Sunday, October 30, 2016

Smoky Fish on Mash


Looks fancy, tastes good.

Smoky Fish on Cheese & Spinach Mash
Serves 2

Ingredients

400g potatoes
2 spring onions
40g cheddar
2 medium eggs
2 garlic cloves
2 smoked fish fillets (haddock, saba, etc.)
150g spinach
1 tbs butter
1/4c milk
olive oil
pepper
salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C/390F. Boil a kettle of water.

2. Cut potatoes into wedges (leave skin on). Peel and roughly chop garlic. Add potatoes and garlic to a pot of salted boiling water and boil for 15 minutes or until you can easily pierce potatoes with a fork. Boil another kettle of water.

3. Wash spinach in colander, then point boiling water all over it so it wilts. Rinse in cold water and squeeze excess water out. Chop spinach roughly. Boil another kettle of water.

4. Grate cheddar. Slice spring onions finely.

5. Place fish on baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, and season with pepper. Put tray in oven for 10 minutes or until fish is cooked.

6. Drain potatoes and mash with butter and milk. Add spinach, cheddar, and spring onions and season with salt and pepper to taste.

7. Bring a pot of salted boiling water to a simmer over medium heat. Crack eggs into water and leave for 2 minutes. Transfer them with slotted spoon to kitchen towel.

8. Serve smoked fish over mash with poached egg on top.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Coconut tahini cookies with candied ginger


I have all these ingredients on hand that I buy because certain food people tell me they are wonderful (coconut oil, tahini, etc.) and then I put them on my shelves and stare at them and am totally unclear on how to incorporate them into the every day food I make.

Thankfully, I read enough food blogs to get inspiration every once in a while - and Molly's blog on Coconut tahini monster cookies (with chocolate chips instead of ginger) made me run to my cabinets and check yup, I had everything except for the chocolate chips and toppings. A quick substitute of candied ginger and here we were, ready with cookies as a gift to our old neighbors in their new house. These are cakey cookies - lovely and soft and chewy. Next time I think I could cut the sugar a bit as I really don't have a sweet tooth, but they're pretty awesome as is, too.

Coconut tahini cookies with candied ginger
Adapted from My name is yeh

Ingredients

1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 c melted virgin coconut oil, slightly cooled
1/2 c tahini
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tb vanilla extract
3/4 c candied ginger, chopped
1/2 c flaked unsweetened coconut (optional)
sprinkles, optional

Method

Preheat the oven to 350ºf and line a baking sheet with parchment. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium-sized bowl.

In another bowl, combine coconut oil and tahini. Whisk in sugar until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then mix in extracts. Finally, stir the flour mixture into the tahini mixture along with candied ginger.

Scoop cookie dough onto lined baking sheets, leaving a few inches between them for the cookies to spread. Top the dough with coconut and sprinkles if using.

Bake until the bottoms are lightly browned and the coconut is toasty, begin checking for doneness at 15 minutes. Let cool on the pans for 5 minutes, and then remove to a rack to cool completely, or eat them warm.