Scouring my various bits of information on food, it was interesting to read that food has not been wasted during this time of Lockdown.

Many, many people have taken the initiative and started dealing on line, Ish for Fish and the Greens family at Covent Garden to mention just two. Many others have also been very enterprising , the gin distillers, some have diverted their resources to make hand sanitizers themselves whilst others are supplying the alcohol. Some students are using the space at Latymer school in London to make plastic masks and are making 10,000 a day, and Formula One with McLaren making ventilators and I heard a fun quote from the guys on the trolley assemble line, “Well we are used to putting 4 wheels on cars, these are things with four wheels ( apparently and I didn’t know this, ventilators need trolleys as well ).

Another bit of information that came to light and I know for example that the RAC Club in Epsom as soon as it was shut down, donated all its food ( from the three restaurants and hotel) to Epsom hospital. So it made me think, what has happened to all the rest.

Here is the answer, a Charity called City Harvest was flooded with donations. A tonne of chicken from Nando’s, salmon from Wasabi, steaks from Hawksmoor and so forth. They were so inundated with food that they needed extra volunteers to help out and they served an extra 225,000 meals to the needy.

So if you are looking for a way to give time or money or food then go to cityharvest.org.uk

Today’s project or shall I call it dinner, is yet more fish. Just as well we like fish, fish is quick to cook and is nutritious as well, and generally the clean up is easy.

Roasted salmon with a Chorizo crust. This is adapted from a recipe for white fish. It only takes less than 30 minutes overall.

For Two People:-

1. 100 grams plus of cooking chorizo
2. 2 slices of firm white bread like sourdough.
3. 2-3 cloves garlic, smushed
4. 2 pieces of salmon,

With a food processor running, drop in the chorizo the bread and the garlic. If it doesn’t come together drizzle in a a small amount of olive oil.

Then there is a choice.

Option one cook the fish on the stove top by heating a small amount of oil in an oven proof frying pan and when the oil is hot, add the fish skin side down.Keep an eye on it and when the top of the fish is beginning to turn opaque, remove from heat , press onto the top side of the fish as much of the chorizo mixture that you can and then place under a hot grill, to cook and drips this mixture.

Option two, remove the skin from the fish,place on a lightly oiled baking tray, press onto the fish some of the chorizo mixture and place in the oven, middle shelf under the grill, for about 15 minutes.

I prefer the first method as I do like the skin on my fish to be crispy but option two has no skin. But either works

Serve with some grilled asparagus and a salad and maybe the potato gnocchi that you have in the freezer !

Having eaten this last night, my advise is add maybe more garlic and some chilli flakes, some hot sauce or chipotle mix. I would prefer the mixture more spicy than it looks. The amounts for the mixture, probably made twice as much as needed, but pop the rest in a bag and freeze for next time !

Today was the cleaning day, we both became Les Femmes de Ménage, well me the Femme and Himself as Homme de Ménage! He is far more efficient than myself, more staying power, but maybe I get to the nitty gritty, but then get bored with it all! Still, done, time to move on!

Today was really chilly, but the sun shone and Himself had a great walking partner as somehow he met up with willowy brunette and the walked ( KSD, no hugs or kisses) but they walked and talked, which was great for both of them.

I had the luxury of not one but two deliveries of Foodie Magazines arrive today. The first had a couple of ideas but the second was pretty useless. I have seen articles online of the latest fashions, and wonder how the journalists summon up the enthusiasm for writing these articles, when no one is going out, let alone shop, and consequently food writers must be scratching their heads and wondering about what to write.

Me, eight weeks in, there are still many things I want to try out and my willing Guinea Pig is happy to comply.

Tonight’s dinner, is a Kedgeree, but one with a difference. Made with Kippers, I was dubious at first, Kippers can be fairly strong tasting, but then so can smoked fish, normally Haddock. Himself really likes Kippers but has them normally has them for breakfast, with or with out a poached egg! However, oftentimes will then declare, oh they were great but the after taste!

Making this kedgeree was really fast and very easy. And the end result? An A star!

