Oh You Salmon in a Bengali Mustard Sauce.....

In looking to improve the breadth of my cooking abilities, I decided that for this Thursday night's dinner I would make the switch from poultry to fish. Of course we all love the extreme versatility of meat such as chicken, but surprisingly enough, fish can tickle your fancy and your cooking imagination just the same. In our flat, we go back and forth between the stages of eating well and "not so much," in the way table tennis would look if it was in slow motion.

So in choosing a fish to align with our current health kick, I chose salmon, the go-to "I want those Omega-3s" fish. Let me just say this was an adventure in the kitchen, mostly because the salmon we bought from Tescos was gigantic and still had the skin on it... How fun!

Here is the recipe that I found on the glorious epicurious.com:

To Rub on the Fish
3/4 pound skinless salmon fillet (more on what I actually used later...)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Ingredients
1 tablespoon ground mustard
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons mustard seed oil (use extra virgin olive oil as a substitue)
1/4 teaspoon whole brown mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon whole fennel seeds
2 fresh hot green and/or red chilies (bird's eye is best), slit slightly

*N.B. As a lover of sauce and all things tasty, I doubled all the ingredients in the recipe....

Here lies the Salmon we purchased from Tescos, reduced from £20 to £9! Seemingly a bargin but if only I knew what was to ensue....

And so began the deconstruction of the fish. Let me just say that as a student, we do not have top notch materials, but we do have a few sharp knives that do some of the elbow work for us. But have you ever taken the skin off a fish? It is certainly no easy task. Nevertheless, for the sake of our hunger, I went for it. Although by the end of this venture (in which I took the sharpest knife we have and cut right under the skin), my hands were covered in salmon, I did come out victorious:

With my salmon ready, I filleted the fish into 8 pieces, removing any grissly bits or parts of the salmon that just didn't make the cut.

 Finally, the hard part was out of the way! Excitingly enough, I got to make a rub (a new cooking activity for me) out of the aforementioned salt, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. Now at this stage I did not double the rub, but in retrospect I wish I did!

Anywho, with the rub made and mixed together, I rubbed the fish in a small bowl until all had an even coating. Then I covered the bowl with cling film and set it aside in the fridge for an hour. (N.B. The original recipe calls for a chilling time of anywhere from 30 minutes to 10 hours.)

 As the rubbed salmon was chilling away in the fridge, I began the mustard paste, here doubling the ingredients for more saucy goodness. In a small bowl, I combined the later mentioned mustard powder (which I grounded up from mustard seeds), cayenne pepper, turmeric, and salt. 

In the spirit of doubling, I (later) doubled the water added, beginning with 1 tablespoon mixed thoroughly, then adding another 7 before putting to the side. 

 

 Eager to begin cooking, I laid out everything necessary: the mustard seeds in one glass, the cumin and fennel seeds in another, the slightly slit chilies (medium heat to appease the mouths of my flatmates), and the mustard paste (pre-last batch of water...). 

Now in this next stage, the tranquility of the kitchen turned slightly chaotic, as I did not add the second stream of water until much later in the game. In looking back, I probably did not need to double the second batch of water thrown in the paste, as it then became it bit more watery than was desired, but I had to find a way to work with it.

Beans, Rice, and Salmon all cooking/ready to go

 Despite what I perceived to be little disasters in this venture (in contrast to the feelings of my flatmates), I began. First, I poured the oil into a frying pan and set it over medium-high heat. When it was hot (tested with the water method), I put in the mustard seeds.

Now I'm not sure why exactly this happened, but once those mustard seeds went in, the stovetop turned into an explosion of fireworks, as the popping I was so desiring certainly exceeded my expectations... so I ducked!

Once I finally felt safe around the pans again, I added the fennel and cumin seeds, quickly followed by the experimental mustard paste. 

 Following the surge of excitement, I added the chilies, stirred, and brought to a gentle simmer. 

 Next, I placed the salmon in a single layer in the pan and allowed it to simmer for around 5 to 7 minutes, spooning the sauce over the fish constantly. 

