I saw a recipe the other day, well more of an idea than a recipe. I saw a picture, that was all and although I googled Duck with Figs, the only result was an article in The Telegraph. (UK). I have a newspaper subscription but not that one and no matter how I tried I couldn’t find the recipe. So it had to be invention! Actually the invention became very easy. I had the duck breasts, I had the figs. And bizarrely I also had fig jam, which I would use when making my sauce. My fig jam was actually homemade, probably made during one of our lockdowns, when himself really got into Jam making! Unfortunately since then he has hardly eaten toast and jam, so now we have a bit of a glut, both here and in our house in France! Maybe we need to set up a stand at our farmers market?

I have used my Sous Vide contraption in the past for a simple precooking, but this time round I decided to forgo the Sous Vide option, ( maybe I was just being too lazy)! I had two plump duck breasts, which I defrosted and then patted dry with kitchen paper. Then I sprinkled the fatty side liberally with ground black pepper. Heated a cast iron griddle, until it was really hot and put the duck fat side down to sear and to really cook the fat, pressing the breasts down. This did result with the extractor working overtime, but it is important to get this fat reduced, nothing worse than having horrible soft fat.

When the fat side was really done and crisp, I removed them from the pan and let them rest a while on a plate, but in the meantime I made a sauce. This was very simple and almost cheating. Into a clean saucepan, I put a couple of tablespoons of fig jam, then added a good swish of port, and a dash or two of some cassis. Heated the mixture slowly on the stove top, stirring to marry the ingredients together. When well amalgamated, put to one side until ready to serve.

I served my duck breast with some green beans with almonds and as always I cook them in the microwave, beans for two only takes about 3 minutes on high. Microwave cooking is in fact the cheapest way of cooking but not only that, things like vegetables do not lose any of their nutrients in the cooking water ( there is none). I have memories of my mother or aunt cooking cabbage for what seemed like forever, until it was limp and plaid, but gone are those days, thank goodness.

Once I was ready, I popped my duck breast back onto the griddle, this time skin side up, and cooked for about 5 minutes for the meat to heat through, again, I left them to rest on a plate with some kitchen paper, whilst I cooked the beans.and reheated the sauce.

Figs are very much in season in the UK, and are readily available at my local Middle Eastern stores.

Yesterday I was forced into Culling some of my books! There were just too many on the shelf, it was untidy, but that was not the problem. Several years ago, a visitor commented “ the shelf is bending he said” Himself replied, “ Glass does not Bend” and nor does it, but of course it can break. As I removed a book from the shelf, it wobbled! And the above thought went through my mind. I quickly removed all the books on that particular shelf and found that the glass had indeed moved. It had somehow slid out , or almost out of its brackets!

Himself, quickly came to the rescue, but it involved in removing all of the books and inspection of all of the shelves, fixing them as needed and then the obvious, cleaned them all and sorted out books. There were indeed some which would decamp to France and others , that had never been used , or were just too boring to keep, and still others that had sentimental value, such as a pretty useless book on the cuisine of Belgium !

Dinner was scheduled around the Rugby World Cup , after the England Fiji game and before the French South Africa game. Fortunately I had decided to have the Alternative sole, Megrim, which I had defrosted earlier. My intention was to make Sole Meunière with brown shrimps, which I think was often called Sole Ostendaise, in Belgium. The little brown shrimps, which are required are readily available there, even in the local supermarkets, but here in the UK , more difficult and more expensive. We had been to the local farmers market, where they had wonderful Halibut, which at £40 a go, a tad expensive for 2 people, but sadly no brown shrimp. So Sole in beurre noisette it had to be.

For some unknown reason, many people are afraid of cooking fish, and I have one friend who actually finds fish abhorrent, but then she also doesn’t like the Sicilian specialty of stewed donkey ( can’t say I blame her for that one though!) And yet another, who always soaks fish in milk before cooking, must be something that her mother / grandmother did!

So this has become FISH WEEK, from (Poor-mans) Dover Sole, to Hake ( an alternative to cod) and skate, or what it really is a form of Sting Ray. Whilst living in the US, I found that Americans or Texans at least didn’t eat what I call Skate, which they call Ray. In fact they told me, that if they caught it whilst out fishing, it is just thrown back. To be honest, the fish itself is big and can be huge and a only the wings are eaten.I cook both the sole and the Skate/Ray the same way, lightly dusted in flour, sautéed in hot, unsalted butter with the fish being doused by the spoonful of hot butter, carefully turned and the hot butter doused over again. Remove the fish, put onto a warm plate, turn up the heat so that the butter begins to turn brown! Be very careful not to burn the butter.

Spoon the brown butter ( Beurre Noisette) over th fish, garnish with a slice of lemon., Along with vegetables and salad of your choice.

So, we also had Hake, which I cooked exactly the same way as above but this time served it on a bed of curried chickpeas. Not a huge fan of chickpeas, although I do like Hummus. I used a jar of chickpeas rather than dried which require soaking!

