Fish finger sandwich

A little backstory on fish fingers from my nostalgic archives. The first time I ever had these was when I was little, nay, wee, hardly a sapling of sorts and my dad had ordered a plate of fish fingers and it was the first time ever I’d set my eyes on something that literally looked like fingers, smelled like fried food and came crumbed in crunchy bits of golden deliciousness.

I had only to bite into them to begin a life long, albeit clandestine love affair with all things crunchy, fried and finger like.

I’d no idea something coming from the aquarium could ever taste so wonderful, and of course as I grew up I since learnt that fish from aquariums aren’t meant to be eaten (usually) and that ones that grow up in rivers and seas are far better, and I’ve since then had a good share of fish fingers tucked in my belly (they sometimes show on weekends) and also gained more insight that as wonderful as they are on their own, they taste even better sandwiched between slices of delicious bread. It could be a carb thing, but fish finger sandwich is a more complete meal, whereas fish fingers are, umm, finger food.

So, for days that need to be substantially filled with something comforting, something extravagant and something out of the ordinary, fish finger sandwich is the answer.

You need a boneless fillet of any sturdy fish. This is a commonly found basa fillet

that I’ve cut into finger wide pieces and lightly salted on both sides. This not only flavours the fish from inside, since there will be many coatings on it, but also helps tighten the raw fish a bit, so it can stand the shallow frying without breaking apart.

Now it’s just a question of assembly. Something of a conveyor belt procedure. I have here a plate of flour, eggs and breadcrumbs

and this is also the part where you can season this dish. I like to season bread crumbs, because that’s the first element to come in contact with your mouth once you bite into these fish fingers. So a cracking rain of fresh pepper.

imbued with the redness of smoked paprika. It’s these colour from paprika that’ll come through in tones of red orange once the fish fingers are fried.

so the eggs are beaten, the crumbs are seasoned.

and thus begins the first layering, wherein salted fingers of sliced fish are first placed in flour

to be coated generously on both sides, Be sure to shake off the excess flour

and dip in beaten eggs for the second coating

followed by a burial in gravel like seasoned breadcrumbs for the third and final coat.

This is what all my fish fingers looked like, I let them sit before frying so the final stage could be executed with all the efficiency of a kitchen virtuoso, who could hardly wait to get her hands on these sumptuous lovelies.

One could deep fry them, but shallow frying is just so much easier, not to mention safer. Fry in a couple tablespoons of oil on a medium high flame.

I used a fork to turn them on all sides to get an even tan, and added more oil when needed. Never said it was a low calorie recipe.

This was the first fried batch, and I let excess oil drain out on a paper towel. Somewhere around this time I also realized that one single fish fillet ended up making a good many fish fingers and that meant leftovers! Praise be lord.

whip out your favourite bread. I used a whole wheat mini baguette for no reason other than I had this on hand. Spread copious amounts of butter. yes, butter is important.

Now if only someone had at this moment told me that my plate of choice is totally the colour of fish fingers and that it’s going to camouflage the entire sandwich in pictures, I’d have kissed that person on the mouth I tell ya..alas, no help was forthcoming since I was alone and my cat wouldn’t warn of incoming death let alone suitable plates.

spread generously some mayonnaise, a layer of greens (spinach in my case) and tomatoes. In short get all the fixings you’d like in a sandwich. You could be as elaborate or minimal as you like. This is YOUR sandwich.

layer on them fried fish fingers and voila! You have the most fabulous fish sandwich ever. It’s absolutely out of the world. Crunchy, filling with the distinct flavours of a well cooked fish encased in crispy crumbs entombed in buttery bread with all the fixings. This makes for such a lovely meal that you’d be left reminiscing this moment during your darkest hours. I speak from experience.

But wait! this isn’t the end. What do you do with the remaining fish fingers.

WEll, you can have them as is, or make another breakfast sandwich the next day.

which is precisely what I did. A no frill white bread sandwich, with a layer of butter, a slice of cheese and remaining fish fingers.

breakfast of ever fattening gods.

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Ingredients

Standard boneless fish fillet : 1

Salt: 1/2 tsp (or more to taste)

Pepper: 1/2 tsp

Paprika: 1 tsp

Flour: 1 cup (120gms)

Eggs : 2

Breadcrumbs: 100gms (1 cup)

Oil for frying: 3-4 tbsps

For sandwich

Slices of bread or a baguette

Spinach or lettuce leaves: 3-4

Tomato: one small

Butter: 1/2 tbsp

Mayonnaise: 2 tsp

(you can customize this sandwich to your liking. Add mustard or cheese slices or pickles)

Recipe instructions

Cut finger wide pieces of fish and lightly salt on both sides. Keep aside.

