Mizmoe

I love swordfish, but the only way I have ever eaten it was baked and served with plain boiled potatoes, salad or vegetables on the side. This dish is a little different, but I think I still prefer swordfish cooked the way I first had it in Fuengirola. I am told that it is nice served simply with a mixed salad and rice cook in stock with garlic and herbs!

Serves 2 people

2 pieces of swordfish
3 to 4 tbsp olive oil
Sauce:-
3 tbsp olive oil
Fresh parsley leaves, chopped
Fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 shallots, skinned and chopped
Sea salt and pepper
Oil/garlic mixture:-
1 small clove of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tbsp white breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp oregano (leaves only)
Juice of half a small lemon

2 tomatoes, halved

Place the swordfish onto a plate
Drizzle with olive oil
Leave to marinate for about 10 minutes

Sauce - heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan, add the parsley, basil, shallots and seasoning - put to one side until the onion is cooked

Put the crushed garlic, breadcrumbs, oregano and lemon juice into a bowl, mix to combine then adding seasoning to taste

Wash the tomatoes, cut in half around the equator then place onto a baking tray and cover with the oil and garlic mixture
Place on the middle shelf of a preheated oven set to 180 degrees Celsius and bake for 10 minutes (or to taste, I like them with a little bit of bite left in them rathern than “squashy”)
Swordfish - place the fish onto a hot griddle and cook until golden brown on both sides, adding more olive oil if required (I prefer it baked in the oven)
Place the fish onto a serving platter, circle with the tomatoes and drizzle with the sauce and garnish
Serve with salad leaves and plain boiled new potatoes

This is not a recipe for Southern Spain in June, it is simply far too hot, but I do enjoy the odd meal of my favourite “comfort food”, which is usually similar to the dinners cooked by my mother.

50 grams of self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
A little freshly ground black pepper
25 grams of vegetable suet
1 tsp of mixed dried herbs (I prefer plain dumplings, so this is optional)
Very cold water

Sift the flour, baking powder and black pepper into a baking large bowl, add the suet and dried herbs, mix
Add sufficient water to form a firm dough - around 2 tbsp
Form the dough into 8 balls and place on the top of the stew
Cover and place in a preheated oven set to 160 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes

2 tbsp each of olive oil and butter
500 grams of stewing steak cut into bite size pieces (beef, I like it made with lamb also, but different herbs)
2 tbsp of plain flour
100 grams each of celery, carrot (diced), red onion (chopped) and leek (sliced) and white turnip (diced)
Garlic
10 shallots, whole or halved if large
10 small potatoes, peeled and halved
150 ml of good quality red wine (suitable for drinking, not plonk - though I like Newcastle Brown Ale)
500 ml of stock (probably beef, but I like vegetable stock best)
1 bay leaf, fresh herbs (parsley and thyme) in a muslin bag
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

The method is quite easy, prepare all the ingredients, sweat the veggies, brown the meat, add the flour and stir, add all the other ingredients, cover and place either in a slow oven or on the hob, stirring if cooked on the hob to make sure it doesn´t stock, add the dumplings and cook as above. Remove muslin bag before serving

Alternatively, transfer to a slow cooker and leave until you come home from work, it will be ready the meat tender and so on, but you will still have to cook the dumpling, in this case I cook them in a stock on the hob, that´s how my Mum did it and when comfort food is in order, that is how I still do it, ie I don´t bake them in the oven!

My mother did a very basic stew, ie she prepared whatever vegetables were in season, as this was “winter” food, that would include potatoes, turnip, carrots and onions. She browned the meat and added flour to thicken, any herbs or spices that we had to hand (always fresh or dried at home and in muslin - remove before eating), had to be herbs that would suit the meat, usually either beef or lamb, she then added the water and stock cube, or homemade stock, brown ale or beer if available, salt and pepper, vegetables, not cut too small, and left it to cook on the hob for what seemed like forever. She believed in cooking out the salt (whatever that means but I am sure most people will know), so she didn´t season at the end as she knew just how much was needed to suit our tastes.

We had it with Yorkshire Pudding or plain suet dumplings which were cooked on top of the stew, she never timed anything, just seemed to know exactly when it would be ready.

And brown sauce, why did I use this, don´t know, but it annoyed both Mum and Dad, perhaps that´s why. I was (and still am) an awkward little sod.

