Seriously fresh fish - cod in parsley and caper sauce

Sorry for the radio silence over the past couple of weeks... The husband has done something fairly nasty to his back and, after a quick visit to casualty, has been convalescing at home for the past week-or-so. I've been busy making cups of tea and doing other useful wifely things.

I haven't even managed to blog anything about our fantastic holiday on the Suffolk coast a few weeks ago. We spent five days bathed in glorious Spring sunshine enjoying the delights of Aldeburgh, Thorpeness and Southwold. What a wonderful part of the country - extremely pretty with lovely little towns. Quite foodie too which is no surprise considering the coastal location and the vast swathes of agricultural land. We saw a great many pigs (and ate plenty of excellent sausages) but most of all we enjoyed some wonderfully fresh fish.

All along the beach in Aldeburgh, sit little fishermen's huts. Here they sell their daily catch and it really is as fresh as it could be.

We had rented a little cottage in Aldeburgh so cooked for ourselves most nights. We love to do this on holiday. Whilst we love eating out too, it is such fun to seek out local produce on holiday and take a little time to prepare something tasty. It also saves money of course - we spent much less on food which allowed us to splash out a little on some really super wines to enjoy with our food.

The dog ready for his holiday long before us!

When going on a self-catering holiday, I have to be prevented from taking the entire contents of my kitchen. One can never be too sure what kitchen equipment one will find in a rented holiday cottage. I also am unable to live without certain condiments (mustard, ketchup) and feel irked by the idea of having to buy new pots of herbs and spices when I have them already at home. This time, I tried to limit myself to one box of basic 'staples'. Plus a couple of tea-towels and my potato peeler (I can't be doing with a bad potato peeler). I also took my pancake pan as Shrove Tuesday fell in the middle of our holiday and we were not going to do without pancakes! As we were going to a seaside town, I also took my favourite fish cook book and a jar of capers (!) Is there anything you can't leave home without?

Holiday essentials

Anyway, back to the fish. The huts had a variety of fish and we asked for advice as to what was freshest and best. The first evening we were recommended some line-caught cod - it was new season cod, according to the fishermen, and came highly recommended. We bought a large piece at a fraction of the cost of supermarket fish and took it home wrapped up in newspaper.

We decided to cook it very simply as we didn't want to mask the flavour of the fresh fish. Having consulted my fish cook book we decided upon a simple parsley sauce studded with capers. New potatoes and a few green vegetables completed the dish along with a stunning bottle of Californian Chardonnay from Au Bon Climat, a winery we visited on our honeymoon. It was a comforting dish that reminded me of my childhood but the capers added a slightly more adult kick to the sauce. Delicious!

This simple yet super fish supper would work well with other varieties of white fish, including sustainable catches such as pollack.

The recipe is a pared down, simplified version of Mitch Tonks' 'Cod in Parsley Sauce' from his excellent 'Fish' book.

The Freshest Cod in Parsley Sauce

Serves 2 

300ml milk

1oz butter plus a small knob extra to 'finish' the sauce

1 heaped tbsp plain flour

Generous handful of parsley, chopped

1 tbsp capers, drained, rinsed and finely chopped

2 portions of cod, skin on, about 180g each

1. Pre-heat the oven to 230C.

2. Make the parsley sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low head. Stir in the flower and combine with a wooden spoon until you have a paste. Gradually add the milk, little by little, stiring well in between each addition so that you have a smooth consistency. Keep adding until you have a smooth sauce about the consistency of double cream.

3. Add the parsley and capers, season with salt and pepper and set to one side in a warm place whilst you cook the fish.

4. Heat a little oil in a frying pan (use one that can also go in the oven, if you have one). When hot, season the fish and lay flesh side down in the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes (depending on thickness) until the fish is golden. Transfer pan to the oven, or place fish in a small roasting tin, and roast for a further 5-6 minutes until cooked through.

5. To serve, add a small knob of butter to the sauce and heat through, stirring. Serve the fish with a generous pool of sauce.

Another interlude!

No sooner have I returned and I'm off again!

