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Fast fish dish

Posted on April 5, 2009 | 6 comments

ling-and-sprouting-broccoli

This fish dish had to be fast as it was 11pm at night and we were all tired.

I sliced several shallots thinly and fried them gently in olive oil, with the heat turned right down and the lid on. Using a lid is my new habit; it retains heat so ups a dish’s eco-credits, as well as moisture and flavour. Win/win/win…

Still in my macrobiotic-mood, I slivered an inch of peeled raw healthy ginger in with the onions. Then I placed the fresh fish fillets on its bed of onions and back went the lid.

I figure the fish cooks by a combination of steam and heat from the aromatic stewing onions. If you can add some scientific know-how, please do!

I had bought the fillets of ling that morning from David Felce, one of two fab fishmongers at Bristol Farmers’ market. Although from the endangered cod family, the ling is line-caught, a method that does not net a ton of other fish at the same time, (then discarded wastefully).

Ling is not considered glamorous but please ignore this illusionary hierarchy of fish. Seasonal and fresh, its flesh is firm, white and flavoursome.

Meanwhile I steamed my beloved purple sprouting broccoli from Radford Mill organic farm shop, having sliced its woody stems into smaller tubes so they would be soft enough to eat.

Purple sprouting broccoli is in season from January to May when other UK-grown greens are sparse, according to my much-recommended Riverford Farm Cook Book.

I had some miso paste left over (a tablespoon of miso blended with water) and added it to the pan with about 50mls of water, for extra flavour.

We served it with organic spelt bread bought at the Common Loaf stall – who make their bread with love and the best raw ingredients-ever – also from the farmers’ market.

And voila, after 20 minutes, the dish was ready. Fast-enough for you?

P.S. The next day I had the pleasure of meeting and having lunch with a fellow blogger, Helen, from Haddock in the Kitchen. Helen was over from France visiting her lovely daughter Holly.

We ate freshly-cooked food at Zazu’s Kitchen – heartily recommended.

We chose frittatta (omelette and potatoes and herbs) and salads (including my adored lentils). I pictured my lunch with Helen’s kind gift, a pot of honey, or miel, comme on dit en français.

The honey was made by a friend of Helen’s in France. Oooooh I absolutely love real honey.

zazzus-2409

6 Comments

Posted in food, health, organic, producers, recipe idea, restaurant, sustainable

Tagged eco-cooking, line-caught ling, ling, miso, purple sprouting broccoli, Radford Mill Farm, Riverford Farm Cook Book, Steaming, Zazu's Kitchen

Beetroot, chocolate (and raw cocoa) brownies

Posted on July 16, 2008 | 9 comments

Beetroot, (chocolate and raw cocoa) brownies

I read about this recipe in the riveting Riverford Farm Cook Book I have been raving about, only I have customised it somewhat.

I have never thought about beetroot in cakes until I read Riverford’s recipe and then it was an “of course” moment – beetroot cake is the new carrot cake. The beets are sweet-tasting, easy to mush when cooked and not too watery. And plentiful, seasonal and grown-locally.

I used half the sugar the recipe called for, and also omitted its cocoa powder and baking powder. This was after eating the most wonderful date-and-walnut cake at Saturday’s party, baked by the Great Cake Company. Great, indeed. Cakemaker, Chris, generously shared her secret: rice flour, loads of butter and eggs. And no raising agents. Not necessary, she said.

Instant liberation! No more raising agents – just eggs. Yippee.

Going slightly off piste, I also added soaked prunes and raw cocoa nibs.

And here, thanks to the Riverford Farm Cook Book, is how I did it.

I melted a 150g bar of Green & Black’s cooking chocolate with 200g of butter, cubed, in a bowl, over a pan of boiling water.

The recipe calls for 250g but a 150g bar seemed to do it, plus I added 150g of raw cocoa nibs which are a natural stimulant and highly nutritious. Raw cocoa stays wildly crunchy and feels terribly healthy.

I had cooked the 250g beetroot the day before and now I whizzed the peeled purple beauties (and about 12 soaked prunes) in my trusty food processor, dating circa 1980s. The recipes calls for three eggs, but I whizzed-in four eggs (organic and free range of course), one by one. Then more whizzing with 100g of rapadura sugar (instead of the recipe’s 200g caster sugar).

Then with a large spoon, I folded in 50g of rice flour (which is gluten-free) and 100g ground almonds. All ingredients were organic, naturellement.

I miraculously found a baking tin of roughly the right proportions (28x18cm), greased it with butter and lined it with foil as I had no baking parchment. And placed it in the preheated oven at Gas 4/180 degrees C. It took half-an-hour. But don’t overcook it!

Omigod, were those brownies yum. Not too sweet, with crunchy bits and mousse-like lightness.