Haddock wraps

An homage to The Seafood Shack in Ullapool, brought on by beachcombing (ok, beach cleaning) on a sunny afternoon.

Ingredients:

Birds Eye battered haddock portions
Mission Deli wheat & white wraps
Frozen peas, enough to make a tablespoon of sauce per person
Teaspoon chopped fresh mint
Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
A chopped gherkin
A heaped tablespoon of creme fraiche
Three heaped tablespoons of mayo
Romaine lettuce
Rocket
Olive oil, rapeseed oil, white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

Get the fish fillets in the oven

Blanche the peas in boiling water then refresh in cold and drain. Blitz them roughly with a hand blender then mix with the herbs, creme fraiche and mayo plus a dash of vinegar, seasoning to taste.

Wash, dry and chop a romaine leaf per person and combine with a handful of rocket. Make a vinaigrette with 2tsp olive oil, 1tsp rapeseed oil and 1tsp vinegar, season and dress the leaves.

Divide the pea dressing between the wraps and spread evenly. Place the fish on the wrap, add the salad, wrap and serve.

Add some shallot?

Pasta with a fresh chanterelle sauce

Reduce a pint of chicken stock and a glass of white wine by two thirds with parsley stalks and a saffron strand.

Fry onions and then garlic gently to soften. Add finely chopped chanterelles plus some quartered and fry till the liquid is bubbling away. Add the reduced stock, then stir in double cream. Check the seasoning and stir in fresh chopped parsley.

Serve with gigli.

Bacalao - a salt cod stew

Four skinless, boneless cod loins
1kg salt for curing
A large potato
A large onion
Two red peppers
A dozen small plum tomatoes
Green beans
Plain flour
Herbes de Provence
A bunch of fresh parsley, leaves picked, stalks reserved
A fresh bay leaf
Paprika
White wine
Vegetable stock
Salt and pepper
Olive oil for frying

Skin, wash and de-bone the cod fillets. Pat dry and encase in salt in a lidded plastic container; place in the fridge for 24 hours.

Remove the fish from the salt, wash and pat dry. Wrap in muslin and place on a plate in the fridge for three days, turning occasionally.

Soak the cod in a large bowl of water for at least 12 hours, changing the water regularly.

Heat the oven to 200C, oil the peppers and roast on a tray for around 30 minutes till beginning to char. Remove from the oven, cool a little, then skin, core, deseed and chop, reserving the juice.

Thinly slice the onion and in a large, heavy saucepan, fry gently in the olive oil for around ten minutes.

Peel and cut the potato into 1cm dice and fry with the onions and for a few minutes, adding the herbes de Provence and parsley stalks.

Blend the tomatoes. Wash and trim the beans and cut into 2cm lengths.

Cut the cod loins into 2-3cm pieces, roll in seasoned flour and in a frying pan, fry in batches in a little olive oil till beginning to brown. Set aside.

Deglaze the frying pan with a glass of white wine, then pour the wine into the saucepan, turning up the heat to simmer. When reduced a little, add the blended tomatoes and simmer for five minutes.

Add the chopped red peppers, a sprinkle of paprika, the crushed bay leaf and enough stock to cover, then simmer gently for twenty minutes, lid on.

Add the cod and green beans, add more stock as needed to almost cover and simmer with the lid off for around ten minutes, till the beans are tender. Stir in the chopped fresh parsley and serve.

Serve with saffron rice.

Hot smoked salmon

Ingredients

2 salmon fillets, skinless or skin on, doesn't matter
50g sea salt
50g sugar
Olive oil

Mix the salt and sugar and cover the fish in it. Refrigerate for 30 minutes

Wash the cure off and pat dry with kitchen roll. Leave the fish uncovered in the fridge for an hour until completely dry.

Rub the fish with oil.

Soak the wood chips for ten minutes before draining and adding to the smoker.

Place the fillets on a wire rack, skin side down if not skinless.

Smoke for 10-12 minutes over a medium heat.

Chilli con carne

 Everyone has a chilli recipe, right? Here's mine.