Today we are heading off to Cornwall for a week's holiday in Port Isaac. Looking forward to the freshest of fish and perhaps even the odd pasty.

When I return, I'll be sharing the recipe for this delicious terrine!

Strawberry and marzipan tartlets

Am back from holidaying in Tuscany and Lake Annecy in France. We had a wonderful time though it sounds like the weather was much better here than in chilly, windy and frankly rather damp Tuscany! I'd love to be showing you photos of the fantastic scenery and, more importantly, the superb food we enjoyed but alas, we fell prey to some rather greedy burglars who broke into our apartment one night and stole (amongst other things) both our cameras from our bedroom whilst we slept!

Despite this somewhat traumatic incident, we had a cracking couple of weeks. Much of it was spent either in the cucina or at the table, feasting on the best of Italian produce and indulging in some superb French restaurants. I'm stuffed!

Sadly, the incident means that it may be a short while before I'm back up and posting regularly. We've the insurance to sort out and then the purchase of a new camera. We hope to get a point-and-shoot to tide us over before hopefully investing in a proper grown-up SLR. I'd be interested in any recommendations!


In the meantime, here is a simple yet tasty summer tart that I made before we left. The night, in fact, that the flower-sender proposed.

It hardly warrants a full recipe as it is so simple. Basically, all you do, is buy some ready-made puff pastry. Roll it out and cut into little squares or rectangles. One per person. Using a knife, lightly score a line around half an inch in from the edge all the way around. Prick the pastry lightly with a fork.

Roll out some marzipan and lay a slice over the centre of each tart. Arrange sliced strawberries on top, then brush the lot with melted butter. Sprinkle with caster sugar and then bake at 200C for around 25 minutes.

Lovely served with ice cream, or just regular cream.

Highlights from New York and Florida

Thank you for all the lovely comments left when I was suffering on holiday. I'm pretty much better now though it has taken a long time and the combination of jet-lag and still feeling a bit weak hasn't really seen me much in the kitchen. Next week I plan to get right back into it (...as well as visiting all your blogs which I've thoroughly neglected over the past few weeks).

In the meantime, a few highlights from my stateside trip...

My beloved Key Lime Pie. As I've detailed before, I'm on a permanent quest to find a recipe that matches up to the fabulous pies I find in Florida. As yet, I am unfulfilled.

Perhaps it is for the best - if I found the 'ultimate' recipe then I might just eat my entire body weight in a Key lime frenzy and that would not be so good. My aunt (who lives in Florida and whom I was visiting) is fully aware of my quest for Key lime greatness and has even tried to find a way of sending real Key limes to me in the UK!

The New York bagel with Lox and cream cheese. I'm told that a proper NYC bagel tastes better due to the New York water. Who knows if this is true but this one was fairly delicious - stuffed with smoked salmon, cream cheese, onion, capers and (oddly, I think) tomato. Yum.

The doughnut plant. If you go to New York, you simply HAVE to go there. This is not a suggestion. It is an order. Sadly no pictures of the doughnuts - I gobbled them up before the camera made it out of my bag. The Meyer lemon glazed version was dreamy!

And, of course, no visit to NYC would be complete without a cursory visit to the famous Magnolia Bakery on Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village. The queue was snaking out of the door but it I went...

The cupcakes were certainly pretty but I was surprised not to see more flavours. Just vanilla, chocolate and red velvet. Lots of other goodies too but kind of hard to see them as the shop was so crowded.

I chose a chocolate and red velvet version. The chocolate was truly delicious but the red velvet? Just a bit... ordinary. Much better was the fabulously large slice of red velvet cake I enjoyed at Dean and Deluca the previous day.

I have to confess that I think those at Treacle on London's Columbia Road give those at Magnolia a run for their money. But maybe that's just me.

Talking of Dean and Deluca. Well worth a visit. A foodie paradise. I couldn't resist picking up a few gourmet treats!

There was so much more - the sights and smells of Chinatown, the fabulous restaurants in New York, the cocktails. New York is truly a terrific foodie destination.

