Jamie Oliver’s new book – Jamie Does… Spain (and a variety of other European countries!)

With beautiful photography, as usual, arty layout and design, and simple twists on everyday European recipes, this is definitely the book for me. It’s the latest offering from Jamie, and as regular readers know, he is someone whose books I often refer to for their sheer easiness when it comes to chucking things in and making a delicious sauce or marinade to add that extra specialness. He does do less rustic meals, as in Jamie’s Kitchen, but I prefer to make (and eat) the more traditional ones with deep and well-planned flavours.

So when this pre-release book arrived on my doorstep, and was signed by the man himself, no less, I became rather over excited! After having had a very brief flick though, I placed it squarely in the middle of the coffee table and didn’t allow myself the pleasure of opening it until I’d written the first three paragraphs of this post and sorted out a few other things that needed doing. Oh, the temptation.

The note I received alongside the book simply said that they thought I might enjoy a few recipes from it. Obviously, I’ll certainly give them a try and let you all know how it goes, but I also wanted to say thank you let others know if I’d spend my hard-earned money on it!

My fingers were itching to caress the thick, matt paper, but I managed to restrain myself until I had time to do it justice and actually read the descriptions at the beginning of the sections rather than simply look at the pictures.

The recipes are a range, from very simple and rustic to a little more extravagant and time-hungry. All, however, look very do-able and, more importantly, tasty. After a little discussion with other foodies, we decided the Swedish section looked ‘interesting’ (lots of fish) but I like the idea of many little dishes. This is also seen, more obviously, in the Spanish section, which looks particularly traditional. As for the French, with classics like Steak Tartare and Tarte Tatin, you really can’t go wrong. Now all I have to do is try them out – and the Easter holidays will be a perfect time!

(I almost forgot to tell you the best bit…the page numbers are written in the language of the title! A nice touch I thought.)

Danish Pastries

 

From the latest Fresh from the Oven challenge, I found I had a little fresh yeast left over, so decided to use it in a few pastries! The original recipe was found on the web, but posted as Raisin and Cinnamon rolls from a link on a forum on jamieoliver.com. I called them pastries, although they were a little heavy for that, but also, having not quite enough yeast may have had something to do with it.

     

Ingredients
my cup was 250ml. Makes 21 rolls

2 sachets of dried yeast
1/2 cup warm water
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons milk
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3/4 - 1 cup raisins
2 cups icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method
1. Combine the yeast and warm water and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Warm 3/4 cup of the milk in the microwave. In a large bowl, combine 4 tablespoons of the melted butter and the warm milk. Using an electric mixer with a dough hook at low speed, or a wooden spoon, slowly stir the dissolved yeast into the butter and milk. Add 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar, the egg and the salt, and mix until combined. Add 4 cups of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time; mix until smooth. If the dough is sticky, add up to 1/2 cup of flour.
3. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 5 minutes, place in a medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
4. Stir together the brown sugar, the remaining 1/4 cup of granulated sugar and the cinnamon. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to form a 12 x 24-inch rectangle. Brush the remaining 3 tablespoons of melted butter over the dough, and sprinkle the brown sugar mixture on top. Scatter the raisins over the dough.
5. Starting with a long side, roll the dough up into a log, jelly-roll style, then cut with dental floss or a sharp knife into generous 1-inch slices. Place in 3 greased 9-inch round cake pans. Let the rolls rise for 45 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 180C. Bake the rolls, uncovered, until crusty and golden on top, about 25 minutes.
7. Stir together the icing' sugar, vanilla and the remaining 3 tablespoons of milk until smooth. Drizzle over the rolls and serve.

Greetings from Mexico!

  

3 new things, all the way from sunny Me-hi-co. Many thanks to Maria and Og for our fab. pressies! We’ve already used the tomato / chilli sauce with our fried breakfast, and have had a suggestion of chipotle mayonnaise for the chillies. Will let you know as and when!

