Smoked Potatoes

This is a quick side dish for barbecues, and it is really delicious and different. It cooks by itself, almost impossible to overcook and has always been a hit. I use a Cameron`s stovetop smoker, but it can be done in a wok, a saute pan or even a large aluminium  foil roasting pan. If you do use your favourite wok, line it with foil first.

You will need:

3 large roasting potatoes, cut into  1,5 cm slices (leave the skins on if they are clean)

5g hungarian paprika

5g freshly ground black pepper

5g kosher, or large- grained salt.

Smoking mixture - I use applewood chips, but you can use the following mixture

200g rice (any kind)

30g brown sugar,

30g tea leaves

To this you can add szechuan peppercorns, cumin, or whatever turns you on. You

only need about 220g in total of the mixture.

If not using a smoker, line the wok  or saute pan with foil. Place the smoking mixture or wood chips in the bottom, place the sliced potatoes on a rack in the pan or smoker, season with the next 3 ingredints and close the smoker cover, or cover the pan or wok with foil.    Make sure there is plenty of ventilation or do this outdoors. When smoke starts to curl around the outer edges of the pan, turn the heat to low. Leave on medium heat for 35-40 minutes, or until cooked. Check the seasoning  and that`s it.

Goes well with chicken, sausages, any  barbecued meat.

Crab Gratin

This is a very simple but quite delicious starter. It needs a tart salad to cut through the cream and cheese.


You will need:

Serves 3-4


150ml double cream
100ml dry white wine
100ml chicken stock
450g white crab meat
Grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
25g fresh breadcrumbs
50g Wensleydale cheese, grated or finely crumbled
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

And then you need to

Combine the cream, wine and stock in a pan and bring to the boil. Simmer, uncovered, until it has reduced to about half the volume — 10 minutes or so. Stir in the crab, heat through, season to taste and stir in the lemon zest.

Tip into a gratin dish and top with the breadcrumbs and cheese. Place under a hot grill until the cheese melts. Serve at once with salad and some good bread.

Asparagus with Tarragon Vinaigrette and Parma ham.

This makes a lovely starter for four.


You will need:

200g fresh asparagus per person
3 tbsp classic vinaigrette
1 sprig fresh tarragon, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped fine.
100g pack of Parma ham


Add the tarragon and garlic to the vinaigrette and leave to infuse for about 30 mins.

Trim the woody ends of the stalks of asparagus and place in a steamer. No need to peel the stalks. Sprinkle with a little salt and steam for about 8 mins.

Once cooked remove from steamer and plunge in a bowl of ice-cold water, then drain well and place on a plate.

Strain the dressing over the asparagus and toss them a little, divide into four bundles, wrap them loosely in the Parma ham and put onto four small plates. Sprinkle over some chopped flat leaf parsley and serve.

Grilled Vegetables with Saffron Aioli

This makes a great side dish for a BBQ, especially as all the vegetables can be cooked on the griddle.


You will need (serves 4 as a side dish):

200g fresh asparagus
1 red pepper
4 plum tomatoes
1 courgette

For the aioli:

3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp honey
Large pinch saffron threads
3 cloves garlic.
5 tbsp decent mayonnaise


First off make the aioli.

Blanch the garlic cloves with their skin on in boiling water for about 2 or 3 mins then pop them out of their skins and mash with a fork.

Put the vinegar, honey and saffron in a small pan and over a medium heat bring to a boil, stir and then remove. Leave to stand and cool.

Put the mayonnaise into a large bowl and mix in the mashed garlic. Add 1 tbsp at a time of the honey/saffron liquid. Give it a good mix and taste each time. You probably will not have to use all the liquid but add until you’ve reached a taste that you like; slightly sweet, a little bit sharp, garlicky, a bit runny and a wonderful golden colour.

Cut the courgette into three or four strips lengthways. Chop the red pepper into quarters, discarding the seeds and the pith. Chop the tomatoes in half.

Put all the vegetables, including the asparagus into a large bowl, toss with a little olive oil and with a big glass of wine in one hand take the bowl outside to the pre-heated BBQ.

Gently grill all the vegetables and then arrange on a flat platter. Drizzle them with about half of the aioli and put the rest in a bowl beside the dish. Serve.

