‘Blast From the Past’ Recipe

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Salmon with Chilli Ginger Sauce (Serves 4)

This is the type of recipe that will cheer everyone up on a gloomy January evening.I first shared it back in November 2020 after my sister recommended to me, she had found it in a ‘Hairy Bikers’ cookbook some years before. I must say that it’s a fantastic recipe and it makes a great midweek treat as it is super easy; just remember to marinate the salmon for 30 minutes before cooking it. I like to serve it with Japanese Sticky Rice and Stir Fried Swiss (or Rainbow) Chard (recipe below).

4 salmon fillets, skin on (about 120-150g each)

2 balls of stem ginger in syrup (and 2 tablespoons of the syrup)

3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly slices

3 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 orange, juiced (and the grated zest of ½ an orange)

½ large red chilli, thinly sliced

Black pepper

  1. Slice the ginger balls thinly, then slice these into matchsticks.
  2. Place the ginger ‘matchsticks’ in a bowl, with 2 tablespoons of the stem ginger syrup, garlic, chilli, soy sauce, orange zest and juice; mix well. Add the salmon fillets to the bowl and cover with marinade, seasoning with lots of black pepper. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
  3. Line a small baking tray with baking parchment. Remove the salmon from the marinade, wiping off any excess bits of marinade. Place them on the baking tray, skin side down. Season with more black pepper.
  4. Bake in a preheated oven, 200’c fan, for 12- 15 minutes depending on the thickness of your fillets.
  5. While the salmon is cooking prepare the sauce. Place the marinade ingredients in a small pan and bring to the boil, simmer for about 6 minutes until it has reduced and the garlic has softened – you want enough sauce to pour over the salmon but not swamp it!
  6. Remove the salmon from the oven, carefully lift them on to plates, lifting off the skin as you do so. Spoon over the hot sauce and serve with sticky Japanese rice and stir fried swiss (or rainbow) chard (recipe below).

Stir Fried Swiss (or Rainbow) Chard (Serves 4)

1 bunch of fresh Swiss Chard

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, sliced

Pinch chilli flakes

¼ teaspoon whole coriander seeds

  1. First rinse out the leaves of the chard, cut away the stalks and cut these into 1inch pieces. Chop the leaves inch wide strips.
  2. Sauté the garlic, chilli and the coriander seeds in the olive oil for about 30 seconds, then add the swiss chard stalks, lower the heat and cover, cook for a bout 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add the chopped leaves and turn over in the hot oil, cover once again and cook for a further 3-4 minutes.
  4. Taste to check it is cooked – it should be al dente (still have some bite), cook for a little longer if needed. Check the seasoning and serve straightaway.

Tuesday Treat

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Pistachio Bites

Let me introduce to the quickest biscuit recipe – it only needs three ingredients! These Pistachio Bites are chewy, sweet, delicious… and very addictive. What more could you ask for on a cold and grey day in January? Thank you to Sabrina Ghayour’s cookbook ‘Persiana Everyday’!

1 egg white

100g icing sugar, sifted (plus extra for dusting)

100g pistachio nuts, very finely blitzed in a food processor

  1. Using an electric hand whisk, whisk the egg white until stiff peaks form. Add the icing sugar and gently fold into the egg whites. Now add the ground pistachios and mix until evenly combined.
  2. Using a teaspoon, dollop 12 equal portions of the mixture on to a tray lined with greaseproof paper, spaced apart to allow them to spread a little. Bake in an preheated oven, 170’c fan, for 12 minutes.
  3. Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack to cool. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

January 2024

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I consider January as my month for ‘hibernating’, it’s more often than not the coldest, greyest month of the winter so there is nothing better than snuggling down at home. That of course means comfort food… warming plates of stew and creamy potatoes and, dare I admit, the occasional TV dinner. Yes, with comfort there is a touch of laziness! January is undoubtedly a month for the ‘box set’. Dinner on my lap in front of the TV isn’t something that I do often as I feel that the food I’ve laboured over deserves the table to be fully appreciated plus I enjoy the conversation the dinner table encourages. However, now and again an ‘addictive’ series comes along and I find that the long dark evenings of January create the perfect breeding ground for this ‘snuggly addiction’! So naturally this month I’ve chosen a couple of recipes which are perfect for the ‘TV lap’, there’s no need to be fumbling around with a knife and fork with these; mince with colcannon is fork food at its best whilst there’s a soupy stew which just needs a spoon!..

