New endz, new timez

It’s Claire here, I’m usually behind the scenes on the blog, selecting pictures, editing Iain’s ramblings, or being the butt of jokes. But no more! The editor has gone rogue. I thought it had been too long since we had posted on here, and it was time to take matters into my own hands. Not that we haven’t had good reason for being so quiet. In fact, we have moved house since we last posted, and that has been, as it always is, a bit flippin stressful. (I should at this point thank Rob for helping us move house, which was far preferable to having to be organised, and pay some men with ven.) 

Our new home is about ten minutes from our old flat in Bushdonia, in an area known to some as Wendell Park just west of the Askew Road. It is being renamed by Estate Agents with too much time on their hands as the Askew Village or the Askewniverse. Obviously I’m not entertaining either of those options, so Wendell Park it is.  It is still pretty much the same area, but it just feels a bit more (whisper it) suburban than our previous neighbourhood, being more part of the Chiswick/Turnham Green conurbation than Bush proper. In many ways this isn’t a bad thing, as while it is a bit less real, there are a LOT fewer sirens flying past, and the neighbours are more likely to have a screaming child than an all night disco party. (Iain- and The Clash formed just round the corner. WHICH IS AMAZING!) It's also nice that we have some friends who are neighbours (Hello Tom & Ellie!)

So while we haven’t gone far, it still does feel like we have moved to a new part of town, and this has inspired me to reflect on the four brilliant years that we had in the Bush, and the best, most bounteous things that it bestowed on us. So with no further ado, here are our favourite things from our old endz:

King Solomans, 300Uxbridge Road – This place makes chicken shish that makes me thank Jehovah that I was born with tastebuds, and that also somehow tricked me into thinking that a kebab is a healthy dinner substitute. I seriously have no idea how they make it taste so good. The guy who works there is, as well as chef of food that makes me cry with joy, also the nicest man in fast food. He always gives us a little wave when we walk past, and once he saved me from a weird man who accosted me on the street when I was walking home alone. THAT’S added value.

King Solomans - as my friend Sam described it when we moved to the Bush,  is "the king of late night falafel."

Esharn Khaw, 314Uxbridge Road – This is the best Thai food I have ever had (NB, I have never been to Thailand so this isn’t hyperbole.) It aint your Thai-by-numbers nonsense. The first time I went there, by some stroke of luck I ordered their North-East style chicken, a mad bitter and fragrant dish that I can’t describe very well.  It was badass, and I’ve never had anything anywhere near as good at another Thai restaurant.  They also know how to make a lotus flower out of a carrot AND a napkin. They are talented, what can I say?

Esarn Khaew - I pronounce it Eee sawn cow, probably incorrectly. 

Damas Gate, 81-85Uxbridge Road – Affectionately known to me and Iain as the “ass gate” is the greatest middle-eastern grocery. The veg are cheaper and nicer than supermarket stuff, and their spice section that has anything you could ever need. This is still a major fixture in our grocery shopping lives even though we don’t live around the corner anymore, and we go there to buy spices like Sumac for friends and family who don’t have the luxury of having such exotic ingredients available on their doorstep.

Love the ass gate, for all your obscure ingredient needs.

Nut Case, 352Uxbridge Road – The daddy of nuts and baklawa. It is basically the end of me if I get any baklawa from there as I will eat it until there is no more to be had. Many a time I have ruined my dinner in this way. Much like a child on Easter Sunday.

The gatekeeper of deliciousness.

A mini mention goes to Carribean takeaway Ochi (266 Uxbridge Road), where you can get an excellent lamb or salt fish pattie as a far tastier alternative to a Greggs sausage and bean melt on a hungover Saturday. And also I should mention John Snow, which was our surprisingly well stocked corner shop, where I used to go about twice a day on average. 

