397g (or thereabouts) can condensed milk
1 large pack granitas/digestives (250g)
125g butter
600ml whipping cream**(see note below - substitute for thickened cream)**
about 6 bananas
pecans sugared up (fry in pan with sugar to crust them)
cinnamon

Put the tin of condensed milk in water.  Bring to the boil and then turn down to a simmer for about 2 hours. Keep checking on it because it needs to be covered and the water may evapourate out.  Also your kitchen may end up like a sauna so watch out!
Whizz the digestives in the blender, add the butter and mix it up.  Line a 20cm springform cake tin with paper.  Press the biscuit mix into the base, and about 4cm up the sides (I did it messy and it was fine, don't be too precious about it).  Put in the fridge.
Once the condensed milk has boiled for a good 2 hours let it cool, then take the lid off.  You will have a nice thick caramel.  Spread over the biscuit base and put back in the fridge.
Close to serving time whip up the cream.  Stir in about 5 of the bananas, sliced.  (It's good to have lots of banana as the rest of the dessert is so sweet, I would almost suggest the cream is just full of bananas).
Pop the base out of the pan and put on a plate.  Spread the cream over the caramel, then top with the rest of the sliced bananas, sprinkle with cinnamon and scatter with pecans.
Delicious!

ROUND 2: Made Banoffee again last night (27 Feb).  It wasn't as good this time I think it's a little too creamy.
Next time I make it I'm going to do it in individual cups (also easier to serve etc - don't need to slice the pie! pretty clever!!).  Instead of whipping cream I'm going to just use a dollop of thickened cream with some vanilla mixed in.
So:

• layer of biscuit base
• layer of caramel
• layer of sliced bananas
• dollop of cream with chopped bananas mixed through
• dust with cinnamon or shaved dark chocolate

Using small cups is also way easier when cooking for only a few people - you could easily half the recipe for 4 people.  I would only cook the big pie when serving for a really large group.

Jamie's delicious dessert

I want to copy this dish from Jamie's restaurant.
It's basically a biscuit base, with lemon curd, then marscapone, strawberries and crushed pistachios.  Mmmmmm so simple and so delicious.

Beef vindaloo AND chicken saag

Dan and Georgie made this delicious curry for us with veges and stuff they picked up at the Borough markets.  It was fantastic!

1 Tbsp cumin seeds
4 dried red chillies
1 tsp black peppercorns
5 green cardammon pods
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Demerara sugar
4 Tbsp white wine vinegar
4 Tbsp oil
1 large onion finely chopped
900g stewing beef diced
2.5th piece Ginger grated
1 garlic clove crushed
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric

Grind cumin, chillies, peppercorns, cardamom pods, fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds.
Add salt, sugar, and vinegar.
Heat half of the oil and fry the onions for 10 min.   Blend this with the spice mix.
Heat the remaining oil and fry the meat until it is browned. Remove and set aside.
Add Ginger and garlic and fry 2 min. Stir in ground coriander and tumeric and fry 2 min.
Add spice paste and fry for 5 min.
Add meat. Add 1/2 pint water. Cover and Cook 1-1.5 hours until meat tender



Chicken saag
225g spinach washed not dried
2.5cm piece Ginger grated
2 garliccloves crushed
1green chilling rough chop
200ml water
30ml oil
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp peppercorns
1 onion chopped
4 tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chilly powder
3 Tbsp natural yoghurt
8 chicken thighs

Cook spinach without water in tightly covered sUcepN for 5 min
Blend spinach garlic Ginger chilli and 50ml water
Heat oil. Add bay leaves and peppercorns. Fry 2 mins. Add onion fry till browned.
Add Tom and simmer 5 min
Add curry, chilli, salt. Cook 2 min
Add purée and 150ml water. Simmer 5 min.
Add yoghurt 1 Tbsp at a time and simmer 5 min.
Add chicken. Cover and cook 25-30 min.

Nettle Soup

I learnt this recipe from a fellow forager when I randomly took a foraging tour in the heath (hampstead heath) one Saturday afternoon.  I haven't tried it yet.  BUt I did get stung by a nettle!

1 bag nettle (pick the nice fresh leaves at the top, and none of the flowery ones, pick the lighter green growing tips)
1 onion

Cook for 10 minutes.
Blend.
Olive oil and salt to serve.

food i love to cook and eat - kazi style

- bread with hommus, roasted red peppers and haloumi

- fruit salad with yoghurt, walnuts and honey

- pork souvlaki, tzatziki, pitta and greek salad

Soup in Angel

Just had the best soup at a little cafe on Cross Street, Angel.
It was a minestrone with diamond shaped pasta, pancetta and rosemary.  Served with parmesan on top and a couple of pieces of soft, fresh white bread.

Locanda Ottoemezzo

Closest tube: Kensington High Street
Went with Felipe, Peggy and Anna Paula (Felipe's brazilian friend).