Baked Salmon with Nori and Wasabi mashed potatoes

This recipe is a ‘work in progress’ and I continue to tinker around with. I served it on Thursday night to some friends and it was very well received so I thought I would post it up.

Ingredients (serves 4):

4 salmon fillets, skin on.
2 full sized sheets of nori (japanese dried seaweed)
200ml teriyaki sauce
1 tsp sesame seeds

2 large leeks, washed and cut into thin rings
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Mashed potatoes (as per this recipe)
1 tsp wasabi paste (or more)

Put the salmon in a freezer bag, pour in the teriyaki sauce, seal and leave for at least two hours.

In a large frying pan heat 1 tbsp olive oil over a medium heat, throw in the leeks and garlic and saute until they are a little soft, about 5 minutes.

Once cooked tip them into a baking dish and spread them evenly over the bottom.

Cut each of the nori sheets in half and using a bowl of cold water dip them in for 1 or 2 seconds to soften them slightly. Lay flat on a board, remove salmon from marinade (reserve the liquid) and place one salmon filet on each. Gently roll the nori around the fish. Place all four fillets in a line on top of the leeks and sprinkle the sesame seeds all over the top of the fillets.

Heat oven to 200C/400F and cook salmon for 20-25 minutes.

In the meantime pour the reserved teriyaki marinade into a small saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce to about one-quarter of volume until it is quite thick and syrupy. If you also want to add 50ml of mirin or some dry sherry to give it a bit of a lift please go right ahead!

Once the fish is in the oven make the mashed potatoes and add the wasabi along with the butter, philly, cream etc. Taste, add more wasabi if necessary.

I have used wasabi paste from a tube as that was all I could find at the time but it is not as ‘hot’ as the stuff made from a powder. I used almost the whole tube for ten people though one night and it was still very mild. If you are using the powder make up a paste with an equal amount of cold water. One heaped tsp of paste made from powdered wasabi is enough for four people, you want just a hint in the mash, not a sinus clearing explosion!

Spoon mash into the middle of four warmed plates, spoon leeks on top of the mash and then place one salmon fillet on top of each. Drizzle the thickened teriyaki sauce around and serve immediately.

It looks fabulous, the nori keeps the salmon lovely and moist so it tastes great and as you can see it is so very, very easy.

Teriyaki Sauce/Marinade

This is another great marinade for chicken for throwing on the BBQ. I prefer to use thighs as they are quite forgiven and easy to cook

125ml soy sauce
125ml mirin
2 tbs caster sugar
1 tbsp chopped garlic and fresh ginger



Bring to the boil the soy, mirin and sugar and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and throw in the garlic and ginger. Leave to stand until cool. Place chicken thighs in freezer bag and add marinade. Squeeze out as much air as you can and lave to marinade overnight.

Do be careful when you cook these because of the sugars in the marinade it can burn quick easily. You need to cook the thighs over a relatively low heat if possible.

BBQ Sauce / Marinade

This is a bit involved but worth it. Make a big batch, freeze it and use it when needed:

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp honey
1 thai chilli, chopped (or more)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp Worcester sauce
75ml bourbon / whiskey
100 ml orange juice
1 shot of espresso strength coffee.
1 tsp mustard powder

Soften onions and garlic in 1 tbsp olive oil, add all other ingredients and bring to a simmer. Cook gently for about ten / fifteen minutes so that it thickens quite well. Once cooled a little put in food processor and whiz to a very fine puree. And that’s it.

Grilled Lamb, cooked on the BBQ

I love to cook a whole leg of lamb on the BBQ, it really works well. I prefer to use a de-boned leg of lamb, but one with the bone in would work just as well.

First of all the marinade:

200ml white wine
Juice of one lemon
100ml mirin or sherry
30ml olive oil
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tbsp chopped garlic

Using a small knife stab a number of holes in the leg and into these incisions stuff more garlic and rosemary. Make sure they are stuffed into the hole and not sticking out otherwise they will burn.

In a freezer bag combine all of the ingredients listed above and add the lamb leg, squeeze air out, seal bag and marinade for as long as possible, preferably overnight.