Arrange three separate dishes for flour, eggs and breadcrumbs. Season the bread crumbs with paprika and pepper and beat the eggs well.

Coat each fish slice with flour. Shake off excess flour and dip into eggs until well coated and finally coat with seasoned bread crumbs till all fish fingers are well crumbed

Shallow fry on medium high heat in enough oil to make it golden and crunchy. Don’t add too many fish fingers in one pan. Add more oil as needed.

Once evenly fried and golden on all sides take them out and let drain on a paper towel.

Smother bread slices with butter and apply a layer of mayonnaise for sandwich. Add a layer of crunchy spinach and juicy tomatoes and top with as many fish fingers as your sandwich can accommodate.

Fish finger sandwich is now ready.

Enjoy!

Spicy baked chicken and potatoes

When you can feel the carnivore inside of you bubbling with primal instincts to tear into something meaty, something delicious and spicy, this chicken recipe with potatoes is just the thing. Savagely inoculated with flavours on a loudspeaker, there is nothing remotely subtle about this dish. It’s deliciously loud with mouthwatering piquancy, tender, juicy of flesh and drool inducing. The balance of tastes rendered stupefyingly lush with succulent aromas is so heady that it’ll send your entire house warming with tempting incense of tantalizing proportions.

Cooking it with potatoes just makes it a more complete meal, and there’s nothing more you’d wish for a better lunch.

It doesn’t involve much in the way of fanfare, and most ingredients are easily available. Chicken drumsticks, olive oil, honey, crushed garlic, oregano, cumin powder, paprika, salt, black pepper, lemon juice and potatoes. I’ve used two different kinds of potatoes, but feel free to use whatever potatoes you like or have on hand.

for tender, juicier results we want to marinade the chicken for which you begin by slashing said chicken down to the bone. This helps with even cooking, and lets the spices penetrate in deep.

The marination is easy. Mix all the spices in a bowl

along with lemon juice

honey

and olive oil

mix it all together to form a sort of paste.

Coat the drumsticks in the the marinade, making sure it’s seriously coated.

cover with a cling wrap and let it marinade in the fridge for a couple hours. You can do this bit of activity sometime during breakfast if you want to make it for lunch.

Prep your potatoes by cutting into bite sized cubes

drizzle a bit of olive oil

and a bit of salt. Nothing else needs be done to the potatoes.

Be sure to take the chicken out of the fridge at least 15 minutes before baking, so as to allow them to come to room temperature.

give it a final quick mix in the marinade before baking

place drumsticks on a bed of potatoes and bake at 200° for 30-35 minutes

about half way between baking time pull out the chicken and slather all the remaining marinade on top and under using tongs to rotate these pieces to get an even marination.

You won’t believe how good it smells.

This is it! they’re done. Let them rest for a few minutes before chomping in. Tender, moist, juicy, succulent. They’re so delicious you’d have to find another word for delicious, and don’t even get me started on the potatoes that have soaked in the flavours from the marinade and turned into crispy pieces of delectable spuds. YUM!

Ingredients

Chicken drumsticks: 3-4 in nos.

Potatoes: 2 in nos (1 sweet and 1 regular baking potato)

olive oil: 1 tsp

salt: 1/4 tsp

For the marinade

Crushed garlic: 1 Tbsp (2-3 garlic cloves)

Dried oregano: 1 Tbsp

Cumin powder: 1 Tbsp

Paprika: 1 Tbsp

Crushed black pepper: 1/2 Tbsp

Salt: 1 tsp

Lemon juice: 2 Tbsps

Honey: 1 tsp

Olive oil: 4 Tbsps (60 mls)

Recipe instructions

Make slashes on the chicken drumsticks to the bone, especially on its thickest parts, and make sure the meat has no water sticking to it or dry it with a paper towel. This helps the marinade cling better.

For the marinade, mix all the spices, salt and crushed garlic in a bowl along with lemon juice, honey and olive oil. (the addition of honey doesn’t sweeten anything except balance the tartness and spiciness of the marinade). Give it a good mix until everything is well incorporated and toss in the chicken. Use tongs for even coverage of the mixture on the meat.