Serves 4

For the chilli

500g pork mince
1 red pepper, diced
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped
300g of San Marzano/fresh plum tomatoes
200g of passata
½ - 1 teaspoon of smoked habanero chilli flakes
1½ teaspoons of cumin
1½ teaspoons of paprika
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
A couple of sprigs of fresh thyme
A fresh bay leaf
1 stick of cinnamon
½ teaspoon of mushroom powder
1 teaspoon of Marmite
2 squares of unsweetened dark chocolate
A small glass of red wine
½ litre of beef stock
Rapeseed and olive oil
Salt and pepper

For the grains

1 teacup of 50:50 bulgur wheat and quinoa
½ litre of chicken stock
1 clove of garlic, smashed and peeled
1 teaspoon of tomato purée

For the guacamole

1 large ripe avocado, finely chopped or mashed
4 small plum or cherry tomatoes, chopped
½ small onion or shallot, grated or minced
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded to taste and thinly sliced
A large pinch of paprika
A teaspoon of sour cream
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh coriander
A squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Fry the onions in a generous amount of rapeseed oil till golden, then add the pepper, celery and garlic and sweat for around five minutes. Remove from the pan then add the olive oil; when sizzling, add the mince and cook on a high heat for 5 - 10 minutes, breaking up and turning till well browned. Return the vegetables to the pan and pour in the red wine, bubbling till reduced. Mix in the herbs, spices and chopped tomatoes, then cover for around ten minutes, till the tomatoes begin to break down. Stir in the passata and add stock to just cover; simmer uncovered till the stock has reduced by about half, then add more stock and repeat.

While the chilli is reducing, put the grains, puree and garlic in a small saucepan and stir in 1.5 times the volume of chicken stock. Bring to the boil, cover the pan tightly and cook on a very low heat for ten minutes. Remove from the heat and stand for twenty minutes. Prepare all the ingredients for the guacamole and mix together, seasoning as needed.

Now stir the Marmite and chocolate into the chilli and cook for another ten minutes, adding more stock or water as needed. Season to taste then serve with the grains and the guacamole.

Smackshuka

 On the morning of Madame's 40th she was leafing through one of her presents, Yasmin Khan's beautiful Ripe Figs (ISBN 978156609724), when she saw a simple dish of eggs fried with sliced, spicy sausage. This sent her on a trip down memory lane to childhood leftovers, and set me thinking about lunch. Fast forward a few hours and a vaguely shakshuka-like thing took shape from what presented itself in the fridge. Although it's definitely a mixture, it doesn't quite clear the bar for shakshuka because the tomatoes are absent, the eggs are more fried than poached in sauce - and it has a chunk of pork in there. Still, the flavours are similar and it smacks you in the chops, so "smackshuka" it is.

Serves 2

A length of chorizo (this was about 50g but you know best how much you want), diced
Half a brown onion, thinly sliced
Three eggs
A tablespoon or two of hot sauce (like this kimchi one from Aye Pickled)
A gherkin, roughly chopped
A small slice of feta
A tablespoon of sour cream
A good pinch of aonori and another of paprika
A dribble of white wine vinegar
Oil for frying (I used rapeseed)

Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the onion and chorizo till the onion is soft and golden and the chorizo releasing its oil. Add the hot sauce and stir fry for 30 seconds, then tip in the gherkin, closely followed by the eggs - you want the yolks to break a bit - and tip around to coat the pan. When the eggs are just set, crumble over the feta and the seaweed and cook for a couple of minutes until the cheese begins to soften - plus a couple more if you like your eggs crispy underneath - then drizzle on a little vinegar. Top with dollops of sour cream and sprinkle with paprika. Serve with crusty bread.

Aonori sprinkle is dead easy to make if you can get to a clean beach - just snip some (cardinal rule of foraging, only what you need) off the rocks, take it home, wash it and dry it in a low oven. Crumble and there's instant seaweed tastiness, that'll keep in a wee jar for a month or two: always awesome with eggs.

Daal balls

½ cup toor daal (yellow split peas)
½ cup masoor daal (red lentils)
½ teaspoon fenugreek
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon salt
Small handful of shredded wild garlic leaves or a minced garlic clove
Small handful of shredded coriander (if not using wild garlic)


Put the toor daal into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then add the masoor daal and stand for 30 mins - 1 hour until the lentils are slightly tender.

Toast the fenugreek and cumin seeds in a frying pan.