When it comes to cooking this it needs about an hour. First of all take the lamb out of the marinade and wrap it tightly in aluminium foil. Place the wrapped lamb on the BBQ (not over direct heat, you will need to move some coals to one side), close lid of BBQ and leave for 40 mins. After 40mins remove foil and cook over heat as you would normally, keep turning it around to make sure it is well cooked. The sugars in the mirin / sherry should caramelise and make the skin lovely and crispy. It will take another 20 mins or so to cook properly and you will need to keep a close eye on it to make sure that it doesn’t burn. Once cooked cut into slices or chunks and serve. I normally get a large flat platter, throw some rocquet leaves on it and place the lamb on top. This is also really lovely with a good dollop of salsa verde spooned on top.

Mozzarella Salad

This is the simplest dish you will ever make and it is yummy. This is a Jamie Oliver recipe (can’t remember which book, sorry) and I doff my hat in his general direction. I like to serve this dish at a BBQ.

Fresh buffalo mozzarella, chopped into slices, use about 1 large ball for 2 or 3 people.
1 tub crème fraiche (approx 300ml)
1 large red chilli cut into very fine strips
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp EV olive oil

In a shallow dish place sliced mozzarella and then carefully spread crème fraiche all over. Use a sppon to smooth the top once done.

Sprinkle the very finely shopped chilli slices and lemon zest over the top. Just before serving gently drizzle the lemon juice and olive oil over the cream.

Grilled Aubergines (Eggplant) with salsa verde.

This is a fantastic side dish to serve with a BBQ.

I use the local aubergines for this dish which are smaller and thinner than the variety we used to have in Europe. Anyway, using whatever aubergines you can find cut them lengthways into long strips. Do not cut them too thin or they will fall apart, the slices should be about 1cm thick. Use about one small thin aubergine per person.

Baste both sides of the slices with EV olive oil and throw them onto the BBQ. Do turn them so you get pretty cross hatch patterns on them. Once cooked (should only take a couple of minutes) lay on flat dish and then spoon a good dollop of salsa verde over the top. Viola!

Potato and anchovy gratin

This is a recipe taken from the River Café cookbook. If you are not an anchovy lover do not be alarmed you actually can’t taste them but they add an incredibly deep and rich flavour, not at all fishy. These potatoes are seriously good, and I mean seriously good. Very hearty, but really intense flavours and would need to accompany and equally strong flavoured dish.

Ingredients: serves 6

1kg waxy potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
50g unsalted butter
6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
20 salted anchovy fillets
1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 crumbled dried red chillies
100g grated Parmesan
300 ml fresh double cream
sea salt and black pepper


Preheat oven to 190C/375F

Peel potatoes and cut lengthways into 5mm disks - soak in water for 5 mins.

Heat the oil and butter, add the garlic over a low to medium flame and fry for 2 mins, don’t let them brown as they will taste bitter. Add the anchovies and melt to make a sauce.

Add the rosemary and chilli. Stir and remove from heat.

Drain the potatoes, pat dry and mix with the sauce, half the parmesan and cream. Season (lightly, remember the anchovies are quite salty), layer in a baking dish, cover with foil and bake for 25 mins.

Remove the foil, turn the potatoes, sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan and bake for another 15 mins or until golden and crisp.

Not a calorie in sight but mighty tasty.

Classic Vinaigrette

This is a Gordon Ramsey recipe for a very fresh tasting classic vinaigrette:

Ingredients:

100ml Olive Oil
100ml Groundnut or preferably walnut oil
Juice half lemon
50ml sherry vinegar
1 heaped tsp caster sugar
A grind of salt and pepper.


Combine all ingredients together in an old jam jar or similar, and give it a damn good shake.

This vinaigrette is fabulous, it will keep in a glass jar in the fridge for quite a while.

Salsa Verde

I am firmly in the camp of loving sauces and when I cook I probably give more attention to the sauce than to anything else. To me it can either make or ruin a dish. First of all a sauce can mask a few disasters, you can pour it over any ugly bits for example. Also the colour of the sauce can really bring out the presentation, and of course sauces add complexity, moisture and taste to the dish.

