week 6

Sea bass and bacon with sweet potato mash and Asian greens

I absolutely love sea bass and so I've made this meal a couple of times and its always delicious.. Highly recommended!!

  

This is a Jamie Oliver recipe and here are the ingredients:

• (for the fish) 4 slices of bacon
• 2 x 150g (8½oz) fillets of sea bass, skin on, scaled and pin-boned 
• 1tsp fennel seeds
• 1 lemon 
• (for the potatoes) 2 sweet potatoes
• 2 tbsp mango chutney
• Soy sauce
• 2 limes
• (for the Asian greens) 1 fresh red chilli
• 1 clove of garlic
• Soy sauce
• 1 lime
• Sesame oil
• 250g (9oz) asparagus
• 1 head of broccoli

All ingredients used

Cut the sweet potatoes in half and put in a tray with the lime, then cover with aluminum foil and put in oven at 200'C for 45 minutes, or until cooked through (i.e. soft!).

Put the bacon into the frying pan with a little olive oil and cook till a little crispy.

Add a little olive oil, salt and pepper to the sea bass. Remove the bacon from the pan and add the fish, skin side down.
Scatter the fennel seeds over the fish with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the zest of 1 lemon. Leave to cook and check the fish - once the skin is golden and crispy, turn the heat down to low.

Moving on to the sweet potato mash.. (to busy to take any photos..!) Add the mango chutney, a good splash of soy sauce, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, the juice from ½ a lime and the reserved chopped chilli to a bowl. Chop and mix everything. Add the sweet potatoes and mix it all together.

And moving onto the greens... Fill the large saucepan with boiling water and add a large pinch of salt. Add the broccoli and asparagus, put the lid on and turn the heat to high. Next, prepare their dressing.. De-seed and chop the chilli. Crush the clove of garlic into the bowl and add 2 tbsp of soy sauce and 4-6 tbsp of olive oil. Squeeze in the juice of 1 lime and add a splash of sesame oil. Drain the broccoli and asparagus in a colander, then tip into the serving bowl with the dressing.

Add all together and enjoy...!

Καλἠ ὀρεξη!!!!!

 

week 5

Roast lamb with garlic and rosemary

What can I say about this dish...? I absolutely love it! It's very easy to make.. just make a few holes in the meat, fill the holes with garlic and rosemary, stick it on the oven (boil some potatoes in the meantime and add them with the lamb) and 2 hours later you have beautiful meal..!

A friend of mine suggested I try using a bread crumbs, anchovies and lemon zest stuffing but i didn't feel brave enough.. Maybe next time!

All the ingredients used: 1.5kg lamb leg, 3 cloves garlic, 1kg potatoes, 4 sprigs rosemary, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 220°C. With a sharp knife make long and thin lines along the lamb. Season the lamb well with salt and pepper and massage the oil in. Stab the lamb all over with a sharp knife and insert slices of garlic and small sprigs of rosemary into the cuts. Do this on both sides.

Place the leg of lamb on a roasting tray with a little olive oil on the base and put on the center shelf of the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 150°C and leave the lamb to cook for 2 hours (dependent on its weight and how well you like it cooked),

In the meantime cut some potatoes and boil them for 10-15 minutes. Then place them with the lamb in the oven and allow to cook for 1.5 to 2 hours. You can turn it over half way.

2 hours later...

Καλἠ ὀρεξη!

week 4

Oven roasted cod with fennel

I made this the last time there was fennel in my vegetable box. So after a quick google search I found out that fennel goes very well with fish.. I then found a recipe from the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/health/nutrition/11recipehealth.html) using fennel with fish (cod was one of the types of fish they recommended using). As I liked it last time, I thought why not make it again..?!

So here you go!

All the ingredients used

Trim the stalks (that looks like celery) and fronds (that looks like dill) from the fennel, and set them aside. Quarter the bulbs, cut away the cores and slice thin across the grain. Chop the fronds.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the onion. Cook until the onion begins to soften, about three minutes. Add the fennel and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until the fennel mixture is tender, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, stir together and cover the pan. Turn the heat to low, and continue to cook 5 to 10 more minutes until the mixture is very soft and fragrant. Stir in the chopped fennel fronds (I forgot to do this..!), and remove from the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

While the fennel is cooking, preheat the oven to 230'C. Oil a baking dish large enough for the fish to fit in a single layer. Season the fish with salt and pepper, and arrange in the baking dish. Cover with the fennel stalks you set aside. Cover the dish tightly with foil, and place in the oven. Bake 15-25 minutes. Check the fish; if you can cut into it with a fork, it is done.  Remove the fennel stalks from the fish and discard

All ready, cooked and ready to eat.

 Place the cooked fennel on individual plates, top with the fish fillets and serve.

Καλἠ ὀρεξη!

week 3

My delivery this week..