And from our short time in our new pad, a couple of places we are looking forward to spending more time are:

Adam’s Cafe, 77 AskewRoad – We went here on the day we moved into our new house. I was a little confused because we had been there before, but during the day, when it looks like a pretty standard greasy spoon cafe. In the evening it is turned into a lovely candlelit, white table-clothed dining room, with a massive menu of Tunisian dishes. I’ve never been to Tunisia, it is a bit uprisingy at the moment, but I’ve been to Morocco and it is quite similar to the food there (funny that eh), with lots of grilled fish or red meat, and tagines of stewed lamb and dried fruit. They have a set menu type affair, and it was really good value, I can’t remember exactly but it was something like two courses for £15 or three for £20.  Anyway, I want to go back as there were loads of things on the menu I wanted to try.
Duchess of Cambridge,320 Goldhawk Road – This is a bit of a cheat as we haven’t been here since we moved house but it is close to our new house, and somewhere I’m keen to return. I’m not a huge devotee of ales myself, but you have to hand it to these guys; you know that a pub takes their beer seriously when they buy in a special fancy rack to allow it to be gravity poured, not pumped, into your glass. That is a kind of dedication to the cause that frankly goes above and beyond my requirements as a fizzy lager drinking philistine. It was still newly opened when we last went there but I understand they now have a microbrewery, which is pretty cool. 

Ginger Pig, 137 AskewRoad – This place is a newish fancy dan butchers, which also has branches in Marylebone and Borough. It’s therefore a bit posh, but it is nice for a meaty based treat. Iain likes to go in for a bit of meat chat with a butcher, as much as buying some delicious animal flesh. We bumped into our friend Sam in there one Saturday. THAT’S how cool we are now.

Ginger Pig - neat for meat treats.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned for more pictures of food when we manage to get our new kitchen in order. See you down the Kate Middleton for a pint later yeah?

Out on the Goulash: Hungary's most famous dish

My original introduction to this got a bit ranty so, whilst I'm going to include it on the blog, I'm going to hide it here. Optional reading, so don't whinge at me if you find it boring, right? Good. Glad that is sorted.


I have been to two of the many countries which claim goulash amongst their national dishes, Hungary and the Czech Republic. I'm not taking sides (actually I am, and that side is Hungary's, the Czechs invented Pilsner and they can't take the credit for everything) and I'm sure both regional variations on the dish have things going for them.


Goulash, as I'm sure you must all know, is basically a stew or casserole, the defining ingredient probably being paprika, lots of paprika in fact. There must be hundreds of variations of the recipe, some of which are basically soups, some of which have dumplings, some of which have noodles, some which use beef, some which use other meats. Lots of variety, get the picture? 

I've been trying to perfect my version of goulash for a while now. Unfortunately when I try and 'perfect' a recipe it more often than not ends up with more ingredients rather than less. This is a flaw of mine. Antoine de Saint-Exupry would not be happy.


An easy Goulash 
(has been known to feed six hungry men at a poker night)


Ingredients

Oil (I used olive, vegetable would be fine)

1 kilogram stewing steak, such as shin, cut into bitesize pieces

3 tablespoons plain flour

2 large onions (chopped finely)

3-5 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

3 bell peppers, a combination of green and red (chopped into small pieces)

Carrot/parsnip/potato (about 3 whole veg in total, whatever combination you fancy, in this version I used a potato and two carrots. Diced)

Some chillis (depending upon how spicy you like stuff, you don’t want goulash too spicy-hot though in my opinion, I used three small red chillis)

6 tablespoons tomato purée (Confession- I usually just use a whole tube)

Shedloads paprika (min 3 tablespoons, depending on how old it is) you can use a little smoked paprika too if you like as well

2 teaspoons caraway seeds, ground

Bay leaf

4 large tomatoes, diced

A large splash of dry white wine

600 ml beef stock

handful flat leaf parsley, chopped

black pepper and salt

-----

Serve with bread or rice. Some sour cream or cream fraiche can go well.

Instructions

Lots of vegetables

Heat up a tablespoon or of oil in a casserole dish.

Dust the pieces of beef with the flour and brown them (in batches if necessary), in the hot casserole dish. Set the browned meat aside for later.

Add a little more oil to the casserole dish. Add the onion, garlic, peppers, diced vegetables, caraway seeds and chilli. Fry until softened, around 5 minutes.

Return the beef to the pan and add the tomato puree and LOADS of paprika. Cook for a little while, stirring continually.

