Sea Trout Poached in White Wine

Continuing the experimentation with fish I had planned to buy some red mullet for a simple recipe from River Café but discovered when I got to Furness that it was £18 a kilo - the same price as veal chops at the Ginger Pig and £4 a kilo more than 45 day aged rump steak which I buy as an occasional treat. Just can't bring myself to pay that much for something I'm a bit uncertain about. Don't think I've ever eaten it even. So I bottled it on the mullet front and bought a couple of silvery sea trout for £3 each. Positive bargain.

Except that I didn't know what to do with them either! Flicked through a few recipes and the general consensus was for poaching. I had already bought tarragon at Booths for the stuffing for Sunday's roast lamb so that seemed like a good herb to add, along with the delicate fern of fennel from the garden and the spray of seeds. The man said slices of onion - he may know more than me so that was in too.

Sea Trout Poached in White Wine
2 very fresh sea trout
1 onion, peeled and very finely sliced
Half a dozen sprigs of fresh tarragon and the same of fennel
Half a teaspoon of fennel seeds
2 tbspn olive oil
200ml white wine
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Wash the fish under a cold tap and pat dry. Put about half the onion and herbs into the cavity of the fish. Pour the olive oil into a baking dish big enough to hold the fish. Strew a little onion and some herbs ino the bottom of the pan then lay the fish on top. Top with the remaining aromatics and season generously. Pour around the white wine and cover the whole lot with foil.

Cook in a moderate/gas 5 oven for about 45-50 minutes. Serve onto warm plates with a little sauce drizzled over and accompanied by some new potatoes and buttered leeks.

They were perfectly cooked and the herbs added flavour and the sauce definitely adding a lift to the dish. I enjoyed it but not entirely - there was a vague muddy note to the fish and it wasn't entirely the kind of flavour and texture combination that I really go for. I liked the sauce the best! If I did make it again I might try the same method with a different fish perhaps. To do it again with this would be for the sake of having fish supper not because I really wanted it.

But I would like to try sea trout differently - wrapped in bacon and barbecued or char-grilled - a smoky crispy note might make them sing (or swim) for me!

Cured Mackerel

Wikipedia - that wonderful source of endless information - says 'Mackerel is an oily-fleshed sea fish found throughout the oceans of the world. The flesh is strong-flavoured and the fish is bony, which means it is not a fish for beginners.' Guess what I bought Saturday!

Where fish is concerned I would certainly class myself a beginner. But I have to say the results of my experiment with this incredibly beautiful looking fish were spectacular - as close to perfect as you can get when you start off with an idea rather than a destination in mind. I have in the past cured fillets of salmon with very good results. Extrapolating from that I wondered about doing the same thing to mackerel because even though I do not like them cooked at all I have enjoyed mackerel sashimi.

On Saturday I went to Furness Fish and selected a couple of shiny tiger-skinned beauties. I asked the fishmonger to fillet and skin them for me - he is much more skilled and his knives are a hell of a lot sharper than mine. It took him less than a minute. The good news is that is all the hard work done.

Cured Mackerel
2 very fresh mackerel, filleted and skinned, leaving about 350g fish
1 bunch coriander, chopped stems and all
1 1/2 tbspns salt
1 1/2 tbspns sugar
1 tbspn grated ginger
Chopped zest of a lemon

Mix everything together except the fish.

Rub your fingers lightly over the flesh side to find any remaining bones - there may well be a few, as Wikipedia points out. They come out very easily with tweezers pulling in the direction they lie in the flesh. (Tweezers don't cost very much and are surprisingly useful in the kitchen for fiddly things.)

Put the fish into a ceramic or glass dish on what was the skin side down. Cover with the herb/salt/sugar mix and pat it into the flesh. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 12-18 hours. A lot of liquid will be drawn out of the fish and will pool in the dish.

Take the fillets from the dish, scrape off the topping, rinse briefly and pat dry with kitchen paper. Slice very thinly and serve - I had them with Japanese soy to dip, pickled ginger and trout roe and tiny cake forks though they would have worked well piled onto Japanese seaweed crackers I think. Had none to test that particular theory.

Utterly delightful. A most perfect amuse bouche with salty, sweet, spice and fishy in every forkful. We had it before lunch on Sunday with the lovely Marie. I wanted something entertaining and very light to fill the first half hour or so after she arrived.

I find if you lay out the usual big bowl of nuts or strips of raw veg to slather with dips that though it is very welcoming it does tend to take the edge off hunger. As I was serving cauliflower and truffle soup followed by roasted lamb stuffed with spinach and tarragon and full roast veg and then apple and walnut cake with Montgomery cheddar I wanted to keep the hunger in place for later.