Cover and let rest in the fridge for a few hours before baking.

Pull it out of the refrigerator at least 10-15 minutes before baking time to let it come to room temperature, thus ensuring even baking.

Chop potatoes into bite sized cubes and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle salt. Cover baking tray with aluminium foil and place the potatoes and chicken drumsticks. Bake in a preheated oven at 200° for 30-35 minutes.

Halfway between baking time pull the chicken out of the oven and drizzle all the remaining marinade to coat or rather smother it, using tongs to flip the chicken on all sides to soak up the marinade.

Bake it for remaining time and let rest for a few minutes before serving.

NOTE: To know whether the chicken is done, insert a knife in the thickest part of the drumstick, and if the juices run clear then it’s cooked. If the juices are still red then you need to put it back into the oven.

Serve on a warm plate.

Enjoy!!

Spicy eggy bread

When you get tired of your daily egg and bread breakfast and wish to twist it into a spectacular bronzed meal of cheesy topping, you make these babies; that in reality are nothing more than your daily fare of omelette and bread, all jeujed up into spicy fragments of burnished toasts. Not only do they take away from the mundanity of an everyday same ol’ breakfast but also kick it up a notch with flavours that feel just right for the most important meal of the day.

Also a good way to use up any leftover bread that you’ve been trying to ignore.

The ingredients are not much and can easily be improvised to suit your taste buds. Just butter, oil, pepper, paprika, milk, eggs, spring onions, cheese and bread.

chop spring onions as fine as possible, or not. Totally depends on your morning mood.

Shove it into a bowl and crack a couple eggs on top.

add in the milk

a few shakes of paprika, and at this moment this bowl feels like it’s got a face.

scrunch in some black pepper. Don’t be shy, smatter generously.

and finally salt. Not a lot.

mix everything until it’s pretty well mixed.

get onto a bit of bread knifing. Now this step could totally be dispensed with if you’re using stale sandwich bread like one should, but somehow I had this stale piece of baguette that no one wanted to touch with a ten foot pole and thus had to use it up.. how it crumbles. Domesticity you see.

Take some time to chop, shred, grate some cheese. Any cheese you fancy. I’m using Manchego cheese because there were a few slices knocking about in my fridge.

soak pieces of bread into the spicy eggy mixture

in the meanwhile heat some butter in a bit of oil.

flip bread on the other side so it soaks up all the eggy richness evenly.

once the butter begins to froth, place bread slices onto the foamy fat. Don’t let the skillet get too hot, or else you’ll burn this artistic piece of heavenly breakfast. Dot the tops with whatever onions are let languishing in the bottom of the bowl.

Turn them over a dozen heartbeats later, totally depending on the heat. Try and keep the heat towards medium.

and immediately stick cheese on these bread slices

like so. Well, the hardest part is all done.

reduce the heat to low and cover the skillet with a lid for about thirty seconds or so.

Voila! it’s like magic. A moment ago there was lid and now there’s melting cheese and an easy most delicious breakfast on your table.

Ingredients

Eggs: 2

Milk: 1/4 cup

Spring onions: 1-2

Cheese: 2 tbsp

Bread: 2 slices

Pepper: 1/4 tsp

paprika: 1/4 tsp

salt to taste

Butter: 1 tbsp

oil: 1 tsp

Recipe instructions: finely chop spring onions and into a bowl with eggs, milk, paprika, pepper and salt. Mix well.

Coat slices of bread with eggy mixture on both sides and cook in foaming butter+oil mixture over medium flame on a skillet.

Turn over after half a minute and sprinkle cheese on the cooked part. Turn gas to low and cover the skillet with a lid for another minute.

Your spicy eggy bread is done!

Coconut peanut noodles

Coconut peanut noodles in a soup or rather soupy peanut noodles to be more precise. But what’s in a name, any noodle in this broth would taste as fabulous, which is the gorgeous alchemy of cooking. It’s really about how different ingredients marry each other to form something so deliciously splendid that you’re left licking the contents of the bowl to the last ceramic whiff.

There are Thai tones to this dish, what with the astringent uplifting bouquet of lemongrass that harmonizes ever so perfectly with the moody mellowness of coconut milk and peanut butter, it is strictly speaking not exactly Thai as globally Asian. It tends to borrow and makes something of its own and that’s really the beauty of home cooking.