Drain the lentils and blitz in a food processor. Grind the fenugreek and cumin and add to the lentils with the other spices and the salt, followed by the herbs and garlic/onions, mixing well. If the dough doesn't hold together add a little gram flour till it does.

Form large teaspoons of the mixture into balls. Deep fry for six or seven minutes.

Duck breast with celeriac and beetroot hash

A change of plan meant we had a head of celeriac to use up. In the interests of not wasting £1.40 of root veg, I went out and bought a bunch of beetroot, a duck breast, eggs, bacon and parsley. I will never learn - but this was good.

Aonori is the Japanese (and rather more palatable) name for gutweed - abundantly available on UK beaches and a fine condiment when dried.

½ head of celeriac, roughly grated
½ head of savoy cabbage, shredded
1 small raw beetroot, roughly grated
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 rashers of unsmoked streaky bacon, chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 duck breast fillet, skin on, halved lengthways
2 eggs
Worcestershire sauce
Light soy sauce
A sprig's worth of fresh thyme leaves
A sprig of fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
A big pinch of aonori (optional)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil, butter, sunflower oil

Heat the oven to 200C.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil and a thin slice of butter in a large frying pan for which you have a lid. Fry the sliced onion over a medium heat until soft and starting to caramelise, the add the chopped bacon. Cook for five minutes, then add the garlic, celeriac, beetroot and thyme leaves and stir well. Add a good dash of Worcestershire sauce and another of light soy sauce, a splash of hot water, then cover.

Score the duck skin and season all over with salt and pepper. Heat a skillet over a high flame and sear the duck, skin side down, for 3-4 minutes until the skin is brown and crispy. Transfer to the oven, skin side up, to cook for 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the breast and how pink you like it.

Fry the shredded cabbage in the duck fat till it's starting to caramelise, then add it to the hash pan, together with another splash of water and more Worcestershire sauce if needed (check and adjust the seasoning here), then cover again.

Heat a tablespoon of sunflower oil on a low heat in the duck pan.

When the duck is ready, remove it to a plate in a warm place to rest for 5 minutes. Take the lid off the hash pan and turn up the heat to crisp the bottom.

Fry the eggs in the sunflower oil until the whites are set but the yolks still runny, seasoning with a little salt and pepper. When ready, sprinkle with aonori.

Sprinkle the parsley on the hash and spoon onto warm plates. Top with a fried egg and slide the duck breast on the side.

Chicken paprikash

Our trip to Budapest was memorable for, among many other things, out first chicken paprikash, and the nokedli were a revelation. Here's a slightly tweaked version of what we were fed.

Serves 2

For the paprikash:
Four pieces of chicken, skin on, on the bone
A small green pepper
A medium onion
Three cloves of garlic
Two medium, ripe tomatoes
A tablespoon of tomato puree
A tablespoon of sweet paprika
A tablespoon of smoked paprika
A small pot of sour cream
Half a litre of chicken stock
Half a glass of dry white wine
Two tablespoons of flour
A thin slice of butter and two tablespoons of oil for frying
Salt and pepper

For the nokedli:
125g white flour
One egg
75ml water
¼ - ½ teaspoon of salt
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Thinly slice the onion and pepper, and peel and chop the tomatoes.

Heat the butter and oil in a casserole on a medium flame until the butter foams. Season the chicken well and brown until the skin is golden, then remove and pour off half the fat. Fry the onions until soft and golden, then add the garlic and peppers and cook for three or four minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato puree, then mix in the flour and paprika; cook for a couple of minutes. Whisk in the white wine, followed by the stock. Bring to the boil, then lay the chicken pieces on top and place the pot into the oven for 45 minutes.

Now sift the seasoned flour into a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs and stir them into the flour. Beat in the water until you have a lumpy, pourable mixture somewhere between a batter and a dough. Rest for half an hour or so.

Bringing it all together, remove the chicken from the casserole and keep warm. Stir the sour cream into the pot, check the seasoning and heat over a medium flame as the sauce thickens. Meanwhile bring a pan of water to the boil and press half the batter-dough through a large grater or a späetzle maker and simmer for three minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon. Repeat with the other half.

Serve with the sauce spooned over the chicken and dumplings.

Ragù for pasta

This is a variation on Carluccio's ragù from 'An Invitation to Italian Cooking'. We miss you, Zio.

