Brandade Dressing

This dressing is primarily used to serve with brandade dishes such as Cod Brandade, but goes well as an accompaniment or dressing to a variety of fish dishes, salads and similar light meals.

Makes 600ml

1 Onion finely chopped
25g of thyme chopped
25g of rosemary chopped
25g of basil chopped
25g of chopped parsley
2 cloves of garlic crushed
50g of unsalted butter
500ml of olive oil
300ml of red wine
50g of chopped walnuts
50g of chopped olives
25g of anchovies chopped
25g of capers chopped
8 tomatoes concassed

Sweat off onions, herbs and garlic in the butter and a little olive oil till soft

Add red wine and reduce to about 2 tablespoon of liquid

Add remaining olive oil, with the rest of the ingredients; omitting the tomatoes

Bring to a simmer for a few minutes, then add tomatoes, season remove from the heat

Vierge Dressing

Vierge is one of those classic flavours that accompanies mainly fish dishes - the most prominent of which being more sweetly palatable fish such as seabass and seam bream. It does however go well alongside a multitude of fishes and even white meats where applicable. Its easy to make, it just takes a while. When you taste it you'll see why.

You will need:

550ml of olive oil

50g 0f Coriander seeds

1 Bunch of tarragon, stripped and chopped

12 black peppercorns, crushed

4 shallots finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic crushed

Sea salt

Warm the oil with the coriander seeds

Pour over the other ingredients

Marinade for a week

Chilli Butter (as an accompaniment

image courtesy of devonfresh.com

Much like our other larder items, chilli butter is one of those wonderful flavour additions that can be used in a multitude of ways.It goes phenmoenally well with fish, white meats and vegetables where neccesary for both cooking and for finishing, giving a spicy and enjoyable edge.

You will need (makes a batch of about 8-10 portions)

1 and a half red chillies, chopped very finely, seeds removed.
salt and pepper
tbsp lemon juice
1 shallot chopped very finely
tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, crushed
250g butter.

The doing bit:

Melt the butter until soft. Mix all ingredients together until they form a uniform paste. Wrap the butter in clingfilm into a sausage shape and chill until required.

Smoked Haddock Chowder / Gruyere gratin

image courtesy of realrecipes.co.uk

*Part of the sizzling staffordshrie menu series*

Smoked haddock chowder is one of those fish dishes that is surprisingly comforting, whist being very hearty and nutritious. Its not too dissimilar from cullen skink, a scottish dish that is virtually symmetrical to this one. This dishes uses smoked haddock (as the title suggests) but you cna use other smoked fish if you wish (smoked trout is particularly good as an alternative). If you're not a fan of smoked fish, substitute for another by all means. I'm quite amenable when it comes to mixing it up.

This dish serves well as a meal in itself, although it can be adjusted to be lighter where necessary as a starter.

You will need (serves 4):
For the chowder:
450g smoked haddock (undyed preferrably, but ultimately up to you), skin removed and cut into 4 pieces.
4 rashers smoked bacon, cut into 1cm lardons
1 large onion, finely diced
500 ml bechamel
1 baking potato peeled and cut into a small dice (roughly 1/2 cm)
1 lemon zested and juiced
3 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 tsp tarragon
tbsp butter

Gratin:

4 large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into thin slices
1/2 pint of milk.
Salt and pepper
4 handfuls of gruyere cheese (grated). You can use mature cheddar as an alternative

The doing bit:

Melt the butter in a large pan, add the onion and cook until the onion begins to soften.Add the bacon and cook for about 3-4 minutes, then add the potatoes and  bechamel. Heat until bubbling then reduce to a simmer. Add the lemon juice and zest, and herbs and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the haddock and cover the pan and simmer for a further 10 minutes, stirring occasionally then taste. Season accordingly with salt and pepper. Spoon mixture out into bowls and top with the gratin components (shown next).

For the gratin:

Add some salt and pepper to the milk in a pan, bring to a simmer then add the potatoes. When the potato slices have begun to soften take them out of the milk. You can use the milk for the chowder to make your bechamel at this stage if you prefer to do things the other way around. Add the slices to the top of the chowder and add the cheese to each one. Put bowls in a hot oven (220C) and cook until the cheese has melted and the potatoes have cooked through

Serve, and devour.

Buckwheat pancakes with smoked salmon

image courtesy of gourmet.com

*part of the sizzling staffordshire menu series*

This is an excellent breakfats dish but also serves well as a light lunch or even as a main course for supper. The buckwheat pancakes play on the confort factor but dont feel guilty, - buckwheat is particularly nutritious and gluten free.

