Dinner in Brighton

Lucky me, A's uncle and aunt R&S are wonderful cooks and made us a fantastic dinner when we were in Brighton visiting them! Started with salt and pepper squid, then had a cauliflower curry and chocolate-almond cake to finish. I have recipes for the first two dishes that I'll share below, but for the cake you'll have to ask S since it's both dairy and gluten free, and therefore may be revealed one day in a special cookbook...

Adapted from Rick Stein's Seafood

Stir-fried Salt-and-Pepper Squid with Red Chilli and Spring Onion

750g squid

1/2 tsp black peppercorns

1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns

1 tsp Maldon sea salt flakes

1-2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 medium hot red chilli

2 spring onions sliced

salad leaves

2 tsp dark soy sauce

2 tsp roasted sesame oil

1/4 tsp caster sugar

pinch of salt

Dry roast spices and crush with sea salt flakes in mortar. Score squid and cut into slices. Fry in oil in two batches. Put all of the squid back into the pan together over high heat. Toss in 1 tsp of salt and pepper mixture, then add red chili and spring onions and toss briefly. Make a salad dressing with soy sauce, sesame oil, caster sugar and pinch of salt. Dress salad leaves with dressing and plate alongside squid. Serves 4.

Adapted from LEON: ingredients & recipes

Leon Gobi

1 medium onion, cut into medium chunks

1 carrot, cut into chunks

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 red chili, sliced

2 thumb size pieces of ginger, peeled and sliced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp Madras curry powder

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp black onion seeds

1 medium sweet potato, diced into 1/2 inch cubes

4 heaped tbsp ground almonds

1/2 small cauliflower, cut into small florets

1 400ml tin of coconut milk

150g frozen peas

juice of 1/2 lemon

really big handful of coriander, minced

salt

2 heaped tbsp desiccated coconut

Cook onion and carrot in oil over medium heat for 15-20 minutes with lid on, season with salt. Blitz chili, ginger and garlic to a paste. Stir paste into onions along with spices. Cook for 5 minutes. Add sweet potato and almonds and mix well. Turn heat up and stir in 500 ml of water. Simmer for 10-15 minutes with lid off. Add cauliflower and coconut milk and simmer for 10-15 minutes covered. Check that sweet potato and cauliflower are cooked, then stir in peas and turn off heat. Add salt to taste, plus lemon juice and coriander to finish. Sprinkle coconut on top to serve. (Original recipe includes sultanas but R decided not to include them as he doesn't like sultanas, and I wholeheartedly agree with the omission!) R&S served this over wild rice which added a great nutty flavor and texture to the dish.

P.S. Also discovered that Harbourne Blue is a blue cheese made with goat's milk rather than cow's milk. We were pondering earlier in the day if there were any blue cheeses made with goat or sheep milk and lo and behold, the one we had sitting around was actually what we were looking for!