Serves 3
A lamb shank
Pork ribs (the pork and lamb combined should come to about 2 lbs)
A big handful of diced pancetta
A large onion
Two cloves of garlic
Two 400g tins of tomatoes
A stick of celery
A couple of sprigs each of fresh thyme and parsley
A sprinkle of dried marjoram
A bay leaf
A small handful of dried porcini
A glass of red wine
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper

Soak the porcini in a small dish or a teacup, in enough water to cover them.

Heat a little olive oil in a large, heavy, lidded saucepan and fry the pancetta till golden, then remove to a plate. Meanwhile thickly slice the onion and finely chop the garlic and celery.

Brown the lamb shank and pork ribs on a medium heat, then add the onions, stirring occasionally until they soften and begin to catch. Stir in the celery and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, then turn up the heat, pour in the wine and bubble for a while until the raw alcohol smell disappears. Meanwhile drain and chop the porcini, keeping the soaking liquor, and add the mushrooms and the liquid to the pan.

Nudge in the sprigs of thyme and parsley and stir in the marjoram. Season with a little salt and a lot of pepper. Add tomatoes to cover (you may not need all of the second tin, or you may need to top up with a little water), bring to the boil then part cover and cook on a very low heat for at least two hours.

When the sauce is coming together, remove the meat. Turn up the heat and reduce the sauce with the lid off while you strip the lamb and pork from the bones. Add the morsels of meat back to the pan, adjust the seasoning, remove the herbs and then serve with your choice of pasta.

Hedgehog gratin

Sort of a potato dauphinoise with wood hedgehogs.

Serves 2

Four or five wood hedgehogs, depending on size
Two or three large potatoes
Four runner beans
Two cloves of garlic
A small red onion
A handful of cubed pancetta
200ml double cream
50ml white wine
100g butter
A teaspoon of mixed herbs
Salt and pepper
Grated parmesan

Slice the the runner beans and blanch in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then drain. Heat a large frying pan on a medium to low heat and fry the pancetta gently, till almost crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon. Mince the onion and soften in the bacon fat on a low heat, adding the minced garlic after five minutes. Meanwhile peel and thinly slice the potatoes. Remove the aromatics from the pan, add a third of the butter and fry half the potatoes, seasoning well. Remove to a plate and repeat with more butter and potatoes. Brush the spines/teeth from the wood hedgehogs under running water, pat them dry and cut them into thin slices. Remove the last of the potatoes from the pan, melt the last of the butter and fry the muhsrooms till they begin to give off their moisture. Turn up the heat, add the white wine and bubble vigorously till reduced by two thirds.
Layer half the potatoes in a small dish, add a layer of onions, garlic, bacon and beans, add the mushrooms and their cooking juices, season, sprinkle over the herbs then cover with another layer of potatoes. Pour in the double cream.

Place in a preheated oven at 200°C for 35 minutes. Remove, sprinkle over the grated parmesan and cook for another 5-10 minutes until browned. Serve with bread and pickles. 

Baked sea bream - an aide-memoire

I usually bake whole fish en papillotte, which makes it a bugger to judge the timing. I always forget how long the last near-perfect one took, so finally decided to make a note of last night's. I made this with the sorrel risotto from a while ago, so a stick of celery and a small shallot did for both dishes.

Serves 2

2 whole sea bream, cleaned
A handful of minced celery and shallot
A clove of garlic
A bay leaf
Quarter of a lemon
Olive oil
Fines herbes

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Wash the bream inside and out, making sure any lingering scales are banished to the sink, then pat dry and score three times on each side. Lay the fish on sheets of baking parchment.

Halve the clove of garlic lengthways and then cut each half almost into slices, so that it's held together at the tip.

Season the shallot and celery mixture and place a spoonful in the belly cavity of each fish with half a bay leaf and a half clove of garlic.

Rub a pinch of salt and a grind of black pepper into the skin, drizzle a little olive oil and add a sprinkling of fines herbes. Pop a wedge of lemon beside each fish, wrap in the baking parchment and then again in foil.

Place on a baking tray in the oven for 25 minutes.

Serve with sorrel risotto and runner bean purée.