3 tbsp olive oil
2 Spanish onions, sliced
8 skinless chicken thighs (or 4 chicken breasts cut into 2 pieces=
1 tbsp seasoned plain flour
½ pint chicken (or vegetable) stock
Grated zest of a Spanish orange
Juice of 2 oranges
¼ pint Spanish sherry
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
10 oz Chestnut mushrooms, wiped and sliced
2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large heavy frying pan, add the onions and fry for around 5 minutes until soft
Transfer to a plate
Toss the chicken in the seasoned flour
Heat the remaining oil in the frying pan, add the chicken and brown
Pour in the stock, add the onions and juices, orange juice, zest, sherry and Worcestershire sauce
Bring up to the boil, reduce the heat and cover
Simmer for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender
Stir in the mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes
Season to taste
Sprinkle over the parsley and serve with boiled rice or potatoes

1 lb lean pork shoulder
4 medium potatoes
1 lb fresh plum tomatoes, skinned and diced
1/2 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
2 tbsp white wine
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 cup of vegetable or chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 Spanish onion, skinned and chopped

Method

Cut the pork into large pieces
Peel potatoes and slice
Seed, core, and thinly slice the pepper
Heat the oil in a large frying pan
Brown the pork on all sides
Add the stock and wine, then bring up to a boil
Remove the pork and layer all the ingredients in a slow cooker (following the instructions for your slow cooker), pour over the juices, cover and leave to cook for about 8 hours or so
The meat should be very tender
Remove the bay leaf and serve

I do sometimes omit the potatoes and serve it with rice containing sweetcorn and peas!

Nice on its own or with dumplings. Traditional and the best of British.

1 organic rabbit, jointed and cut into pieces
Seasoned plain flour
Good quality olive oil
1 tbsp butter
Salt and black pepper
6 slices of bacon, finely sliced
A sprig of fresh rosemary
5 oz mushrooms (whatever type you like, but I prefer a mixture)
1/2 of a smallish pack of baby onions (peeled)
4 fl oz beer
8 fl oz vegetable stock

Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit

Coat the rabbit pieces in seasoned flour, shake off any excess

Add the butter and olive oil to a deep casserole dish, approx 12″ in diameter, brown the pieces of rabbit cooking for 5 minutes until golden brown

Return the rabbit to the casserole, season to taste, add  bacon and cook for about 2 minutes or until the bacon is crispy, ensuring you keep the rabbit moving round the pan

 Add the rosemary, mushrooms and onions and continue frying for 10 minutes, the meat will be nicely colored and the veg will have softened

Mix in a tablespoon of flour, stir in the beer and stock, cover and simmer for half an hour

If you are having dumplings with the stew add them to the casserole and transfer to an oven preheated to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (leave sp/ace between the dumplings) for 45 minutes

My mother’s Shepherd’s and Cottage Pies were quite different from the versions we make now. Mum added minched lamb or beef, onion, carrot, turnip - all browned off in lard, then added salt and water, near the end of cooking, bisto powder. A little bland when compared to the dish we enjoy today. I always covered mine with brown sauce, a disgusting habit according to my parents.

Mum used about a tablespoon of salt - just tipped into her hand, then added to the dish. This excessive use of salt was down to Dad. During the war whilst in India, Ceylon and Africa they were given salt (something to do with helping them cope with the heat), Dad developed a taste for it and thought it was the right thing to do - I remember him saying “you can’t have enough salt” as he added extra when Mum was cooking. He even put it in water to drink. No wonder he nearly died when I was a child - not sure what was wrong, he had haemorrhages - touch and go! Thanks to my daughter I have been “weaned off” and rarely use salt in cooking, though it is in most of our recipes. If I think the dish can cope without it, it is left out. After a while your tastebuds adjust.

1 tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 sticks celery, peeled and finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 small swede or turnip, peeled and finely chopped
1 lb Lamb, finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbsp plain flour
8 oz plum plum tomatoes - peeled, deseeded and liquidised
1/2 pint lamb or vegetable stock

2 lbs potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 oz unsalted butter
3 oz soft goat’s cheese
Parsley leaves and/or chives - amount to taste

Put the oil in a large casserole dish and add the onions, celery, carrot and swede, cook over a medium heat for 3 minutes then remove the vegetables from the pan and put to one side

Raise the heat and add the lamb, cook - while stirring - for 2 minutes or until nicely browned

Season with salt and pepper, return the cooked vegetables to the pan along with the thyme and parsley

Stir in the flour and tomato, gradually add the stock while stirring constantly until incorporated, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook gently for 20 minutes

When the ragu is ready, transfer to the baking dish and smooth the surface and refrigerate until cold

When ready, bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the salt and potatoes, cook until tender, drain then place the collander over the pan and cover with a clean tea towle, leave for about 3 minutes to steam

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius
Lightly butter a deep baking dish

Put the potatoes through a ricer (or mash), whisk in the butter and goat’s cheese until full combined, check for seasoning and adjust if necessary, finally stir in the parsley and/or chopped chives

Spread the mashed potato evenly over the top and lightly press all over with the back of a spoon, dot with butter and sprinkle over a little finely chopped onion

Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the top is a light golden brown

Now that summer is just about over thoughts change from salads and light lunches to casseroles and roasts (not forgetting the great British puds. I have seen loads of different “traditional” recipes for Lancashire Hotpot, some add black pudding, Worcestershire sauce, shallots/onion, garlic, water/stock, bay leaves, thyme - others state there should be only three basic ingredients. It is all down to personal taste and “at the end of the day” who cares whether it is traditional or not as long as it tastes good and we enjoy what we cook, recipes evolve over time and that is how it should be? I remember one “celebrity chef” saying “if it aint broke, don’t mend it”! Most things can be improved, no recipe is perfect and each cook/chef has his/her own ideas.