I used a big pan until stirring was complete to help avoid making a mess

Add in the tomatoes, white wine, bay leaf and beef stock. Again, give it a good stir. Put the lid on the casserole and bake in the oven at about 180 oC for at least 1 hour 30 minutes.

Transferred to casserole dish to go in oven

Take out of the oven and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the chopped parsley, saving a little for garnish if you wish. 

Why Steve hates the French

The Hungarian Parliament in Budapest, modelled on the Palace of Westminster apparently.

 This was originally the introduction to my goulash recipe post, but acting on feedback that the posts where I go on about history are not particularly popular, I've separated this from the recipe.

I've sometimes felt a bit sorry for Hungary, thinking that they have been on the receiving end of several bum deals throughout history. Or twentieth century history at least; the period of history I am probably most familiar with. When I was at school it seemed like the only real history allowed to be taught by the national curriculum was twentieth century history. The rest of the lessons seemed to cover fairly mundane subjects such as 'women in Tudor Britain' and 'how clothes were washed in the days of the Regency'. Not particularly exciting.

But back to Hungary. I won't lie, I couldn't be bothered to go back and check my facts on the history of Hungary so this is largely done from memory, so please forgive the odd inaccuracy (I'm looking at you here father). At the start of the 20th century Hungary was the junior and somewhat reluctant partner in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, effectively ruled from Vienna by everyone's favourite European royal family, the Hapsburgs. At the end of the First World War the Empire was dissolved and Hungary was also taken apart. One of the treaties at the end of the War split the country, with Hungary coming out of the process having lost circa 70% of her territories to Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Here comes an anecdote.

Every music festival should have a tent of logical games

I've been to Hungary twice. The first time, in the summer of 2007, I was attending a week long musical festival called Sziget. (by the way, a week is too long to spend in a tent in Central European heat. Just so you know). On the first or second day we were there a drunk Hungarian man came over to speak to us and insisted on buying me a pint. This was because of the shirt I was wearing, an AC Milan top, apparently his favourite football team in the world. A free pint is always good, but the best thing about our new Hungarian friend (he told us to call him Steve as we wouldn't be able to pronounce his name, quite possibly true given how I struggled with the Hungarian language) was that he would spit on the floor every time you said 'France', 'French' or the name of any Frenchman. This was a game which didn't get old quickly. 'Steve' explained to us that all Hungarians hate the French because it was they who gave away most of the country in 1920. This hatred must be pretty strong to be passed down 3 or 4 generations. I don't know what role Britain played in these negotiations but we don't seem to be blamed for it to the same extent, in Steve's eyes at least...

Right, anecdote over and back to my three paragraph expression of sympathy for Hungary. The inter-war years were not amongst Hungary's proudest moments, the burden of war reparations and the Great Depression causing a drift to the right and towards one of the fashionable political ideologies of the time, fascism. Like its former Imperial partner, Austria, Hungary ended up on the side of the axis forces in the Second World War. As (hopefully) every schoolkid knows, this was not the winning side. Austria and Hungary both ended another war with little control over their own destiny, their future dependent on the decisions of others.

Austria formed the Second Austrian Republic, going from strength to strength and becoming one of the  world's richest countries. Hungary was not so lucky, falling on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain and having Communism forced on it by the Soviet Union for almost 50 years.

AND THAT IS WHY I FEEL SORRY FOR HUNGARY. Phew, that went on a while. It was originally meant to be a brief lighthearted introduction to my goulash recipe and ended up being a 600 word borefest. Sorry about that.

Signs of Hungary's Communist past

Americans hate Lennon, hence the policy of McCartneyism

I said 'You've got to be jokin' man': Caribbean Style Bean Salad with a Jerk dressing

I'm gonna tell you a story and, guess what, it's true. In 2011 Claire and I hosted a Eurovision party (of sorts), as is customary in  these parts, and one of our friends informed us they were the cousin of the chief songwriter in the band '10cc'. This was pretty exciting to know as it possibly trumps being the nephew of the drummer in Space or the cousin of Ray Wilkins (genuine entrants) in the unofficial 'obscure but famous relatives' competition I've just made up.