It is imperative to match the sauce with the dish, I have lost count of the times I have eaten in restaurants where the sauce took over the whole plate, its taste was so strong it overpowered everything else you were eating.

Anyway, this post is about SALSA VERDE. The real beauty of this amazing sauce is how versatile it is, it works brilliantly on vegetables (particularly roasted or grilled), and it is fabulous on grilled meat and fish. In fact it would probably be great on cornflakes! It is also such a wonderful, vibrant colour, which adds to the visual presentation of the dish.

The list of ingredients for salsa verde looks ominous but please, please don't be put off, it is really worth the effort. Herbs are generally pretty cheap here in Dubai and everything on this list is very easy to find.

The two things that make this incredible sauce only 99% perfection is that firstly I am afraid to tell you that everything must be chopped by hand and not in the whizzer (it turns to a grey gloopy mess....believe me, I've tried!) and secondly it doesn't really keep that well, it needs to be used within 48 hours.

So here goes, generally I am not very good at measuring stuff when I cook so this is all a bit of guess work.

Ingredients

An equal amount (handful) of flat-leaf parsley, mint, coriander and basil, washed and chopped roughly.
Heaped teaspoon of capers, rinsed, chopped
2 spring onions chopped fine
2 cloves garlic minced
2 anchovy fillets, broken up
2 teaspoons tablespoon dijon mustard
Juice of one lemon (if you zap the lemon in a microwave for about 6 or 7 secs first it is much easier to juice)
Sea salt & fresh pepper (to taste)

Put all of the above into large glass bowl and then pour slowly and stir in EV olive oil until you get a sloppy mess. You will need about 50ml of olive oil, maybe a bit more. Keep slowly adding the oil until you achieve the right consistency; it should be a bit sloppy, not really runny, but not all dry looking either.

Voila, the most divine, yummy sauce.

What I prefer to do is substitute the lemon and olive oil part for a couple of tablespoons (or more) of 'classic vinaigrette’. It makes for a slightly richer sauce.

The Best Potato Recipe in the World

Whenever I serve this dish my guests end up scraping the pattern off the plate to get to the last crispy morsels! This is a seriously good recipe. It is quite a heavy dish (as you will see) but it does work very well with a barbeque. A pile of grilled meat, some lovely salads and these spuds is a very good combination.

Ingredients:

Potatoes (1 large per two people)
Packet of Lardons *
1 Onion, cut into 8 pieces
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Pont L-Eveque cheese **


Notes:

* lardons are small cubes of smoked bacon, you can use 3 or 4 smoked streaky rashers of bacon cut into small pieces, or a small box of pancetta pieces

** Pont L’Eveque is a yummy cheese, comes in a small square box, and has a delightful nutty taste. It comes in one size which is a 400g square ‘cake’. If you can’t find it substitute it with either raclette (which any skier will know about!) or tallegio. Basically what you want is a firm cheese that will melt but retain its constituency and not separate like a cheddar would do for example.

Some comments about the quantities: what you are trying to create here is a potato, onion-ey, cheese-ey and bacon-ey mess and really what quantities you use of either are up to you. However, to give you an idea for two of us I would still use 1 onion and 2 cloves garlic, but I would only use half a packed of lardons and either a quarter (100g) or a half (200g) of a square of pont l’eveque cheese. For six people or more I would probably still only use one square of pont l’eveque (if it were for ten or more I might use two) but I would add more onion and more garlic.


And then you need to:

Heat oven to 200C/400F. Put large oven proof serving dish in oven to heat up. You will serve the potatoes in this dish on the table so make sure it’s a nice one!

Peel and chop the potato into bite sized chunks (not too small), and par-boil in salted water for 5 minutes. Drain.

In a large frying pan heat a good glug of EV olive oil over medium hot flame and when pretty hot chuck in onions, garlic and lardons. Give them a good stir for about 30 seconds to coat in oil and then add par-boiled potatoes. You could also add some dried or fresh rosemary here which is a nice addition. Make sure all potatoes are coated with oil (give the frying pan a couple of good flips!) and then turn out potatoes/onion mixture into the hot serving dish. Give the dish a shake to spread it out evenly. Grind a little black pepper over them. Salt not needed because both the bacon and the cheese can be quite salty.