Highly unsatisfactory

A very brief post to apologise for the (hopefully) brief interlude. I'm currently on holiday in sunny Florida and had uploaded photos in order to post a little morsel of something while away. However, pretty much as I boarded the plane at Heathrow, I was struck down with some absolutely horrible bug which I have yet to shift.

As the evil bug still has its hold, I can't face so much as a piece of toast and so even looking at the photos is just too much. I shall be returning to normal service as soon as I can face a slice of the Key Lime Pie I travelled all this way to enjoy!

Fifteen, Cornwall

Phew! What a busy couple of weeks.

In the past fortnight, I have been in Bordeaux, Cornwall, Yeovil, Dorchester, Henley-upon-Thames, Stevenage and finally home. To London. It has been pretty tiring and I'm slightly sick of eating out.

That actually sounds really spoilt, I know. It is just that I travel a lot for work and occasionally, after meal after meal of rich food, all you want is a simple bowl of soup at home!


But I'm not complaining too much. Along the way, there have been some pretty fabulous meals. The highlight was the opportunity to go to Jamie Oliver's Cornwall branch of his restaurant Fifteen.


The restaurant is suspended above the glorious sweep of sand and sea that is Watergate Bay. As you pad expectantly towards the entrance, you have to squeeze past sun-kissed surfers and their rippling six-packs. It was certainly enough to stir my appetite into action (!)




Once seated at our table, we gazed out to sea at the glorious view and then turned our attention to the mouth-watering menu.

I now have to confess that I am not Jamie Oliver's biggest fan. Don't get me wrong - I watch his shows, I have all his cookbooks. I just find myself squirming ever-so-slightly each time he mentions the word 'pukka', or starts talking about 'bashing' up potatoes with 'loadsa' herbs. I'm just a stick-in-the-mud for the Queen's English.

Anyway, I was initially concerned to find that the menu read in exactly the same way. The idea of 'Fifteen's amazing potato salad with Buttervilla funky leaves' just annoyed me slightly...

Luckily I got over this very quickly. A large glass of A Mano Fiano-Greco, 2007 with its 'amazingly floral' nose with 'heaps of lovely elderflower (...) and plenty of honeyed fruit in the mix' helped enormously. As did our very chirpy waitress who knew everything about each aspect and ingredient on the menu.

Three of us decided to share a most incredible platter of antipasti. It took pride of place in the centre of the table and groaned with melt-in-the-mouth meats, cheeses and marinated vegetables. And the best olives I think I've ever eaten.



Oh. And melon. And the best slow-roasted tomatoes ever. And 'loadsa' lovely bread. I was getting into the swing of it all.

Next up, I decided to go fishy. And boy was I glad I did. My pan fried Cornish pollock with cannellini beans, Zucca Farm sweetcorn, smoked haddock and oregano was truly scrumptious. The flavours were perfectly balanced and complimentary. Happy days.

One of the best things about the menu was that it wasn't too long. I don't like too much choice as I'm a terrible decision-maker. A choice of four desserts was all I needed. I plunked for the least photogenic but most delicious: Amber's Mum's amazing rhubarb and cinnamon cake with vanilla bean custard. It was heaven...


...and it didn't last long...

Good food, great service and rather pleasing rosemary-scented soap in the loo - what more could you ask for?

Don't forget, there is still time to enter the British Food Fortnight Challenge. I've had some great entries so far but there is always room for more! In case you are stuck for ideas, here are a few I haven't had so far... A traditional roast. Treacle tart. Shepherd's Pie. Scotch eggs. Fish pie. Welsh rarebit. Fish and chips. Jam roly poly. The possibilities are endless!

Happy Birthday to me - lovely lemon cake

I've just returned from a wonderful fortnight on holiday. I haven't taken a full two weeks off work for six years, so it was a real treat. I usually like to spread my hols out throught the year, but I had a little spare this year and decided to make the most of it. After a wonderfully lazy few days is Provence with girl friends, I headed up to my beloved North Wales for a week and a half with family.



