Monday 2 August 2010

Feeling Good About Fish


A leafy London street, lined with Victorian buildings hosts a fish wonder I’d never tried, until now. On Friday, instead of me eating fish, they ate me. Hundreds of little fish, known as Garra Rufa sampling my tootsies, endlessly hungry it seemed. The venue, Aqua Sheko, was a soothing hubbub of fish joy, the relaxing ambiance was a delight. Calm brings calm, and the kind lady who welcomed us had a warmth that is unmistakeable in busy London.

I’ve often said, the way we treat ourselves says a lot about our state of mind, and our capacity for self-love. I’ve read countless times; that how we see others is similar to holding a mirror up to ourselves. The more I reflect on this, the clearer it becomes, literally. We all know eating fish is good for us, who’d of thought them eating us would be too!

Cooking for me is a pure experience, no fuss is necessary, unless invited and the results are simple, rewarding and tasty, hopefully.

I love to look at fish. 









































 I love to eat fish.






















I sometimes dream of fish.































I love that eating fish is healthy and have now discovered that I am happy for them to eat me too! However, no sharks are welcome.

Salty sea air builds great appetites. On a recent trip to Devon we went sailing on a friends boat, I saw this boat below and thought how homely it looked. This new recipe has a delicious cooking aroma, and chorizo fans will have a field day, I serve it with char-grilled courgettes and artichokes, it would work well with fennel too. Welcome home the lovely sailors in your life with this simple fish dinner. Ahoy me hearties!  





Happy Haddock with chorizo
SERVES 2
haddock loins, 2                                  
lemon, 1
olive oil, 1 tablespoons
chorizo sausage, 70g roughly chopped on a diagonal                                                                                     
red onion 1 small chopped                                                                                                                     
capers, rinsed 1 tbsp                                                                                                                                        
knob of butter 25g                                                                                                                                    
flat leaf parsley, 1 small bunch                                                                                                                              
HEAT oil in a pan and cook chorizo, red onion and capers for a few minutes.
ADD a generous scratch of black pepper and knob of butter.
SEAR the loins for 3 minutes on either side in the same pan, leave to rest for a couple of minutes.
SQUEEZE over lemon juice.
SERVE haddock topped with the capers and chorizo on a bed of Machengo mash.
SCATTER over flat leaf parsley. 

Saffron Machengo mash

The humble spud is given a golden glow, blushing with flavour.

SERVES 2
Maris pipers,
6 medium peeled and cut in quarters
crème fraiche, 100ml
saffron ½ tsp
Machengo cheese, 100g grated                                                                                                                                  
knob of butter 25g
seasoning

BOIL Maris pipers for 15 minutes in salty water.
GENTLY heat crème fraiche to simmering point.
GRIND saffron in pestle and mortar and stir in creme fraiche.
MASH potatoes and spoon in the luscious golden creamy saffron sunshine.
SPRINKLE over cheese and add knob of butter.
MASH once again and keep warm until ready to serve.

4 comments:

  1. Excellent this will be our dinner tomorrow. David and I have a new "rule" Friday night will be our "stay in and cook together night" as we don't see much of each other during the week- not really sure how long this new rule is gonna last, till we revert back to the usual meet down the pub, but hey, here goes! We'll start it off with this lovely Haddock dish, one of my fav's and David loves chorizo and capers so he'll be happy!! Let's just hope he come's home and doesn't slip off down the pub!! Will let you know if I end up cooking alone or in the company of the lovely David.;-) Speak soon Angxxx

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  2. What a lovely idea! Great to hear that. Cooking for the one you love is tonic for any relationship. I think your new "rule" is inspired and one we should all do. Let me know how it goes. Make sure you get the Machengo cheese, it's delicious, they definitely sell it in Waitrose. FFX

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  3. Sinead this looks very Mediterranean with all the chorizo and olive oil. Can't wait to try this one out. Hope you're having a wonderful time in Ireland.

    Love John

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  4. Well Sinead the "new Friday rule" didn't go as planned!! As I suspected David did sneak off down the pub! So that's the end of me making up any more rules! What will be will be!! Just don't reply on men!!lol But I did come out smiling, as David made yr lovely haddock on Saturday as a peace offering, and to be honest one mouthful of yr tasty food and all was forgiven! DE-LICIOUS!!! We both loved it!! We'll be cooking this one again for sure! Loved the Machengo cheese never had that one before, really tasty in the mash especially with the capers, yum yum!! Looking forward to more great recipes, Enjoy yr hols!! xxxx

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