 As I was cooking, I decided that I would break down the fish to make it more of a curry, which I believe was a very smart move as it allowed for every single bit of salmon to absorb every little bit of sauce. 

After another few minutes, I turned off the burner and began plating with our sides of olive-oil buttered beans and peas and a very subtle cinnamon and ginger rice. O what aromas were in the air! I practically had to hold back my flatmates as I plated, for the delightful spices that filled the kitchen had been tantalising them for too long.

In the end, this is what we ate:

This was certainly one of my favourite dishes I have made, minus the slight bumps here and there that most likely made this a slightly abstract sense of the original. Regardless, the spice was just right - the kind that opens up your breathing yet does not turn your face red and force you to launch towards the fridge for a glass of milk. The next time I make this, I will try to fix any bumps, but may I say that after this adventure, I believe I can cook anything. 

The Ever-So-Satisfying Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Yes, it's time for me to share with the world the magic of my chocolate chip pancakes. Granted, I found the recipe originally through Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess, but in the past year or so I have added my own delights here and there and altered the measurements slightly.

Pancake Sunday is always an event. Syrups, juices, and occasionally Sangria? Needless to say, nothing is more comforting than those few hours for brunch in which the only things that fill the air are conversation, music, and the delightful aroma of freshly made chocolate chip pancakes.

Ready for it?

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 2 dashes
1 tablespoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 1/3 cups milk
100 grams chocolate chips

Being the students we are, we have no electric equipment, so all of the work has to be done by the mere strength of our hands. 

As is natural when mixing by hand, I had to separate the wet and dry ingredients. In one bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt and make a well in the centre for the dry ingredients. Unfortunately, due to my pancake-making fervour, I forgot to take a photo of the wet ingredients. However, in a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients (beaten eggs, milk, butter, and vanilla extract - by the way, do not feel shy in adding extra vanilla!), and once done, pour into the well of the dry ingredients and get ready for the true work to begin. 

With the wet and dry in one bowl, whisk with all your might to get the lumpy bits out of the mixture, and once they are all gone, find your chocolate chips and mix them into the batter!

Then of course it's time to put the pancakes in the pan and start making the ever so famous pancake mountain. I certainly neglected my camera in this stage, but use your ladle and pour a scoopful in the pan. Wait for bubbles to form on the majority of the surface, flip, then wait a minute or two until steam comes out from the centre and the bottom of the pancake looks slightly golden. Repeat until complete!

Pancake Mountain after it started going up for grabs....

With pancakes on the table and syrups in hand, we ducked into the pancake mountain (and the eventual arrival of sangria) and had one wonderful brunch.

Follow the recipe, invite some friends, and I promise that your Sundays can be just as sunny, despite the infamous Scottish weather that is far from predictable....

Until next time, keep calm and munch on.

Lemony Goat's Cheese Chicken

Recently I met a fellow foodie that reminded me why I love food, cooking, and writing about it so much. Although I do not know my impact on those who surround me, I do know that when I cook, when I create a meal that is worthy of that satisfying "mhmm" silence, there is an appreciative look of recognition, the kind that makes that uncertainty go behind the clouds and disappear.
To have those I surround myself with surround one table for a mere few hours, to have my food be the primary reason for such a jovial assembly, keeps the smile on my face and a certain warmth in my heart.

Which is why I am starting this blog back up again, not only to keep my progress marked, but also to remind me that regardless of uncertainties, the simplest thing such as "Lemony Goat's Cheese Chicken" can make the day worthwhile.

So here it goes.

Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
4 ounces soft goat's cheese

I started by laying out my four chicken breasts and trimming off the gritty bits, then slightly pounding them down to get them all to a similar level of thickness. 

Having prepared the chicken, I heated the oil and the garlic in a sautee pan, stirring as to avoid burning, until the garlic was a nice golden brown.

Satisfied with my garlic, I added the chicken and cooked until golden, about three to five minutes on each side.

Chicken and Side Veg cooking away....

Once the chicken breasts turned golden, I cut each breast in half and added the salt, pepper, chicken broth, thyme and lemon zest. Then I covered the concoction, reduced the heat to a medium-low, and cooked the chicken and the beginnings of the sauce until the chicken was fork tender, about five minutes longer...