Rules- Points for obscurity, but entrants must also be associated with something famous enough that most folk will go 'Ahh' when it is explained who it is. Example: Being the Pope's sister would score poorly, being Jas Mann's cousin would score pretty well, but being the nephew of Hugo Myatt would be a premier performance. Entries on a postcard, or a comment I suppose.

I used to watch Knightmare with my Grandad

Ahem, that's enough making up of games for the time being. Right, I've made a New Year's resolution to blog at least once every two weeks so here we go. Last year I got a bit obsessed with jerk marinade. I spent many an evening playing in the kitchen, trying to perfect my own version of the Jamaican classic, to the point I think Claire got a bit sick of eating jerked meats (pork works well too) and rice and peas. I've never been to the Caribbean but apparently there's a million different recipes for jerk (some are closely guarded family secrets!) and I fancied making my own. Through this process I got used to tasting many uncooked marinades, which taste very different to the final version, and that's when I decided to find a way to have those flavours when I can't be bothered to marinade and cook meat. This was when the idea for a jerk salad dressing was born! It needs to be different to your standard jerk marinade and I think it works really well with a robust bean salad. It's pretty easy to make, is healthy, and certainly packs a punch! Recipe at the end of this post...

Before you stop reading (let's face it not many of you read the actual recipes on this thing) a word of warning. I'm going to do a very dull and self indulgent blog over the next few days on kitchen equipment. Sorry. Ha ha.

Caribbean Style Bean Salad with a Jerk dressing

Some ingredients

Serves about 4 as a healthy main (more as a side)

Jerk salad dressing


Large thumb sized piece of ginger (washed but not peeled)
3-6 fresh chillis (deseeded, be cautious if using scotch bonnets)
Allspice (preferably 5-6 allspice berries (aka pimento) ground in a pestle and mortar, but a heaped tbsp ground allspice will suffice)
Thyme (preferably2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves but, dried will suffice)
3 spring onions chopped roughly
1/2 small white onion (optional- can't decided whether better without)
4 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp soy sauce
Juice of 3 limes
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
teaspoon of honey
1 tsp brown sugar (or equivalent amount of artificial sweetener as I used)
pinch of salt and pepper

Salad ingredients


2 small red onions (or one large) finely chopped
1 bell pepper, finelly chopped
200g sweetcorn (frozen and defrosted, canned, or fresh)
25 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can other beans (I used gungo peas), rinsed and drained
Corinader leaves (or cilantro as our American cousins call it) to garnish
2 spring onions, finely sliced

Allspice/pimento berries

Method


1. This is well easy. Prepare all your dressing ingredients and whack in a food processor and blitz the life out of kit. Taste. It should be tangy, spicy and with significant heat. Add an extra chilli if you don't think it's hot enough. You may need to add more allspice and/or thyme depending upon the freshness of the ingredients used. Add a little more vinegear or lime juice if the dressing is too thick, a word of caution though- this is meant to be a chunkier dressing than your average vinegarette so don't thin it out too much. Once you're happy with the flavour set your dressing aside in a bowl.

Should look a little like this

2. Prepare all your salad ingredients in a vessel large enough that you can mix easily without making a mess (I used a massive pan).

I told you the pan was massive

3. Mix in the dressing well. Transfer to a more presentable dish and garnish with coriander.

Serving suggestion: We ate it tonight with some grilled chicken in a pitta. Nom!

Soup with Yotam: Butternut squash and red pepper soup recipe

I think I'm pretty much averagely heterosexual as far as men of my generation go. Despite Claire's frequent accusations that I like super gay music I don't think many people would question my sexuality upon meeting me (recent exception at Edinburgh Festival- however it did later turn out that with my friends Kev and Pesh I had unknowingly stumbled into a club called "Gaybourhood" so I can understand the confusion).  I also don't fall into the metrosexual camp- clothes and fashion hold almost no interest to me, I like low maintenance hair cuts and  I have no interest in having anything waxed thank you very much.


Having now established my straight credentials I feel comfortable talking about my latest celebrity man-crush (previous editions have included Robert Downey Jr and Thierry Henry). I am currently a little bit taken with Yotam Ottolenghi (and, I suppose, his business partner Sami Tamimi) and his recipes. I think this started with his New Vegetarian recipe blog in the Guardian which I discovered six months ago and have used extensively since. I love how fresh his cooking looks and tastes- lots of fresh herbs, lemon and garlic. At the same time it manages to feels contemporary, new and entirely suitable for home cooking.