Tori Avey's Falafels

Having hunted over the years for the perfect falafel recipe - yes, the Guardian usually does a pretty good job on classics, but not in this case - I ran across the remarkably good Tori's Kitchen, whose version I reproduce here lest one day it should disappear from the web. Please follow the link if it's working, as

A) she has lots of pics with the recipe,
B) it's her recipe and she'll get ad revenue from your click,
C) she has lots of other delicious stuff on there, and
D) she's a lot better looking than me.

The following is just meant as a lifeboat for me. Ok? Cool.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound (about 2 cups) dry chickpeas/garbanzo beans - you must start with dry, do NOT substitute canned, they will not work!
1 small onion, roughly chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
3-5 cloves garlic (I prefer roasted)
1 1/2 tbsp flour
1 3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Pinch of ground cardamom
Vegetable oil for frying (grapeseed, canola, and peanut oil work well)
YOU WILL ALSO NEED

Food processor, skillet

Servings: 30-34 falafels
Kosher Key: Pareve
Pour the chickpeas into a large bowl and cover them by about 3 inches of cold water. Let them soak overnight. They will double in size as they soak – you will have between 4 and 5 cups of beans after soaking.

Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans well. Pour them into your food processor along with the chopped onion, garlic cloves, parsley, flour, salt, cumin, ground coriander, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and cardamom.

Pulse all ingredients together until a rough, coarse meal forms. Scrape the sides of the processor periodically and push the mixture down the sides. Process till the mixture is somewhere between the texture of couscous and a paste. You want the mixture to hold together, and a more paste-like consistency will help with that... but don't overprocess, you don't want it turning into hummus!

Once the mixture reaches the desired consistency, pour it out into a bowl and use a fork to stir; this will make the texture more even throughout. Remove any large chickpea chunks that the processor missed.


Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
Note: Some people like to add baking soda to the mix to lighten up the texture inside of the falafel balls. I don’t usually add it, since the falafel is generally pretty fluffy on its own. If you would like to add it, dissolve 2 tsp of baking soda in 1 tbsp of water and mix it into the falafel mixture after it has been refrigerated.
Fill a skillet with vegetable oil to a depth of 1 ½ inches. I prefer to use cooking oil with a high smoke point, like grapeseed. Heat the oil slowly over medium heat. Meanwhile, form falafel mixture into round balls or slider-shaped patties using wet hands or a falafel scoop. I usually use about 2 tbsp of mixture per falafel. You can make them smaller or larger depending on your personal preference. The balls will stick together loosely at first, but will bind nicely once they begin to fry.
Note: if the balls won't hold together, place the mixture back in the processor again and continue processing to make it more paste-like. Keep in mind that the balls will be delicate at first; if you can get them into the hot oil, they will bind together and stick. If they still won't hold together, you can try adding 2-3 tbsp of flour to the mixture. If they still won't hold, add 1-2 eggs to the mix. This should fix any issues you are having.

Before frying my first batch of falafel, I like to fry a test one in the center of the pan. If the oil is at the right temperature, it will take 2-3 minutes per side to brown (5-6 minutes total). If it browns faster than that, your oil is too hot and your falafels will not be fully cooked in the center. Cool the oil down slightly and try again. When the oil is at the right temperature, fry the falafels in batches of 5-6 at a time till golden brown on both sides.

Once the falafels are fried, remove them from the oil using a slotted spoon.


Let them drain on paper towels. Serve the falafels fresh and hot; they go best with a plate of hummus and topped with creamy tahini sauce. You can also stuff them into a pita.
Troubleshooting: If your falafel is too hard/too crunchy on the outside, there are two possible reasons-- 1) you didn't process the mixture enough-- return the chickpea mixture to the processor to make it more paste-like. 2) the chickpeas you used were old. Try buying a fresher batch of dried chickpeas next time.

SESAME FALAFEL VARIATION: After forming the balls or patties, dip them in sesame seeds prior to frying. This will make the falafel coating crunchier and give it a slightly nutty flavor.

HERB FALAFEL VARIATION (GREEN FALAFEL): Add ½ cup additional chopped green parsley, or cilantro, or a mixture of the two prior to blending

TURMERIC FALAFEL (YELLOW FALAFEL): Add ¾ tsp turmeric to the food processor prior to blending.