And This Week... I Bought

Spectacularly cold at Borough Saturday morning - all the stallholders were wrapped up in woolly hats and big jumpers and fingerless gloves. Though I was wearing lots of layers I was thoroughly chilled by the time we finished shopping.

At the beginning we went to Ginger Pig for lamb bones but they had none so got a couple of veal bones instead -the lamb bones were meant to make base for sauce with Sunday's roast so these ended up in the freezer to use in a stew perhaps another time and two pork chops grilled for dinner Monday night with mash and sprouts and it was deeply pleasurable as well as quick and easy - £3.80

After that it was Furness Fish to continue the experiment aquatic. I bought two fat little mackerel that I had filleted and then cured and sliced and served with ginger and soy as an elegant little mouthful before lunch on Sunday and two sea trout that had been simply gutted which I poached in white wine and herbs and served with new potatoes and leeks for supper Saturday - £8.90

Then we went to Wild Beef for eggs - had one boiled with lunch on Thursday and used a couple in a not entirely successful apple and walnut cake on Sunday - £1.50

I was delighted to see the man from Seldom Seen at his stall again selling fabulous slices of cooked goose stuffed duck stuffed chicken perfect sandwich filling on Saturday. He's encouraging all his shoppers to supply their own bags and cut down on waste which can only be a good thing. Next week will be the last time he's there for the year so will have to seek him out - £2

Bought some Borough Market xmas cards - not sure if they qualify as part of the weekly shop but they are lovely - £7.50

Next was coffee at Monmouth - this week they had one lot of Costa Rican beans that were labelled Cup of Excellence and were twice the price of the rest. Turns out that CofE is a strict competition that selects the very best coffee produced in that country for that particular year - and then the beans are auctioned over the internet and sold to the highest bidder. The high price paid is a reward to the farmer for the excellence of their production. As a fan of Costa Rican coffee I couldn't resist - bought 250g of beans - it is certainly very very good - for £8

A little wander round the stalls on the far side made me tempted by a jar of shaved bottarga but resisted till I have a recipe in which to use it but was seduced by a jar of trout roe from Orkney Rose Sunday snack - £4.25


Then on to Booths for veg - potatoes various boiled, rasted and mashed (might do sauté this week to run the whole gamut), mushrooms stuffed the lamb, turnip mashed with lunch on Sunday because it was so good last week, leeks with fish, carrots, sugarsnaps lunchboxes, brussel sprouts Monday dinner, tarragon stuffing the lamb, cauliflower soup as a starter on Sunday and enough in the freezer for another starter, bananas, clementines lunchboxes - £9.90 the lot

A warm sausage roll for miss piggy's breakfast from Ginger Pig - £3

Half a kilo of spinach from Tony to stuff my lamb - £1.50

Milk, bread, pasta, cream and Montgomery cheddar from Neals Yard - £21.40

And an almond croissant from Flour Power and a square tin loaf I've been eyeing off for a while because the sign says 'makes great toast' they didn't lie and it's only a pound - £3.20

A reasonable £74.95

This time last year we really enjoyed Cinnamon Chicken.

So the week ended up

Saturday - sausage roll and almond croissant for brunch, goose sandwich for lunch poached fish with new potatoes and leeks for supper

Sunday - toast and coffee, followed by cured mackerel, then cauliflower and truffle soup, roast lamb stuffed with spinach, mushrooms and tarragon with gravy, roast potatoes, mashed turnip and peas followed by apple and walnut cake with Montgomery cheddar. No dinner surprisingly.

Monday - coffee and cereals - the man likes bran flakes, I like raw rolled oats, both with milk - same all week for both of us, cold lamb with leftover potatoes and raw veg for lunch, grilled pork chops with mash and sprouts for supper

Tuesday - cold lamb with white bean salad herbed with the rest of the tarragon and some herbs from the garden and raw veg, dinner was cauliflower soup with bread and cheddar

Wednesday - last of the lamb for lunch, pasta with porcini, tomato and cream for supper

Thursday the man had leftover pasta for lunch and I had a boiled egg, the last of the beans and some raw veg and we went to see Rhinoceros at the Royal Court so we had a lovely supper at Le Cercle beforehand

Friday - only fruit left so lunch will be bought then supper will be burgers from mince from the freezer with bread and salad with the last of the carrots and celery and organic vac packed beetroot that have been in the fridge for a while

As for leftovers there is still some cheese but it will be good Sunday on a cheese board and a few sprouts that may not go any further

Venison Stew

A while ago the man and I spent a long weekend with his sister and her husband and family on their beautiful farm in Cornwall. They raise organic cattle - huge sleek beasts that are sold through a local butcher. They have also planted hundreds of trees to create ideal conditions for the regeneration of local wildlife and to replenish the land. It is a programme that requires taking the long view - none of the hurried immediacy of city life. It is years in the making. One of the benefits of the small forest they have created is the return of wild deer. Their numbers have now grown so much that they must be culled once a year to retain the eco balance. His sister had a freezer stuffed with venison - lucky woman! We feasted one night on a saddle slow roasted in the Aga served up with cranberry and port sauce and a full medley of vegetables - wonderful food.

