Although this course was not in my earlier dinner party plans, I had intended to do a Langoustine coconut bisque with pan fried Monkfish. Despite being promised a delivery of langoustine on Saturday morning, it failed to materialise and I was left searching for a suitable alternative. I eventually remembered that Monkfish was used as a substitute for scampi (until it became too expensive). But in order to make a proper bisque I felt I[…]
Gin & Yang
An Amuse Bouche – Lemon Sole & Avocado Ceviche
This is my first ever Amuse Bouche and I don’t think it will be my last. If you’ve not had or heard of an amuse bouche before, it’s a simple one-bite, hors d’oeuvre. If you go to a restaurant and you get one, it’s picked by the chef (so you don’t get a choice) and it is meant to give you an idea of the chef’s personal style. In this case, I’ve got a set[…]
Turbot with Chips and a Sweetcorn sauce
The king of the fish and a very expensive fish too. Turbot has a rich and delicate flavour, it’s also quite heavy so a large fish won’t feed as much as say, salmon. It is probably my favourite fish but it’s not very common in the UK and even if it was, it wouldn’t be something I would buy everyday… not at £15-20 per kg. I managed to spot a whole turbot going for £5[…]
Salmon Teriyaki with Rice and Chinese Veg
Lately I’ve had the urge to cook lots of asian food. I’m not sure why, it might be me balancing out all the earlier western food I’ve been doing? The other half has been working more weekdays recently and asian food is generally quick, so that’s probably contributed. Either way, I’m enjoying some new dishes. I love teriyaki, it’s sweet, a little bit savoury and it’s always tender. Everything in this recipe can be found[…]
Pan Fried Sea Bream with Saffron Rice
I first made this dish a year or two ago, I had planned to do something with Sea Bass but couldn’t get any, instead I spotted a deal on whole, fresh Sea Bream. I had never used it before and I since discovered that it’s actually a family of fish so you can get a fairly wide variety under the name “Sea Bream”. Regardless of what Sea Bream you actually get they all have a[…]
Poached Smoked Haddock & Eggs with Purple Asparagus and Hollandaise Sauce
I warn you now – this one will have you running around the kitchen like a headless chicken. I wanted to do something quick but technically challenging and tasty. It turns out it was all those things, all at once. Two types of steamed veg, 3-6 mins. Poached Eggs, 3-4mins. Poached Haddock, 5-10mins. Hollandaise sauce 4-5mins. Dinner in 20mins I thought… wow was I wrong. Firstly preparing all this stuff is easy, there isn’t even[…]
Salmon, Squid and Lemon Sole Ceviche
Ceviche seems to be the new Sushi. It’s certainly becoming more popular and the cooked texture with the raw flavour and spice make it a little more accessible to those who don’t like the idea of eating raw fish. The seafood is still fairly raw, even after 8 hours of “cooking” in the citrus fruits. Because we add a lot of chili, lime and cilantro it takes away the strong “fishy” taste of raw seafood[…]