Garden Alchemy :: Basa Potato Cakes with Sweet Pepper Sauce

Maybe it's because I was born and raised in the city, that I get stupidly excited when a shrivelled old potato that started to sprout angry purple roots in the vegetable rack can give me back a whole colander full; if I just dig a little hole, bury the potato and water it every so often...Don't you think it's amazing. Or is it just me?

Or that a green vine with cute curling tendrils and golden flowers would emerge when I planted the seeds, saved from a butternut squash that we'd eaten.  Even when the flowers dropped off and I had to take off some of the leaves and prop it up on Bababozorgs old walking stick and the sunflower stalk and follow wise advice from the lovely Jane, to give it a good talking to...Gently but firmly...And guess what...It produced more flowers and they are still in tact. There's even a cute little bulbous protrusion on one of them. MY FIRST SQUASH...Can you see it?

Yesterday the wind blew most of the leaves off the plum tree and wafted the scent of the sweet peas and the honeysuckle around the garden. It was mild and balmy and smelt like spring all over again. A robin landed on the fork handle and I heard what I thought was someone cutting branches with an electric saw to fill up their woodpile. The buzzing got louder and an enormous bumble bee buzzed by my ear. The robin lingered to keep me company. Or probably just waiting for fresh worms, whilst I weeded the vegetable plot and dug up the potatoes and found the squirrels treasure trove of cobnuts. I even sneaked a peek at the baby carrots...They are growing with the fruit bushes in another bed but I'll leave them in the nursery to get a little bigger. 

While digging I remembered the piece of garden that was mine when I was seven. How I planted a potato and maize seeds, watering them with a can that was almost as big as I was. I checked them every single day until I couldn't wait any longer and impatiently dug up those minuscule pearls. Washed them and put them into my tiny silver toy saucepan with the shiny red lid and begged granddad to let me cook them on the stove... It's still just as magical to me today...

This is how I used some of my lovley homegrown potatoes... 

Basa potato cakes with sweet pepper sauce

Ingredients to make two small or one large cake each for two people: 
( I made two small and one large)

• One basa or any other fish fillet. I like basa because it's creamy and milky in flavour, melts in your mouth and has few bones. Also because it's a not too fishy, fish that I feed Ahmad, who likes fish in theory, but not in practice.(About 120g for the two)
• Two large potato (about 360-400g) Basically about three times as much potato as fish.You will need a floury not waxy potato that mashes well. A good all rounder is Morris Piper.
• A little milk of any kind to poach the fish and then add to the potatoes
• Sea salt and black pepper
• A small piece of horseradish root
• A bay leaf
• Fresh herbs or leaves if you have any. I used chives, parsley, or spinach would be good too.
• A little flour of choice, I used chick pea (gram/garbanzo bean) flour

Optional for a crumb coating:

• Bread crumbs
• An egg

Method:

1. Peel the potatoes,and cut into small pieces. The smaller the better as they will cook quicker.
2. Place them in a saucepan. Cover them with cold water. Not too much, just enough to cover. Season and put them on the hob. 
3. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until tender enough to mash. 
4. Whilst the potatoes are cooking place the fish into a shallow pan if you have one. A small frying pan is perfect for this. Cover with a little milk, season and then poach the fish until tender. 
5. Alternatively, as I've done may like to cook the fish on a plate on top of the pan whilst the potatoes are cooking.
6. Drain the potatoes when cooked and place them into a bowl. 
7. Remove the cooked fish and reserve to cool down a little for later.
8. Mash the potatoes adding some of the milk (remembering to remove the bay leaf)and beat it really well so that there aren't any lumps. Don't make the mash too runny as it will be difficult to form the fish cakes. If it is too soft you can add a little of the flour to the mixture. 
9. Flake in the fish and roughly mix. Don't mash it up too much it's good to keep a little texture. Grate in a little of the horseradish root for heat.
10. Chop any herbs or chives and then add to the mixture. As all the ingredients are cooked you may like to check the seasoning and adjust if necessary. 
11. Divide the mixture into as many cakes as you want. I am sometimes a bit overgenerous with sizes. Form each one into a flat cake. Dust with a little flour then place on a plate lined with baking parchment. If making lots I would layer them up with paper in between each layer. Put in the fridge to chill for a little while before cooking.
12. If using crumbs. Prepare your crumbs. Beat the egg and pour onto a plate. Then dip the floured cakes into egg and then crumb mixture. Then chill
13. Finally pour a little oil into a frying pan and cook the cakes for a few minutes on each side until golden brown and crunchy. Leave on each side at least two minutes before turning as they will break up.