Wild venison has been eaten for centuries in the UK. Samuel Pepys was a fan. On 5th July 1662 he writes in his diary: "I having some venison given me a day or two ago, and so I had a shoulder roasted, another baked, and the umbles baked in a pie, and all very well done." The umbles - the heart, liver and entrails - often baked into a pie though in the 14th century they were called numbles. It is possible that the baking of them into pies caused the change in name - a numble pie became an umble pie. That the lights are most likely to be eaten by the poor is thereby likely to be the source of the further transformation to humble pie - isn't language wonderful?

Anyway as we left for home our charming hosts were kind enough to be give us a sizeable piece of venison for eating another day. It went into our freezer as summer was approaching. Last week as the winter slipped in with blue skies and frozen nights I realised it was time to make my first ever venison stew. A little research suggested marinating for a couple of days was a good idea and so that was where I started. I defrosted the meat and the flesh was dark to the point of purple nights with no fat to be seen at all.

I wanted a final dish that was reminsicent of the woods, rather than the sweetness of berries or citrus which are often the suggested flavourings. So after marinating the meat for a couple of days in red wine with onions, bay and parsley I slow cooked it with field mushrooms and celery for a really rich dark stew. Carrots added to finish added just a hint of sweetness and a splash of colour.

Venison Stew

1kg stewing venison, cubed

2 tbsp olive oil

6 celery stalks, thickly sliced on the diagonal

300g field mushrooms, thickly sliced

25g plain flour

Salt and black pepper

200g carrots, peeled and sliced to the thickness of a pound coin

Marinade

1/2 bottle red wine

3 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, sliced thinly

1 tsp coriander seeds

6 juniper berries, roughly crushed

A few parsley sprigs

1 bay leaf

In a large bowl combine the red wine, oil, onion, coriander, juniper, parsley sprigs and bay leaf. Toss the venison cubes in the marinade to coat them thoroughly, cover with cling film and leave to marinate in the fridge, turning occasionally, for 2 days.

Lift the venison and onion out of the marinade. Strain and reserve the marinade.
Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole, add the venison and onion and cook for 10 minutes until well browned. Lift out onto a plate.

Lower the heat, add the celery and mushrooms, and cook for a few minutes until softened. Remove with a slotted spoon. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Gradually blend in the marinade and bring to a boil, stirring until thickened.

Return the venison, onion, celery, and mushrooms to the casserole and season to taste. Bring to a boil, cover and cook in a preheated over at 100C, Gas 1 for 3 or 4 hours. Turn off the heat and leave to cool.

Next day add the carrots and bring to a simmer on the top of the stove. Simmer very gently for up to an hour till all is tender.

We had it with turnip mashed with butter and pepper and some brussel sprouts and it was a proper winter supper. There was plenty more for the next night but it would also freeze well.

Spice Crusted Salmon with Mint Chutney

I wonder on and off about eating more fish - it is healthy, provides oils not found elsewhere, and generally adds a different texture and flavour to dishes. It has a whole repertoire that I seldom tap in to. There are reasons for this - I haven't cooked much fish so it is not familiar and is therefore daunting. I do not like 'fishy' fish - the strong flavour of oily fish - though I do like mackerel raw and I do think tastes can be acquired. There is the whole vexed matter of sustainability, the disastrous decline in native fish stocks in UK waters. I confess I do not know enough about it to shop wisely - though it is true that that is easily remedied with some research. It is reasonably expensive to buy most fish and that makes me tentative - if I cook it badly then it's a bruising defeat.

But when I was making the vague list that accompanies us every week on the trip to Borough Market on Friday evening I asked the man what he'd like for dinner Saturday and he said 'Fish'. So that was it. I'd enjoyed watching Hugh Fearmley-Whittingstall's programme on fish in the week, and was taken with his pleasure in organic farmed salmon - good quality fish that is sustainably produced. Flicking through some cookbooks it took a while for something to really leap out at me - but eventually I found this in Christine Manfield's Spice. It was simple and utterly delicious. Fast too - from go to whoah in half an hour.

