Busy Dinners

A new #askmim request appeared in my inbox the other day, this one is from Veena. Ahoy there Veena!

Veena said:

“I’m a fish eating veggie and am going back to a really full on job after having a baby. I want to be able to cook something delicious and healthy when I get home, that isn’t pasta, and doesn’t mean that I spend ages in the kitchen away from my daughter when I should be spending time with her. Any ideas?”

Good challenge. Righteo, I’ve spent some time cooking up a few ideas this week and come up with 3 tasty new mid-week suggestions for you.

The first was inspired by some of my favourite sushi ingredients. You can vary it too though, tofu would be ace instead of mackerel and any green veg like spinach or green beans could take the place of the seaweed as it can be a bit tricky to get hold of.

Smoked Mackerel Sushi Bowl

Serves 1

Ingredients

75g brown rice (dried or a sachet of microwave brown rice)

chunk of cucumber (I used about 50g)

1/2 teaspoon of finely grated fresh root ginger

2 teaspoons of rice vinegar

1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds

1 or 2 smoked mackerel fillets

To serve

1 tablespoon of pickled red cabbage

a handful of dried seaweed (which has been rehydrated in some boiling water – check pack for guidance) or some wilted spinach

Method

1. If you’re using uncooked rice pop that on to boil for 20-25 mins (check the pack for proper timings). If you’re using the microwave kind (nowt wrong with that – check the pack but all they usually add is a dash of veg oil to stop it sticking together) heat that up at the last minute.

2. Next mix the cucumber, grated ginger and rice vinegar together in a nice bowl or soup dish then nudge it to one side to make space for everything else. Pile the cooked rice in down one side, tuck in the mackerel fillets, add the seaweed or spinach then the pickled cabbage and finally sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds over the rice. Add a spritz of soy sauce if you like but I’m not sure it’s necessary. Dig in!

Sometimes all I want for dinner is a big sandwich and this one is great as it’s so quick, filling and probably jolly healthy too as the fish is poached gently in water.

Poached Salmon Pittas

Serves 2

Ingredients
2 salmon fillets
5 black peppercorns

1 tablespoon of Greek yogurt or sour cream

handful of soft fresh herbs (I used a mix of dill and basil but parsley, chives or tarragon would also be fine)

2 wholemeal pitta bread

handful of salad leaves

1/2 punnet of salad cress

Method

1. Half fill a deep sided sauté pan or medium sized saucepan with water and add the peppercorns. Bring to the boil then add the salmon fillets. Turn the heat right down and simmer gently for about 10 minutes or until the salmon is just cooked through and when you break a piece off the flesh is opaque pink.

2. Take the salmon out of the water with a slotted spoon, discard the peppercorns and leave the fish to rest just while you pop the pitta bread in the toaster.

3. Chop the herbs with scissors and stir into the sour cream or yoghurt. When the pitta is ready, cut a slit in each one along one of the long sides and divide the herby mixture between them.

4. Peel the skin away from the salmon (if it had it on) then gently break the fish into pieces and put them inside the pittas. Stuff with salad leaves, sprinkle in the cress and serve.

And finally a bit of a treat, even midweek…perhaps especially midweek! Pretty much everything on this platter keeps really well in the fridge, so can be hurled together whenever you need a little lift, like your own mini party!

Storecupboard Mezze

Ingredients

1 espresso cupful of couscous

1 tablespoon of light tahini

pinch of smoked paprika

3 mini crisp breads or 1 flatbread of your choice

few olives

few sundried tomatoes

1-2 tablespoons of feta cheese

1 teaspoon of pomegranate molasses

1/2 an avocado

Method

1. Pour the couscous into a heatproof bowl then add 1 1/2 espresso cupfuls of boiling water. Leave to stand whilst you prepare the rest.

2. In a small bowl mix the tahini with enough cold water to make a houmous-like consistency. Keep mixing until it’s nice and smooth then sprinkle the smoked paprika on the top and if you like a little drizzle of the oil from the sundried tomatoes.