Since I was a baby, I have holidayed up on the Llyn Penninsula and really think it is one of the most beautiful parts of our country. The scenery is just stunning. Of course, the 'problem' with holidaying in the UK is the age-old one of the weather. It becomes an obsession. From our rented house, we watched the clouds and rain in earnest over breakfast, trying to decide what the day had in store. We'd look out of each side of the house, hoping for a touch of blue sky out of one of the windows. Sadly, on this occasion, 'him upstairs' was not on our side. We had a couple of sunny-ish days, but most were grey, grey and more grey...


It was a shame, but didn't matter too much. I still managed some lovely walks and loved catching up with nephews, nieces and parents.

I was also very spoilt. Yesterday was my birthday, you see. It wasn't one I was looking forward to. I'm now twenty-nine. Twenty-nine is not a problem in itself, you realise. It is just the fact that it comes before the dreaded three-oh. I know, I know. I'm still a young whipper-snapper. I've heard it all before. I'm afraid nothing will convince me though. Turning thirty is not something I'm looking forward to.

However, as I mentioned, I was very spoilt. The blow was duly softened by some lovely presents. Most exciting of all is my new Kenwood Mixer! I have wanted one for ages and had to put it to use straight away.


It seemed only apt that I should bake a birthday cake. A challenge when staying in a rental holiday house without your usual cake tins, baking equipment, cook books etc... I thought about my favourite kind of cake. Luckily I had bought one book with me; my favourite 'How to be a Domestic Goddess' from wonderful Nigella. At first I thought I'd go chocolately, then fruity but eventually I decided upon lemony.



I adore lemony cakes and wanted a full-on explosion of lemony flavour. I followed Nigella's basic Victoria Sponge recipe, sandwiched it with lemon butter icing and lemon curd and then topped the lot with bright white lemon glacé icing. You'll see that Nigella uses a little cornflour in her recipe - this can be replaced with regular self-raising flour, but she reckons that the cornflour makes for a lighter sponge.

My efforts were hampered by various factors. I didn't have sandwich tins, so baked the cake in one large springform 20cm tin and then cut it in half. I was also cooking in an oven which had a mind of its own. Everything we made in it seemed to burn, so I cooked it on a rather low heat and relied on some guess work.

The result was, I think, absolutely delicious. Wonderfully citrussy with just the right balance between the sweetness and the tangyness. This is certainly an indulgent cake, with two kinds of icing AND lemon curd, but if you can't indulge on your birthday, when can you?!

Very lemon cake
Serves 8

Ingredients

For the sponge:
225g butter
225g caster sugar
4 large eggs
200g self-raising flour , sieved
25g cornflour
juice and zest of one unwaxed lemon

For the butter cream:
75g butter
75-100g icing sugar
juice and zest from half a lemon

Homemade or good quality bought lemon curd

Icing sugar and juice from half a lemon

You will also need two 20cm loose bottomed sandwich tins, buttered

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C. For the cake, cream the butter and sugar (in your brand-new Kenwood mixer...). Add the eggs one at a time, adding a tablespoon of flour after each addition and continuing to mix. Fold in rest of flour and cornflour, plus the lemon juice and zest. The mixture should be a dropping consistency. If too thick, add a touch of milk.

2. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared cake tins and bake for 25 minutes, or until the cakes are springy to the touch and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre. Leave to cool in tins for ten minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

3. Whilst the cakes are cooling, make the buttercream. Using a mixer, blend together the butter and sugar and add in the lemon. If too runny, add more icing sugar until a spreading conisistency is reached.

4. Sandwich the cakes together with a thin layer of butter icing and then a layer of lemon curd. Top the cake off with a layer of glossy glacé icing. Sieve the icing sugar and mix to reasonably thick consistency with the lemon juice. Add candles and away you go!

They may be small...

...but these are the best tasting tomatoes ever! Freshly picked from my garden - what could be better?

I'm away for the next couple of weeks, in France and then in Wales. I hope to check in occasionally, but will be back in full force on the 28th!

Busy bruschetta

I returned from my lovely holiday last weekend yet it seems an absolute age away! I have been enormously busy ever since and have barely cooked a thing, let alone had a moment to blog about it. I'm sorry. I've been a bad blogger. Slapped wrists all round.