What’s really great about this noodle bowl is that it came into existence simply out of necessity to get rid of forgotten bits of vegetables and shrimps languishing about in the vegetable drawer and freezer. There are mushrooms, broccoli, peppers, spring onions, lemongrass, garlic, coconut milk, peanut butter, shrimps, dried red chillies (also the name of this blog), soy sauce and water. Phew. And really, you could omit or add anything to your liking. If I happened to have some other vegetables this lineup would look a bit different.

also some noodles. Use whatever noodles you fancy. I’m using some sweet potato starch noodles.

We begin rather ceremoniously with a bit of vegetable chopping.

followed by lemongrass smashing, and this step is important because it starts releasing all the flavours that stay compacted in this stem of wonders.

saute sliced green onions (mostly the white part) and garlic in oil.

throw in the chillies

once a wall of fragrance hits your face, throw in chopped mushrooms and keep sauteing

and a bit of salt

in the meanwhile start cooking your noodles in boiling water.

throw in the smashed lemongrass and cook for about a minute

after which we pour in some water. Let it come to a gentle simmer

and add coconut milk.

let the flavours mingle and come to a simmer

add in peanut butter

and soy sauce

stir everything together and we are greeted with this gorgeous fawn coloured broth that smells of heaven. Cover and let it come to a bubble

Like so

Finally, add shrimps

and vegetables. Cover and cook until it comes to a boil.

Finally, turn off the heat and fish out whatever remains of lemongrass. It has done its job. By now your kitchen is exploding into aromatic pops.

Place cooked noodles in a bowl and pour over the peanut coconut soup

garnish with spring onion greens or coriander.

and serve hot!

Ingredients

Noodles of your choice: 1 packet or 1 nest

Chopped vegetables: 60g (1 cup)

Assorted mushrooms: 150g (2 cups)

Shrimps (optional): 70g (1/2 cup)

Coconut milk: 200mls (3/4 cup)

Water: 200mls (3/4 cup)

Peanut butter : 2 heaped tbsps (1/4 cup)

Garlic: 2 cloves

Spring onions: 2-3

Dried red chillies (optional): 2-3

lemon grass: 1 stalk

soy sauce: 4 tbsps

Oil: 1 tbsp

Recipe instructions:

cook noodles and reserve cooked noodles into a bowl.

Chop vegetables, green onions and garlic into bite sized pieces.

Smash the lemongrass stalk to release its oils.

Heat oil in a wok and add white part of green onions and garlic and saute until fragrant. Add dried red chillies and saute for a few more seconds and add in the mushrooms, lemongrass and cook for a minute. Add in salt and water and let it come to a light simmer.

Add coconut milk and let it come to a slight simmer again, after which add in peanut butter and soya sauce. Stir to combine and make sure peanut butter doesn’t settle in a lump. Cover and let it bubble, finally adding in the shrimps and chopped vegetables. Cover and let bubble again.

Once it’s come to a boil, turn off the gas and fish out lemongrass stalk.

Pour peanut coconut broth over cooked noodles. Garnish with greens of spring onion or coriander and serve hot.

Tuna salad

If you have any love for anything tuna; tuna salad, tuna sandwich, cats, then this recipe is for you, however if you do not favour tuna nearly as much, then stick around still for the visual appeal.

This isn’t a born again, recherché, renaissance time tuna salad recipe. Nothing fancy or fantastical to it, except that it’s quick, easy and exceedingly delicious for something that takes mere moments to come as one.

In fact so easy that I didn’t even click a list of ingredients, because I didn’t think it’d be featured on this blog, but the straightforward easiness of this recipe had me lunging for the nearest camera, and thusly it finds itself here.

One does need a can of tuna for this. It kind of gives a rather cat food vibe but we know how magical this oddity tends to be. Just regular tuna packed in water not oil.

2 eggs finely chopped.

Into a bowl, finely chopped onion, celery and eggs.

and contents of tuna can

with some mayonnaise and good whole grain mustard, for the effects and flavour

good squeeze of a sprightly lemon

with a pinch of salt and a smattering of black pepper

give it a good mix until everything is incorporated and here we have our no frill tuna salad, which is perfect as it is, but if you want to make a meal out of it then there are a lot of options to dabble with..

For example mix it with some cooked pasta or sandwich between bread,

or spread generously on a toast

beginning with a large leafy portion of lettuce.

a layer of tomatoes

blanketed with our tuna salad.

taking which a little by further by gilding the lily. This is freshly grated parmesan

sprinkled generously and baked at 200°C for 5-7 minutes

Lunch as lunch should be.