Drum roll please for January’s menus!…

Menu One is the aforementioned ‘Savoury Mince with Creamy Colcannon Potatoes’. This isn’t your average beef mince; the recipe is from chef, Simon Hopkinson who takes this humble dish to higher levels with perfectly balanced flavours  – a touch of mushroom and carrot, a good beef stock, a dash of Worcestershire sauce and tomato ketchup, herbs and a little fat from some streaky bacon, they all combine to make a dish that is the most gratifying of all comfort foods (and easy to eat on your lap with just a fork!). You don’t necessarily need to serve it with the Colcannon, plain creamed potatoes would suffice, but I urge you to try this recipe for Colcannon, it’s a classic from Delia Smith, need I say more?.. Menu Two is admittedly a little more difficult to eat on your lap – you’ll need a knife and fork for ‘Chicken with Lentils & Rosemary’ but it only requires 15 minutes of prep before you transfer it to the oven for an hour, and in that hour you can sneak off and watch an episode of your favourite series! It’s a wonderfully easy one-pot supper for a cold night from Hugh Fernley- Whittingstall’s cookbook, ‘Light & Easy’, and yes, as the name of the book suggests, it’s a healthy recipe – perfect for January when you’re trying to lose those Christmas pounds! Finally, Menu Three is a ‘Bean Stew with Chorizo & Bacon’, this is a recipe from Claudia Roden’s ‘Med; A Cookbook’, it’s a soupy stew, perfect for a winter supper and any left-overs will reheat beautifully to make a fantastic lunch!

Enjoy your January, stay warm and enjoy that TV dinner; indulge yourself – I won’t tell if you don’t!..

Need a new playlist to cook along to?… I’ve been listening to ‘Music to Cook to…Menu Music Twenty Six’; it’s a laid-back mix perfect to ease you into the new year!

Menu One

Savoury Mince with Creamy Colcannon Potatoes (Serves 4)

This isn’t your average beef mince; the recipe is from chef, Simon Hopkinson who takes this humble dish to higher levels with perfectly balanced flavours  – a touch of mushroom and carrot, a good beef stock, a dash of Worcestershire sauce and tomato ketchup, herbs and a little fat from some streaky bacon, they all combine to make a dish that is the most gratifying of all comfort foods. You don’t necessarily need to serve it with the Colcannon, plain creamed potatoes would suffice, but I urge you to try this recipe for Colcannon, it’s a classic from Delia Smith, need I say more?..

200g onions, peeled and chopped

75g butter

200g carrots, peeled and diced

200g flat dark-gilled mushrooms, diced

1 tablespoon groundnut oil

500g beef mince

200g streaky bacon, coarsely minced (leave the rind on as it will add more flavour)

1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs

½ tablespoon tomato purée

400g tin chopped tomatoes

200ml beef stock

1 tablespoon tomato ketchup

½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (gluten-free if required)

Sea salt and plenty of white pepper

  1. Melt the butter in a large pan, fry the onion until well coloured. Add the carrots and mushrooms and continue to cook gently for a further 10 minutes or so. Then remove from the pan and leave to one side.
  2. Briefly wipe the pan and pour in the oil. Heat until smoking. Add the minced beef and bacon and briskly fry until golden. Add the mixed herbs and tomato purée and cook for 5 minutes over a fairly high heat until the purée loses its very red colour.
  3. Return the vegetables to the pan, together with the tinned tomatoes, stock, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, season and simmer very gently, uncovered for about 1 hour, stirring from time to time. The final consistency should be thick and rich and not at all too liquid.
  4. Serve with ‘Creamy Colcannon Potatoes’ (recipe below).