I had in the freezer a pair of Kippers from Ish Fish of course. So for about +/- 3 servings

1. a packet of boned Kippers, they usually come in vacuum packs
2. Some olive oil, maybe a couple of tbs
3. 1 medium onion chopped
4. About2 cups frozen peas
5. 3 cloves garlic, smushed
6. About 1 cup or +/- 200 grams basmati rice, cooked as per normal
7. 2 hard boiled eggs cut into 1/4’s
8. Handful of chopped fresh coriander

Then spices a mixture of 1 tsp of each , curry powder, ground coriander, ground cumin, Garam Masala, and some salt and pepper to taste. You can adjust the spices to your liking.

Heat the grill, put the Kippers on a baking tray skin side down and grill for about 5 mins. Remove from grip and remove the skin from the Kippers and discard. Flake the fish into large chunks.

Heat the oil and sauté the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent, add all of the spices and the coriander. Cook the frozen pease, save the water.

Add the peas and the spinach to the pan along with a dash of water to make a good soft consistency. Add the cooked rice, stir well to mix and then add the Kippers and stir Carefully, so as not to make a MUSH, place in a serving oven proof dish, place in a warm oven to make sure all is warm before serving. Serve decorated with the eggs.

If you want to be decadent, instead of adding the water I added cream ( about 1/2 cup) . I also used Ghee and not oil, although I use a ton of oil I’ve oil in cooking, I prefer Ghee when cooking Indian, Sesame oil for Asian and Hazelnut oil or Avocado oil of salad dressings.

This dish is high in Omega 3.

Here we go again! Another day, another week and our indomitable leader has said for so many of us, STAY HOME, except we can go out multiple times. Apparently there is a famous Thai saying, “Same, Same but Different !

Where has today gone? Again not sure but by passed us it has. Breakfast, Times Crossword, but no time for Jigsaw, Bridge , then internet problems, then researching scrub hats, masks, patterns and fabric. Sunday? Oh Sunday, cocktail party out on the terraces, it is Freezing, so cocktail hour was foreshortened, too bad it is a fun time. So dinner drew the short straw again, seems to be the new Norm, because next Yes Story Time.Not that we / Himself would forgo Story Time, how much longer will the eldest 12 going on 13 be interested in such delights? Surely not, just to please his grandfather?

 

Precious Times and Time is floating away.

However much Tempus Fugit, we are where we are and the body and soul still need to be fed. So it was another Recycled dinner for Himself and another salad dinner for myself. But I did decide to make a dessert, Clafoutis, Wonderful clafoutis. The very first time we ate Clafoutis was when we lived in Texas and an au pair arrived from Belgium, where we had lived previously. She arrived bearing a gift of her family’s recipes and in it was the recipe for Clafoutis.

The recipe actually calls for Plums or Cherries, of which I had neither,  but I did have Rhubarb, from my vegetable/fruit delivery of last week. I also have found a recipe for a savoury version using Chard. When going to French markets there is always an abundance of Chard, or Beet. Basically the leaves of various forms of Beetroot as well as Cardoons, the French seem to love them, I tried  cooking them just the once and it was a big mistake.

So here once again is a recipe for the dessert kind of Clafoutis

1. a bunch of young ( preferably) rhubarb cut into approx 1″ chunks
2. 250 grams full fat cream cheese ( Philadelphia or generic will do, at room temperature
3. 125 mls double cream
4. 3eggs
5. 8 oz plain flour
6. Here you can add some kirsch or other liquor but not necessary.
7. 90 grams unsalted butter at room temperature

Butter a dish, pie type dish or a soufflé dish will work, put all of the ingredients except the rhubarb into a food processor and beat until well mixed.

Put half of the batter into the bottom of the dish, add the fruit, in an even layer, then add the remainder of the batter. Bake at 440 F 205 C for about 35 mins ( sightly lower if using a fan oven 190C) It should be just set and a light golden brown. Allow to cool somewhat before serving. Serve tepid with some powdered ( icing sugar) sprinkled on top and for those being extra indulgent, some cream or ice cream.

Maybe I will try making the savoury version next time.

A little behind schedule today, not sure where the time goes in Lockdown, but it certainly goes, especially when printers and internet decide not to function.