Last week was spent mainly in Lancashire at the fabulous Northcote Manor. I was hosting a couple of dinners there for work and it was certainly a treat - the food, cooked for us by Nigel Hayworth, was extremely memorable. Delicious and clever without being too clever.

No sooner had I returned from the north and I headed down to the Isle of Wight for a fantastic outdoor concert featuring all the rousing British classics such as Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory. We waved our flags and ate a delicious picnic, more of which later on.

Tomorrow it is off to Cornwall for more work events - I feel like I've barely drawn breath. Oh to be back refreshing myself in the pool in Tuscany...



Since returning from holiday, I've rediscovered my passion for Italian food. That is not to say that I had ever really lost it, just that I'd perhaps become a little staid in my choice of Italian staples. Most weeks feature pasta in some form. Usually with homemade tomato sauce or pesto. Simple and quick. Always.

On holiday it was wonderful to have time again to potter in the kitchen and create some Italian classics using the freshest of ingredients. It gave me a little inspiration for when I returned home and I've been cooking simple Italian fare ever since.


Some of my favourite meals though were our 'everything' lunches. In fact, those sort of lunches have always been my favourites. Lunches where you haul everything out of the fridge (salad, leftovers, cold meats, cheeses etc) and pop it all on the table for everyone to create their own unique combination. These lunches happen not just on summer holidays, but also at Christmas and are equally welcome at both times of year.

This photo of one of our Tuscan lunchtime feasts pretty much sums it up...



We couldn't have put more on the table if we'd tried! I love that you have a bit of everything and that you occasionally end up with a mouthful combining tuna salad with parma ham. Not quite what you intended, but strangely acceptable when on holiday!

Anyway, a great Italian favourite of mine is bruschetta. Toasted bread topped with tomatoes or ham or cheese. Whatever takes your fancy really. Every menu features bruschetta and it is perfectly acceptable to have just mixed bruschette with a glass of wine for lunch. A favourite lunch out consisted of 'surprise bruschette': a selection of toppings chosen by the chef.

Back in the villa, bruschetta (or should that also be 'bruschette' in the plural?) featured as a starter most nights. Just perfect to nibble on with a drink as the sun set...





One of our group made a great topping with grated courgettes and parmesan - I loved it. Once home, I was hankering after this favourite treat and whipped some up for a speedy yet satisfying lunch. I stuck to the traditional tomato and basil for mine although I did make a couple with melted Pecorino and parma ham. Sadly, the view wasn't quite the same as it was in lovely Tuscany...

...but I sat in the garden and the flavour of local tomatoes and fresh basil did momentarily transport me back to my holiday. I used French baguette which wasn't even vaguely authentic. It was fine, but really, bruschetta should be made with a denser, slightly chewier kind of bread. Next time, I'll make the effort to seek out the real thing. I'm popping a recipe down not because I think you don't know how to make bruschetta, but just to document how I made mine!

Bruschetta

1. Pre-heat oven to 200C. Slice some dense Italian bread into half-inch slices and place on a baking sheet.

2. Brush bread with olive oil. Slice a clove of garlic and wipe cut side of garlic over each slice to impregnate with garlic flavour.

3. Bake the bread until crisp (about 10 minutes) and then set to one side.

4. Chop tomato into smallish dice (concasse). Mix together with chopped basil and a little slug of extra virgin olive oil. Season generously.

5. Top each bit of toasted bread with a generous amount of topping. Alternatively top with Pecorino cheese and pop under the grill until melted and then top with parma ham.

A Tuscan Feast: cantucci con vin santo

Why is it that holidays always go so quickly? I'm sure that last week went far faster than any normal work week. For want of a better cliché, time does indeed fly when you are having fun. I returned yesterday afternoon from a week in a beautiful villa in Tuscany, shared with twelve friends. Days were spent lazing by the pool, books in hand and evenings feasting upon the best of local produce both liquid and solid (!)


I also visited some of the region's charming hilltop towns and villages: Pienza, Montepulciano, Radda in Chianti and Montalcino. The attraction of this area is clear to see - beautiful towns untouched by the passing of time amidst eye-pleasing countryside of rolling hills, vineyards, cypress trees and olive groves. What is not to love?