3. Once the couscous has absorbed the water, fluff it up a bit using a fork to break up the grains then add the feta and the pomegranate molasses.

4. Pop everything else on a platter and dig in, cold glass of something lovely (alcoholic or otherwise) is a jolly nice addition.

Hope you like the recipes, do let me know what you think x

If you would like me to write a recipe for you too or answer a burning kitchen conundrum please get in touch via facebook, instagram or twitter using the hashtag #askmim.

Homemade Pasta

Cooking, Recipes

The latest #AskMim request comes from Elaine, hello Elaine! She wanted to know how to make fresh pasta and a good recipe for goat’s cheese & watercress tortellini…no problemo!

Some of my favourite recipes are so neat, and once they’re in your head they stick there forever, always ready when you need them.

Fresh pasta is just such a recipe, once you know the formula – it’s with you forever and you can play around with it all you like.

1 large egg + 100g pasta flour = 1 portion of fresh pasta.

(Use grade ‘00’ / pasta flour if you can get it, if you can’t try strong white bread flour or ordinary plain flour.)

Method

1. Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl, make a well in the centre and add the egg. Using fork beat the egg into the flour then pop the fork down and get stuck in with your hands. Knead it really well for about 5 minutes until it’s smooth and elastic.

2. Wrap the ball of dough up in cling film and leave it in the fridge. It will keep happily in there for about half a day, any more than that and the dough tends to oxidise and you get a grey tinge to the outside which looks a bit dodge.

3. If you want to serve the pasta with something slow cooked like a rich tomato sauce or a ragu, now is the time to get cracking on that.

4. To shape the pasta, press it gently with your hands so it’s like a pitta bread and rub it with a dusting of flour. Set your pasta rollers to the thickest setting on the machine. Run the pasta through twice, rub again with a little flour then switch it to the next setting down. Again run the dough through twice. Keep going, rolling and dusting with flour until you’ve been through all the settings, or until it’s the thickness you want. If you have one, add the cutting attachment for spaghetti or tagliatelle and run it through to cut it up. Alternatively, fold it into a concertina and slice it to get long ribbons of pappardelle or cut into squares with a knife, or circles with a cookie cutter, for tortellini and ravioli. If you don’t have a pasta machine, don’t fret. You can roll it out with a rolling pin (I usually do, I borrowed the pasta machine especially). Rolling it out by hand works fine, but it can be a bit heavy going, especially when you want to get it really thin.

5. Pop some flour (or fine semolina) onto a work surface and toss the pasta ribbons in the flour so that they don’t clump together.

6. Bop it into a large pan of boiling water, (salted or fling in a glug of olive oil in there if you like) and cook for 4-5 mins or to your liking. Scoop the pasta out of the boiling water with a slotted spoon/pasta spoon, straight into a serving dish or into the pan with the sauce in. A splash of pasta water is good for thinning down a thick sauce that needs a little more movement. Serve straight away.

For the goat’s cheese tortellini

Ingredients

2 portions worth of fresh pasta, as above (rolled out into sheets and cut into squares approx. 7 – 8cm square)
100g soft goat’s cheese
1 clove of garlic, crushed
50g watercress, finely chopped
1 egg
1 tablespoon of pine nuts, crushed
3 tablespoons of finely grated parmesan
pinch ground nutmeg
salt & black pepper

Method

1. In a small saucepan mix all the ingredients together, then cook gently over a medium heat for about 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring all the time as if you were making scrambled eggs. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, then it’s ready to pop into the pasta.

2. Place 1/2 teaspoonfuls of the mixture into one corner of each pasta square. Fold the oposite corner over it to seal it in. You might want to use a little water or egg wash to seal it. Push the air out carefully then roll the triangle up twice (like when you roll a neckerchief in the scouts/guides). Turn the parcel over and fold the ends to the middle then to the back, pressing gently but firmly to make sure it’s sealed well.