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Ingredients

1 Tuna can : 120 gms

Boiled eggs: 2

Onion: one small or half

Celery: 1 stick or 2 tbsps

Mayonnaise: 1 tbsp

Whole grain mustard: 2 tsp

Salt: to taste

Pepper: 1/2 tsp

lemon juice: 1/2 tsp

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To make into an open faced sandwich

toasted bread: 1 slice

lettuce leaves :2 in nos

Tomato sliced: 2-3

Parmesan: 2 tsps

Recipe instructions: chop finely the onion, celery and boiled eggs. Mix together with tuna, mayonnaise, mustard,lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Tuna salad is ready to eat.

To make into an open tuna salad sandwich: Toast a slice or piece of bread. Layer with lettuce leaves, thinly sliced tomatoes. Spread the tuna salad mixture and finally top with parmesan cheese or cheese of your choice. Bake into an oven at 200°C for not more than 5-7 minutes, until the cheese begins to melt and the salad is warmed through.

Enjoy.

Lemon cake

Just the kind of laid back cake that packs a punch while dressed most plainly in a sponge batter.

The tartness of lemons balances ever so perfectly with the sweetness of cake that it’s difficult to understand whether its complementing your palette or squeezing in your cheeks.

Even better, it tastes more delicious the next day, if it survives, that is.

The summeriness of lemons does wonders to uplift your spirits and this cake works perfectly as a midday sweet snack filler or lazy dessert. It’s not easy to say ‘no’ to this bronze slab of sour sweet zing, and if you can resist it then you ARE heartless.

there are two stages to this cake. one is the batter and the other is syrup and both idiotically easy.

begin by creaming butter and sugar

once they’re satisfactorily creamed, add vanilla extract

and lemon zest

and eggs

also mix the leavening agents into the flour for an even mix.

add flour to the mix

mix well.

it’ll be a thick thick batter, and a bit of milk will soften its consistency without thinning it.

nice dropping consistency

line a baking tin of choice with baking paper. Scrape the batter in and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in comes out clean

while the cake bakes we can get on with the syrup. It’s a simple syrup. With sugar and lemon juice.

add sugar to a pot

and the lemon juice

and let it cook until the sugar begins to melt

here the contents began boiling which meant the sugar was pretty much dissolved.Convey the pot to a cooler place and let it slowly cool. DO NOT be tempted to taste the boiling potion. You’ll come to regret it so.

once the cake is baked and out of the oven, do not wait for it to cool down.

start poking deep holes in it. Use a skewer or a toothpick.

Drizzle lemon syrup all over, so that the top is sodden. Be brave. The cake won’t crumble under all that liquid. In fact it will absorb all the contents.

The surface will be slick with the syrup. Let the cake continue cooling in its tin. If you try to pry it out at this stage it will tend to crumble and break apart.

you might wonder why there’s a difference in picture of the said cake. I’d baked two cakes. The one baked in loaf tin was given away promptly and the one shown above was consumed by this blogger.

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Ingredients

For the cake

Butter: 120 g (3/4 cup)

Sugar: 170 g (1.5 cups)

Flour: 170g (1.5 cups)

Eggs: 2

Zest of 1 lemon

Milk: 4 tbsp

Baking powder: 1 tsp

Baking soda: 1/4 tsp

Vanilla extract: 1 tsp

For the lemon syrup

Juice of 2 lemons

80g (3/4 cup) sugar

Recipe instructions: cream together butter and sugar, and add lemon zest, vanilla extract and eggs. Beat them well. Add flour and leavening agents and fold all ingredients to form a batter. Add milk to thin the batter in spoonable consistency and bake in a well greased and paper lined baking tin at 180° for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

While the cake bakes prepare the syrup. Heat gently the sugar and lemon juice until all sugar has dissolved.

Once the cake is baked and out of the oven, prick holes or puncture the top with a toothpick or cake testing skewer to form holes. Pour over the syrup and let the cake rest to absorb the syrup in its pan. Don’t take out the cake until it’s completely cooled.

Cut into pieces and serve.

Wholewheat banana bread

Most beguiling, calling this a bread, when in essence, it actually is a cake. I guess it’s probably called a bread because it’s baked in a loaf tin. Ah, well.. ‘a rose by any other name’ and all that jazz. So indeed, this rather bashful, withdrawn looking cake/bread is exactly that. An air of polite modesty about its person, this cake doesn’t pretend to be a showstopper, or a stunner, gracing the high tables of a luxurious dinner party.