Pasta was fantastic - homemade, squid ink pasta with cherry tomatoes and rocket.

I had a saffron and asparagus risotto which they brought to the table in a giant parmesan rind.  They then scraped the parmesan from the rind, stirring it through the warm risotto and essentially cooking the parmesan into the risotto.  Delicious!

18 pound for a pasta, 24 for meat.

Felipe had the beef and it looked perfect.

food glorious food

Paris food blew us away.

1. yum yum steak with mash and bernaise

2. delicious salad with chevre pockets 'brick le chevre'

3. chris' fave - steak with green sauce

4. joy salad with foie gras, salmon etc.  dan had steak + potatoes 

5. cassoulet

6. duck + chips

Pea and Ham Soup

Pea and ham soup is so yummy and perfect when it is getting cold.   This recipe is from Taste but I added some bacon bones for extra flavour and because more meat and fat will come off these.

1 x 500g pkt green split peas
1 Tbs olive oil
2 brown onions, coarsely chopped
3 carrots, peeled, coarsely chopped
3 celery sticks, ends trimmed, coarsely chopped
1 large (about 750g) ham hock (see note)

2 bacon bones
2.75L (11 cups) water

3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 dried bay leaves
4 black peppercorns

Place the split peas in a really large bowl and cover with cold water (note they soak up heaaaps of water so put in a big bowl with more water than you think necessary). Set aside for 6 hours or overnight to soak. Drain.

Wrap some unwaxed kitchen string/cotton string around the thyme and bay leaves to secure (that way you can pull them out at the end).

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook, uncovered, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add the split peas, herbs, peppercorns, ham hock and water. Cover and bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 3/4 hours to 2 hours or until the ham begins to fall off the bone and the soup thickens. Remove the pan from the heat.

Use tongs to remove the ham hock from the pan. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Use your hands to pull the ham off the bone. Discard the bone. Shred the ham. Return the ham to the soup. 

Stir the soup over low heat for 4-5 minutes or until heated through. Serve with buttery toast.

More quickies with eggs - pad thai omelet!

This is from "quickies in the kitchen" and looks so yum and easy.

60gms flat rice stick noodles
¼ cup peanut oil
6 to 8 shelled and cleaned prawns
1 teaspoon ginger minced
1 teaspoon garlic minced
1 teaspoon chilli minced
1/3 cup spring onions sliced
2 Tbs crushed peanuts
1 dash sweet soy (kecap manis)
1 dash oyster sauce
Squeeze of lemon juice
Handful of Bean shoots
1 cup of coriander chopped
4 large free range eggs, whisked
Butter for frying
Salt and pepper

Cook noodles in boiling water for a few mins and then rinse in cold water
Whisk eggs with salt & pepper to have it ready.
Heat oil in a wok.
Add prawns and fry for about 1 minute. Then add ginger, garlic and chilli and cook for another minute, being careful not to burn.
Add spring onions and peanuts and fry for another minute
Add soy, oyster, lemon juice, noodles, bean shoots, and coriander and toss to heat through
Melt butter in large pan and pour in beaten eggs and swirl the pan till the eggs evenly reach the edges. Cook over medium heat for about 1 min, until lightly golden underneath.
Spoon Pad Thai mixture into middle of omelette and fold omelette over.
Seal together. Serve omelette drizzled with kecap manis.

Remember with wok cooking it's best to have all your ingredients ready to go so do the prep before.

Quick and easy frittata

I love love love eggs and am thinking a frittata is a really quick lunch or dinner...The cool thing is you can mix up the ingredients to suit your taste or what is in the fridge.  Here is a recipe I found on taste and would like to try

Serves 2
30g unsalted butter
200g button mushrooms, thickly sliced
2 vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into wedges
4 eggs
75g mature cheddar, coarsely grated
1/2 cup parsley

Preheat the grill to high.

Melt 20g of the butter in a non-stick frypan over medium heat. Add the sliced mushrooms and tomato wedges, and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes until tomato is just softened.

Lightly beat eggs with 1 tablespoon water in a large bowl. Stir in cheese, parsley, and the mushroom and tomato mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

Melt remaining butter in the frypan over medium-low heat. Add the egg mixture, stir briefly, then cook for 5-6 minutes until golden underneath and nearly set. Place pan under hot grill for 3-4 minutes or until just set and top is golden. Slide onto a board, cut in half.

Drunken and Bruised

This is a recipe from Masterchef contestant Alvin. I thought it looked yummy and easy and a good vessel for chilli.

