Monday, February 20, 2006
Seafood Day
I just realised that for the past few days, I have not really been keeping up on the recipes here. In the hope that someone has actually missed my original dedication to good, fresh food in my latest posts, I will make up for all the Auflauf and restaurant food of the past week.After a very long weekend of not really worrying too much about dinners I have reawoken to the world of the culinary arts. Inspired by my new Italian cookbook, I opted for spaghetti with smoked salmon, spinach and toasted pine nuts. But I also had those lovely organic avocados left which had reached the perfect degree of ripeness by now. There was no incorporating them in the main course. I had to go for starters. It's been a while since we had a two-course dinner, but what better day to start than one when I'm feeling full of love for food and have a fridge full of yummy food?
The meal began with prawns on a bed of sliced avocado drizzled with homemade cocktail sauce. I admit I cheated on the prawns. Normally, I get a pound of fresh Dublin bay prawns from my local fishmonger. Unfortunately, during the week I get off work too late to catch him (no pun intended) before he closes. Instead, I had to put the prawns I always keep in the freezer for emergency stir frys to the test. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. When defrosted slowly at room temperature they do not turn all mush and watery. And while they were a far cry from freshly cooked prawns, they weren't entirely flavourless either. Their taste was distinctly noticeable even alongside the avocado and cocktail sauce. But for environmental as much as taste reasons, I do advise against using large amounts of industrially farmed or caught prawns. They are bad for the oceans, they are a way of exploiting workers in poor countries, they are unhappy creatures and they are just not half as nice. Need I say more?For the cocktail sauce:The pasta, as posh as it sou
3 heaped tbsp thick, good quality mayonnaise
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
a few drops of Tabasco sauce (optional)
To serve:
2 organic avocados (I don't recommend organic to be a nuisance here. Spending the extra money is well worth it with avocados, as the mass-produced ones tend to be entirely flavourless. I also tend to go for the ones with the hard, dark skin, rather than the lighter green, soft-skinned ones, but I leave that aspect up to you and your green grocer to decide.)
at least 2 handfuls of prawns
2 tbsp chopped chives
To make the cocktail sauce, whisk together the mayonnaise and tomato ketchup. To ensure the right consistency, it's important that the mayonnaise is nice and thick. Add one more spoonful of tomato ketchup if you prefer a sweeter flavour. Add the Worcestershire sauce and the Tabasco and season to taste with the salt and pepper.
Cut the avocados in half lengthways and remove the stones. If you are one of these people (that I used to be before I watched my first cookery program on TV) who always pick at the stone with a fork, the tip of a vegetable knife or any other pointed object, bruising the avo in the process, stabbing the life out of the stone (and possibly your hand) and, depending on the ripeness of the fruit (yes, avocados are fruit), either getting covered in slime or slinging the stone across the kitchen in an uncontrolled flight, try this: Take a large, heavy knife and whack the stone briefly, but forcefully with the blade. If you have done it correctly, the knife should be well stuck in the stone, allowing you to tug it out easily and flip it into the bin. Now peel and slice the avocado halves. This might sound like unnecessary work now, but I find it makes for a nicer eating experience, especially if you have used soft-skinned or slightly unripe avocados.
To assemble, arrange the avocado slices on a plate, top with the prawns and drizzle (or, in our case smother) with cocktail sauce. Sprinkle with the chives. Serve immediately to prevent the avocado from discolouring.
nds, was equally easy to prepare. I probably would have shied away from two courses during the week, had I thought them complicated to make. While I was still in Prague, where I had a huge kitchen with all the modern conveniences - by which I do not mean a microwave, but such things as a blender and a good, brand new oven - and all the time in the world to use it, we never had less than two courses for dinner, and three were not uncommon. I love making deserts, cakes and puddings, but when I come home from work, I'm just too worn out and it is way too late to start cooking and baking for hours. But pasta is always a quick and fun dish to cook and if you use good quality ingredients, it is virtually impossible to mess up.I had the perfect ingredients for a perfect follow-up to the seafood starter: Some organic spinach and two packets of organic Irish smoked salmon. Along with a few toasted pine nuts and some lemon juice, this was the perfect dinner.
150 g dried spaghetti (or enough fresh pasta for two people)
salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic
200 to 250 g spinach leaves, washed
200 to 250 g smoked salmon, sliced (I recommend organic or wild salmon. Ordinary farmed salmon, besides being incredibly bad for the environment and raised in the cruellest of conditions, is too greasy to be nice and too full of artificial colours to be healthy.)
50 g pine nuts
a dash of lemon juice
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
a pinch of nutmeg
1 vegetable stock cube
a knob of butter
black pepper to taste
freshly grated Parmesan (forget the pre-grated stuff you can get in a bag, that's just plain nasty!)
Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add a generous pinch of salt. Do not add oil, as this does not just keep the spaghetti from sticking together, but also prevents the sauce from sticking to them. Cook the spaghetti for 10-12 minutes, or according to the packet instructions. Remove from the heat and drain.
In the meantime, heat a large pan over medium high heat. Add the pine nuts and toast until lightly browned and fragrant. Do not leave the pan unattended; the nuts will burn quite quickly. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Heat the oil in the pan and gently sauté the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and continue frying for a minute. Add the spinach and gently fry until it collapses, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add a few spoonfuls of hot water if the pan appears dry, but do not overdo it.
When the spinach is cooked, add the lemon juice, stir well, and then crumble in the vegetable stock. Stir in the cooked spaghetti, nutmeg, butter and pine nuts. Toss together.
Remove from the heat and season to taste with pepper. To serve, divide the spaghetti between two plates, arrange the salmon slices over them and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan.
Christine at 10:31 pm