It’s in fact a quiet, simple and courteous nibble as opposed to the rich, opulent, cloying tastes of other thickly decadent cakes. This, in effect, is the anti thesis of sinful tastes, and bears such depth of resonant flavours that one slice or even two wouldn’t suffice. A perfect accompaniment for coffee, or as breakfast. This wholewheat banana cake makes up in flavours, what it lacks in appearances, and isn’t that all that really matters?

Flecked with nuts, tinged with spices encasing a positively astounding banana soul. This wholewheat banana bread is moist with a nuttier wholewheat taste that totally trumps ones with made with regular flour..and if that wasn’t enough, it’s healthier too.

The ingredients are simple enough. mashed bananas, brown sugar, coconut oil, soy milk, eggs, wholewheat flour, vanilla, ground spices and nuts.

mix baking soda and baking powder in with wholewheat flour. (these ingredients were not pictured)

In a clean mixing bowl, add in the oil and brown sugar

Mix briefly and crack in the eggs, and beat again, until the eggs are evenly combined.

add vanilla

mashed bananas and mix

once the ingredients are well combined, tip in the flour. As you can see I’ve traded my whisk for a spatula, and mix very briefly.

add in the ground spices

followed by nuts, and combine well, without over mixing the batter.

scrape into a well greased and floured tin of choice, or loaf tin if you wish to call this a bread.

and bake at 170°C for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

and Voila!!

Note: before baking I’d tasted the batter which didn’t taste as sweet as I’d have liked, so I added in two tablespoons of honey.

INGREDIENTS

Bananas: 2 large mashed (1 cup)

Coconut oil: 80 mls (1/3cup) (feel free to use any oil of choice, or even melted butter)

Brown sugar: 100g (1/2 cup)

Honey: 2 tablespoons

Milk: 60 mls ( use soy milk or any milk or even water)

Wholewheat flour: 160g (roughly 1.5 cup)

Eggs: 2

Chopped nuts: 80g (1/2 cup)

Vanilla extract: 2 tsp

Baking powder: 1 tsp

Baking soda: 1/2tsp

Spice mix:

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp crushed pepper

1/4 tsp crushed cloves

RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS

Mix the baking powder and baking soda into wholewheat flour.

In a clean mixing bowl beat together coconut oil, sugar, honey and eggs until evenly combined. Add in mashed bananas, vanilla and beat well. Stir in the flour and spice mixture and nuts and fold until just mixed.

Scrape into a baking tin and bake at 170°c for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let rest before unmoulding.

Enjoy

Salmon fried rice

This is just the kind of food you want to indulge in from keeping your waistline into an ever expanding universe. Healthy, nourishing, nutritious and all too tasty..how often do you even read all these adjectives in the same sentence?

Well my darlings, if you’re still on about healthy eating this year (why?), then this fantastic recipe is the one for you. Packed full on with flavours, yet strangely subtle. This bowl promises to comfort without making you fat. It’s sustenance and all too easy to scarf down in heaping abundance. No guilt, only pleasure. Your taste buds will thank you and your insides will give a content round of applause. It’s so easy and quick to put together that you’ll see yourself tottering in smug satisfaction as you lay this humble yet celestially righteous bowl of gratifying health for all to see and eat.

This does a superb double take as not only a solitary lunch but also as a quick meal for many.

A bit many ingredients, but they’re not a whole lot.paprika, black peppercorns, cumin seeds, salt, lemon zest and lemon juice, chopped onions, ginger and garlic as the flavour base. Salmon, peas and spinach, hard boiled eggs and that’s really it. (psst. use any fish you have available)

dry roast the cumin and peppercorns, until they’re just fragrant

These need to be crushed along with other spices

In with the salt and paprika

and you crush it within an inch of their existence, or until they’re nicely crushed

like so..

now for a gentle massage or rub..however you prefer

an now for a bit of tasteful dismemberment..or you can just cut in to chunks

In a pot of choice, heat some oil and add in the chopped onions

casually throw in the chopped ginger

followed closely by lemon zest

and in with the fish chunks. Cook for a few minutes, until the fish is more or less cooked.

Add in the chopped garlic and stir for a minute more.