Harking back to Friday, May 8th, a lovely sunny day celebrating VE DAY, 75 years since the end of World War Two. My neighbours decorated the terraces and we stood in the sunshine, having a drink singing along to Vera Lynn, well as much as one can do, across the void.

Yesterday, in the kitchen, it was my day off, but Himself had plans. Whilst on an Urban Walk, he happened to come across Selfridges, Food Hall, which has just reopened, unfortunately  they were out of Oysters, but he came home bearing gifts, Giant prawns and Charbonnel and Walker Champagne truffles. Yummy indeed.

Consequently he cheated on his cook day just a tad, as he himself had recycled  dinner , namely Laal Maas , the Rajasthani fiery Lamb dish from a couple of weeks ago. But, nevertheless, I had wonderful grilled prawns with a spicy seafood sauce, which he has now added to his repertoire. Which reminds me, out of my three children, the only one who showed interest in cooking was my son, and so I made a recipe book just for him, of all the things that he cooked, I hope he still has it somewhere, maybe I should start one for Himself, now that he has graduated to the Kitchen?

For my Spicy Seafood Sauce, you will need ( it makes about 2 cups, but we cut the quantity in half)

• 3/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 tbsp chilli sauce ( ie Tabasco)
• 2 crushed cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp horseradish sauce
• juice of a lemon
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

Simply, put all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix well together. Refrigerate until ready to use.

 

Great with hot or cold shellfish, and as a spicy dip. If too spicy for you cut down on the chilli sauce or add more Mayo.

Friday night is travel night and for the first time during Lockdown, all four branches of the family took part. First up  were the country folks, and they went Ski-ing and it looks like young Amelia, is a born natural, she should follow in her Dads footsteps. ( Baby Molly did not take part )!

They were quickly followed by the W2, contingent, who relived her 10 Km River Dart Swim in Devon, by installing herself in her shower !

She was followed by the North London Lot, who held an online Poll as to where they should visit next, and it was Japan, that won, again great effort from them.With Ninjas and the Harajuku  Girl. The kids also made Sushi !!

And as for us, we went to Nashville, Tennessee.

So Himself became Johnny Cash and I became June Carter Cash. In researching  Tennessee for food options I came across a bit of a stumbling block, as there is actually nothing on the list that I would relish eating.

Number one on the list is Meat and three, the three refers to three SIDES from a list of daily specials ( the word daily specials fills me with dread). Umm? Next is Fried Pickles, one to be given a miss and so onto number three, Fried Catfish, now here is a maybe, as I like Catfish. The fourth is Biscuits and Gravy, biscuits being a bit like scones, and served with a white gravy, definitely not one for me and of course Fried Chicken, ( notice theme here …. FRIED)!

Next comes Mac n Cheese!!! Oh No ! and don’t forget Grits, watch “My Cousin Vinny” the movie to learn about Grits. Then, other delights are Hushpuppies, no not the Old Man shoes but Food, they are small, savoury, deep-fried round balls made from a cornmeal-based batter usually served with some other deep fried food. Then, of course nachos and hot dogs, the list goes on. So I settled on Fish with sweet potato fries ( oven baked) as my substitute for my southern inspired dinner to be eaten at a diner of course.

No recipes needed.!!

But already planning next Friday !

Not a lot has happened today, apart from preparing ourselves for our virtual travel day. However I did make some soup and some Baba Ganoush. It can also be spelt Baba Ghanoush. It is a Levantine speciality, ( middle eastern) and can be found in all Mediterranean, Middle Eastern cook books, as they all seem to claim it as their own and there are many variations. It is also called Moutabbal and it could be called this in some restaurants. It is nearly always served as a kind of starter, with Flat bread and maybe some Hummus as well.

I decided to make this as there were two Aubergines in my Vegetable delivery and I have lemons and Tahini ( sesame paste) as well. Some recipes also call for yoghurt and I prefer it with Yoghurt, it is a little lighter in texture, and is VERY simple to make.

• 2-3 aubergines
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed with a teaspoon of salt
• 1 juice of a lemon only
• 2 tbsp tahini paste
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley ( optional)

1. Prick the aubergines with a fork. Grill the aubergines until the skin is charred and blackened and the flesh feels soft when you press it , will take approximately 15-20 minutes, turning over so all sides get blackened. I use a ridge grill pan on the stove top, or they can be cooked under a grill.