You will need (Serves 5-6):

85g buckwheat flour
85g plain flour
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1.2 tbssp sea salt
1tbsp caster sugar
200ml semi skimmed milk
1 1/2 tbsp melted butter or oilive oil
2 egg whites
small amount of butter for cooking

TO serve:

10-12 slices smoked salmon
6 tbsp soured cream
3 tbsp capers (drained)
handful rocket to garnish (optional)

The doing bit:

Pancakes:

Mix the flours, baking powder salt and sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and add the milk and melted butter. Gradually mix in the flours to the oil and mix to a smooth batter. leave to rest for a few mins.

Whisk the egg whites together in a seperate bowl until they form soft peaks then fold into the pancake batter.

Melt a small amount of butter into a blini pan on a medium heat and when melted add a small ladelful of the mixture.After roughly 2 minutes (until golden brown on the underside) turn the pancake over and cook again the other side. When done remove from pan and repeat until pancake mix is turned into pancakes.

To serve:

Take a dollop of the sour cream and add it to each pancake (or 2). add the smoked salmon and a few capers to garnish and the rocket to finish.

Devour.

Blinis

Image provided courtesy of thefishsociety.co.uk

Blinis are a wonderful bread that are an excellent accompaniment to all kinds of dishes - they provide a hearty and sturdy texture, whilst remaining light enough to have with lots of other dishes. They go very well with small fish and meat dishes and also provide a good vehilve for vegetarian dishes such as mushroom fricasse and stroganoff. They can also be enjoyed on their own with butter much like muffins and cumpets, and whatever else you can put with them :)

Standard batch (makes about 12-15)

Ingredients

250g of plain flour
250g of Brown flour
3 Egg yolks
3 Egg whites
600ml of Milk
30g of Yeast

Mix the two flours together
Add a pinch of salt
Warm milk and the yeast, once active add the egg yolks
Then add to the flour mix
Leave to prove for two hours in a warm place (but not too warm)
Whisk up the egg whites until stiff
Fold into the mix

Cook on a medium heat in a blini pan, turning when one side becomes solid. once cooked allow to cool, and can be reheated for further enjoyment.

Sage Butter

Image courtesy of anu's healthy kitchen

Another one of the good larder ingredients, this butter provides a wonderful herb element whilst giving a moderate sweetness with the shallot presence. Perfect accompaniment and finishing tool for a variety of sauces, meats, fish, and vegetable dishes.

You will need:

250g salted butter (soft)
4 large shallots (chopped very finely)
tsp brown sugar
10 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped.

In a small pan sear the shallots then turn the heat down to very low, and stir occasionally. When the shallots begin to froth a little / release their sugar, add the brown sugar and continue to stir until the sugar has melted and the shallots are glazed. Allow to cool.

In a small bowl combine all ingredients with the shallot mix above until uniform. Wrap in cling film and form to a sausage shape, then chill until required.

Pink fish poaching liquor / court bouillon substitute

This poaching liquor is ideal for poaching fish such as trout rainbow trout and salmon etc, providing an elegant base flavour and overtones to flavour and complement the fish perfectly. Its very easy to make and can be frozen in batches for later use if not intended for immediate use.

You will need:

1 Litre of water
1 star anise
1 lemon, quartered
1 handful fresh parsley, stalks included
pinch sea salt
5 black peppercorns
3 bay leaves

The doing bit:

Bring the water to the boil then add the ingredients and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool, then strain and use as required.

Lemon Butter (as an accompaniment)

There are all kinds of flavoured butters used in cooking to give a different element or dimension in flavour. This infusion uses elements that are versatile for many different applications, inclusive of fish, green vegetables, white meats such as chicken, turkey or even pork. It can also be used as an alternative means for butter sauce derivatives such as hollondaise where necessary. It can even be used as the base of a sauce such as bechamel when making the roux for said sauce. Used in this manner it makes dishes like lemon veloute alot deeper and developed in flavour.

You will need (makes about 8-10 portions depending on usage):

1 lemon, zested and juiced.
6 tarragon leaves.
Pinch of black pepper
250g salted butter (soft)

The doing bit:

Combine all ingredients above until the a uniform paste. Wrap in cling film in a sausage shape and chill until required. Use as a finishing tool for a variety of meat / vegetable dishes or as a sauce medium (mentioned above).