EGYPTIAN FALAFEL: Use 1 lb. dried peeled fava beans instead of chickpeas; cover them with cold water, soak them for at least 24 hours, then drain and rinse. You can also use a mixture of fava beans and chickpeas if you wish; just make sure the weight of the dried beans adds up to 1 lb.
After the beans are soaked and rinsed, add the Classic Falafel ingredients to the processor along with the following ingredients – 1 leek, cleaned, trimmed, and quartered; ¼ cup chopped dill; ¼ cup chopped cilantro; and an additional ¾ tsp cayenne pepper. When mixture is processed to a coarse meal, pour into a bowl. Stir 2 ½ tbsp sesame seeds into the mixture with a fork until it’s evenly dispersed throughout the mixture. Refrigerate and proceed with frying. If mixture seems too “wet” when making the falafel balls, add additional flour by the teaspoonful until the mixture sticks together better. Continue with frying.


HOW TO MAKE A FALAFEL PITA: Making a falafel pita is actually really simple. The two main ingredients are pita bread and falafel.
Cut the pita bread in half to form two “pockets.” Each pocket is a serving size. Stuff the pocket with falafel, as well as any add-ons you fancy.
Here are some traditional add-ons that can be added to your pita; these are the ingredients most widely available at falafel stands throughout Israel:
Tahini sauce 
Shredded lettuce
Diced or sliced tomatoes
Israeli salad
Onions
Dill pickles
Hummus
Tabouli
French fries
Here are some less traditional add-ons that are also tasty:
Sprouts 
Cucumber slices 
Roasted peppers
Roasted eggplant slices
Sunflower seeds
Feta cheese
Yogurt
Tzatziki

A vegetable kurma

Half a head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
One medium potato, diced large
One carrot, diced large
A handful of green beans, cut into thirds
A handful of frozen peas
A small onion, sliced
Three ripe tomatoes, skinned and cored
Three green finger chillis, roughly chopped (one with seeds left in)
A clove of garlic, minced
A small piece of ginger, grated
A good handful of cashews
A teaspoon of garam masala
Half a teaspoon of mustard seeds
A teaspoon of chana dhal
A teaspoon of salt
40g creamed coconut
A handful of fresh coriander leaves
Three or four curry leaves
Vegetable oil for frying

Cover the cashews in boiling water and soak for half an hour. Meanwhile prepare the veg and any rice accompaniment.

Place the tomato chunks, drained cashews, chillis, garam masala, salt and creamed coconut into a hand blender and blend till nearly smooth. Blitz in the coriander.

In a saucepan, heat a little oil over a medium heat and fry the onion till soft. Turn up the heat and add the mustard seeds and chana dhal, followed shortly after by the ginger and garlic, and fry for a minute. Add the vegetables and just cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, put the lid on the pan and simmer for three minutes. Uncover, pour off a little liquid if there's too much (you want about 200ml left) and then stir in the paste. Bring to the boil again and then simmer for a couple of minutes, until the vegetables are cooked to your liking.

Paella na cataplana

After the experiment with Paellotto, our lovely cataplana has done little more than hang on the rack looking, well, lovely. Today, however, it was called upon again.

Having made a tenuous, but to us entirely logical, connection between a little chorizo left in the fridge and an enormous pan of paella ("to use things up"), we set about looking for recipes adapted to cooking in a Portuguese copper pressure cooker. We found fewer than you might think, so we followed our usual course in these situations: nick some bits and make the rest up.

If you don't have a cataplana, get one before you start cooking.

Serves 3
paella rice, 250g
chorizo, 100g, in ½cm rounds
chicken thighs, (skinless, boneless), 2, cubed
raw king prawns, 12
a squid
a medium onion, thinly sliced
two tomatoes, deseeded and cubed
half a red pepper, diced finely
pickled red peppers, two tablespoons (optional)
peas, a good handful
garlic, 2 cloves, minced
fish stock, ½ litre
dry white wine, ½ glass
saffron, a big pinch
herbes de Provence, a big pinch
thyme, a sprig
olive oil, a tablespoon
parsley, a bunch, chopped

Note: we fried stuff in a sautée pan because we don't have one of those support thingummies for the cataplana, and when they're open they're dead wobbly without.

Heat the oil on a medium heat. Fry the chorizo for a minute or two, till it begins to release its oil. Add the chicken and brown. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat to the cataplana.