Cover dish tightly with foil and place in oven for 40 minutes. The foil helps to steam the potatoes and stop them becoming too crispy. You want a gooey, squidgy mess of potatoes and cheese and not crispy roast potatoes!

After 40 minutes remove foil and place whole block of pont l’eveque cheese (or other) in the middle on top of potatoes. Replace in oven (foil off) and cook for a further 20 minutes.

And that is that. Truly delicious cheesy, bacon-ey, roasted potatoes! And so simple!

Creamy Tomato Sauce

This is a fabulous, easy and delicious tomato sauce that works very, very well with either chicken or fish. This is very much a staple in our house and makes frequent appearances. This sauce is stolen from one of Gordon Ramsey’s excellent cookbooks.

You will need:

8 plum tomatoes, quartered
1 clove garlic, peeled
Fresh basil leaves
2 tsp Caster sugar
1 tbs sherry vinegar
100ml double cream
50g cold butter, cut into cubes (optional)

And then you need to:

Put everything except cream and butter into a food processor and whiz to a puree.

Using the back of a ladle pass the puree through a sieve into a small saucepan, discard pulp left over.

Over a medium heat reduce the tomato juice by about two thirds until it is quite thick.

Remove from heat and let cool a little, slowly add cream whisking all the time, replace on low-medium heat and again reduce until quite thick.

If you want to make this sauce a little bit richer you can add butter at the end and whisk in one cube at a time. I tend not to do this as it is yummy without it but the butter adds a lovely glossy shine and thickens it even further.

Mixed Bean Salad with balsamic dressing

This is such a simple salad, but one that always goes down very well.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

1 can mixed beans (pinto, black-eyed, kidney etc), drained and rinsed
10 or so cherry tomatoes cut in half
Small handful of chopped flat leaf parsley and fresh basil
50g feta cheese cut into small cubes
2 spring onions chopped fine
1 clove garlic, chopped very fine
2 red peppers, roasted, skin removed, and cut into long thin strips

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and then tip onto a flat dish. When ready to serve grind fresh pepper on top and spoon 3 tbsp EV olive oil and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar over the salad. How easy is that?!

Caesar Salad

I love Caesar salad, I think it is the divine combination of the crisp leaves and the tart, creamy sauce. This recipe is a slight adaptation of Delia Smith’s version in her Summer Collection cookbook.

1 romaine (cos) lettuce
50g parmesan cheese
Small handful chopped flat leaf parsley
Small handful pine nuts

1 egg
2 cloves garlic
2 anchovy filets
Juice of half a lemon
1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
½tsp Worcester sauce
150ml EV olive oil

50g white bread (stale is good!) cut into largish cubes
1 clove garlic, chopped fine

Wash the lettuce and tear into pieces. Put into salad bowl with parsley.

In a bowl put the bread cubes, throw in the chopped garlic and about 1 or 2 tbsp olive oil. Stir bread to make sure all coated in oil. Place on a flat baking sheet and put in oven (400F/200C). PUT A TIMER ON! I have burnt these more times than I care to remember. Cook for five minutes only. They may need a couple of more minutes but watch them like a hawk. Remove and cool.

On the same baking sheet spread out pine nuts, place in oven and cook for three minutes. Remove and shake, and return to oven for further one minute. Remove and cool.

Make dressing by putting egg into a food processor, turn on the machine and add garlic, anchovies, lemon juice, mustard, Worcester sauce. Then slowly add the olive oil, keep the motor running.

Note: I prefer to blanch the garlic first to take away the very strong, slightly bitter taste that you can sometimes get. To do this put the cloves of garlic with skin on into a small saucepan of boiling water. Leave for one minute only, remove and plunge into a small bowl of very cold water. Repeat twice, remove skin and then use in the dressing.

Put croutons and pine nuts on top of salad leaves. With a potato peeler shave strips of parmesan on top of salad. Just before serving add dressing.

Pommes Frites

They say the Belgians make the very best pomme frites and this version here is based on the double frying technique that they generally employ.