I was delighted to receive a copy of the first Ottolenghi cookbook for my birthday this week from the wonderful Chris and Jenny- thanks Guys! So last night I used it for the first time to cook for Claire and her parents- whom we are visiting in Wetherby. It went down a treat and I think we are now going to make this same mezze for friends when we are away in the Lake District next week...


We had-

Butternut squash and red pepper soup (our recipe- all the rest are Ottolenghi)

Cucumber &poppy seed salad

Burnt aubergine with yellow pepper and red onion

Aubergine wrapped gnocchi with sage butter

Grilled mackerel with green olive celery and raisin salsa (before and after salsa hides the fish)

This was a successful first foray into my new cookbook and I am sure I will be wittering about it some more in future.


Today though I am going to share the recipe for the soup. Claire and I have been slowly improving this soup over recent months and we think it quite delicious. It is also very filling and cheap to make so if you are looking to save some money in January...




Butternut squash and red pepper soup


You will need (serves six, but keeps well and heats up nicely as part of a packed lunch)


2 small-medium butternut squash (or one large squash)
3-4 red peppers (I used long romano peppers last night but usually use bell peppers which are less sweet)
2 large red onions (roughly chopped)
1 white onion (roughly chopped)
3 cloves garlic (roughly chopped)
1 red chilli (deseeded, finely chopped)

3 tbsps paprika/smoked paprika (adjust depending upon quality/strength/age of paprika)
1 tsp ground coriander (optional)
1 litre vegetable stock (or chicken if you prefer)

chives (finely chopped)
juice of a lime (add more if your soup tastes too sweet from the peppers)
corinader (roughly chopped- save some for garnish)
grated parmesan
salt and pepper
olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.


2. Wash your butternut squash, chop the ends off and then chop it into chunks, removing the seeds from the bulbous end in the process. No need to peel- the skin is perfectly edible if roasted. Tip- get a long thin squash rather than one with a big round end. Easier to prepare the long bit as it has no seeds!


3. Use a little olive oil to lightly coat your chopped red onions, peppers and squash, whack in the oven for 20-30 mins until nicely roasted.

4. Use this time to prepare your white onion, chilli and garlic. Once chopped begin to fry these together with a little oil in a large pan. Stir occasionally,


5. Once your squash, red onions and peppers are ready add them to the pan and mix up. Cook for 5-10 mins or so stirring occasionally.


6. Add your stock, mixing well, and then add your paprika (and ground coriander if you want!) and mix well. Allow to cook for another 10 minutes.


7. Blend the soup until it is a smooth consistency. I usually use a food processor but used a hand blender last night and it was OK. 


8. Taste the soup, it's likely to be quite sweet from the roasted vegetables. Add lime juice and taste again, adding more if necessary . Season liberally with pepper and add a little salt (I use a little, you may wish to add more) Add your chopped chives to the soup, followed by coriander and stir.

9. Allow soup to cook over a medium heat for another 5 minutes before serving. Grate a little parmesan over each bowl and garnish with leftover coriander leaves. Serve!


(I have been known to add milk to this which does change the soup somewhat but I'm not sure it is necessary. Crumbling goats cheese in rather than parmesan is a nice alternative).

recipe ends




I've got a half written blog about Scotch eggs from last week's birthday do but have been lacking inspiration. Sadly I didn't get to take many post pub photos- too busy chatting! I did get one from the afternoon's prototype scotch egg though- here it is. The pies we made were pork vindaloo, jerk chicken and Indian spinach and sweetcorn. If there is much demand for more pie/egg blogging I will have a bash. Let me know in the comments below!

Pies and scotch eggs are imminent

It's been a long time since I last wrote a blog. I will demonstrate this by reminding you of some things which have happened in this time:

A tyrant destroyed - end of the line for Muammar Gadaffi

Big Apple - purveyor of overrated technology dies (not sure why I'm trolling on my own blog- sorry iFans)

Little Britain- Cameron's lack of attention in GCSE diplomacy sidelines UK in Europe

Borderline- Theresa May just about holds onto her job

But you didn't come here for my ill-informed and deliberately provocative take on recent world events did you? Or course not! You're here to read my witterings, look at photos and then not read recipes!

