Salmon and Broccoli Bake

IMG_0430 Originally uploaded by PhotoLouis

A recipe for a quick salmon and broccoli bake. Click on the photo to view a pictorial version of the recipe. Ingredients: Salmon - flaked Broccoli Florets Onion Mushrooms Creme Fraiche White Wine Olive Oil Salt & Pepper First steam the broccoli until tender. Then transfer to a roasting dish. Dice an onion, a few mushrooms and gently brown in some olive oil. Add some white wine so that there is some liquid in the pan. If you prefer not to use alcohol just put in a bit of stock, or other liquid of your own choice. Grate some cheese and add it to the pan. I find that it is best to use a mixture. Stronger cheeses and blue cheeses are always good. Here I used some old strong cheese, cheddar and parmesan. Stir in some creme fraiche. A couple of table spoons is enough. Spray a little olive oil on some salmon pieces, sprinkle with salt, pepper and some fennel seeds. Wrap in tin foil and place in a hot oven for 10-12 minutes, or until nice and soft. Don't over cook the salmon as it is going back in the oven! I normally set the oven to about 180. Once the salmon is nice and tender take it out of the oven and flake it. Mix the salmon in with the broccoli in the baking tray. Add the liquid from the pan so that it spreads over all the broccoli and salmon. Sprinkle some more grated cheese over the dish and put in a hot oven for 10-20 minutes. I normally set the oven to about 180. The finished result plated with some Austrian style red cabbage and all ready to eat!

Snow

img102 Originally uploaded by PhotoLouis

So for the past couple of weeks we have seen the worst snow in decades and as normal everything came to a stand still. This is obviously 'Global Warming' at it's worst, it's irrelevant that we are in the middle of winter! So just to bring us back to a sense of reality have a look at how it was back on January 10th, 1968 in Whetstone, North London.

Turkey Curry

Yet another recipe! That's all I appear to do here, I'll have to change that. Ingredients: 4 Turkey Breast Pieces 1 Onion 1 Red Pepper Few Cloves Garlic Few Mushrooms Gujarat Masala Paste Coconut Milk Coconut Cream Black Pepper Seeds Coriander Seeds Salt & Pepper Root Ginger Juice of a Lime Sweet Potatoes

Start by chopping the onion, garlic, mushrooms and pepper.

Place a little olive oil in a pan and gently fry the onion and garlic until translucent, be careful not to over cook at this stage otherwise the garlic may burn.

Cut the turkey pieces into strips.

Add the turkey strips to the pan and cook until the meat turns white.

Add some fresh ground ginger to the pan.

Cut a lime in half and squeeze into the pan. If you have a waste disposal it is a great idea to chuck the used limes in as it is a very good cleaning agent.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Now is a good time to add the various spices. Masala paste, the amount used will depend on your own taste, start with a couple of heaped teaspoons and increase as you see fit. Put some mustard seeds and coriander seeds into a pestal and crush and add to the pan. Some coconut milk should be added, again the amount is variable depending on your own taste. I also add about half a sachet of coconut cream. If I need to add more liquid I would normally put some wine into the pan also, of course you can always use water or stock.

Stir well and allow to simer gently. The amount of time required to simer will depend on wheather you intend to serve straight away or you want to cook the curry in a slow cooker for the rest of the day.

Transfer the curry to the slow cooker, place the lid on.

Peel and dice some sweet potatos.

Add the sweet potatos to the slow cooker, replace the lid and continue cooking until you are ready to start eating!

This is a mild curry to which you can add some creme fraiche before serving if you want to make it just a little bit more creamy.