Turbot with Pernod Velouté Sauce

Ok  I forgot to take a picture! I was going to make Felicity Cloak's Nicoise salad today with some slices of salmon fillet quickly pan-fried but when I got to the fishmongers there was some gorgeous turbot and before I knew it I had inadvertently invested £35 in four portions of beautiful fish. Now the pressure was on and I had to make something worthy of my investment. I found this recipe own greatbritishchefs.com. It is for a lovely Pernod velouté, which you need some good fish stock for, and I happened to have some in the freezer... You will need:

• 150ml of dry white wine
• 1 banana shallot
• 1/2 bulb of fennel
• 1 knob of butter
• oil
• 1 dash of Pernod
• 400ml of fish stock
• 200ml of double cream
• 4 turbot steaks or fillets (mine was on the bone)
• oil
• flour

Sweat the shallot and fennel in a pan with a little oil and butter until soft.  Add the white wine as well as a splash of Pernod - taste the sauce to establish the right amount - there should be a subtle aniseed flavour but it will intensify as the sauce reduces so be careful.  Bring to the boil and reduce till most of it is gone.  Add the fish stock and reduce by half before finally adding the cream. Bring back to the boil and reduce until thickened slightly. Strain and adjust the seasoning if necessary. A sauce fit for a regal piece of turbot.

To cook the fish, preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6. Dust the turbot in seasoned flour shaking off any excess, fry in a little olive oil on the dark skin until starting to crisp, turn over and transfer to the oven to roast for 5-7 minutes or until slightly springy to touch. Serve with the sauce and some green vegetables and maybe a little mashed potato.

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Lamb Meatballs with Bulghur Wheat and Feta (Thermomix)

80g bulghur wheat (I use coarse wholemeal, but couscous works too)

500g minced lamb

1/2 onion

15g parsley

1T dried mint

1 1/2 t ground cumin

3/4 t ground cinnamon

1 clove garlic

1/2 t salt

pepper

100 g feta

To serve, any of

Yoghurt or sesame seeds

Lemon juice

or Chilli Sauce

Boil the bulghur in a small pan till nearly tender, drain and leave to dry.

Turn the Thermomix to speed 9 with lid on and drop the parsley and garlic through the lid. Chop for 4 seconds.

Add the peeled and roughly chopped onion to the Thermomix and chop at speed 5 for 3-4 seconds

Add to the Thermomix the mince and bulghur and all the spices in layers (some mince followed by some spices and some bulghur and then repeat).

Mix reverse blade at speed 2 until well mixed

With wet hands, form into 16 balls and put a nugget of feta inside each one.

Refrigerate for an hour or two to firm up.

Ideally cook on a hot barbq. Or cook in a 200 degree oven or in a sauce pan.

Squeeze over some lemon, sprinkle over some sesame seeds and serve with yoghurt, chilli sauce or as they come.

Rye bread (Thermomix)

This was made using the one minute bread recipe I posted a link to a few days ago. This time I used 30% rye flour and added a teaspoon of freshly toasted caraway seeds at the kneading stage. I also had access to some fresh yeast, which gives a much better rise than dried I think.

The photo tells the story. Instead of having three perfect slices by the side of the loaf, they are, well...not there.

This is the perfect bread to have with smoked salmon or mackerel pate.

Caesar Dressing (Thermomix)

 Ingredients

2 cloves garlic

1 whole egg

2 anchovy fillets

1 1/2 T Worcester sauce

1 1/2 T lemon juice

1 cup flavourless oil such as avocado

4 T olive oil

First chop the garlic by dropping it onto the blades through the hole in the lid while running at speed 10 for a few seconds. Scrape the chopped garlic down the sides of the bowl.

Then add the next four ingredients into the Thermomix and mix at 37 deg. spoon speed for 4 minutes.

Then turn off the heat and increase the speed to 7 and, with the measuring cup in place, pour the oils slowly onto the lid so they can dribble into the bowl.

This makes quite a lot - you will not need all of it.  It is not seasoned so you will need to season the salad. If you used salted anchovies, take care with the salt. I used anchovies in vinegar.

Use it to dress cos or iceberg lettuce mixed with whatever you fancy - avocado, cucumber, red pepper.  Then add freshly made croutons (tossed in EVO and baked for 10-15 minutes at 180 deg) and a few quartered hard boiled eggs.  I served it with some white and brown crab meat, but chicken would also be lovely.  

1 Minute Thermomix bread

Here is the link to fabulous home made bread that mixes in literally one minute using the Thermomix and is delicious.

http://www.superkitchenmachine.com/2013/18813/best-thermomix-bread-recipe.html

Strawberry and Banana Sorbet (Thermomix)

Ingredients

60g granulated sugar
250g ripe strawberries, hulled weight
2 large bananas, peeled, peeled weight approx. 250g
3-4 mint leaves
1 T lime juice

Freeze fruit in small chunks in a single layer on a tray in the freezer.
Follow the instructions for the peach sorbet.

Cheese Scones (Thermomix)

Cheese Scones

These cheese scones are the ones from the Thermomix demonstration. I have adapted them slightly. First I make two rounds of 8 scones rather than one, as I think this is a more user-friendly size. One round can be frozen for later, as dough or as scones, as desired, if not needed. Then I added a sprinkling of caraway seeds on top as I love the combination of caraway and cheese and also 80 g (40g per round of 8 scones) of gruyere sprinkled before baking, which I grated in the Thermomix at the start.  Not healthy these, so do make sure to eat them slathered with butter - in for a penny in for a pound. Very good with a tomato based soup.

Ingredients for two rounds of 8 scones each

450g SR flour
120g salted butter cut into 1 cm dice and placed in the freezer beforehand.
1 t baking powder
1 pinch salt (original recipe says sea salt but we use Himalayan rock salt or, as my son Charlie calls it, middle class salt)
120g strong cheddar
250g milk
80g gruyere
pinch caraway seeds

Preheat oven to 220 deg C.
You will need a baking tray, ideally square, lined with baking parchment 
If using, grate the gruyere (40g per round) by dropping it on the moving blades (speed 8) for a few seconds. Set aside to another bowl.
Place flour, butter, salt and baking powder in Thermomix bowl and grate to breadcrumbs
Turbo/1sec/5-6 times (or pulse the turbo button 5-6 times in the TM31)
Add the cheese and chop again Turbo/1 sec/3-4 times
Add the milk and mix 5 sec at speed 4 then knead 30 seconds.

Turn out the dough and divide in half. It should be damp but quite solid.
Bring it together quickly, avoiding over handling especially with warm hands.
Make it into a round about 20cm in diameter and cut through into 8 with a knife. Move them slightly apart from one another. Sprinkle the caraway and gruyere if using and bake for about 18-20 minutes till brown and smelling cheesy!