Believe it or not the reason I haven't blogged for so long is because Claire and I have been very busy. Actually busy, not just sitting on the sofa watching TV busy.

We have: been to Blackpool to see transvestites dance; visited Amsterdam on a stag do (steak, beer, Jagermeister and Dragon™ since you ask); hen do in Newcastle; investigated the town of Reading in most unseasonal weather; decided to buy a house in 2012; worn a morning suit for the first and, possibly, last time; ushered, (first time) bridesmaided (second) and DJ'd (umpteenth) at a wedding; said farewell to some dear West London friends; hung out with some awesome, shiny, new people (Max!); registered a website name; bought a stupid amount of Sci-Fi books; and, most significantly on a day to day level, left 3 jobs between the pair of us...

We've worked with some lovely people over these 3 jobs. Sad to say farewell, but change is usually good. Here's to you former colleagues ! Thank you Mr Haden, Mr Whittles, Ms Torney, Ms Fitton, Mr Preston, Super Shems, and Mouse.

(some of these are not my photos)

Pictorial representations of the jobs we have left

OK, excuses for lack of blogging made, and I'm off work for three weeks with plenty of time for blogging, so let's move on. Now it's my birthday in the next few days and I suppose it is a big(ish) one. One that ends in a zero. The lovely Claire has arranged for a visit to a local pub tonight to celebrate, no mean feat this close to Christmas when everyone is so busy, so I've decided to make some pre/post pub snacks for people. I've got a bit carried away and now have plans to make three kinds of snack pie and scotch eggs. I did a lot of the work last night but they are all a work in progress so not any photos yet. I am committed to writing about each one over the coming weeks though. Watch this space!

The carp play the harp: Fish pie recipe

I've not seen many Disney films. I vaguely remember seeing Cinderella at the cinema, possibly in Darlington, as a youngster. Other than that I've seen Toy Story, if Disney-Pixar counts. Oh, and I watched the Lion King on the plane to Malaysia last year. I enjoyed it.

Despite this Disney-deprivation (I jest, watching Flight of Dragons over and over again was far more educational I'm sure), I'm still fairly familiar with the songs from the films of the house of mouse. I was trying to think of a suitable title for this blog and thought of the Little Mermaid and looked the lyrics up on the interweb. Hence the title.

Now I don't want to be called a pedant but there is a problem with the lyrics to this song. Carp are freshwater fish. They would not be playing the harp 'under the sea'. They would be dying as the saltwater burned through their gills. I just hope no carp, or other fish were harmed in the making of that song. Parents, think of that before subjecting little Jake or Sophie to Disney eh?

Focus Iain, focus. What was I going to write about? Ah yes, fish, and not the cartoon kind. This blog is the closest I have done so far to my current profession, in the subject matter at least. Having spent the past eighteen months working in a team called ‘Sustainable Fisheries’ I feel I must urge you to try and avoid unsustainable fish. If you’re in any doubt as to the origins of a fish in a fishmongers or restaurant, then ask! This website is a good place to arm yourself with some basic knowledge...

When people think of British food the first thought is often ‘roast beef’ but I like to think the humble fish pie possesses at least the same level of Britishness. Fish pie just screams ‘British home cooking’ to me and brings back memories of dinner with the family as a youngster. This dish also gives a great excuse to eat loads and loads of peas. I usually try and eat fresh vegetables but peas are an exception as they are still delicious when eaten from frozen and always useful to have in the freezer in case of sprained ankles or other swelling (confession- when I was little I used to steal frozen peas when my mum was cooking them and eat them still frozen. Mmm crunchy). Peas go so well with fish pie that when my friend John (shameless plug here- go buy his book!) served them together it converted Mel (of knitting stall fame) to liking peas. So there you go.

I usually make a fairly simple fish pie, but for some reason a couple of Sundays ago I made one that was a bit more extravagant. I’m not sure if I preferred it, but it was nice for a change!