Sizzling away

With the chicken ready, I moved my pieces to a side platter to keep warm while I moved onto finishing the good stuff: the sauce. 

First, I increased the heat to high and boiled the sauce until thickened or syrupy, about three to five minutes. 

Then, with all the strength my weakling of an arm could muster, I vigorously whisked the goat's cheese into the sauce until properly mixed.

Finished Sauce with Succulent Chicken Bits

With the sauce complete, the chicken cooked, and the Side Veg reduced down to the perfect softness (merely a mix of courgettes and onions, coated with thyme and brown sugar, shrunken to the appropriate size), I began to prepare the plates! Adding a hearty portion of lemon zest and ginger rice to complete the tasty triad, I finished cooking and the eating began.

What would I change in retrospect? Nothing really. Besides more sauce. There really can never be enough... After all, isn't that what makes one say, "mhmm, that's the stuff"?

Oh what a success.
Next up is pancakes tomorrow then some sort of fish dish this coming week. Until then, happy food dreaming and go find yourself something tasty to munch on.

Pressing the Pause Button

So now that I am home for the summer, it seems my blog will be put on hold for awhile, but if I do make anything while I am home... then a post will come!

Until then, I will leave you with this quote from Henry Miller:
"Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such"

Chocolate Chip Cookies

So with exams in motion and English Literature in one week, I've been sadly neglecting this blog... but never fear! I have a batch of cookies to tell you about here.

Last weekend for a potluck dinner, I made some yummy chocolate chip cookies. Another interesting cooking experiment as we ran out of white sugar during the cooking process, but more about that later.

Here is the recipe I borrowed from Martha Stewart, as my recipe is all the way back home!

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar [I used caster]
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract [I added an extra 1/4 tsp vanilla since I love it so much]
2 large eggs
2 cups (about 12 oz) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

This is the handy dandy measurement converter I use quite often as I bounce between US and UK recipes: http://allrecipes.com/howto/cup-to-gram-conversions/

Okay, time to begin! Preheated the oven to 350 (176 celsius) fahrenheit, then in a small bowl, I whisked together the flour and the baking soda and set aside.

Right about here the real work started. In a separate bowl, I combined the butter with both sugars (had to use an extra 50g of light brown sugar as I was 50g short of the caster sugar, oops!) and with a wooden spoon (sadly we dont have the facility of an electric mixer...) I vigourously mixed away until light and fluffy.

Next, I added the salt, vanilla, and eggs, stirring even faster until the whole concoction until well mixed.

Once that was done (and I gave my hand a bit of a rest!), I added the flour mixture and mixed until just combined.

And at last, the best part!! Stirring in the chocolate chips :)

Once the cookie dough was made, I placed them in tiny balls of dough on baking sheets, and baked in batched until the cookies were golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, about 8 to 10 minutes. 

Since I used a bit more brown sugar then the recipe called for, the cookies did end up a bit crisper than I would have wanted, but they still hit the spot and were gobbled up by everyone within minutes!

Chicken Korma & Potatoes with a Courgette and Shallot Mix

Title pretty much says it all... but I'm still going to give you a play-by-play.

Side Dish: Courgette and Shallot Mix
Well, thought we needed some vegetables to go with our Korma, potatoes, and rice, so I rummaged around and found shallots (two medium) in the cabinet to go with the courgettes (two large) that my flatmate had in the fridge. Then I started chopping away, cutting both the shallots and the courgettes lengthwise because, as my flatmate says, "for some reason circle vegetables just don't taste as good." And I would have to agree....

The Main Bulk: Chicken Korma with Potatoes and Rice
Potatoes boiling away, chicken browning in the pan, rice cooking and cooking...

Courgettes and shallots in one pan with olive oil (extra virgin) and salt and pepper, which I stirred quite often so as to keep rotating the courgettes for browning....
Simultaneously (and as you can probably guess, not too much stove space, so my flatmate and I had to do a bit of cooking acrobatics in order to have the timing of everything correct....), we added our Loyd Grossman Korma sauce to the browned chicken and let that cook until adding the boiled potatoes and simmering the combination until the chicken was cooked through.