Creamy Colcannon Potatoes (Serves 4)

This great recipe for Colcannon is a classic from Delia Smith’s Winter Cookbook…

700g potatoes (such as Desiree or King Edward), peeled and cut into chunks

225g firm green cabbage, very finely sliced

12 spring onions, trimmed and very finely sliced including the green parts

75ml single cream

75g butter

Freshly grated nutmeg, sea salt and black pepper

  1. Steam the potatoes with a little salt until completely cooked through. Drain and cover with a clean tea-cloth whilst you prepare the cabbage.
  2. Melt 25g of the butter in a large frying pan and sauté the cabbage for about 3 minutes, keeping it on the move until it’s tender and slightly golden at the edges. Then add the spring onions and continue to cook for another minute.
  3. Add a grating of fresh nutmeg, the cream and remaining butter to the potatoes and use an electric hand whisk until light and fluffy, seasoning with salt and pepper. Finally, stir in the cabbage and spring onions. Serve with or without extra melted butter.

Menu Two

Chicken with Lentils and Rosemary (Serves 4)

This is a wonderfully easy one-pot supper from Hugh Fernley- Whittingstall’s cookbook, ‘Light & Easy’. It just needs 15 minutes prep then an hour in the oven in which you can relax!..

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, sliced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

Leaves from 2 sprigs of rosemary

200g red lentils, well rinsed

500ml chicken or veg stock

8 skin-on chicken thighs (or 1 medium chicken, jointed into 6-8 pieces)

Sea salt and black pepper

Flat leaf parsley, chopped to serve

  1. Place a casserole dish over a medium-low heat, add the oil, then fry the onion, stirring regularly until it begins to soften – about 6-8 minutes.
  2. Add the garlic, rosemary, and some salt and pepper. Cook gently for a further 5 minutes, then stir in the lentils and stock.
  3. Season the chicken thighs and place, skin side up, in the casserole. You want most of the chicken skin to remain exposed above the liquid so that it browns.
  4. Bring to a simmer on the hob then transfer to a preheated oven, 180’c fan. Bake for 1 hour, then check if the chicken is cooked right through and that the lentils are soft, if not return to the oven for a further 10-15 minutes. Skim of any excess fat from the surface.
  5. Add more salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Then serve as it is or with some steamed broccoli or spring greens on the side.

Menu Three

Bean Stew with Chorizo and Bacon (Serves 4)

This is a recipe from Claudia Roden’s ‘Med; A Cookbook’, it’s a soupy stew, perfect for a winter supper and any left-overs will reheat beautifully to make a fantastic lunch!

2 tablespoons olive oil

200g unsmoked bacon lardons or pancetta

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

1 tomato, peeled and chopped

2 x 400g tins of cannellini or butter beans, drained and rinsed

250g chorizo, cut into slices

500ml chicken stock

4 thyme leaves

Sea salt

Extra virgin olive oil to serve

  1. Heat the oil in a wide pan and add the bacon or pancetta and the onion. Cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring, until the onion is soft. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until the onion is golden and the bacon crisp.
  2. Stir in the cinnamon, allspice, tomato, beans and chorizo. Pour in the stock, add the thyme sprigs and simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes.
  3. Season with salt if necessary. Serve hot and pass round the extra virgin olive oil for people to drizzle on.

Cocktail of the Month

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Sherry Sour (Serves 2)

With Christmas round the corner I thought I’d share this cocktail as it’s perfect for sharing with friends over the festive period. Made with Oloroso sherry, it’s a light cocktail and liked by most – it’s a good all-rounder… and with its ‘snowy top’ it looks very seasonal!..