Ingredients:

1 large potato per person
A neutral oil for deep frying


To make the frites peel and chop into thick or thin (as you prefer) chips/fries and put into large bowl filled with cold water. The Belgian way is for very thin frites and if you have a good mandolin it will probably have a setting on it to slice the potatoes very quickly.

In a deep wok or pot heat about 1 litre of oil (I usually use a neutral oil like sunflower, but groundnut would also be okay....it needs to have a high smoking point) to about 150C. On my cooker that is a medium heat. Make sure the oil is hot, drain the potatoes, dry on a clean dish cloth and add the potatoes to the oil. The oil will splutter and hiss quite vigorously at this stage so stand back.

Cook potatoes for about 5 mins, remove and drain.

Just as you are about ready to eat, heat the oil to 185C (medium-hot setting) and again when hot put the partly cooked frites back in again. Give them another 5 mins, (maybe less, keep an eye on them) remove, drain on kitchen paper, put in a dish and give them a really good grind of sea salt.

Serve immediately.

Slow cooked lamb with mint, pomegranate and feta.

This is an adaptation of a Nigella Lawson recipe and it makes a delightfully easy, stress free meal. Literally shove the lamb in the oven for five hours, come back and it is done. Perfect. I normally abhor dishes which combine meat and fruit but this one works very, very well.

The gorgeous Nigella suggested using lamb shoulder in her recipe but I actually prefer this with lamb leg. I find the shoulder a little bit too greasy though it does produce a slightly more ‘moist’ dish. Anyway, I leave it up to you, try both and tell me what you think.

If you do use lamb leg and have a big enough casserole dish get one with the bone in, but a de-boned lamb leg will work just as well. Two small lamb legs will feed six greedy people or 8 not so hungry ones.


Ingredients, serves 6/8

• shoulder of lamb or lamb leg
• 4 shallots halved but not peeled
• 6 cloves garlic left whole
• 1 carrot peeled and halved
• sea salt
• 500ml boiling water
• big handful freshly chopped mint
• 2 pomegranates
• Pomegranate molasses (optional)
• Handful of feta cheese cut into small cubes

And then you have to:

Preheat the oven to 140C / 300F. Do NOT do what I did once which was to heat the oven to 140F and then wondered five hours later why the lamb hadn’t cooked.

On the stove, brown the lamb, fat side down, in a large roasting tin or if you have one, a large casserole dish. Remove when browned a little, and set aside while you fry the vegetables briefly. Just tip them into the pan - you won't need to add any more fat - and cook them, sprinkled with salt, gently for a couple of minutes. Pour the water over and then replace the lamb. Let the liquid in the pan come to a bubble, then either cover tightly with foil or if in a casserole dish put the lid on. Put in the preheated oven.

Now just leave it there for about five hours. A little more, a little less makes no difference at all which is why it is a perfect stress free dish to make for a dinner party. Just take the lamb out of the oven about 30mins before you plan to serve it, leave it covered just sitting happily on the side.

Whilst the lamb is cooking wash and chop the fresh mint and put in a little bowl.

Slice the two pomegranates across the equator (if the ‘stalk’ ends are the two poles) and with one of the pomegranates holding the cut side over a large bowl squeeze hard to get as much juice as you can out of it. With the second pomegranate again holding the cut side over the large bowl start to tap it quite hard all over the skin with a wooden spoon. In a little while the beautiful little seeds will start raining down. Pull out any of the white pith that might have also fallen out and discard. If you do happen to have any pomegranate molasses lurking in the back of your cupboard add a couple of tablespoons to the mixture.

Cut the feta cheese into small little cubes.

To serve this dish I spread a pile of roquette leaves on a big flat platter. Take the lamb out and with a couple of forks pull the meat off the bone and into pieces. The meat will be very soft and will just fall apart.

Pile the lamb on top of the roquette leaves, spoon the pomegranate seeds and juice all over the lamb, then sprinkle with the chopped mint leaves and finally spread around the small cubes of feta.

And that is it, very simple, it looks great, and it is always a popular dish.

I usually serve this with a dish of small cubed roasted potatoes, a crisp green salad with a simple walnut oil vinaigrette. A salad of plum tomatoes and roasted peppers is also very nice.