The mixture cooking away (see the lovely browning on the courgettes!)....

And the chicken and potatoes soaking up all the delicious Korma sauce....

Until at last, complete.

Nom.

Very delicious overall. The softness of the shallots with the ever so slight crunch of the courgettes complimented the curry quite well! A bit more salt here and there would have made it even better, but then again, I just love salt. 

And This Saturday.....

Ratatouille and Chocolate Chip Cookies :)

Experimenting with Stuffed Chicken

On the Menu tonight:
Baked chicken stuffed with mozzarella and pesto
Caramelised onions and chestnut mushrooms, drizzled with garlic fried in sun-dried tomato oil
Sauteed Spinach
Chive Rice

Tonight I got to have a lot of fun, as my flatmates and I combined forces for dinner, and I got to show them a few of my cooking tricks.
As with the previous post, I used the same method of browning the garlic in the sun-dried tomato olive oil then quickly frying the stuffed chicken (to be detailed below) in said oil before placing it in the baking tray and drizzling it with the browned garlic and oil and placing it in the oven! For the baking, 200 celsius (fan oven) for about 25 minutes....

For the sides, since I had to use up all of my mushrooms (200g), I thought it would be best to caramlise them with the two medium-sized onions I had lying around:

Heat up the olive oil (do the 'water test,' aka, if you drop a bit of water and it sizzles, it's ready!) then add your mushrooms and onions. Once they have cooked down a bit (softened but not browned), add your brown sugar (done mostly by eye and preference), then stir away until cooked down to just past the point pictured above.
For the sauteed spinach? Pretty simple. Olive oil + spinach --> cook down until the spinach had turned to a deep green.
Chive rice? Cook your rice as per usual then add dried chives and butter (we use an olive-oil based butter).

So with all the elements cooked (and if you like to have fun with presentation as I do), this was the final product:

Everything was delicious, but to add a bit more description than that, I'll focus mostly on the chicken and onions/mushrooms (the spinach and rice speak for themselves):

Chicken:

Nice and juicy, with the mozzarella and pesto combination oozing slightly from the deep pocket we created earlier. Could have used a bit more pesto, but then again, I'm a pesto fiend. This could be even more improved by taking slices of sun-dried tomato and baking the chicken with that as well. But then again, another variation, another time....

Onions/Mushrooms:

Perfect amount of caramlisation. When cooking and adding the brown sugar, all you have to do is sprinkle the sugar in a thin layer on the top of the mixture, mix, then do that about three times. Soft and luscious with a tint of sweetness. 

Improv Night

So, I made a version of the goat's cheese stuffed chicken again... but this time I had the company of a friend, and we added a few different bits. I do have a picture, but, as I took it on my not-so-stellar phone, it doesn't show much at all!

Normally, I would take the goat's cheese, mix it with the parsley and lemon zest, stuff it in the chicken, then wrap it in bacon. This particular time, however, with the excitement of me and my friend combined, our trip through the grocery store was equivalent to letting kids loose in the candy shop. Vegetables here, meat there - our ideas burst into the air, and most things we passed ended up in our rolling shopping basket. Eventually we managed to get an actual idea of what we wanted to cook, so...

This is what we had:
Two chicken breasts (skin on)
Goat's Cheese (soft)
Parsley
Lemon Zest
Sun-dried tomatoes
Garlic

This is what we did:
While I was assembling the chicken my lovely co-chef sliced the garlic then began frying it in a sauté pan with a tiny bit of olive oil. On my side of the counter, I took the goat's cheese, parsley and lemon zest, mixed it all together, and sat it to the side while I slit medium-sized pockets into one side of each piece of chicken. Then, I took my tasty little mixture (after getting all the bits of goat's cheese that covered my hands off) and stuffed it in those pockets with sliced sun-dried tomatoes! New for me, but I liked where my friend was going with it....

So, with the chicken stuffed and the garlic browned, we put the chicken into the pan, added some oil from the sun-dried tomatoes, and fried the chicken (on one side only) for a mere few minutes. Satisfied that all the juices were locked and loaded, we transferred the chicken into a glass baking dish, covered them with the browned garlic slices, a tad bit of the used sun-dried tomato oil and a good amount of chili oil, and baked them in the oven for a good 25-30 minutes.