For two people:-

• Extra virgin olive oil , a tablespoon will suffice
• 1 tin of cooked chickpeas, drained & rinsed
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 thumbnail sized piece of ginger, grated
• 1 red or green chilli seeded, finely chopped
• 1tsp cumin seeds 
• 2tsp cumin powder
• 1teaspoon curry powder
• 1tbsp smoked paprika 
• Squirt of tomato purée or a teaspoonful
• Cup of water
• A large knob of butter 1-2 ounces
• 1 bunch coriander, chopped (you can use parsley if preferred) 

Sauté the onions , garlic, chillies and ginger in the olive oil with the cumin seeds,powder-and curry powder. Do not let the onions brown, just cooked.Add the drained chickpeas, tomato purée and paprika, cook for a couple of minutes and then add enough water to cover the chickpeas, simmer gently for about 5 minutes.

Pat dry the fish, heat the butter until it is sizzling. Pop in the fish and cook for about 5 minutes spooning over the hot butter from time to time. Carefully turn the fish over to give some colour to the second side, again spoon over the butter.

Spoon the chickpeas between 2 plates and top with the seared fish . Garnish with some of the oil from the chickpeas , some parsley, coriander or as I did a few rocket leaves.

As we all know fish is good for you ! Here in our London Tower we do eat a lot of fish, all sorts , but one I do not like is mackerel! Smoked is fine ( as is smoked salmon) to make a very quick pâté. But as a run of the mill, not for me! But being the super wife that I am, I cook it from time to time for himself.

During the pandemic and our various lockdowns, I bought fish online from either Chapmans Fish based in Kent, and ISH Fish. I actually fell in love with both of them and bought from them regularly. Very sad news though, no longer do they deliver to small fish like me! Well Chapmans do, but no longer do the have RYE BAY, Scallops or Skate but ISH FISh certainly do not, only to the big boys! Therefore I am forced to find new sources, and this ranges from supermarkets, our local ‘Wet’ fish shop, online Wright Brothers, Berwick shellfish to name just a few.

One new fish that I found, and himself has given it his nod of approval! Is Cornish Megrim. Never heard of it? Neither had I ! But it looks like Sole ( eyes on its flattened head), cooks like sole ( maybe not so refined) and is a fraction of the price of sole and is much better than lemon sole or plaice , both in texture and price.

As you can see they do look alike except of the spots! Look out for it, before the price starts to rise. Remember , Monkfish used to be as cheap as chips, and was used as a fake in Scampi and chips, not anymore as it is now expensive!

Another fish that I loved during the lockdowns, Chalk Stream Trout ! Not anymore! I would buy 6 or 12 of a one person size, and grill them on the BBQ, but now they only sell large ones, enough for 6-8 people!

But back to Mackerel, we had unexpected guests the other night, great to see them, as they live in Belgium ( where we lived for 13 years), so have know them for 40 years ! And the boys still ski together ! Hence it was a delight for them to visit, but some quick thinking was required. Nibbles? All too easy to go for chips and dips! Wandering around my local store, I espied smoked mackerel. What could be easier ! Actually not a lot. It can be called Pâté or maybe even better Rillets, but whichever you choose is fine.

I used smoked mackerel, but smoked salmon ( slices or odd ends), hot smoked salmon or smoked trout will also work.

Discard the skin from the fish, flake it, put into a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of crème fraiche or sour cream and a squeeze of lemon juice. I then blend them altogether using a handheld blender, but of course, a food processor or, liquidiser , or a simple fork will also do the job. If using a fork, the end result will be a little coarser, whereas the finer the pâté, means that for a refined finish, it may be piped onto crackers . Optional extras ( not for piping) included finely chopped dill, finely chopped spring onions or cornichons?

Moving on from smoked mackerel, I do have some trout in the freezer. No longer from the chalk stream but from my local fishmonger. Another thing that himself loves is spinach and I’m always looking for alternative ways to cook it. The latest incarnation is what I all Spanish Spinach, though for some reason, I think it originated from Catalunya.

Quantities vary according to how much you need, but spinach here in the UK is usually sold in bags weighing between 200 grams and 400 grams. It can also be bought as baby spinach and ready washed spinach.

Wash your spinach leaves if necessary and spin dry or drain on a tra towel. You do not want wet spinach. Sauté in a wok or large flat frying pan, a chopped onion or shallots until soft but not brown, in some olive oil. Add a clove or two of minced garlic along with a handful of pine nuts, ( raisins and or chopped dried dates) continuing to sauté whilst the nuts turn golden. Add the spinach, continue to sauté, turning the spinach over from the bottom of the pan, but not stirring! Remember SAUTÉ means to jump, whereas to stir is remuer! When the spinach has wilted, it is ready to serve at once!

What I did was to grill my trout fillets ( they don’t take long) at more or less the same time as cooking the spinach dish, so that both were ready at the same time.

This very simple dinner, satisfies not only hunger, but aesthetically pretty and is a very healthy, dinner. At least Himself is happy!