Serves 4

Stock
1L shaoxing (Chinese rice wine)
500ml mirin
1-2L water, or enough to cover chicken
80g gula melaka (Malaysian palm sugar)
1 whole chicken
4-6cm ginger, thickly sliced

Salad3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tbs roasted peanuts
1 tbs dried shrimp, soaked, drained
2 bird's eye chillies
2 lime cheeks
6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
6 snake beans, cut into 4cm lengths
2 Lebanese cucumbers, peeled, cut into matchsticks
1 tsp sesame oil

Sauce
2 tbs very finely chopped gula melaka (Malaysian palm sugar)
Juice of 2 limes
2-3 tbs fish sauce

Place the shaoxing, mirin, water and palm sugar in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the chicken and ginger, then cover and simmer gently for 45-60 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the chicken to cool in the poaching liquid.

For the bruised salad, place the garlic, peanuts and dried shrimp in a mortar and pestle and pound to a coarse paste. Add the chillies and bruise gently - the amount of heat you want from this salad depends on how hard you bruise the chillies. Add the lime cheeks and bruise to release some juice. Add the cherry tomatoes, beans and cucumber and mix through gently with a spoon.

For the dressing, place the palm sugar and lime juice in a bowl and whisk to dissolve the sugar. Add fish sauce to taste and whisk to combine.


To serve, add enough dressing to coat the salad and then taste - it should be a good balance of sweet, salty and sour. Add sesame oil and mix to combine. Pile the salad onto a plate and drizzle with sesame oil.

Remove the chicken from the broth and place on a chopping board. Cut off the legs (thigh and drumstick), then chop off the end of the drumstick and trim the end so it is free of skin. Cut the legs into 2 pieces through the joint. Slice the breasts off the carcass and cut each one cut into 5 thick slices. Place the pieces of chicken in a shallow bowl, pour over a little broth and serve with the bruised salad.

Link to masterchef recipe site: http://www.masterchef.com.au/drunken-chicken-with-bruised-salad.htm

Rhubarb Upside-down cake

I really want to cook this but as I have no time to cook at the moment I'll just add it to my long wish list.

5 egg whites
1.5 cups (180g) almond meal
3/4 cup (120g) icing sugar
3/4 cup (105g) SR flour
75g butter, melted
1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
8-10 rhubarb stalks, cut into 19cm lengths

Set oven to 180C
Mix egg whites, almond meal, icing sugar, flour and butter.
Grease a 20cm square cake tin. Sprinkle generously with caster sugar.
Arrange rhubarb in the base of the tin.
Pour mixture over the top.
Bake in oven for 40-45 minutes.  Easy peasy!!!
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or cream on a cold winters night.

golden rule of pastry: 3-2-1

i haven't tried this but apparently that's the rule:

300g flour
200g butter
100g sugar
+ 1 egg

will have to give it a go

easy tuesday vietnamese chicken

1 chicken thigh per person

Salad ingredients
Cucumber chopped into ribbons
250g vermicelli noodles
Mint
Chilli

Marinade/dressing
3 Tb fish sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 chopped chillies (add more if you like it hot)
3 cloves garlic
Whisk together and reserve half for the dressing

Marinate the chicken for 20 minutes.  Heat oil in a pan and cook chicken until it's brown and crispy.  You can put a pan on top to weigh the chicken down and make it extra crispy.

Soak vermicelli noodles (250g) in boiling water.  Add cucumber, mint, chilli and dressing.

Slice chicken to serve.

delicious zucchini soup Stefanie's mum made

2 shallots
400g zucchini
30g Parmesan cheese
1 sp olive oil
.8 L chicken stock
2 eggs

Fry shallots
Add zucchini
Pulse
Add stock
Beat eggs with cheese and add

Jamie's Fish Steamed with Couscous

2 people, 15 minutes, easy peasy and delicious!

The fish is steamed on top of the couscous in this dish so all the lovely cooking juices are soaked up making the couscous extra tasty.

1 handful couscous
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 red chiles, seeds removed, 1 chopped and 1 finely sliced
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 by 2.5cm (1-inch) piece cinnamon
Knob unsalted butter
1 large bunch fresh coriander, leaves picked, stalks finely sliced
Handful of clams
Enough fish for 2 people - use a firm white fish eg swordfish, cut into chunks
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons, 1 cut in 1/2 and 1 cut into wedges, for serving
3 tablespoons creme fraiche


Put the couscous in a bowl and cover with boiling water. It will soften and double in size.

Heat a medium-sized saucepan on a low heat, and saute the onion, garlic and chopped chiles in oil. Pound in the mortar the salt, fennel and cumin seeds, coriander seeds and cinnamon. Add to the onion with the butter, then once melted add the finely sliced coriander stalks and the couscous. Break it up with your spoon.

Turn the heat down to a very low heat, and add the fish, skin side up. Drizzle with olive oil, a bit of salt and pepper and throw in the lemon, cut in halves. Cover with some wet greaseproof paper, and cook for 15 minutes.

To serve, sprinkle with the coriander leaves and sliced chile; squeeze the lemon halves, dollop on some creme fraiche and drizzle with olive oil.