Plonk in all the vegetables (peas and spinach) and stir for just another minute until the spinach wilts. (I’m using frozen peas, so it takes just a minute for them to cook. If you’re using fresh peas, you might want to add them a bit earlier or pre cook them)

now for the rice. I used a rice cooker and steamed the rice with a clove and black cardamom pod (totally optional)

In they go

mix it well and add in the lemon juice. taste for seasoning, you might want to add in a touch more salt.

Embellish with eggs if you please. This recipe has real oomph and wow factor. It looks simple, and it is simple, but the flavours manage to hit all the right spots without jarring your senses.

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Ingredients

Salmon fillet: 170g

Onion: 1 medium sized. finely chopped

Ginger: 1 inch stem finely chopped

Garlic-2-3 cloves finely chopped

Paprika: 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Black peppercorns: 1 tsp

lemon:1 (zest+juice)

salt: 1 tsp + more

Cooked rice: 150g-200g (about 1 cup)

Peas: 100g (1/2 cup)

Eggs (optional) : 1-2 (hardboiled or to your preferred doneness)

Spinach: big bunch (it wilts down to almost nothing when cooked. Use a lot if you really want to see it in your dish)

Salmon fillet or fish chunks: 150g

Oil to cook: 1 tbsp

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Recipe instructions: Dry roast the cumin seeds and black peppercorns for a minute or so and crush along with paprika and salt. Rub the salmon fillet on both sides with this dry mixture and cut into chunks.

In a large pot, heat some oil and add in the chopped onions and ginger. Cook for a few seconds until translucent and add in the lemon zest and stir fry for half a minute. Add in the fish and cook for a couple minutes until fish is almost done. Add in the garlic and stir together for a minute or so.

Add in the peas and spinach and cook for another minute, until the spinach is wilted and fish is completely cooked.

Add in the cooked rice and stir it all together, until all rice is well incorporated throughout the mixture and each grain is coated with flavour.

check for seasoning, add more salt if you prefer.

Finally squeeze in the lemon and briefly stir.

Serve hot, flecked with chunks of hard boiled eggs.

Enjoy!!

Salmon, baked potatoes & pea puree

This might look like a chaotic blip of technicolour profusion, but I promise you it’s wholly edible, and not just edible, but lip smacking zen level scrumptious. Zen because it isn’t overloaded with fat or an orchestra of varied spices, and lip smacking because eating so many different colours will only infuse your insides with digestive rainbows, and since when did that become a bad thing?

If you’re still on the healthy eating bandwagon and haven’t budged yet from your new years resolution then as annoying as you might be, this is the perfect recipe for you. It’s fish, it’s potatoes and peas..just three simple instruments to serenade you into making a fantastical composition that looks good and tastes even better. You can make a solitary meal for one or fancy meal for many, either which way it’s just as easy and delicious.

just potatoes, peas (I use frozen), a clove of garlic, salmon fillet and olive oil.(salt and pepper not pictured)

let’s prep the potatoes first, since they will take the longest to bake. So peel ’em

halve them

half each half into half or quarter it as some might suggest

dice each quarter into equal pieces.

line on a baking sheet

drizzle oil

salt and peppa!

arrange and bake at 190°C for 30 minutes, or until they turn crisp and golden and gorgeous.

in the meanwhile as the potatoes bake, bring a pot of water to boil, and add a clove of garlic

followed by peas. I use frozen peas, but use whatever you have handy.

let ’em boil until the peas are fully cooked, not just tender but totally absolutely tender.

fish them out and puree them into a blender or food processor along with the now cooked garlic. Don’t make it into a soup, keep the nubbly texture..it should gloop off a spoon, not drip.

finally, salt and pepper on both sides of the fish. (I just have the salt one, but imagine there’s pepper in it too). Try and use a good salt if you can. I’m using Maldon salt.

cook on a very hot pan, about 3-4 minutes each side.

turn it over. Mine took about 3 minutes each side, but depending on the thickness of your fish you might have to decrease or increase the timings.

in the meantime let’s have a look at them potatoes.

plate it as you want. I like the pea puree to form the base for the fish to settle on and potatoes on the side. There isn’t much in terms of seasonings and flavourings, and that’s what makes this taste exactly how it should. The peas are sweet with the slightest hint of garlic, the salmon is light and flaky, just enough salt blending with peppery depth, and the potatoes work as a robust accompaniment to these delicate flavours. All in all, a great light meal for anytime of the day.