Sweet Pepper sauce. 

Ingredients:

• Four small or two medium sized peppers. About 200-220g. Choose red, yellow or orange peppers for a sweet sauce. Green ones are not as ripe and consequently not as sweet. They have a slightly bitter taste.
• Tomato puree
• One banana shallot
• Two cloves of garlic
• Sea salt and fresh black pepper
• A little oil of choice. I used olive oil

Method:

1. Peel the shallot and slice finely. Pour a little oil into a frying pan and cook until tender.
2. Peel and crush or finely chop the garlic, add to the pan and cook.
3. Wash, deseed and finely chop the peppers and add to the pan. Spoon in some tomato puree and cook until tender. You make like to add a little hot water or stock. If making to serve with the fish cakes, you could use a little of the potato water.
4. The sauce is ready when all the ingredients are soft and unctuous. You can blend it to a smooth sauce or keep it rustic as I did. 

This is a sweet sauce but you can soon pep it up with by adding either fresh or dried chillies when cooking. It works well with the crunchy fish cakes and other seasonal vegetables, and would be just as good with pasta. 

... I must look for that little pan...sure I saw it when we were unpacking...
dx

Fridge Forage Friday :: Sweet Potato, Caramelised Onion, Goat's Cheese and Thyme Tortilla

Sweet potatoes, like butternut squash are one of my all time favourite staple ingredients. Along with a little fridge and store cupboard foraging, and some herbs from the garden I can soon manage to  rustle up an easy lunch or supper, like this hearty tortilla.  

Sweet Potato, Caramelised Onion, Goat's Cheese and Thyme Tortilla

Ingredients for one medium sized tortilla/omelette :

• A medium sized sweet potato
• Two small or one medium sized red onions
• Olive oil 
• Balsamic vinegar
• Two fresh or roasted garlic cloves 
• Four large eggs or equivalent
• One small goats cheese or any salty/sour cheese. Blue veined cheese would also work well.
• A sprig or two of fresh thyme 
• Chilli flake (optional)
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method: 

1. Scrub the sweet potato well and place on a baking try in the centre of a moderate oven. Cook for about thirty or forty minutes or so, depending on the size of the potato; until it's still tender but firm enough to slice. Sweet potatoes contain more water then regular ones so cook much more quickly.
2. Whilst the potato is cooking pop a couple cloves of garlic on the tray leaving the outer papery skin and drizzle with olive oil, these will roast until soft and sweet.
3. Meanwhile, pour a little olive oil into a frying/omelette pan and add the sliced onions. Allow to cook slowly until soft and sweetly caramelised. Season with a little sea salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.
4. When the potato and garlic cloves are cooked, remove from the oven and set aside to cool for a few minutes. 
5. Squeeze the sweet paste from the cooked garlic cloves and pour in a few drops of balsamic vinegar and mix with the onions. Ensure that the onions cover the base of the pan evenly.
6. When the potatoes are cooled, carefully peel off the skin, slice and then pop on top of the onions. Season.
7. Slice or break up the cheese into small chunks.
8. Crack the eggs into a small bowl, season, add a sprinkle of chilli flakes and beat with a fork. Remove the leaves from the sprigs of thyme and add to the bowl.
9. Return the pan with the onions and potatoes to the heat adding a little more oil if necessary. When hot, pour the beaten eggs over the other ingredients. Allow the eggs to begin to set and then reduce the heat a little and place chunks of the cheese evenly on top to melt into the tortilla.
10. You may like to cover with a lid at this stage to ensure the top sets or if using an oven proof pan place in the oven or grill for a crunchy golden brown topping or you may prefer the cheese to be gooey and melting...it's up to you.
11. Leave to cool down a little and then cut into wedges and serve with salad.