40ml sugar syrup

120ml Oloroso sherry

60ml lemon juice

1 egg white

Handful of ice

  1. Simply put all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for 30 seconds, then strain into two chilled cocktail glasses. Enjoy!

‘Blast From the Past Recipe’

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Peppered Fillet of Beef with Port Sauce, Dauphinoise Potatoes and Green Beans with Shallots & Sherry Vinegar (Serves 4)

This recipe is great for entertaining over the festive period. I first shared it back in December ’20 but I’ve been cooking it for years. I particularly like that the sauce can be made in advance, so there’s no last minute rush. I like to serve it with Dauphinoise Potatoes, I rather like the cheese version for this dish (recipe below), but you could also serve it with my simpler recipe without cheese (recipe here). In addition, a great accompaniment is Green Beans with Shallots & Sherry Vinegar (below) or simply Sautéed Spinach (recipe here).

2 x fillets of beef, 450g each – nice even pieces

2 teaspoons black peppercorns, lightly crushed

Olive oil

400ml port

2 sprigs of thyme

2 cloves of garlic, halved

300ml beef stock

2 teaspoons cornflour made into a paste with 2 tablespoons of the port

Sea salt and black pepper

  1. Season the beef with salt and evenly coat it with the crushed peppercorns.
  2. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and brown the beef all over, then transfer to a roasting tray.
  3. Place the beef in a preheated oven, 180’c fan, for about 20 minutes for medium rare (a meat thermometer will read 55’c). Move to a plate to rest.
  4. Meanwhile put the port, thyme and garlic in a small saucepan and boil to reduce by half, then whisk in the beef stock and the cornflour paste. Cook, whisking for about 1 minute until the sauce has thickened.
  5. Check the sauce for seasoning, adding any juices from the resting beef.
  6. Slice the beef into thick slices and serve with the sauce, Dauphinoise Potatoes and Green Beans with Shallots & Sherry Vinegar (recipes below).

Staple Side Dish – Dauphinoise Potatoes with Gruyére Cheese (Serves 4-6)

This is the second recipe that I have posted for Dauphinoise Potatoes on Menu Mistress. This recipe is the richer of the two and is more unctuous. I particularly like it with Peppered Fillet of Beef (above), but if you prefer a simpler Dauphinoise recipe, without cheese, you can find it here.

I found this recipe for Dauphinoise Potatoes with Gruyére in the cookbook, ‘At Home in the Provence’ by Patricia Wells, who in turn took it from renowned French chef, Joël Roubuchon – so it comes well endorsed!

500ml whole milk

250ml double cream

125g grated Gruyere cheese

1 kg firm fleshed potatoes (such as Charlotte), peeled and sliced very thinly

1 plump clove garlic, peeled and halved

45g unsalted butter, diced

Freshly grated nutmeg

Sea salt and black pepper

  1. In a large saucepan bring the milk to boiling point. Add the cream and three-quarters of the cheese. Stir to blend and melt the cheese. Season which salt, pepper and a grating of nutmeg. Add the potatoes and mix well with a wooden spoon. Cook over a low heat for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are soft.
  2. Rub a baking dish with the garlic. Transfer the potatoes and their liquid to the baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining cheese and the butter.
  3. Place in a preheated oven, 190’c fan, for about 1¼ hours.
  4. Serve immediately.

Green Beans with Shallots & Sherry Vinegar (Serves 4)

This turns the humble bean into something really special, and it only takes a few minutes! The recipe is from Rachel Allen’s cookbook, ‘Recipes From My Mother’.

300g French green beans

25g butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

50g shallots, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

1½ teaspoons sherry vinegar

Sea salt and black pepper

  1. Place the beans in a saucepan, cover with boiling water and cook for 3-4 minutes until just tender (al dente). Drain and keep to one side.
  2. Add the butter and oil to the empty saucepan, when the butter starts to foam add the shallots with the vinegar and cook for a minute or so over a medium heat.
  3. Return the beans to the pan and toss in the shallot butter. Season to taste and serve.