3. When you’ve repeated the process with all of the pasta and the filling, drop them carefully into boiling water for 3-4 minutes or until they’re starting to bob merrily on the surface. Scoop out with a slotted spoon. I like to serve mine very simply with a little more finely grated parmesan and some salt and pepper.

Buon appetito!

If you would like me to write a recipe for you too or answer a burning kitchen conundrum please get in touch via facebook, instagram or twitter using the hashtag #askmim.

Happy Cooking and thanks Elaine for getting in touch. Hope you have fun making pasta. xx

Pineapple & Coconut Trifle

Cooking, Recipes

Vegan Christmas Dessert

The next #askmim request out of the hat was via instagram and from @scratch_london who asked for a “vegan dessert that doesn’t taste like cardboard”.
Well, as it’s Christmas I thought, what’s the least vegan friendly dessert?… I decided it was probably trifle…so I made it vegan! Love a challenge! So after many, many hours of testing the finished trifle is pretty jazzy – I hope scratch_london approves. It’s got all the traditional layers of jelly, custard, fruit, sponge and booze – just the vegan friendly versions!

For the base:
50g coconut oil
50ml warm water
100ml vegetable oil
125g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 mashed bananas
125g self raising flour
1 whole pineapple, peeled, cored and chopped into chunks
3 tablespoons of dark rum

For the coconut panna cotta:
400ml coconut milk
100g caster sugar
1 tablespoon of dark rum
1 tablespoon of agar flakes (if you can’t get these try another vegan gelling agent such as a carrageenan based powder. Make sure you read the instructions on the pack though as the quantities could be very different)

For the pineapple jelly:
500ml pressed pineapple juice
Juice of 1 lime
100g caster sugar
1.5 tablespoons of agar flakes

Decoration:
50g coconut oil
100g icing sugar (plus extra for dusting)
1-2 tablespoons of coconut milk or grated creamed coconut mixed with water
2 tablespoons of toasted coconut flakes or desiccated coconut

Method
1. Line a 20cm square cake tin with baking parchment and grease with coconut oil. Preheat your oven to 180°C. Whisk the coconut oil in a large bowl with 25ml of vegetable oil and slowly pour in the warm water. The mixture should thicken and emulsify like a mayonnaise.

2. Now add the caster sugar, vanilla extract and the mashed banana and keep whisking until well combined. Then add the flour and remaining vegetable oil. Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in to the middle comes out clean.

3. While the cake is cooking put the pineapple pieces on a baking tray and pop it in the oven for 20 minutes or so or until the pineapple is tender and starting to scorch at the edges.

4. When the cake is ready, turn it out and leave it to cool completely on a wire rack. Then, cut into squares and use to line the base of a large glass bowl. Pour over 3 (or more) tablespoons of dark rum then top with the roasted pineapple pieces- reserving a few pieces for decorating. Set the whole thing aside while you make the coconut panna cotta layer.

5. Pour the coconut milk into a saucepan along with the caster sugar and the rum. Stir well to combine then sprinkle over the agar flakes. Bring the mixture to the boil without stirring, then start to stir the mixture until the agar has completely dissolved. Now turn off the heat and pour over the pineapple and sponge base in the bowl. Leave to cool, then place in the fridge to set.

6. When the coconut layer has set make the pineapple jelly. Mix the pineapple juice, sugar and lime juice in a saucepan. Then, as with the last layer, sprinkle over the agar flakes. Heat until boiling, stir and then take off the heat. Make sure the coconut layer is completely cold and set before pouring all the pineapple jelly on top. Let this set and cool, then return it to the fridge one more time.

7. To finish the trifle place 50g of coconut oil in a bowl and gradually whisk in the icing sugar (ideally with an electric whisk). When the mixture is well combined but looks crumbly add a splash of either coconut milk or some finely grated creamed coconut which has been mixed with water. Just add a teaspoon at a time and keep whisking until it comes together to something of a similar consistency to whipped cream.
Either pipe or spoon this at regular points around the edge of the trifle interspersed with the reserved pieces of pineapple. Sprinkle over the toasted coconut flakes or desiccated coconut then dust the decoration with a little more icing sugar. Serve or chill until serving – should keep for a day or so.