This is s substantial omelette. The potato and onions are sweet and the balsamic vinegar helps to cut the sweetness. The goats or blue cheese give a welcome salty sourness. I served this with peppery wild rocket (arugula) leaves and a radish and red onion salad. The two finely sliced give a crisp freshness when seasoned and dressed with lemon juice and a little oil. I wouldn't use a honey or maple syrup based dressing as this dish has enough sweetness and benefits from the sharp balance of the lemon juice. 

cooks tip: Any time that you are using the oven for about an hour, pop in a little parcel of foil or baking parchment with a whole head of garlic. Once cooked the cloves become much more mellow than raw garlic and you can keep them in the fridge for a couple of weeks. They are amazing for all sorts of things, like to add to soups or stews, mashed parsnips or potatoes, with sandwich spreads or when warm from the oven to simply spread over crusty bread...yummy...

I'm joining Tracey today for a recipe swap...wan't to come too?

Borscht to "put the heart at ease."

"Soup puts the heart at ease, calms down the violence of hunger, eliminates the tension of the day, and awakens and refines the appetite." Escoffier

I've been dying to post these images ever since I discovered them on a blog that I read about here but can't for the life of me find it now. So sorry, I'm unable to give credit to the author, but I can thank Pip Lincolne who first introduced us to it. (I hope that makes sense) I think that they are originally from Italian Vogue with Russian inspiration, and as I made some Russian Borscht (Beetroot) soup today for the first time ever, thought they would be an appropriate and beautiful accompaniment to the post.

I think that like Marmite, beetroot is one of those 'love it' or 'hate it' foods...Me? I love it. I used to get teased for eating peanut butter and beetroot sandwiches all the time. The subject even came up with my dentist one day. He thought he should eat beetroot because it's good for him, but couldn't get over a childhood memory of eating some when camping with the Cubs and being mocked by the other boys because his beetroot stained lips looked as though he was wearing lipstick.

I looked at lots of Beetroot soup recipes and found Persian ones with meat in them, and Indian made with rice, Polish made with belly pork, and Sophie Dahl's version, which sounded interesting as it contained Vodka! Tempting as we were given a bottle for Christmas and it's still un-opened, but as it's for lunch and I have to go to work this afternoon...not a good idea...

But I wanted to make authentic Russian Borscht soup...well as near as damn-it. Something to warm the cockles of my heart and brighten up a very cold damp, grey winter day. Make me think of Dr. Zhivago, and a birthday supper at the The Russian Tea Rooms satisfying my craving for all things Russian...Imaginary things that is...

It seems not surprisingly that there isn't just one traditional Russian recipe, each family has their own. They all vary, and so this is my version which I made by roasting beetroots in olive oil with fresh thyme sprigs. Frying sliced red onion, pepper and courgette in olive oil until golden brown and caramelised. Cooking good potatoes in salted water and reserving the cooking liquor. Then combining all the ingredients, seasoning well and blending until they make a beautiful rich velvety soup that Escoffier would be proud of...mmm...

...Maybe Miss D's idea wasn't too shabby...the vodka might warm the cockles of my heart before I face the sleet forecast this afternoon...Now where did I put that bottle...

Memorable Meals - Mini Savoury Tarts.

 

 

A's brother paid us a surprise flying visit mid-week. He has a bit of a nomadic lifestyle that we all envy, dividing his time between Denmark, England and Iran. In his usual generous way he treated us to supper at his favourite place by the river. 

We caught up and ate, drank, talked and laughed as the sun went down over the Thames. I had an enormous, brie, pea and mint  wholemeal quiche with lovely little garlic roasted new potatoes and roasted vegetable salad with pesto dressing. H had chicken breast, glazed with a smoky chili jam cooked with chorizo and similar vegetables. Whilst the men had wild boar burgers, topped with free range eggs and served with beer chutney and enormous big chunky chips. Really substantial portions but it was so tasty that not even a crumb was left behind...

These are my dainty little quiches that I sometimes make. Inspired by the best smoked salmon tart bought from a cute artisan patisserie in the shadow of Notre Dame on the Ile de la cite, eaten from paper bags on a balmy Parisian summer evening. Mine was laced with tiny slivers of smoke salmon. I'd never had fish in a quiche before and it was delicious.


I used my recipe that I've written here only I now make slightly larger ones that are less fiddely to work with. You could make one large family sized one but Individual works well for us so that we can each choose our  favourite filling.

But what about you...do you have any favourite recipes inspired by memorable meals?