Add the onions to the pan and soften. Now tip in the garlic, pepper, tomatoes and herbes de Provence. Cook for five minutes and transfer to the cataplana.

Tip the rice into the pan and stir to coat in the oil. Pour in the wine and stir till absorbed. Add the stock and saffron, and bring to the boil, then tip into the cataplana.

Throw in the peas and the pickled peppers (if using), mix well, then put the cataplana on the flame. Heat till bubbling then seal and place on a very low flame for twenty minutes.

Open the pan, drop the prawns on top and reseal.

Score the squid, oil and season. When the paella's ready (another five to ten minutes), heat a frying/griddle pan on a big flame. Cook the squid for a minute.

Stir the squid and parsley into the paella, check the seasoning and serve.

Lamb sandwiches

I bought a rather larger than usual leg of lamb for Sunday's kleftiko, on the off-chance that The Muckart of Glenglass, who had joined us for dinner the night before, might stay on for a late lunch. As it was he rumbled off to his hermitage well before the threatened five hours' cooking time began, so we had copious leftovers on Monday.

We can rarely be bothered with proper cooking at the start of the working week, and often end up buying ready meals from the supermarket, usually delicious but also rather pricey. My Ukrainian conscience baulks at this unnecessary expense, so I suggested the compromise of a warm sandwich and a bowl of soup - precious little cooking and pretty cheap.

Lamb is, inexplicably, not one of the choices presented in even the better supermarket sandwich displays, let alone in the self-styled delis hereabouts (which are usually no more than cafés with delusions of grandeur). Why, I can't imagine, because it makes a fantastic sandwich.

I took a small red onion and sliced it thinly. Half went into a frying pan with a scattering of cumin seeds and a good glug of olive oil, followed a bit later by seasoned chunks of lamb. Some thinly-sliced sourdough - three slices each for double-deckers - got itself toasted on one side and laid white-side-up on a board. Base slice gets a healthy covering of garlic mayonnaise and some crisp lettuce; middle slice, a spicy Moroccan chutney; top slice, butter. Now to assemble it. Base, then lamb, then raw red onion; now middle slice, lamb, more raw onion, and finally the top slice.

If ever I needed an excuse to roast a leg of lamb on a Sunday, this Monday supper is it.

A beany soup

A nifty bit of footwork with the menu was called for at the weekend, when Winter, essentially, told Spring to sod right off because Winter was still using the bathroom, alright? Snow fell, tulips withered a-blooming. So the salades niçoises of yesterweek were sent back to the fridge, and back came the casseroles and soups.

This one was pretty good.

Serves 2

A 400g tin of borlotti beans, rinsed and drained
A small onion, finely chopped
A stick of celery, finely chopped
Two ripe tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and finely chopped
A big handful of unsmoked pancetta or streaky bacon
A handful of shredded Savoy cabbage or diced courgette
A small red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
A big pinch of ground corianderA small pinch of fennel seeds, crushed
Half a litre of chicken stock
A handful of orzo pasta
Two or three strands of spaghetti, broken into pieces
A handful of basil leaves and parsley
Ground black pepper
Grated parmesan
Olive oil, a couple of tablespoons
 

Heat the oil in a saucepan and soften the celery for a few minutes. Add the pancetta and cook till beginning to colour. Add the chilli, garlic and onion and fry gently for about ten minutes. Tip in the chopped tomatoes, coriander and fennel seeds and cook for another ten minutes. Now add the stock and two thirds of the beans, plus the cabbage or courgette. Cook for five minutes, then add the pasta and bring almost to the boil. Simmer for ten minutes or until the pasta is just past al dente. Meanwhile mash the remaining third of the beans. Stir the mashed beans in to thicken the soup, along with the shredded basil leaves and heat for a minute or two. Season and serve sprinkled with chopped parsley and grated parmesan.

Braised lettuce - a main course

A friend was asking what was for dinner tonight and my response - braised lettuce - set an eyebrow twitching. Once I'd explained it, though, it seemed to meet with approval. It is, after all, only my own tinkering with a very French classic.