My grandmother was born in Lancashire, the family moved to Yorkshire when she was young. The family owned a mill nearby, other members ran public houses, many of them travelled for 6 months of the year. When she married my grandad, the family disowned her as she had married “beneath her station”, my mother only met her grandfather once - he arrived at their home in a Rolls Royce, very well dressed and obviously rich. His only words to her were “come here child”, he gave her a penny! Generous to the last, but as this was around the mid 1920’s I suppose it was worth quite a bit, especially for a child.

I digress from the matter in hand, which is warming casseroles - whether traditional or not, well … I don’t really care, I like it. I have at times  added half stock and half Newcastle brown ale, sometimes - red wine! This is my version of Lancashire (style) hotpot.

2 lb middle neck of lamb or “scrag end” of mutton
3 Lamb’s kidneys - cored, skinned, chopped into small pieces
1 oz butter and 1 fl oz oil - olive, corn, groundnut or whatever
1 level tbsp plain flour
2 lb King Edward potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
12 oz prepared onion, skinned and chopped
1 pint Lamb stock, preferably homemade (I make it with bones from the butcher and root veggies and whole onion/s) or chicken/veggie stock
2 sprigs thyme
Salt & black pepper - to taste

Put a knob of butter and the oil into a large frying pan, when hot add the lamb and brown (this should take about 10 minutes), add the pieces of kidney near the end, transfer to a bowl and put to one side (you can do this in batches - or you can put it in the casserole raw and stir the flour into a little stock, you can also - if you wish - saute the onions - or leave them raw - up to you)
Gradually stir the flour into the frying pan to form a roux, then slowly pour in the stock while whisking (or stirring) until lump free and well blended (if there are lumps, sieve or blend, don’t panic)

To assemble, place half the meat into a buttered casserole dish, scatter over half the onions, then add half the potatoes, season to taste then repeat the three layers - before adding the last layer of potatoes push in the thyme, pour in the stock or water, season to taste

Tip - start laying the potatoes around the outside edge of the dish - overlapping - gradually work towards the centre - at the end, place one piece of potato over the centre - looks nice and tidy!

Brush the potato with melted butter, cover with a tightly fitting lid
Place the casserole in the lower half of a preheated oven for 30 minutes (180 degrees Celsius), reduce to 130 degrees Celsius and cook for a further 2 hours, remove from the oven, take off the lid, increase the temperature to 200 degrees celsius and cook for a further 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown
Remove the thyme before serving
Serve with glazed baby carrots and/or red cabbage or Savoy cabbage (I like both equally)

This dish has a spicy wholesome flavour without the strength of a vindaloo, it is made using ground onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies and other spices, you can adjust the spices to taste adding more chilli if you want a hotter sauce.

1 chopped green chilli
7 oz chopped tomato
1 lb lamb - on or off the bone
5 oz vegetable oil
1 large white onion
1 tsp freshly grated root ginger
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chilli powder
Pinch of sea salt
1 green pepper
Bunch of corriander
5 fl oz cold water
1 tbsp natural bio yoghurt

Cut the lamb into small even sized pieces
Combine the yogurt, garam masala, ginger, garlic, chilli powder and salt in a bowl, mix well
Heat the oil in a large frying pan and saute the onions until a light golden brown, add the cumin and tumeric, stir well to combine
Add the lamb to the yoghurt mixture and stir fry for about 5 minutes
Stir in the chilli and tomatoes, stir fry for 5 minutes then add the water and leave to gently simmer on low heat for 30 minutes
Add the corriander and stir until the sauce reaches the required consistency then transfer to a warmed serving dish, decorate with corriander

4 oz streaky bacon, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 sticks of celery, peeled and finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
4 large tins Italian plum tomatoes, finely chopped
14 oz good quality minced lamb or beef
1/2 bottle red wine
Sprig of rosemary
2 bay leaves
Salt and black pepper
Parmesan Cheese, grated or shavings

Put two tablespoons of olive oil into a large saucepan set over a medium heat
Add the bacon, onion, garlic and celery, cook for 8 to 10 minutes
Stir well to ensure the ingredients are thoroughly combined
Reduce the heat to low and add the tomatoes, mince, wine, rosemary and bay leaves
Stir well to combine
Cover and cook for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes - if the sauce starts to stick add either water or stock

This makes a nice base for Shepherd’s/Cottage pie with the addition of either potato and/or mashed root vegetables - I like it with carrots, parsnips and that funny golden colour marrow shaped like a bell!