Stir-fried vegetables with fish (or whatever) and pilau rice

I rather think this is one of those unrepeatable dishes, but I had half a trout and half a pack of (packet) hollandaise sauce, and didn't fancy a fish pie, so improvised.  But the basic idea could work for all sorts of things....  This served 2

For the rice:

c 1 tbs cooking oil

a little salt

1 tsp Pilau seasoning (bought in Nour, Brixton)

1/2 cup (125 ml) long-grain white rice (I used Basmati, but whatever you like)

1 cup (250 ml) boiling water

Hot the cooking oil, then stir in the salt and spices.  Add the rice and stir thoroughly.  Add the boiling water, stir again, then cover and reduce the heat to as low as possible for 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat, and let stand for another 5 minutes.

Meanwhile

Another tbs cooking oil

Various vegetables, diced.  I used:

A slice of butternut squash

1/2 yellow pepper

1 medium courgette

1 small pak choi

A sloosh garlic paste

A few drops of sriracha

1 tsp Dunns River All-purpose seasoning

1/2 tsp each vegetable and fish seasoning (these are from Germany, but any similar ones will do)

Heat the oil, then stir-fry the vegetables for at least 5 minutes.  I then added the cooked trout and Hollandaise sauce and made sure it was heated through, but you could use any fish, or perhaps cooked sausages, cut into chunks, and if you don't have any sauce, then about 100 ml water, or just let the vegetables moisten it all - you don't have to use my choice of veg, but a range of different colours is always good.  If you wanted it veggie or vegan, you could add peas or beans and sweetcorn to balance out the proteins.  

Caribbean-style bean stew

I have too many Caribbean friends, and there are too many great Caribbean restaurants/take-aways round here, to want to do much in the way of Caribbean-style cooking, but I came across this video on YouTube yesterday, and decided to create my own version of it.  I'm very glad I did; on the other hand, there should probably have been more beans in it!  

• About 3/4 cup dried red kidney beans
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 small carrots
• 1 small leek
• 1 red chilli
• 3 peppardew peppers (which I just happened to have - optional!)
• 1 chunk butternut
• 1 sloosh tomato paste
• 2 tbs cooking oil
• 1 tbs soft brown sugar
• 2 tbs dried coconut milk
• 2 tsp bouillon powder
• Salt, pepper, 1 tsp each dried thyme and dried parsley, Dunn's River ginger/garlic/pimento and everyday seasoning

Soak the beans and bicarbonate in plenty of boiling water for a couple of hours.  Drain and rinse, then put the beans in a pressure cooker with enough water to come about 1-2 cm above them, and cook on high pressure for about 15 minutes, allowing pressure to reduce at room temperature.

Put 1 tbs of the cooking oil into a sauté pan and add the vegetables which you have peeled/chopped/crushed/whatever, as appropriate.  Stir thoroughly, cover, and allow to cook for 5-10 minutes.  Then place the remaining tbs of oil in a heavy-based pan and add the sugar.  Heat this and allow to caramelise, but not burn, and then add the beans with their cooking liquid.  This will froth up, so be very, very careful and only add a bit of the water at first, until it gets under control.  Stir thoroughly, then add the part-cooked vegetables and the rest of the ingredients, and a bit more water if you think it needs it.  Bring to the boil, stir thoroughly, and reduce to a simmer.  Allow to cook, covered, for about 15 minutes while you cook rice to go with it.

Another vegan recipe for the collection!

Sag Paneer

 I keep on experimenting with curries, and I don't suppose this is authentic, but it is very good!  Serves 2

1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed

1 chunk root ginger (I use frozen cubes, but if you use whole ginger, then peeled and grated)

2 large tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped

1/2 packet paneer, cubed

1-2 tbs cooking oil

1-2 tsp curry powder, either proprietary or a blend of cumin, cardamom, mustard seeds, fenugreek, turmeric, garam masala and chilli powder (I blend this up in advance)

1/2 package baby spinach leaves.

Put the spices and oil in a pan and fry for a moment or two, then add the paneer and fry, stirring frequently, until the cheese is brown on all sides.  Lift this out and put aside.

Blend the onion, garlic, ginger and tomatoes into a puree and then put this in the pan where the paneer just was, and fry this off gently for about 10-15 minutes, again stirring frequently (I cooked rice to go with this while I was at it).  Wilt the spinach by putting it into a colander and pouring boiling water over it, then when it has cooled a little, roughly chop it.  When the puree is cooked - it will have thickened up nicely and stopped looking raw - add in the spinach and the paneer, with a splash of boiling water if necessary, and bring back to the boil.  Serve with rice or naan or similar. 