Wishing you fabulous festive funtimes!

Big love Mim xx

NEWS
I’ll be taking new #askmim requests in early January so get thinking about what you would like to see and I might end up writing a recipe just for you too! All you have to do is use the hashtag #askmim on Instagram or Twitter. Your request will go into a hat with the others and one will be pulled out at random for me to make. Ask away! x

Red Cabbage Cobbler

Cooking, Recipes

Hi gang! I’m back writing recipes, did you miss me? 🙂

To make up for my extended absence I asked you lovely lot on instagram, twitter and facebook to send me your recipe requests. I picked one at random, out of a bobble hat no less…and the request was for me to “make something veery interesting with Red Cabbage – lots of it!”

So, here goes, I hope it’s exciting enough for you N’ham Youth Theatre x

Thanks so much to all of you who submitted ideas – I will be picking a recipe at random again soon so if you would like to put an idea forward please get in touch via facebook, instagram or twitter using the hashtag #askmim – you can also use it for any foodie questions or conundrums you need help with.

Happy cooking xxx

red cabbage cobbler

Red cabbage cobbler

Serves 4 – 6

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
20g butter
150g – 200g shallots, peeled and quartered
1 sweet potato or around 200g of diced sweet potato, pumpkin, butternut squash (or a combination)
1 tablespoon of plain flour
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon juniper berries
1 red cabbage, about 1 kg, finely shredded
300ml red wine
couple of sprigs of thyme and rosemary (if they’re kicking about in the garden/on the window ledge/at the back of the fridge)
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
2 heaped teaspoons of cranberry sauce
2 heaped teaspoons of Dijon mustard

For the cobbles

50g butter
200g plain flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
50g pecan nuts, chopped
100ml milk
lemon juice

Optional extras

100g feta cheese or 6 chipolata sausages
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
Chopped parsley

Method

1. Heat the oil and butter in a really large saucepan over a medium heat. Throw in the shallots and fry for 5 minutes so they’re starting to soften. Next chuck in the sweet potato or squash, keep frying for another 5 minutes, then add the tablespoon of flour. Stir in the red cabbage, garlic, juniper berries, red wine and 300ml of water. Mix really well scraping the bottom of the pan to make sure the liquid lifts off all the flavour that’s caught there.

2. Turn the heat down to low and tuck the cinnamon stick, bay leaf and herbs into the cabbage, cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 1 hour.

3. Shortly before the hour is up, make your cobbles: Rub the flour and butter together with your finger tips – you know, till it looks all lumpy like fresh breadcrumbs. Add the chopped pecans, bicarbonate of soda, tiny squeeze of lemon juice and season with salt and black pepper. Pour in the milk, stir then knead just enough to bring the dough together into a ball. On a floured surface press the dough flat (about 3cm thick) with your hands. Cut it into squares or triangles or if you’re feeling super fancy use a cookie cutter to make circles, stars, anything you like. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

4. When the cabbage is ready either leave it in the pan (if your pan is oven safe) or transfer it to an oven proof dish. Pick out and discard the bay leaf and cinnamon stick then stir in the dijon mustard and cranberry sauce, taste and season with salt and pepper accordingly. Top the cabbage with the cobbles, brush them with milk or beaten egg and pop the whole thing in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cobbles are starting to brown on the top and are cooked through.

5. Serve! I had this just with some chopped parsley over the top but have also tried it with some feta cheese crumbled over in the last 5 – 10 minutes of cooking then scattered over some toasted seeds before dishing up, which was ace, but would also be smashing with a pile of cooked chipolatas. A green salad with a sharp vinaigrette goes really well with this too.

Miriam Nice

creative – author – presenter

askmim

Busy Dinners

Homemade Pasta

Pineapple & Coconut Trifle

Red Cabbage Cobbler

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