Pastry Fish Pie

You will need

1.      Some fish, you want a mixture of smoked fish (or smoke flavoured and dyed yellow or red most likely if bought in a supermarket) and white fish and most combinations work, but try and choose sustainable species/origin combinations. I love shellfish so always add some of them too.  I used:
700g coley (aka saithe) fillets. Good, wallet-friendly, whitefish.
175g cooked mussels (mussels are a proper guilt-free and delicious food, super sustainable and farmed with almost no ill effects)
250g kipper (smoked herring) fillets
220g cooked and peeled coldwater prawns
300g smoked haddock fillet

2.      Some green vegetables and herbs. I used:
        2 leeks, chopped finely
        140g baby spinach (I might try some curly kale instead next time)
        Large handful of dill chopped up (Some people are funny about dill. Substitute parsley if it is         not for you)
 
3.      A topping of some kind. Mashed potato is traditional, but this time I used a  packet of shop bought puff pastry (I’m all for homemade stuff, and will make shortcrust pastry, but have never tried puff pastry. If anyone has an easy way of making it please shout!).

And...
50g plain flour
100g butter
700ml milk (I used semi skimmed)
4 boiled eggs (entirely optional)
Salt and pepper to season
Grated nutmeg
A whisked egg to brush on the pastry

What to do
If you are adding boiled eggs, get the boiling process underway so they have cooled down for later. They will need to be peeled and chopped before you can add them. I put this first as it is the kind of thing I forget to do.

Check your fish fillets for bones. Pull any out you can find. I used Claire’s cosmetic tweezers for this. Oops (she has many pairs so I wasn’t in as much trouble as you may imagine).

Rub a tiny bit of your butter over a large pan, put your fin-fish (not shellfish) in the pan. Pour your milk over the fish so it is covered. If this proves impossible, don’t fear, there is no harm in dividing the fish into batches and repeating this step. Better to take a bit longer and poach it properly than fit it all in the pan! Grind a generous amount of pepper into the milk, followed by some grated nutmeg. You could add a bay leaf too if you like.

Heat up the milk and turn down the temperature to a simmer before it boils. After 7 or 8 minutes remove the fish. If you need to cook a second batch of fish, place that in the milk for another 7 or 8 minutes.

Once all your fish is cooked you may want to remove the skin before breaking it up into suitably small pieces.

Then put your poaching liquid (likely to be a bit coloured now from the smoked fish) through a sieve to take out any fishy remnants.

Now you need to make a roux with your butter and flour. Melt half the butter in a large saucepan (I highly recommend a non-stick pan for this purpose). Add the flour gradually and constantly stir with a wooden spoon, even after all the flour is added. After a short while it will turn into a light brown thick liquid. Add the sieved poaching milk to the saucepan and mix thoroughly. Cook the combined liquid for 10 minutes or so, with the heat turned low.

Melt the rest of your butter in a pan and add the chopped leeks. Stir occasionally and cook until soft.

Meanwhile wilt your spinach (add to a pan of boiling water for a minute or so and stir) drain and set aside.

When your leeks are almost ready add your fish pieces to your pan of simmering milky liquid along with your chopped dill. Add salt and pepper, you’re best placed to know how much you like. Keep this simmering gently over a low heat.

Once the leeks are cooked add them, the spinach and the shellfish to the fishy-milky pan and stir in gently, so as to avoid breaking up the fish too much. Your pie filling is now complete! Transfer it to a suitable ovenproof dish.

Roll out your puff pastry so it covers the pie completely and is sealed at the edges of the ovenproof dish. If you have some leftover you may want to decorate the top of the pie, or call in a child or creative girlfriend to do so. After this is finished, whisk an egg and brush it over the pastry.

Heat an oven up to 200 degrees Celsius. Whack your pie in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the pastry has risen and is a beautiful golden colour. Eat your pie! Preferably with peas (or peas with mint, yummy.)

 

And finally....

Last night I had some delicious food in Potli, a new Indian restaurant in Hammersmith. I was quite excited and immediately knew I had to write a blog about the place. Annoyingly I didn’t have my camera with me, but this gives me an excuse to go back next week for another round of awesome curry. Watch this space!