Chicken Curry

The OH hates it when I do homemade curry, generally complaining that it never tastes anything like the ‘real’ curries we get from the local Indian. Not to be deterred, I keep trying and, more and more, they’re tasting like ‘real’ curry rather than chicken in spicy sauce!

The trick was, a little like with children, to get him involved in making it, so his job was to mix the spices and rub into the chicken.

We used:

cumin seeds,

coriander seeds,

cardamom pods,

turmeric,

garlic,

garam masala,

curry powder,

and probably a few other things I found at the back of the cupboard!

The OH ground them in a pestle and mortar, added a few splashed of olive oil and popped into a bog with the chicken, rubbing it all in. I fried off onions, red pepper and garlic, then browned the chicken very quickly. Adding a tin of tomatoes and half a tin of water, I let it simmer until the chicken was tender and the sauce reduced. Another spoon of garam masala and curry powder was added towards the end.

Meanwhile, I decided to do the rice properly in the oven! I added cardamom pods, salt and turmeric before covering with water and putting into a hot oven with a layer of foil over the top. At first, it didn’t do anything, then all of a sudden, the water had been absorbed and the rice was nearly done!

Served with shop-bought naan bread and chapattis, and a chopped banana. And the verdict – well, he didn’t want to take the leftovers to work the next day for lunch, but, having grudgingly done so, decided that it was much better the next day as the flavours had had time to intensify: perhaps that’s the key, leaving your chicken pieces to marinate overnight!

Salmon Tartare

 

Having all that salmon, with trimmings left over and no cold-smoker available, I decided to try a salmon tartare. I found several recipes online, but went with Mark Hix’s for obvious reasons, although I did substitute dill for the chives as it was cold outside!

Fresh salmon

Shallots

Capers

Chives, or dill

Juice of half a lemon

Salt and Pepper

 

Simply combine all the above ingredients, I added more lemon juice and black pepper to taste, then push into clingfilm-lined ramekins. Serve on a bed of watercress with triangles of brown bread and a dill and balsamic vinegar dressing. Perfect for a warm spring lunch!

Creamy Salmon Pasta

This was invented to use up ‘bottom of the fridge’ ingredients, a specialty of mine as you’ll know if you’re a regular reader! Season, then oven bake the salmon. Pan fry onion and garlic. Add a splash of wine and frozen peas, then season. Toast some pine nuts to add a bit of crunch and put the past on to boil. Remove from the heat and stir in crème fraiche and a tablespoon of wholegrain mustard.

Mix the creamy sauce with the pasta, spoon into bowls and top with the salmon. Quick and easy for a weekday tea.

Whole Fresh Salmon

I couldn’t resist buying this whole salmon from, dare I say it, Tescos, when I saw it was half price. Many people were asking the fishmonger to fillet theirs for them, which, just out of interest, was taking ages! But surely that’s half the fun? Well, I didn’t know, having never filleted one before, but thought it might be.

The first challenge was getting it out the bag as I wanted to use this to sit the fish on whilst on the surface, if that makes sense! So, having worked with the OH to release said fish from it’s minimal packaging, there he lay. The fish, not the OH! How to begin? Scale it! I found a blunt, serrated knife and, moving from the tail up to the head, scraped it along the flat, silvery protection.

At this point, words fail me, so I’ll give you notes and leave you to the video. Pictures speak much louder than words here:

For a first time, the job wasn't too bad with not much left on the bones, but there are obvious points for improvement: look before you begin to slide the knife along to check it’s at the right angle; don’t cut the ‘fin’ into the fillet!

I was left with only this…

To recap, the points are this:

scale

cut the large sides

remove pin bones

remove ‘vein’

cut fatty edges off (reserve for tartare!)

slice into fillets

Along with rather a lot of salmon fillets, 17 to be precise, I also saved the more fatty trimmings for tartare, the bits I didn’t get off first time, (there was only a ramekin full!), and popped the rest into a pan to make stock. I know salmon isn’t the best fish with which to make stock, being rather oily, but I couldn’t bear to waste them!