2.  Crush the garlic  and mix with the lemon juice, tahini and olive oil .

3. When cool-ish, cut the aubergines in half and scoop out the flesh and discard the skin. Mix with the lemon garlic mix.

4. Put in a serving bowl and  drizzle over some olive oil and sprinkle the parsley over the top if using.

   

   

   

The soup I made was based on Carrots, I had a surplus of carrots hence the soup. I used in my soup also an orange ( well 2 clementines, that needed using) some fresh ginger, vegetable stock, some garlic, and wait for it, the remains of the coconut rice and the remains of the couscous ( remember Waste not Want not) and these two served as the thickening agent for my soup. The one other item I used was a carton of double cream, which also needed using and not throwing,

There are no exact quantities here,

• I had maybe 10 carrots, chopped
• 2 inches of ginger, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 clementines cut into 4’s
• 1 1/2 litres of vegetable stock ( cube or powder is fine)
• the left over rice and couscous ( one portion of each)
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 oz butter
• carton double cream.
  

  

Simply , melt the butter , sauté the onion and then add everything else, except the cream. Boil/simmer until the carrots are really soft, and leave to cool a little. Put all into a blender and process until smooth. Return to heat and pour in the double cream and stir. If it is too thick and it could well be, just add either some boing water or some milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

After the extravaganza of Cinco de Mayo it is back to basics, but then again maybe I should concentrate on VE Day , but that is tomorrow, Friday, which is our Travel Day, so maybe I will stick to the gourmet delights that await for our Travel to Where?

I used to annoy my kids no end, when they would ask ” What’s for dessert ” before deciding if they would eat all of their dinner or not. My answer was invariably (dessert was usually something like yoghurt or fruit salad) a UFO or WAS, which was either , YOU’LL FIND OUT, or WAIT AND SEE ! Annoying or what ?

Fruit and vegetables arrived yesterday morning at 6.10 am, I only ordered on Tuesday afternoon, amazing service from Greens ( the Greens family) in Covent Garden, this is only my second delivery from them in 7 weeks, and maybe I went just a tad overboard, but hey ho. Since my first order they have expanded, their online shop to include, such things as butter, flour, and supermarket staples. So as well as ordering a mixed box of fruit and veg, I had add ons, such as baby spinach, red chillies, avocados, rhubarb and lemon grass.

It took me a while to sort this lot out, spray with food safe disinfectant, wipe everything down, sort and pack away. But now it is done, but of course that doesn’t exclude a pop either down the road to the wonderful M and S, which is never busy or just across  the road to Sainsbury’s local.

Holland Barrett on the other hand, in the beginning days of Lockdown not knowing who, what or where was going to be open, I ordered some stuff from them, Stupid , they are also across the road and are OPEN , however, 6 weeks on, the order is arriving in Dribs and Drabs, despite my e mailing to cancel ! It will be returned ! ( across the road.)

Meanwhile, Himself was out of cake, and I had been planning to try this out for a couple of weeks. A variation of the Clementine cake so no flour, but with ground almonds and polenta. Mixed results I am afraid, looks good, tastes only ok, as the polenta gives it a gritty texture.So not really worth bothering with!

Dinner, last night was using food that either needed to be used, or dint really have room for it in the refrigerator. I had a small cauliflower, some spinach, some ham, and so it became,  Cauliflower Cheese with ham and spinach, Himself said it was good, Me? I had grilled Haloumi and green salad.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo,  this is celebrated throughout Mexico, it is not the National day, but to  Celebrate the Mexican victory over French forces at the Battle of Peubla on May 5th 1862. As with all Mexican celebrations ( even the Day of the Dead) they are very colourful. Mexico City has the most wonderful climate, to my mind Goldilocks weather. I used to say that about the UK, Never too hot, never too cold, but Mexico City, for me is more Spring Like year round. Now if you could get rid of the Traffic ( Horrendous) Pollution ( Horrendous) the risk of earthquakes ( Horrendous) and of course the crime ( even more Horrendous) then, it would be the perfect place to live. Good climate, good Food and great people. BUT!

