The Arnold Bennett, kind of…

Well maybe not, Arnold Bennett would probably be rolling over in his grave at this version of the omelette that he most famously became enamoured with at the Savoy, and insisted upon its serving on his travels. As Nigel Slater put it, "Stick with the classic interpretation unless you want the wrath of Arnold Bennett's ghost upon you". Well I've yet to feel it, and even so switching away from a béchamel to cream infused with horseradish, lemon rind and dill is well worth the risk of a little otherworldly wrath. Oh and not to push my luck, tempt fate or anger the spirits, there is no parmesan in this either, I'm more than sure the lack of smoked haddock will be forgiven as it is not readily available in this part of the world, smoked hoki is a fair substitute though.

You will need
20 cm heavy based oven proof sauté pan
3–4 eggs (per person)
Butter
Smoked Fish, Hoki (or haddock to appease the spirits)
Cream (thickened slightly)
Horseradish
Lemon (zest only)
Dill (if you have it)
Milk
Parsley
Bay Leaves
Peppercorns.

• In an oven proof dish, just big enough to hold the fish snugly, lay a bed of parsley, some of the dill, bay leaves and peppercorns. Deposit the fish on top, pour over milk so it just covers the fish and firmly secure with tin foil. Bake in a moderate oven for 20 minutes.
• Whilst the fish poaches, mix together the cream, horseradish, lemon zest and a good portion of the dill (chopped). Set aside.
• Flake the fish off the skin into a bowl and set aside.
• Crank the oven to a high setting, around 200ºC, move the rack to the upper third position. When the oven is at temperature you can begin. Before starting to cook, switch your oven to the grill (broil) setting, fan forced if you have it, and increase the temperature slightly (220ºC).
• Get the pan onto a medium high heat and with abandon dollop in butter.

• Beat the eggs together. When the foaming has subsided pour the eggs into the pan. Working from the centre with a spatula move the eggs outwards.

• When set around the edges and the middle moving towards half done, spoon over the cream, three or four large spoonfuls should do it, spread it out as you go so it covers the egg.

• Drop flakes of the poached fish over the cream and move the whole pan into the now hot oven. Cook for five minutes, until golden and souffléed.
• Slide the omelette on to a waiting plate, garnish with dill, shaved red onion and salad of watercress.

Mackerel Pâté

I’m quite surprised I haven’t posted this quick and easy little recipe before, it’s certainly been made plenty of times and is a great little spread for gatherings, or a smaller portion in a ramekin for a picnic. The latest version I changed things up a bit and added a decent portion of cream to the mix, which made for a lighter texture, but by all means if you’re scared of a little fat, leave it out, you will however end up with a more dense pâté.

300-400g Smoked Mackerel (about 2 packets)
50g Melted unsalted butter, plus a little extra to seal
250 ml Cream
3 Spring onions, roughly chopped
1 Lemon (juice and rind)
1 Tbsp Horseradish cream, if you have fresh add to taste
Parsley, to garnish

Peel the skin off the mackerel and flake it into a food processor, add the cream, butter, spring onions, lemon rind and horseradish. Blitz until smooth. Taste, season with salt, pepper and lemon juice as needed.

Transfer the pâté to a serving dish and smooth the top, decorate with flat parsley leaves and then cover with melted butter. Place the dish in the fridge to let the butter set, I like to leave the pâté at least overnight so the flavours can develop. Serve up with some good crusty bread and sharp white wine.

Fish Cakes

3 Medium potatoes (about double the amount of fish)
200 grams Smoked Kingfish
1 red onion (half)
Handful of Parsley
1 teaspoon Hot English mustard
1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
Salt to season

• Peel and boil the potatoes until tender.
• Finely dice the onion, and place half in a bowl, and set the other half aside for the horseradish creme below.
• Add chopped parsley, the mustard and paprika to the bowl, and flake in the fish, make sure you have some nice chunks.
• Use a mouli or ricer to purée the potatoes, do this in a separate bowl as you don’t want to add hot potato to the fish.
• When the potato is cool enough to handle, mix it into the fish and season with salt.
• Take a handful of the potato mix and push it into a floured ring mould, use the back of a spoon to pack it down.
• Carefully remove the cake from the mould and dust with flour, place on a sheet pan.
• Cool the cakes in the fridge for 10–15 minutes, so they can firm up.
• In a heavy pan pour enough oil to come up about 1 cm, I use rice bran oil as it has a decent smoke point and neutral flavour. When the oil is up to temperature, about 180ºC, carefully place the cakes in the oil and cook until golden on both sides.

Horseradish cream
Half a tub of Crème fraîche
2 Tablespoons Salted capers, rinsed
Half a red onion, finely diced
2 Tablespoons Horseradish
Juice of 1 Lemon
Salt to season

Dice up the rinsed capers and mix all ingredients together in a bowl, adjust the seasoning with salt and extra lemon juice if needed, let it sit for a 10 minutes or so, so the flavours can meld and develop.

Pickled Vegetables
Spring onion
Fennel Bulb
Cider vinegar
Olive Oil

Slice up spring onions, dice the fennel bulb, mix together in a bowl with a splash of cider vinegar and olive oil, easy huh.

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Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science public lecture series has started up for 2012, the videos of the lectures, past and present, are available on iTunes. They are informative and entertaining.

I’ve also been having good fun searching my way through google books and google scholar, it’s a treasure trove of cooking and food related information, from 60s magazine recipes to the 1825 treatise The physiology of taste: or, Transcendental gastronomy, which is an interesting read.

Pork Loin Chops with Cauliflower

Ingredients
Juniper berries
Apple Cider Vinegar
Sage
Lemon
Pork loin chops
Cauliflower
Crème fraîche
Horseradish
Butter
Brussel sprouts
Nutmeg

Mise en place
Juice a lemon
Crush juniper berries
Slice Sage in to strips
Floret cauliflower
De-Stem brussel sprouts (and halve)

Method

Place into a bowl/dish apple cider, lemon juice, crushed juniper berries, sage, salt, pepper and pork chops.

Mix, making sure the meat is coated in the liquid, let sit for 30 minutes and give it a good mix up again, let it sit a final 30 minutes.

10-15 minutes before the meat is finished marinating, put a couple of inches of water in a pot with a good dose of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Once boiling add the cauliflower and cook until tender.
Blend the cauliflower with a little of the liquid until smooth.
Add back to the empty pot, and on a low heat, cook off the liquid in the puree until it thickens up (about 30% reduction).
Set aside.
In a bowl, mix a good tablespoon or two of crème fraîche with a dollop of horseradish puree, set aside until the cauliflower has had a chance to cool a little.

Get a steamer on the go ready to cook the brussel sprouts while the chops are cooking.

In a frying pan heat a tablespoon of olive oil until smoking hot, and place chops in the hot oil and leave to cook about 4 minutes per side (time will vary on thickness).
DO NOT discard the marinade.
Once cooked, let the chops rest in a warm place.

Tip oil out of the pan, and place back on heat, tip the marinade in to deglaze the pan, add a knob of butter and nutmeg, then when butter is almost melted add the brussel sprouts and coat.

Just before serving, mix the crème fraîche mixture with the cauliflower, and heat through.

Done!