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Ingredients

olive oil : 1-2 tbsp

garlic: 1 clove

potatoes: 2 medium

salmon fillet: 1 (150g)

peas: 150g (1 cup)

salt and pepper to taste

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Cooking instructions:

peel and quarter your potatoes lengthwise. Cut each segment into equal parts. Line on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, add salt and paper, mix well and bake at 190°C for 30 minutes or until crisp and nicely browned.

In a pot of boiling water add garlic and peas and cook until they’re tender. Blend into a nubbly puree.

salt and pepper the salmon on both sides and cook on a very hot lightly oiled pan for about 3-4 minutes until bothe sides are nicely browned and the fish is cooked through.

Arrange on a plate with peas and potatoes and Enjoy!.

Venetian carrot cake

In case anyone was wondering about my exile and the painfully invisible void I’d left in the world of food blogs, then let me tell you, it was only temporary..and though I might not be back with a bang, I am back with a gluten free (gasp) venetian carrot cake, the credit for which as much as I’d like to take isn’t mine to take at all but Nigella Lawson’s, and it’s her recipe I’ve adapted to make this unbelievable sphere (albeit sort of flat) of damp richness.

This is a carrot cake and it’s unapologetically..umm carroty? and absolutely gluten free, which is to say it does not require any flour, and as hipster as it sounds, we can take some solace in that it’s not vegan..though I promise nothing. On days of rage, I’ve been known to torture myself with vegan food stuff. But that’s another story for another torture chamber, because right now let’s marvel in the blistering warmth of this buff coloured cake, which sings to your soul and pleases your senses with such luxurious notes, that you’re left wondering whether you should eat this cake or marry it.

So without further ado, we’ve the ingredients. Sugar, olive oil, vanilla extract, beaten eggs, almond meal, shredded carrots, pine nuts, lemon, lemon zest, raisins and rum (not pictured)

Just because a cake’s got almond meal which sometimes you don’t readily get at your grocery store, does not mean you put off baking this amber coloured love disc. You’ve only to blitz almonds to get almond meal you know. It’s rocket science, but you can get around to it.

before we get started, put the raisins in with the rum and bring to a boil and let simmer gently for 3 minutes, after which turn off your heat and let the raisins plump up and cool.

into a bowl of choice, add olive oil and sugar

and beat it for at least a couple of minutes. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable activity, I assure you.

beat until you’ve incorporated the sugar with the oil

mix in the eggs

followed closely by vanilla extract

and the zest

and lemon juice

mix well, until you’ve a summery ripple of golden ooze that speaks radiance in shiny ribbons.

tip in the now cooled swollen raisins along with any rum that’s it’s been standing in.

finally the almond meal

and the grated carrots

mix well, until everything’s incorporated and there’re no dry pockets.

scrape the mixture into a prepared cake tin. This is a springform pan

prepared simply means you’ve oiled the sides and the bottom and stuck a wax/butter/parchment paper on the base and oiled it as well.

now, with the careless abandon of abundance, strew the top with pine nuts

liberally or not..entirely up to you and bake at 180°C for 40 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick inserted in the middle comes out almost clean. As long as it’s sticky and not runny, you’re good.

once done, let it cool before you devour..always a good practice.

and behold! the answer to dreary winter months, the saviour of one too many dinnerless nights..or just a sponge to wipe your tears, while you wallow in the dull ache of loneliness in your bed. A cake of such splendour and sumptuous depths that you’d kick yourself for sharing it. It’ll light you up on the inside, and how can it not?

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Ingredients

carrots-2 medium (about 200g)
pine nuts -3 tbsp
raisins-75g (1/2 cup)
rum- 60ml
sugar- 150g (3/4cup)
olive oil (regular)- 125ml (1/2 cup)
eggs-3
vanilla extract- 1 tsp
almond meal- 250g (2.5 cup)
lemon- 1/2 (zest and juice)

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Preparation

In a saucepan bring to a boil the rum and raisins and let simmer gently. Turn off the heat and let them stand and cool. Grate the carrots and absorb any excess liquid with a kitchen towel.

Into a bowl, whisk together the oil and sugar until well mixed. add in the eggs, vanilla, lemon zest and juice and the now cooled rum and raisins, and mix well. Finally fold in the almond meal and grated carrots.

Scrape into a prepared cake tin, and cover the top with pine nuts. Bake 180°C for 40 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick inserted in the middle comes out almost clean. As long as it’s sticky and not runny, you’re good. Let it rest for at lest ten minutes before removing it from its cake pan. Let it cool completely and enjoy

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