Salmon fish cakes

These fish cakes are made with a semolina and flour coating on the outside which gives them a wonderfully crunchy texture. You can make a big batch of these and store them in your freezer for when you want to use them. We like to eat them with some home made chilli jam. They are just as good with a blob of ketchup!

INGREDIENTS

Makes 8 fishcakes

300 gms potatoes

100 gms salmon fillet, skin on and no scales on the skin, all bones removed

A small handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Bunch of chives, roughly chopped

Salt and pepper

1 egg

Olive oil

1 tablespoon plain flour, plus a little more for dusting

Semolina

METHOD

Preparing your ingredients

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Peel your potatoes, chop them into even sized chunks (or use the left over potatoes from your baked potatoes – scoop out the potato and discard the skin), add the potatoes to the boiling water and bring back to the boil. Rub the salmon fillet all over with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. When your potatoes have half way cooked, place the salmon into a colander, then cover this with foil, and place the colander over the pot of boiling potatoes. Turn the heat down and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the salmon and potatoes are both cooked. Remove the fish from the colander and put to one side. Drain the potatoes in the same colander, then return them to the pot and let them steam dry for a minute. Pick the parsley leaves chop them, discarding the stalks. Chop up the chives. Mash the potatoes, spreading the mash round the sides of the pan to help it cook down quickly. Remove any skin from the salmon. When the potatoes are cooled, put it into a bowl and flake the fish into it with 1 tablespoon of flour. Add the egg and chopped parsley and chopped chives with a really good pinch of salt and pepper. Finely grate over the lemon zest, then mash and mix it up really well.

Making the fishcakes

Dust a plate with a little of the extra flour and some semolina. Divide your fish cakes into 4, lightly shape and pat into circles about 2cm thick, dusting them with flour as you go. Put them onto a clean plate also dusted with a little flour. – If you are going to freeze them at this point, wrap them in clingfilm and put them into the freezer. Otherwise simply pop them into the fridge for an hour before cooking – this will allow them to firm up slightly.

Cooking the fishcakes

Put a large fry pan on a medium heat and add a couple of lugs of olive oil. When the oil is nice and hot, add your fishcakes and cook for about 3 – 4 minutes on each side or until crisp and golden – you may need to cook them in two batches. Serve straight away, with lemon halves for squeezing over, serve with vegetables of your choice or a cool crisp salad. These fish cakes also go really well will some chilli jam (recipe on this blog).

Making sushi

Makizushi (rolled sushi)

My son and youngest daughter have this thing about sushi, they love the stuff. They will eat Sushi with all sorts of toppings and fillings, raw fish, salmon roe, sea urchin even.  Years ago I lived in Japan, so I also share their love for sushi and quite like making it for dinner. Our issue is that we can’t really source fish fresh enough to slice and make the full range of  traditional sushi. So instead we make rolled sushi called ‘makizushi’. Maki means ‘to roll’. Sometimes this type of sushi is also called ‘norimaki’, which means a dried seaweed (nori) roll.

Making makizushi only takes a few ingredients. Most of them can be found in good supermarkets, or from specialist Chinese or Thai shops. You will need some sushi rice, dried seaweed sheets, rice wine, some wasabi (a hot horseradish paste) and some good soya sauce. I think Kikoman is the best. I make my makizushi with some cooked salmon and cucumber strips flavoured with soya sauce and ginger. 

You can also make it with a whole range of other items:-

Smoked makerel, cut into thin strips

Smoked salmon – you can use sheets or scraps cut into srtips

Tuna mayonnaise

Avocado – cut into strips and use with crab stick or makeral strips

Crab stick

Takuan – pickled radish

Umeboshi = pickled plum (an aquired taste)

Shitake mushrooms

HOW TO MAKE YOUR MAKIZUSHI

It is important to use sushi rice when making any type of sushi. This is a short grain rice that cooks up into a wonderful sticky consistency. If you use an ordinary long grain rice it will end up being too dry.

Serves 4-6, or you can make smaller rolls to serve as canapes

10oz Japanese rice

3 tbspns  rice vinegar

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1. Wash the rice well to remove excess starch, cook it and let it steam. To do this, put the rice in a pot and cover the rice with water (double the amount of rice). Allow the rice to come to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off, cover with a lid and allow the rice to steam and cook for a further 15 minutes.

2. Prepare sushi vinegar (sushi-zu) by mixing rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a cup. Stir well to dissolve the granules.

3. Spread the hot steamed rice into a large plate or a large bowl. Use a non-metallic bowl to prevent any interaction with rice vinegar. Sprinkle the vinegar mixture over the rice with a spoon or spatula quickly. Take care not to smash the rice.

4. Allow the rice to cool and use sushi rice right away. Use a bamboo rolling sheet to help roll up the sushi. 

6. Put the filling of your choice in the middle.

7. Roll it.

8. Then cut the roll into slices and serve with soya sauce and some wasabi.

Smoked haddock and spring onion tart

This tart is well worth baking. The tart tastes creamy and is wonderfully aromatic. It works well served with a range of salads. You can make your own shortcrust pastry, or if you are pushed for time buy some ready made pastry.

INGREDIENTS

       2500g shortcrust pastry and flour for rolling

       2 fillets smoked haddock with skin on (about 500g/1lb 2oz)

       1 tbsp butter

       2 bunches spring onions, finely sliced

       3 eggs

       300g crème fraîche (or a 300ml pot double cream)

       1 tsp Dijon mustard

handful chives , finely chopped 

85g mature cheddar or Gruyère, grated

METHOD

1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Roll the pastry out on a floured surface to fit a 23cm fluted tart tin. Line the case with pastry, leaving plenty of overhang. Line the pastry with baking parchment, fill with baking beans and sit it on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 mins, until the pastry looks pale and feels a little sandy. Remove the paper and beans, then return to the oven for 10 mins more, until just golden.

2. Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to a simmer. Drop in the haddock, skin-side down, and poach for 5 mins or until the flesh turns white. Drain, then cool a little. Peel away and discard the skin, then flake the flesh into the pastry case. Look out for any bones as you go.

3. Melt the butter in a frying pan, then gently cook the spring onions for about 3 mins or until softened but still a vibrant green. Beat the eggs, crème fraîche or cream and mustard together in a jug, then add the chives and season with salt and pepper.

4. Turn oven down to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Scatter the cheese and spring onions over the fish, then pour the egg mix over. Bake for about 50 mins, or until pale golden and just set in the middle. Let the tart cool completely before trimming the pastry around the edges.  The tart is also very good hot or warm.

              

Baked cod with butter beans, tomatoes and chorizo

INGREDIENTS

(Serves 6)

900g cod fillet

400g chorizo, chopped into cubes

450g small tomatoes

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 bunch spring onions, chopped

3 x 400g tins butter beans, drained

150mls white wine

2 tbsp olive oil

juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp chopped chives

METHOD

1.Pre-heat the oven to 200 C/gas mark 6. Place the cod fillets on a piece of foil big enough to seal the piece (it might be easier to divide the fish in two and have two pieces of foil), and drizzle some of the olive oil and lemon juice on each piece. Season well, seal in the foil and place on a baking sheet. Cook for approximately 20 minutes until the fish is cooked.

2. Meanwhile, place the chorizo in a pan. Cook the chorizo until crisp and brown. There is no need to add oil, as the chorizo will release its own oil. Once cooked, add the garlic and spring onions and cook for 1 minute.

3. Next add the baby tomatoes and cook until soft. Add the white wine and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the butter beans and heat them through.

4. Serve the chorizo, tomatoes and butter beans with the fish placed on top and sprinkle the dish with the chopped chives.