Spice Crusted Salmon

2 pieces of organic salmon fillet, about 150 - 200g per piece

150ml vegetable oil

1 large dried chilli

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 tspn black peppercorns

seeds from 2 cardamom pods

1 tspn brown mustard seeds

2 teaspoons nigella seeds

1/4 tspn ground cassia (I didn't have any but it didn't matter)

1/4 tspn ground ginger

2 tspns salt

20g chick pea (gram) flour

To make the spice crust, in a small frypan dry roast chilli and whole spices except mustard and nigella seeds over gentle heat until fragrant and slightly coloured. Cool then grind to a fine powder - in a pestle and mortar is the hard way, in an old coffee grinder is the easy way. Stir in mustard and nigella seeds, ground cassia and ginger, salt and chick pea flour.

Coat the fish thoroughly.

Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan and cook the fish for 3 minutes until fish is a paler pink at the base. Turn fish over and cook for another 2 minutes. The fish should be rosy-rare in the middle and crusted gold on the outside.

Mint Chutney

1 cup firmly packed mint leaves

6 spring onions, sliced

3 small chillis, sliced

1 tspn minced ginger

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tspn fish sauce

2 tspns castor sugar

1 tspn garam masala

60ml fresh lime juice

50ml vegetable oil

Blend all the ingredients to a smooth paste, adding the oil slowly. Spoon into a bowl for serving. It will keep refrigerated in a jar for a couple of days.

We had the fish with chutney drizzled, generous servings of cucumber raita and boiled ratte potatoes. It was a seriously good meal - better perhaps than I was expecting. Which makes me think I may cook a little more fish soon.

And this week ... I bought

Still feels very cold for mid November so rugged up for Borough. Inside the market halls it somehow feels significantly colder - brrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Started with juice from Chegworth just for a change and got some apples - for lunches and to make a cake which I haven't quite managed but will this weekend - too - £3.62

Then to Ginger Pig for a lovely piece of topside - roasted Sunday night then cold for splendid lunch boxes till Thursday - £16.20

Furness was next as we're trying to eat some fish more regularly. There were two salmon side by side - one the colour of flourescent crab sticks and one that could accurately be described as salmon pink. The latter was organic and though more expensive was what we chose. Two nice centre fillets - spice crusted and served with mint chutney for a memorable Saturday night supper - £8.40

No eggs or cheeses this week so after a vague wander round the other side it was with delight we found the stall from Seldom Seen and so bought a slice of their speciality - goose stuffed with duck stuffed with chicken - an amazing feat - and a great sandwich filler -£3

Then it was back to Booths for lots of veg - potatoes roasted Sunday, cucumber, mint both to go with salmon Saturday, clementines lunches, mushrooms, celery, carrots all to go into earthy venison stew, sprouts, turnip to go with the venison stew, the turnip simply mashed with butter and the other half of the sprouts in a vegetable curry Thursday night with leftovers for Friday lunch, parsnips, butternut roasted hot Sunday night and cold for a day or two in lunchboxes, beans into fried rice Friday night and sugarsnaps a little limp this week but ok in lunchboxes for a couple of days- £10

A scotch egg from Ginger Pig scoffed for brunch after the market - £3

Bread and milk from Neals Yard - £6.50

Almond croissant from Flour Power was the final flourish - £2.20

A not unreasonable £52.92

This time last year we were mostly eating roasted butternut risotto and the fabulous pock-marked woman's bean curd.

Black Olive Paste

I have been making this dip for about twenty years - it is simplicity itself. Though it takes no time at all you end up with a really beautiful bowl of dip. A deep oily black flecked with tiny bits of green herbs you essentially can't go wrong with making this. Just remember to err on the side of generosity as you add the herbs.

Perfect with drinks, it's a good one to have up your sleeve as xmas approaches. It's a star at parties.

Black Olive Paste

200g black olives, pitted (you can cheat and buy them ready stoned)

1 clove garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

Mix of green herbs including parsley, thyme, rosemary and basil

Fresh ground black pepper

A little olive oil to loosen the mix - or basil oil if you have some

Put everything into a blender or a bowl and use a stick blender. Whizz the mix, adding some oil to make it amalgamate, until everything is roughly chopped.

That's it. Sooooooooooooooooooo easy

It will live happily in the fridge, covered, for weeks. It is wonderful partnered with celery and peeled carrot batons and also nice with hard cheeses as part of a cheese platter. You can cook with it too - makes a great stuffing for chicken breasts or lamb. Adding a small chilli would give it a sparkly heat.