I wanted to ask young Sam ( our Mexican ) about food for Cinco de Mayo, but he didn’t answer his phone ( he doesn’t have one) but then neither did his mother, so I had to go it alone.

The menu I came up with was Fish, Fish and More Fish ( Apologies to Jean T).

First up was  Ceviche Sea Bass and Prawns with Chilli. The recipe comes from Merida, a really lovely town on the Yucatan Peninsula.We spent 5 days there, once courtesy of Arin and Todd, ( friends of #1 daughter).

Second was a prawn cocktail, Mexican style. This is very reminiscent of my favourite seafood cocktail which  The Goode Company  ( Seafood ) serve in their diner, which looks like an old railway carriage.

Lastly, it was  Grilled Sea Bass with two salsas, one red and one green. It actually reminded me of a Mexican Breakfast dish called Huevos Divorciados ( divorced eggs) one side of the dish is covered with the green salsa and the other red.

Fortunately for me, I have fish, ( thanks again to ISH FISH), and I had sea bass and I have prawns ( large ) from the wonderful HOO HING supermarket.

• For two people as a starter, I used one filet of Sea Bass and 6 shrimp.
• 2 limes squeezed
• one spring onion chopped finely
• 1/2 avocado, cut into small pieces
• 1 red chilli chopped
• 1 tomato cut into small pieces
• pinch of salt.
• handful of coriander chopped

Using a very sharp knife, slice the fish and shrimps into fine slivers, mix with the lime juice and salt, and leave to marinate for about 15 minutes. Then mix all together, and serve.

The Prawn cocktail it is the sauce that is important.

• allow 6-8 large prawns per person, tastier if you cook them yourself
• 1/2 avocado per person cut into chunks
• 1/2 tomato per son cut into small chunks
• handful of chopped coriander
• lime wedges to serve

For the Sauce

• Juice of 2 limes
• 2 crushed cloves garlic
• 1 chopped preferably red onion
• 2 tsp chilli sauce ( eg Tabasco)
• splash of Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp chipotle sauce ( Waitrose or specialist stores)
• pinch salt
• 4 tbsp oil ( I used Avocado but Olive can be used)

Mix all of the sauce ingredients together and then add the tomatoes, avocado and coriander. Add the prawns and serve in sundae glasses ( I don’t have those but used wine glasses instead.)

And finally the Fish. It comes from one of the best seafood restaurants in Mexico City. Contramar. One of our favourites. A westerner might think it odd, it is only open, from midday until either 6pm or 8pm on a weekend. But they are always full and on a Sunday, a queue forms well before opening time. A great place to people watch  and Mexican Fashionistas, will be out in force.

The twin salsas are the important thing here.

Red Salsa

• a couple of red chillis ( more if you like)
• 1 tomato
• 1/2 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• pinch salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• dash of tabasco

Blend all together and put to one side.

Green sauce

• 2 cloves garlic
• handful of coriander
• 3 green/spring onions
• 100 mls olive oil
• pinch salt
• juice of a lime

Blend all together and put to one side.

Grill or pan fry the fish as you would normally but to serve put skin side down, and on one side of the fish, put the green sauce, and on the other the red. Serving on a white plate, makes it the colour of the Mexican flag !!

 

Not a very exciting day here at the top of the house, at least the wind had died down, for a while, but the pigeons are still around.  Himself finished his decorating, some work on the mammoth jig saw and some bridge ( playing with robots! Guess who won )!!

During my usual glance of all things food, I came across a recipe, which on paper, sounded really good, but as with many things that sound good, they do not always fit the bill, or live up to the hype.

Grilled Coconut Chicken with Coconut Rice. The chicken was mean to be marinated for 12-24 hours ( that is a lot of heads up time), but as I have a Sous Vide machine I could easily skip that bit, they do it all the time on Master Chef. I used the marinade and honestly do not think it would have made any difference if it had been marinated for hours. Secondly, I do not have a BBQ, would that have given the chicken more flavour, yes possibly, that of BBQ chicken, but no more than that.