I might try making this - or a similar curry - with a tin of tomatoes, pureeing the onion, ginger and garlic separately (perhaps with a drop of water).... we shall see.  I like experimenting, and I like curry!  

Fish'n'rice

 I expect there are almost as many variations on fish and rice as there are on chicken and rice.  My current favourite is called Samak Meshweh, from a local Lebanese restaurant, which we have had delivered several times during lockdown - it's basically sea bass, marinated in lemon and garlic, served on a bed of rice with garlic sauce.  Very yummy.  But one can't always eat takeaway, nor, indeed, sea bass (not at £4 for 2 tiny fillets, you can't), and I love things-in-rice, so this was an Interesting Dish of my Own Invention. 

2 frozen haddock fillets (or cod, or any other white fish that takes your fancy)

knob of butter, for frying

1 red onion

2 cloves garlic

1/2 red pepper

1/2 cauliflower

1/2 punnet mushrooms

4-5 sun-dried tomatoes

1/2 cup rice

1 1/4 cups boiling water with seasoning added (see method)

1 tbs cream cheese - optional.  I used a new Philly with smoked salmon that was on special offer in Tesco.

Peel and chop the onion, peel and crush the garlic, chop the pepper, cauliflower, mushrooms and tomatoes.  Put in a heavy-bottomed casserole with a little cooking oil, and sauté for a few minutes.  Now add the rice and stir thoroughly, then add the water, which you have seasoned with - well,  your choice of seasoning.  1 used 1 tsp of a lemon/garlic/herb mix I just bought from Tesco, 1 tsp sumac, 1/2 tsp  all-purpose seasoning (Dunn's river) and 2 teaspoons of "fumet de poisson", which is a French fish stock powder, although it sounds as though it's fish manure... Also sea salt with oregano and sorrel, and black pepper. 

But use what you fancy - chicken or vegetable stock would probably work if you have no fish stock.  Bring back to the boil, stir thoroughly, cover and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes.  

Just before the rice finishes cooking, fry the fish fillets in the butter on both sides for about 5 minutes - they'll take a bit longer if they are frozen, but not much.  If you are using cream cheese, stir it through the rice, and then serve with the fish on the top.

Asparagus risotto

This is the second of my favourite main-course ways of eating asparagus.

1 tbs olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup (125 ml by volume) risotto rice
250 ml cooking white wine
500 ml stock (chicken, if you're not vegetarian, or vegetable if you are; cube is fine, although fresh always nicer)
About 25g butter
A nice amount of Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tray asparagus + any tough stalk ends you saved from previous recipe

Cut the tough stalks of the asparagus, and put them into a saucepan with the stock; bring to the boil and simmer while the rest of this is happening. 

Put the olive oil, onion and garlic into a pan and cook gently until transparent.  Now add the rice and stir well, and then add the wine.  Bring back to the boil and simmer for 5-8 minutes until it is all absorbed, stirring frequently.  Now add half the stock and continue.  Meanwhile, cook the asparagus - steaming is easiest, but however you prefer.

When the stock has been absorbed, add the rest of it.  Put the now-cooked stems into a food processor and blitz with a little water (or retained stock) until you have a very smooth puree.

  Now continue cooking the rice until all the stock has been absorbed, and then add the asparagus puree, the butter and the cheese, and beat vigorously until all is smooth and gloopy and delicious.

Serve topped with the steamed asparagus.

Serves 2

Asparagus with pasta and pine nuts

The asparagus season is finally here!  Actually, strictly speaking it starts next week, on 23 April, but British asparagus is already beginning to be found in the supermarkets, and I treated us to two trays thereof (only 6-7 spears in each tray, and they were expensive, but worth it).   1Some people just want to eat it as a starter, steamed with Hollandaise sauce, and why not?  Very delicious.  But sometimes you want it as a main meal, and this post and the next are two of my favourite ways of having it.

1 tray British (or local to you) asparagus
40-50 g pine nuts (Lidl sells them in 40g sachets, which is what I used)
100-120 g pasta of your choice
About 50g butter
About - well- a nice amount of Parmesan cheese, grated.

Put the pasta on to cook, and while this is happening, fry the pine nuts in half the butter, stirring all the time, until everything is nicely browned.

Then you can add the rest of the butter and fry the asparagus in the same pan, turning it frequently.  Or, if you prefer, you can steam it - up to you.  I fried ours yesterday, and it was lush.  NB, if you cut off the tough ends of the asparagus, save them for the next recipe!

Mix the pine nuts, cheese and drained pasta together, and top with the cooked asparagus.  Yummy.

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Serves 2.