Serves two

Two romaine or sweet gem lettuce
A large shallot
A stick of celery
A handful of diced bacon or pancetta
A handful of frozen peas
A clove or two of garlic
A teaspoon of dried herbes de Provence or mixed herbs
A pint of vegetable stock
A glass of dry white wine
Olive oil
Fresh thyme and mint
Green legumes of your choice, appropriately prepared *

The reason for the asterisk above is that what you can get - or want to use - may depend on the season. Sliced runner beans are great, as are (peeled) broad beans. Green beans, sugar snap peas, edamame - the list goes on. You only want a couple of handfuls, adding them in with ten minutes to go.

Chop the shallot and celery and mince the garlic. Heat the olive oil in a large pan (for which you have a lid) and fry the bacon till the fat begins to brown. Add the onion, garlic and celery and some dried herbs and cook very gently for five to ten minutes.

Trim the lettuce root and remove any ageing leaves, reflecting on your own mortality. Quarter each head and rinse under cold water.

Turn the heat up and pour in the white wine. Add a sprig of thyme, then simmer for a couple of minutes.

Now add the lettuce and pour over the stock. Bring to the boil, cover, and braise on a low heat for around twenty minutes, till the lettuce is just tender. Add the frozen peas and green asterisks (*), moving the lettuce aside to make room for them in the liquid and then sliding the lettuce back on top. Huddle the tomatoes atop all, re-cover and cook for ten minutes.

Warm a serving dish and transfer the vegetables and bacon to it, leaving as much of the cooking liquor as possible in the pan. Keep the dish warm while reducing the liquid by about two-thirds.

Stir in a little chopped mint, season to taste and pour over the braised vegetables.

Serve with warm brown bread.

Chicken and bacon pasta

This sounds boring, but the sauce turned out really well, so... It's a grown-up pasta bake in a cheesy, herby, winey sauce topped with parmesan and crumbled crispy chicken skin.

Serves 2

Three chicken thighs, skin on.
A good handful of diced bacon
Four handfuls of fusilli (or whatever you like)
A small shallot
A clove of garlic
A stick of celery
Dried fines herbes or tarragon
A third of a bottle of dry white wine (NOT oaked)
A quarter of a litre of chicken stock
A hundred millilitres of double cream (possibly more)
A good handful of grated gruyere
A tablespoon of plain flour
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Grated parmesan for sprinkling

Heat the stock if using fresh.

Fry the bacon slowly in a non-stick frying pan till crispy. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.

Mince the shallot and the garlic and finely chop the celery.

Cook the pasta, refresh in cold water and drain.

Remove the skin from the chicken and fry it (the skin) slowly in the bacon fat till golden brown, pressing down to get it nice and crispy. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.

De-bone the chicken if necessary, trim any sinew and excess fat and slice the meat into thickish strips. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium saucepan and stir-fry the chicken strips on a medium-to-high heat for three to four minutes, till nearly cooked. Remove from the pan and turn the heat down to medium-low.

Add the shallot to the saucepan and fry gently for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Finally add the celery and cook for another minute or two.

Turn the heat up high and pour in the wine. Add a teaspoon of whatever dried herbs you're using. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer till reduced by at least half.

Pour in half the hot chicken stock, bring to the boil and sieve in the flour, whisking as you go. Simmer for five minutes, then stir in the double cream. Simmer for five to ten minutes till thickening well, then stir in the gruyere on a very low heat till melted. Season to taste, remembering that salty bacon is going to be added.

Add the almost-cooked chicken and the bacon and stir, then put the lid on and leave for another five or ten minutes till the chicken is fully cooked.

Heat the oven to 180C.

Break the crispy chicken skin into crumbs. Mix the pasta with the sauce, adding a dash of cream if needed, and transfer to an oven dish. Sprinkle over some more dried herbs, then the grated parmesan.

Place the dish in the oven for ten minutes, then sprinkle over the chicken skin crumbs and bake for another five to ten minutes, till the sauce is bubbling and the top is beginning to brown.

Serve with crusty bread.

I did squid

We had the best squid of our lives at a tapas place in Barcelona this year. Having been presented with three squid caps by the Carlsbergs (together with a lobster) back in November, I tried following Raymond Blanc's Golden Rule of Squid: one minute, or one hour.

I portioned and scored the squid, then marinated it in olive oil, garlic, chilli and lemon juice for twenty minutes. I got a frying pan very hot and I gave the squid thirty seconds on each side. I served it with fries and ailoli.

Result.

Next we'll see how the frozen squid turns out.