Although I did venture out for a couple of typically Tuscan lunches, we cooked for ourselves in our villa. It was interesting to be with a number of keen cooks and learn from their inventiveness in the cucina. Each evening we gathered round a huge table outside and feasted on Italian produce by candlelight whilst putting the world to rights (...and fending off the mosquitoes).

Of course, no trip to Italy would be complete for me without taking some time to learn a little more about the nation's wonderful wines. Italy's wine offering is surely the world's most diverse with thousands of indigenous grape varieties and myriad styles. As well as visiting a favourite Chianti producer (Fontodi), I also spent an afternoon visiting the domaine of Gianni Brunelli in Montalcino. The view from his family home (and offices) was stunning. As indeed were his wines.


Having said that, the view from the hammock back at the villa wasn't that bad either...


Usually when I return from a holiday I find myself craving something thoroughly different to eat - perhaps something Thai or a British classic such as shepherd's pie. On this occasion, however, I was still firmly in Italian mode and wasn't ready to move on from one of my favourite cuisines. So, today, I found myself back in my favourite space (my kitchen) pottering about and producing a thoroughly Tuscan feast. Clearly, I wasn't ready to let the sun set forever on my holiday...



(Hope you appreciate that seamless yet entirely gratuitous link to my sunset picture - I just love those rays of light coming from between the clouds?!).

Anyway, as regular readers will know, it is usually the last course that first gets my attention. For that reason, I'm staring with sharing this recipe for cantucci. Cantucci are small, crunchy biscotti which are served throughout Tuscany alongside a glass of vin santo. The idea is to dip them into the accompanying sweet wine.

Traditional cantucci are made with almonds but today you find them in all kinds of flavours: chocolate, pistachio, raisin, lemon. You name it. A favourite I discovered on holiday was cantucci con fiche (cantucci with figs) and so I decided to try and recreate these. I didn't have any almonds to hand but decided that I'd try using toasted pine nuts. My cantucci con pinoli worked rather well, I think.

Just to clarify the difference between biscotti and cantucci: biscotti is the Italian for 'biscuit' and covers all kinds of biscuits and cookies. Literally, it means 'twice-cooked (and indeed these biscuits are cooked twice). So, cantucci are a type of Italian biscuit. 'Biscotti' is all-encompassing. Cantucci is specific. Are we all clear on that now?! I hope so.

Anyway, you can flavour these beauties however you fancy. I divided the dough in two to create the two types. You could go traditional and choose the almonds (toast them first) or add chunks of chocolate or any other flavour you favour. The world is your oyster.

Cantucci con fiche e cantucci con pinoli
Makes around 24



Ingredients:

250g plain flour (plus extra for dusting)
250g caster sugar
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
40g pine nuts (a smallish handful)
6 dried figs

1. Pre-heat oven to 220C. Toast the pine nuts in a dry, non-stick frying pan until fragrant and just brown.

2. Sieve the flour into a bowl and mix with the sugar and salt. Make a well in the centre and add the eggs. Mix together thoroughly - start with a spoon and then get your hands in there. At first you'll think that it will never come together but resist the temptation to add water - it will come together eventually.

2. When the mixture had just come together, divide in two. To one half add the toasted pine nuts. To the other half, add the figs, chopped into smallish bits.

2. Turn each mixture in turn out onto a floured surface and knead until you have a smooth and elastic dough. This will be sticky so you'll need a fair bit of flour to dust hands and surface. You'll get there eventually! Roll the dough into loaves: round sausages which you then flatted very slightly.



3. Oil a baking sheet and dust with flour. Place loaves on top and bake for 25 minutes until just golden but still softish inside.

4. Remove loaves from tray and slice on an angle. Each biscuit should be around 2cm in width.

5. Place back in oven and bake until crisp and golden - another 10 minutes.

5. Enjoy dipped into a glass of vin santo or a cup of coffee!

Please note - contrary to the evidence, I did not make monster-sized cantucci. The glass is very small!