Reciplace

Eating seafood can be shellfish

It's taken me a while to get into fish.   Growing up over a thousand kilometers from the ocean, most of the fish I had as a kid was weeks old, frozen, yucky stuff.   On top of that, my normally inspired mother insisted on hiding mysterious fillets under a thick white parsley sauce.   I'd spend the whole meal picking toothpick sized bones out of my mouth, vowing to run away from home if she ever served it again.

I started off slowly a few years ago with salmon and prawns, then graduated to tuna, basa, cod and haddock.  The easy stuff.  I *heart* sushi, but I usually stick to the basics, or rolled up things. 

I'm still not ready for much more than that though.  I've been reading a few tasty sounding recipes lately for skate and turbot, but I just can't bring myself to eat something that looks so slimy and sinister.

But look!  I've got a great excuse not to be brave: Fish Online have listed the seafood we are supposed to avoid, due to over-fishing or unregulated fishing methods.   And who's on there?  Skate and turbot!  Hurray!   So I'll avoid those fish purely for ethical reasons, and not just because I'm scared. 

I'm pretty sad to see tiger prawns on the list.  But I'm also happy to see that Alaskan salmon is on the fish to eat list.   Various types of cod are on both lists, which makes it pretty confusing to know what to do there.  Might just avoid that one for a while.

In related news, I've recently acquired two arctic char fillets, of which there is very little information on the internet about!  I'm scared to google a picture of an arctic char though in case it's a creepy skate type monster... errgghh!

Bring back the Beetroot! (Beet and couscous salad)

Recently, I was inspired by my friand baking friend at work to "Bring back the Beetroot".  She and her team won a staff competition by creating a gorgeous display of beets, and making all kinds of different salads and cakes with this classic pink root.  While pink is not my favourite colour, there's certainly something quite girly and fun about eating pink salad!

Last month, I bought a pack of lovely organic pickled whole beetroot, which I was going to make a salad with.  It sat in the fridge for a few days after I came down with a cold/man flu.  On day three, when I finally felt ready to start eating again, those beets were calling me from the fridge, just begging me to eat them. I scarfed down all 6 whole beets in seconds.  My fingers were stained pink for days, and I had to cancel the salad idea.  (Not to mention a few days of.... errrr... an interesting hue in the bathroom...)

Today I bought some more lovely organic beets, so I decided to try again.   And here's what I did:

• 250g pack of cooked/pickled beetroot, sliced
• Whole pack of feta cheese (200g), crumbled
• handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped
• a bag (fresh) or tin (if you must) of chickpeas
• one lime
• a handful of pinenuts
• 200g buckwheat (but you could use couscous)

Toast the pinenuts, and pour boiling water on the buckwheat or couscous to soak.  Combine all of the ingredients, squeezing the lime juice over the salad at the end. 

And take a look at this lovely website, also campaigning to bring back the beets: http://www.lovebeetroot.co.uk/

Yudofu and Thousand Island Dressing - an authentic Japanese breakfast

I've blogged before about breakfast, Japanese style.   But after going through some photos tonight of our incredible, wonderful, amazing, life changing honeymoon in Japan, I found some photos of another early morning meal.  This one was on the island of Miyajima (home of the famous torii gate), in our inn, the Yamaichi Bekkan. 

I just love these photos - they bring back so many memories of trying to wrap my head around eating crazy food.... at seven in the morning. 

Yudofu (meaning hot tofu - look, I can write it in Japanese - ゆどふ) was kind of like fondue.  They brought us this very hot ceramic bowl with a lid, heated by a tea light.  Inside was water, with cubes of tofu!  After letting it boil for a few minutes, we dipped it in a sauce made of dashi.   Simple.  Tasty.  Not what we would ever consider eating here for breakfast.

 The next dish was even weirder.  Garden salad with Thousand Island Dressing?!?  And for breakfast?!?  I thought the hostess was just trying to make us Westerners feel at home or something, so I politely ate it.  (And it wasn't that bad for breakfast actually).  Turns out it's not Thousand Island, but a near clone Japanese salad dressing with totally different ingredients!  Miso, mirin, soy sauce.....   we sure couldn't taste the difference.

I loved Japanese food in Japan.  Real Japanese food.  Not the stuff that comes from Yo Sushi or Wagamammas.  I was really surprised at how different food is over there, compared to what the Japanese restaurants here sell.  I am pretty sure there are more sushi restaurants in London than in Tokyo.  Real Japanese food is so varied, and so bonkers.  We were in for a huge surprise at every meal.  (Even the night we found ourselves drunk at 2am sitting in McDonalds having a "Volume Matten"!)

Note the whole fishies in the background.  After I took the photo, I got brave and ate them - face and all.  No kidding.  One of the best breakfasts I've ever had.

Mackerel and Broccoli Superfood Salad

Here's yet another fab idea from those poor foodie writers stuck working for Tesco at Tesco Food Club Magazine. (Come on - apply for a job with me UKTV Food! We can talk cooking all day, it'll be fun! We won't pretend that Tesco frozen value lamb chops are a legitimate ingredient!)

This was a great after work hearty salad that The Husband had mostly ready by the time I got home, 2 hours late from battling the trains.  It's one of those meals where every single ingredient is a super healthy one, but somehow they come together to form something that's as moorish as pie and chips. 

• 300g (11oz) bulgar wheat (I used buckwheat)
• 1 broccoli head, cut into small florets
• 1 lemon
• 250g (9oz) smoked mackerel
• 410g cannellini beans (dried soaked beans are always best)
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

Cook the bulgar or buckwheat as normal, but add the broccoli to the boiling water during the last 5 minutes.  Cool under running water and put in a bowl.

Stir in a little olive oil and the juice of half the lemon.  Cut the remaining lemon half into 4 wedges and set aside.

Skin the mackerel and break into large flakes and stir into the bowl along with the beans, onion and toasted pine nuts.  Serve with lemon wedges.