Getting around a fiver's worth of delicious ham on the bone for under two quid.

I love cooked ham on the bone but cannot justify buying the fresh cut or pre-packaged item from a deli. The other day I was in the local butchers and he had ham hocks on sale for only £1.98. So, for the first time I learnt how to cook one of these wonders and found it very very easy. Big pan. Put the uncooked ham hock into some cold water for fifteen minutes to release some of the excess salt. Drain and pop into the deep pan with loads of water and a few bay leaves. Bring to the boil, then leave simmering with the lid on for two hours. Eat it hot if you want but I feel it is best if left until the meat is cold and left overnight in the fridge to chill. This I did and had two utterly yummy ham and tomato baguettes the next day with loads left to nibble on or mix in with some pesto and pasta. Hmmm! All that delicious meat for under £2.00! Heaven!


raw ham hock

Cooked ham and tomato baguette



cooked ham hock slightly sliced

 

Coffee at Delilah in Nottingham

It was pouring down with rain in Nottingham city centre and I decided to pop into Delilah the deli that's grown enormously and more glamorously since its move from the previous premises near to the tatty Broadmarsh Shopping centre.. This was the first time I'd been in the former bank premises to purchase anything. It may have been raining out on the street but sitting by the window with my steaming cup of coffee I felt like I was in another country. A lovely relaxing experience. Food from Delilah can also be ordered online at http://www.delilahfinefoods.co.uk/.

Do visit their deli if you are ever in the heart of Nottingham. This is a place that will become a firm favourite on any food lovers list of places to visit.

Cornish sardine pate

Things are only really supposed to be stored in the domestic freezer for three months so I rescued some Cornish sardines to make, for the first time, some sardine pate. There were half a dozen filleted sardines and a similar amount as whole gutted fish all of which I defrosted then filleted the rest. Sardines are very delicate oily fish so care in handling is paramount.

There was no need to remove all the small bones as they get blitzed in the food processor. I gave all the filleted fish a gentle wash under the cold tap and arranged them in a large oven proof dish and added a small amount of light olive oil. This went into a pre-heated oven (Gas mark six - 150 degrees) for forty five minutes and then I put the cooked fish into a colander to drain and cool.

 

The cooked sardines.

 

The original recipe called for coriander. I had none nor the opportunity to buy any (shops shut due to Bank holiday) so I just left it out and added 75g of unsalted butter and the juice of four lemons and two limes. I blitzed the whole lot in the food processor and spooned the mix into two dishes and put them into the fridge for four hours. The mix seemed quite sloppy when I spooned it into the dishes and I was worried that I would end up with cold sardine soup. However the pate came out of the fridge in a perfect state and feeling that I would never eat two dishes I gave one to my neighbours to try. They loved it!

 

 

The dishes are about six inches in length.

 

A fishy tale from a supermarket near you.

For common sense sake I am averse to mentioning a specific supermarket name but want to amuse you lovely readers by recounting and exaggerating upon an incident from last Saturday at the  supermarché.

In the past the fishmonger's department and the meat department were occasionally visited by a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall  lookalike with his very young, floppy haired, son, Zachery.  They are terribly posh and Daddy speaks to the nine year old son like he is part of a children's TV programme on the television. He ... spells... out... every... word... slowly... as ...if ... the child... is thick or addicted to patronising TV,

Apparently, I am a valued and under paid cast member of the proverbial Kiddy Cookery show. Either I am called Mr Butcher or Mr Fishman and perform the tasks to be narrated in real time and in a tone stickier than the stickiest of a gloriously sticky syrup. The very young son of the false  HFW is called Zachery but I know his real name and I ain't letting on. Daddy HFW is very patronising but doesn't seem to realise it.

Example: "Now Zackery, watch the nice Mr Fishman. He is going to prepare our fish. Look he is getting out his ... very sharp knife... and is taking off ... the fishy head and tail. See. Now he is going to take out the fish's yucky tummy. Watch the deft way he slides the sharp knife along from the fish's bottom hole to its gills. I know, Zackery, one wants to disgorge one's own tummy contents on to the supermarché floor, n'est pas? Be brave now."

"Now Zachery, watch and see how Mr Fishman pulls the decidedly yucky tummy out of the dead fish and snips out the purple gills with his very special  extra sharp scissors. He's very clever isn't he? Zachery? Are you alright Zachers?

Zachery is going a demure OAP grey around his own gills.

"The master has  to do this so we can eat our fish without guilt or piscatorial acknowledgement  Zachery. We wouldn't like to think that we were actually eating Nemo, Jaws or a piece of cod, would we Zachery? Be brave son."

"What's that nasty word we learnt today Zachery? Barbaric? That's right. Mr Fishman may seem nice and friendly under his goatee beard and white coat but really he is barbaric. Barbaric Zachery, that means ...  a ... necessary... vicious... commoner.  Commoner Zachery? Oh la la. I couldn't possibly say. Perhaps Mummy will explain later."

"Do you think that Mummy's list suggested we should go to the safe pre-packed isle Zachery? That's a terrible shame because we do so like to witness the brutish skills of the under-paid proletariat, don't we Zachery?" "That's why we like patronising the supermarché."

"What does 'patronising' mean daddy?"

"Stop asking questions Zachery. Mummy will explain what 'patronising' means. Oh alright, it has to do with daddy and his opinions. Daddy is the patron and he is 'ising. Like the 'ising on a cake. That's right. His words are very special and sugary like marzipan."

"Let's go now and speak to Mr Butcher who can tell us all about slaughtering large farm animals and about meaty things in ye olden days and about the demise of his own family business when the convenient supermarkets arrived. That's ancient history in action, Zachery. Like Horrible Histories with extra guts and gore."

