Weekend breakfasts

Last week Andrew and I decided that we would make more of an effort with our breakfasts on the weekend. So on Saturday we had kippers for breakfast. We had never had kippers and the thought of fish for breakfast was a bit weird. Saying that I do like smoked salmon with scrambled eggs. We bought the kippers at the Organic Food Festival a few weeks ago from Inverawe. We just grilled it with some butter and served it with a dash of lemon squeezed over and some wholemeal toast. I really enjoyed the kippers and they will definitely be returning for another breakfast.

On Sunday we had a bit of a classic, boiled egg and soldiers. We have a family tradition on my side of the family its something called extra yolk, its the butter on the right. I have to state right now that Andrew does not part take in the extra yolk, he just doesn't get it. All you do is when you have nearly finished your yolk you add the extra yolk. Its a way of extending the yolk. I don't think it will catch on. Andrew is evidence of that, but hey I love it!

Mackerel and beetroot salad

This is my first post for a while. We are finally settled into the flat, though I keep opening the wrong cupboard for things! We have also been very busy in the kitchen, all will be explained in future posts.

Yesterday I was in the familiar situation of sitting in front of my laptop working on my thesis. Bored of MS Word, I was trying to work out what to have for dinner. I wanted to use up the beetroot we had. Then I remembered we had some smoked mackerel and dinner was sorted. I roasted the beetroot in a foil parcel with balsamic vinegar and olive oil until soft (about an hour). I dressed some lettuce, alfalfa sprouts and cucumber with some olive oil. I pre-boiled some new potatoes and sauteed them. I made a horseradish and yogurt dressing (1 tsp of horseradish sauce, 3 tbsp of yogurt). It was a good salad. It made me feel summery, even if the weather outside was anything but summery!


This week in the box we got:

• Beetroots
• Lettuce
• Courgettes
• Broad beans
• Turnips
• Cabbage
• Potatoes
• Onions
• Carrots
  

If at first you don't suceed . . .

When I was at the Farmers Market I saw some smoked mussels. Andrew loves smoked fish, so I bought them. I did have an idea of what I wanted to do with them. The idea was to a tomatoey rice/paella thing. Not exactly clear, I know. But I knew what I wanted to make.

The first time I tried this I used long grain rice and did it on the hob. It was OK, but not how I wanted it. So this time I took inspiration from Bill Granger's Baked Risotto. It turned out much better, just as I had imagined. The Smoked mussels were great too.

Baked paella risotto

• olive oil
  
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 180 g risotto rice
• chorizo, chopped
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400g)
• 375 ml vegetable stock
  
• A couple of handfuls of frozen sweetcorn
• 1 courgette, sliced
• Smoked mussels
  

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6

In a casserole dish cook the chorizo in some olive oil until it releases its fat and starts to colour. Add the onion until it softens but doesn't colour. Add the rice and stir for a minute.

Add the stock and tomatoes and bring up to the boil, stir in the sweetcorn and courgette. Cover and put in the oven for 20-30 mins until rice is cooked. Stir in the smoked mussels and serve. We had some creme fraiche on the top.

The First Beans

We got some runner beans in the veg box this week. I instantly thought of a Jamie recipe with cod. So we had this on Wednesday for dinner. The runner beans were finely sliced and blanched for a couple of minutes. They were then placed on a tray tossed in olive oil and season. I then placed two cod fillets on top with pine nuts, a lemon sliced in half and 4 slices of pancetta. It was then covered with tin foil and put in an oven at gas mark 7. The foil was taken off after 5 mins and cooked for a further 10 mins. Delicious.


This week in the veg box we got:

• Runner Beans
• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Beetroot
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Onions
  

Yet more brain food!!!

OK, I may now be taking the fish is good for your brain too far. But we had hot smoked salmon pasta from Waitrose.com.


Hopefully my efforts to eat more fish will be seen in more words being added to my thesis files!!! The things you do to finish a PhD!

Brain food pt 2 . . .

The thesis is slowing turning my brain to mush. So I am stepping up my campaign to save my brain. I have been having tinned tuna as part of my lunch this week. On Monday we had kedgeree. When I first knew Andrew, he told me that he didn't like fish. Well, he does now. He loves smoked fish the best, I use smoked haddock in my kedgree. I always put something green in my kedgree depending on what we have it can be kale, spinach or peas.

First of all you need to poach the haddock in water and milk, 300ml of each. Put the fish into a pan with the liquid bring to a simmer and then turn off and leave to cool. When the fish is cool enough to touch, flake it and put it aside. I then cooked an onion (sliced) in a pan with some oil until soft, then add the rice (175 g) for a couple mins. Then add 2 tsp of curry powder. Some peas were then added and 400 ml of the poaching liquid and cover. Let this cook on a low heat for 10-15 mins until the rice is cooked. I served the rice with the haddock on top, with a soft boiled egg and lemon.

The battle to save my brain against the evil thesis continues . . .

This week in the veg box (just a small one this week) we got:

• Little gem lettuce
• White cabbage
  
• Rhubarb
• Spinach
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Onions