Then the rice, it also had coconut, but again, even though I added more chillies than asked for , I found the whole thing a bit insipid.

Anyway, if you would like to give it a try, tweek it a bit, then here you go.:-

• Chicken pieces, I used 2 breasts
• 1 chopped onion
• 1/4 cup good vinegar ( I used rice vinegar)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 6 cloves of garlic smushed
• 1/2 a can of coconut milk,
• a couple of chopped red chillies

Blend these together,  ( not the chicken) either with a hand held blender or in a machine. Put the Chicken into a bag along with this mixture and refrigerate for 12-24 hours, but as I said, I used a sous vide machine, 140  for 1 hour.

After this, heat a grill or grill pan ( I use an in-built Teppen Yaki Grill, for which my family gives me no end of stick), and cook as you would normally do on any grill.

Meanwhile cook the rice, but add  another chopped onion and some chopped chillies and the other half of the coconut milk, and water enough to cover, cook as normal and add salt and pepper to taste.( I added some peas for colour).

I think it looked OK and I had my chicken on a bed of salad greens rather than the rice. However I did taste the rice and for me the bottom line, was, “A Waste of Time”, but more importantly for me was the waste of a can of coconut milk.

Never Mind, I guess we win some and we lose some. But next up will be Cinco de Mayo,  celebrated in Mexico for Celebration of the Mexican victory over French forces at the Battle of Peubla on May 5th 1862.

Sounds good enough reason for me to go and grab my books and come up with something special ( or I could just ask young Sam, who has a Mexican Passport, but last summer he told me his favourite food was fish fingers followed by Shabu Shabu, already an eclectic taste !)

Oh and I have left Ignacio ( my Robot, cleaning, I just love the name Ignacio). I hope he doesn’t get stuck !

 

Day one  means it is Sunday which also means Cocktail hour with the neighbours, Pity the sun isn’t shining, get a bit chilly with the wind blowing up on the 6th and 7th floors. But never mind, it is the best we can do under the circumstances.

Tonight is also story night for the three ex Mexicans, our north Londoners. I wonder what Popi has got up his sleeve for tonight. After my various abandoned dinner ideas for last Sunday, I decided it had to be something that will be ready when story time is over.

As I am writing this, my new robot vac is busy doing the vacuuming. With the absence of the lovely Betty I thought I would get a Robot. No idea how good it is, but “HE” sounds busy.

For Sunday night I rummaged in the Number 2 freezer. When I say rummaged, it is not strictly true, I know exactly where everything is, even though it might not all be labelled . Number two freezer is predominately my fish freezer, but the top shelf is for stocks and herbs and chillies whereas the bottom is for vegetables and the rest for fish, white fish, smoked fish, shrimp, oysters and even fish fingers, for when the Mexicans come to stay.

There I found the last of the Mackerel,  ( again if you love fish, Forget Waitrose, go to  ISHFISH.Uk, great service, good prices and delivered the next day to your door, vacuum packed ready for the freezer). The next question, what was I going to do with the mackerel, not the go to standard,  ( already mentioned in this blog), as that is more or less last minute, no, I needed a “DO Ahead project” I came up with Mackerel with Couscous . Couscous, is predominately middle eastern, and is made from Durum wheat, which to you and me is Semolina. As plain couscous, it is very easy these days to prepare, Simply put some into a bowl with a knob of butter and pour over some boiling water and leave to stand, for the wheat to absorb the water, give it a quick stir and there you are.

For Mackerel with Couscous, I sautéed a finely chopped onion, along with some garlic, half a green pepper chopped, a stick pf celery finely chopped and some spices ( I used cumin, paprika, harissa and carraway seed. When the onion was soft I added a cup of couscous, stirred it around, and then poured over about 2 cups of boiling stock ( I used instant stock) another stir, added a knob or two of butter and left it to cool.

When cooled I wrapped some of the couscous in the mackerel filets Placed them in a dish, rubbed with a little oil and put in a medium oven for 10 minutes. Reheated the rest of the couscous, and there was dinner.

Needless to say, this was not my dinner, I had Shrimp Remoulade, with Avocado and Rocket,( more on that later) Perfect for me and Perfect for Him.

And Finally