Sunday, July 02, 2006
Grilled Plaice with Roast Garlic
Today was probably the most uneventful day since we
came to Ireland last May. Absolutely nothing happened. We did not leave the apartment nor did anyone come to us. There was nothing on telly and we seemed to go out of the free poker tourneys quicker than we could register for them. I tried to save the day by cooking an extra-nice dinner, but was only partly successful. The main course - grilled plaice with roast garlic and wild mushrooms - was definitely a worthy attempt. The desert, however, - my sad attempt at making a banoffee soufflé - was not. But more about that disaster after the recipe for the fish.For the plaice:Dinner had turned out so nice that I fancied myself as a bit of a chef again, something I came to regret rather quickly when I tried my hand on the ultimate challenge for any hobby cook - a soufflé. It all starte
3 olive oil
2 plaice fillets
2 tbsp flour
salt and pepper to taste
For the garlic:
4 small young heads of garlic, trimmed and outer skin removed, but otherwise left intact
3 tbsp olive oil
To serve:
pan fried mushrooms
boiled baby potatoes
garlic butter (just mix a crushed garlic clove, 2 tbsp of you favourite herbs (I used chives and lemon verbena) and 4 tbsp butter and chill for at least 30 minutes)
I also fried a few scallops that I had left over from yesterday, but this is purely optional
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place the garlic in a small baking dish and drizzle with the oil. Bake in the middle of the oven until golden and fragrant, about 40 minutes.
In the meantime make the butter, cook the potatoes and fry the mushrooms.
About 10 minutes before everything else is done, heat the olive oil in a large shallow frying pan over medium heat. Coat the plaice fillets in the flour and season with a little salt and black pepper. Fry them in the hot oil for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. If you are making scallops, turn up the heat to medium high and fry them in the same pan as the fish while you are dishing up the other ingredients.
Serve the plaice topped with the roast garlic, fried mushrooms and scallops with the potatoes and herb butter on the side.
d when I spotted an overripe banana in my fruit bowl that I really wanted to use up. My first idea was banana bread, a simple, tried and tested treat. But we didn't have enough cooking oil left. So I scoured my cookbooks looking for an inspiration and somehow came up with fruit soufflés. Unfortunately, not content with simply following a recipe, I decided to mess with it without first finding out more about the chemistry behind successful soufflés. The result were a couple of uneven, dark brown fluffy things that shrunk from 6 inches to about ½ inch within seconds of coming out of the oven.I should have known that my first soufflé would be a gamble at
the best of times. A completely mis-planned attempt at creating my first soufflé from my own recipe was doomed to failure before I even started, but my pride was still hurt a bit. So, like a belligerent little child, I plated one of them up anyway and actually ate a bit of it - Yuck! The taste was actually fine, but the texture was indescribably nasty. I'll spare you any more details and leave you to join Lofty in laughter at the thought of me eating this stuff to save face. But I will also say that I've spent the past few hours researching the subject of scientific soufflé making and that I am determined to give it another go. I will not be beaten by an egg!Christine at 11:37 pm