"Oh look Zachery, mummy is here now in the car park in her armoured four by four. Have you got the important list mummy gave us?"

"Yes but daddy, why haven't the supermarket got stuffed quail with freshly picked and subtly sniffed Mediterranean apricots and organic cashew nuts with hand picked prime seaweed from private and inconceivably remote Cornish coves?"

"Oh Zachery!! Eat your specially prepared fish!!"

Livering it up this Spring.

Still trying to watch the pennies I decided to make an old favourite the other day - lambs liver and onions in a tomato sauce with mashed potatoes. I made a decent amount, cooked it like a tomato stew with fried liver and used two cans of chopped tomatoes and a bottle of pasta sauce I happened to have in the cupboard. That's it. I left the stew to cook through for about 45 minutes on a medium heat whilst the potatoes were boiling for the mash. Dead simple and very tasty.

The days are starting to get a bit cheerier and warmer now and I actually had the back door open whilst I was cooking the gardens are looking like things are about to bloom. I noticed that the shoots on my lavender plants are coming through too.

 

Next door and the lovely rose bush.

 

My lavender garden and a few weeds.

Rick Stein's book - My Kitchen Table - 100 Fish and Seafood Recipes.

My Kitchen Table   is a new collection of high-quality cookery books featuring mouth-watering recipes from the nation’s favourite chefs - Ainsley Harriott, Annabel Karmel, Antonio Carluccio, Gizzi Erskine, Ken Hom, Madhur Jaffrey, Mary Berry, Raymond Blanc, Rick Stein, Rosemary Conley and Sophie Grigson. I found out about this super series by accident and feel compelled to spread the word. Phil.

I have just purchased the Rick Stein edition and I love it. This is Rick's 100 Fish and Seafood recipes, from simple suppers to pasta and rice dishes to ' food for friends' all complied from the best recipes from his publications, Rick Stein's Seafood (2001), French Odyssey (2005), Mediterranean Escapes (2007) Coast to Coast (2008) and Far EasternOdyssey (2009).

I'm not going to list all one hundred of the recipes but to highlight those that I feel are inspiring to me and therefore those that I may well try to cook and enjoy. My images in this blog are random and an effort to illustrate my excitement over this compilation. I think that I may well purchase Raymond Blanc's version and the baking book by Mary Berry if this book is anything to go by. The price was excellent by the way; just a fiver and no postage added! Feel free to use this link if you fancy ordering a copy for yourself. The link in red at the top of the page will get you to all the titles on Amazon.


                                                                           


Rick's book covers: Soup and Starters, Light Bites and Lunches, Rice, Pasta and Noodles, Simple Suppers, Food For Friends.

From the Soups and Starters I particularly liked the look and the relative low cost of producing the dishes of:

• Sardines stuffed with pine nuts, currants, capers, parsley and orange zest.

• Crab and sweetcorn soup.

• Spiced octopus salad with parsley.

• Seafood tempura

• Squid fried in olive oil with smoked pimentón and garlic mayonnaise.

• Razor clams a la plancha

• Oysters with sauce mignonette

 

From the Light Bites and Lunches section I fancied making the:

• Gravlax (Dill cured salmon).

• Devilled mackerel with mint and tomato salad.

• Eggs Benedict with smoked haddock.

• Japanese fish cakes with ginger and spring onions.

• Crab with rocket, basil and lemon olive oil.

• Sashimi of salmon, tuna, sea bass and scallops.

• Warm mussel and potato salad with pistou.

• Seared scallops with lentils and a tomato and Herbes de Provence dressing.

 

My selection from the Rice, Pasta and Noodles dishes is:

• Crab Linguine with parsley and chilli.

• Seafood lasagne.

• Mussels in Pilau rice with a coconut, cucumber and tomato relish.

• Nasi Goreng with mackerel.

• Roasted sea bass with Pastis and an Arborio rice risotto.

• Provençal fish pasta with fennel seeds, anchovies, tomatoes and olive oil.

• Fish pie

• Seafood couscous.

• Tortilla of salt cod and sweet onions and potatoes.

 

From the Simple Suppers section I really liked the look and sound of:

• Moules Marinieres with cream, garlic and parsley.

• Coconut chilli prawns with cumin puris.

• Portuguese barbecued sardines with piri-piri oil.

• Monkfish with saffron and roasted red pepper dressing.

                                                                      My food DVDs

From Food For Friends I would relish making any of the recipes below:

• Grilled cod with aioli and butter beans.

• Grilled scallops with a pumpkin seed, Serrano chilli and coriander sauce.

• Baked sea bass with roasted red peppers, tomatoes, anchovies and potatoes.

• Fillets of John Dory with capers, olives and rosemary.

I can almost smell the lovely fresh fish cooking on the grill with additional tantalising aromas of garlic and chilli and smoked pimentón. As Rick often says “Delish!”

Rack of lamb for supper or lamb lollipops

This is the easiest and most tasty thing you can make for dinner, lunch or supper. A rack of lamb roasted in olive oil with a sprig of fresh rosemary to taste. A rack of lamb will normally do two people or one hungry hog like me.

The cooking takes about fifty minutes dependent on how bloody you like your lamb. I cook with gas so gas mark six is fine. I guess with an electric oven you are looking at 160 degrees.

Obviously you can have whatever you want with this cut of lamb but sometimes I just like to cook one for supper (especially if I have managed to get one cheap from reductions at work). They normally cost about £7 at the time of writing but keep your eye out for cheaper sheep in your supermarkets' reduction bay or the meat counter's special offers.

For the first half hour of cooking I cover the dish in silver foil and then baste the lamb, removing the foil for the final part of the cooking process. You will find that the lamb has swollen during cooking and the aroma as it comes out of the oven is delish. Let it rest for five minutes before eating though.

lamb lollipops? yummy!