They came out beautifully coloured, cheese mixture slightly oozing from the pockets, with a delicious aroma of fried garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and citrus. Nice little improv moment! Certainly tasty too....

BM Results

Now, I didn't manage to get a photo of the food before or after I took it out of the oven (I had hungry animals ready to attack and had no time to spare), but I did get one of the end result:

Very satisfied customers once again :) Review of this dish will be posted soon...

Beef Moussaka Begins

Ingredients
Potatoes
4 white potatoes peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup olive oil (60 ml)
Coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper

With the potatoes. I've preheated my oven to 375 F/190 C (170 fan)... now I am peeling the potatoes, soaking them in water, and cutting them into 1/4 inch slices then tossing them with 60 ml olive oil in a large bowl.

Next, I am arranging them on a single layer on a baking tray, seasoning with salt and pepper, and roasting them in the oven until soft and starting to brown, about 35 minutes.

With the potatoes roasting in the oven, I began making the béchamel:

Béchamel

1/3 cup unsalted butter (75 ml)

1/2 cup all purpose flour (125 ml)

3 cups milk (750 ml)

Coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper

large pinch freshly grated nutmeg

3 eggs

Around this point, things began to get a bit chaotic, as I managed to overlook a part of one of the instructions giving cooking times for the sauce, so not much was documented from here! But anywho, I began making the béchamel by melting the butter in a sauce pot, adding in the flour, then stirring and cooking this roux for about three minutes, when I gradually whisked in the milk. 

After adding the milk, I kept whisking (furiously may I add, to try and keep the roux as smooth as possible) until it thickened and coated the back of a spoon. Then, I seasoned the roux with salt, pepper, and nutmeg before placing it to the side and letting it cool slightly before adding in the eggs one at a time. 

Satisified with the results, I covered it and put it to the side for later assembly.

With all the little elements prepared, I moved on to the main bulk of the dish - the meat sauce!

Beef

3 tablespoons olive oil (45 ml)

1 1/2 pounds ground beef (750 grams)

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup red wine (250 ml)

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (2 ml)

2 teaspoons dried Greek oregano (10 ml)

1 teaspoon cinnamon (5 ml)

6 cups of canned plum tomatoes, drained and chopped (1500 ml)

1 tablespoon tomato paste (15 ml)

pinch of ground nutmeg

I began by heating oil in a large pot then adding the beef, cooking until brown, and breaking up chunks with a wooden spoon. As silly me forgot to chop the onions and garlic before, I rushed over to my worktable (just opposite the stove) and chopped and minced away, returning to the pot quickly to add the onions and garlic and cook until soft. 

Once soft, I poured in the red wine, cayenne, and oregano and let reduce for about ten minutes. During this time, I checked on my potatoes and pulled them out of the oven, placing them to the side. After a quick tidy and change myself (I was, after all, covered in every ingredient imaginable, especially the next one), I returned back to the meat sauce, reduced the heat to medium, and added the tomatoes, tomato paste, cinnamon, and nutmeg. With a swift stir, my sauce was complete! Now, all I had to do was cover it and let it simmer until it turned into a nice, thick sauce, about 45 minutes.

While the sauce was simmering, I sliced the eggplants into 1/4 inch slices, seasoned with salt and pepper, and fried them in batches (in a previously heated sauté pan), adding more oil when needed. When they were all golden and soft, I took them off the heat and put them to the side.

Eggplant

1/4 cup olive oil (60 ml)

2 large eggplants cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices

Coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper

After frying the eggplant, I turned up the oven heat to 200 C/180 and tended to my sauce until it was ready for the moussaka. Then, with all the elements created... At last! The layering begins! My moussaka was spread between two dishes due to equipment availability and the fact that our oven is just a little bit too small.

And it went like this:

Potatoes - Aubergine (Eggplant) - Sauce - Potatoes - Aubergine - Sauce

Covered in Béchamel

Then into the oven for 45 minutes to an hour!