Tuna and Coriander Fish Cake

♬ 'Velociraptor!' by Kasabian

Tonight an album named after a small prehistoric dinosaur combined with a speedy chunky fish cake.

I've wanted to make fish cakes for a while and never got round to it, maybe because they are always on some sort of special deal, and temptation arises once I know how convenient the meal could be. Tonight I found that making them is as easy as making cake. 

It's all about home cooking! Sometimes I wish dining out and tasting other delicacies out there in the big grey world of London was a regular occurrence, but I'm quite happy being in my east London hub craving something home cooked made with love not stress.


The only fish I don't trust at many fish and chip shops is the fish cake, because it never ever tastes like real fish. Let's face facts, fish tastes fishy, if it doesn't you got to worry what your actually eating.

Let's get baking and use canned real tuna:

 ▶  Makes 8 large fish cakes.

Ingredients:

2 cans of tuna in spring water (185g each)

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp garam masala

1 crushed garlic clove.

Salt
Lemon
Butter

5 large potatoes (Maris piper), peeled and cut in quarters.

Milk

1 large beaten egg.
Fresh Coriander

Plain flour
Breadcrumbs
Vegetable oil

Salad and jalapeno tartare sauce.

Method:

: Boil potatoes until slightly soft, then mash with butter, salt and pepper. Adjust to your liking, mash or even fluff the potato with a fork.

: Add egg, garlic, tuna, and mix well.
: The dried spices can go in next.

: Chop a handful of coriander finely, squeeze half the lemon and keep on mixing.

: Start heating a small amount of oil in a large frying pan.
: Get 3 bowls ready for milk, flour and breadcrumbs.

: Cover your hands in flour and scoop up a ball size of the mixture. Pat down but not too much, make sure it's a generous portion. We are aiming for small cake size not flat sad looking fish finger.

: Then brush or dip in milk and roll in breadcrumbs.
: Fry each side for 5 minutes then drain on kitchen roll.

: Serve with salad and sauce.


I purposely switched the egg and milk role to see what the effects would be. I've seen many recipe's call for egg as a dipper. Using it in the mixture helped the binding and there was no disintegrating. Success!

DONE!

Favourite Song:

ê 'Man Of Simple Pleasures'  

Sweet Chilli Couscous with Feta

♬ '21' by Adele

While walking to the RSPCA shop to donate clothes that have started to look too young on me, I heard Adele's voice booming 'set fire to the rain' in a passing car. An album I play a lot and enjoy listening to 'rumour has it', as it's a bit more punchy and upbeat when I'm standing waiting for onions to soften! Lunch was going to be a Moroccan style couscous from Marks and Spencer's but instead thought 'I'm all about home cooking, so let's try to recreate this!' And so I did! How pretty and spectacular does it look. Couscous has a danger of tasting like nothing, so in this recipe I have gone a bit wild with spices and they all work very well together to give this grainy staple a kiss of colour. One ingredient I had to fish for were raisins, I had to have them in this dish to add a juicy and plump sweetness. Seriously my love for raisins is nearly over taking ketchup. 

An easy versatile side or main salad that compliments chicken and fish, and would be perfect for lunch the next day!


Try it and taste for yourself...

 ▶ Recipe to feed 4.

Ingredients:

500g couscous

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp oregano

1 tsp ground cumin powder

half tsp fenugreek seeds
1 small onion finely diced.

1 garlic clove crushed.

Olive oil

Half a tsp of grated ginger.

Fresh coriander

1 lemon

Feta cheese
Sundried tomatoes in olive oil.
50g raisins or jumbo sized even better!
5 dried apricots chopped in half.

The list may look long but most of these were cupboard staples!

Method:

: Boil the kettle with enough water to pour over couscous, once boiled make sure you cover cous cous and leave half a cm of water on top, put a lid on and leave it on it's own. No need for the hob at all.

: Meanwhile in a separate pot, add a dash of olive oil, and fry the fenugreek seeds until fragrant, then tip in the garlic, onions and ginger. Stir until soft.

: Time for couscous to go in, run a fork through it so it separates well. The water should have been absorbed.

: Chop and add 6 sundried tomatoes that are still covered in olive oil.

: Stir in powders and squeeze half of lemon, then use a slight bit of zest.

: Add finely chopped coriander (up to you on the amount), I used a small handful.

: Include the raisins, apricots and oregano: drizzle a bit more olive oil.

: Let it cook, and stir slowly for about 3 more minutes.

: Serve with cubed feta cheese, slowly stir this through and garnish with more coriander.

Don't be tempted with salt, the flavours in this do it justice, trust me.

DONE!

Favourite Song:

ê 'Rumour has it' 

Egg Cupcake

♬ 'It's About Time' by SWV

I couldn't agree more with this album title at this very minute, the sisters with voices start their tour in the U.S end of May. This and other news is making me ready to pack my bags and jet off for a while. London is home for now, but soon I have a tingling feeling that could all change. 

Enough travel chat and check out these extraordinary eggs.

What a genius idea! Cracking eggs in a silicone cupcake case and letting them bake for  20 minutes, or until they are done to your liking. Inspiration for this cute idea came from my cupcake tin. The 12 hole beauty was just sitting on my dining table and this morning I fancied a poached egg on toast but decided to put the oven on instead and try something different. Obviously using two holes out of a 12 hole tin could be seen as uneconomical, but if you have a group of guests staying round this is perfect for breakfast, and while they are baking it leaves you with other things to do, like frying sausages, getting beans heated or grilling mushrooms.

I wish I could publish a book just about eggs and all the fun things you can do to manipulate these balls of protein. I cannot and will not not brag about how good they are for you, then this post will read like a 100 page book! But all you need to know for now is: think of an egg as the easiest and cheapest form of brain food out there.

Give these a go over the weekend and let me know how they went. Silicone cupcake cases were perfect for baking these eggs, I tried one egg in a paper case but that didn't produce an egg like the one in the photo.

Not much of a recipe here because you just need fresh eggs! So let me go straight into the method:

: Preheat oven to 200°c

: Just like if I was going to fry an egg, I dipped my finger in a bit of olive oil and spread it in the case. Use a brush if you prefer, you don't need a lot, just enough to make the case have a shine.

: Using fresh medium eggs, crack each one in a case.

: Place tray in the oven for 15-20 minutes. If you like them slightly soft at the top, bake for 15 minutes.

DONE!

Serve with toast, cracked black pepper on the egg. No need for salt as the olive oil is the substitute here.

AMAZING!

 ê Favourite Song:

  'Right Here (human nature radio mix)' by SWV

Swede and Sweet Potato Soup with Cheese

♬ 'Writer's Block' by Peter Bjorn and John

As I was walking through Covent Garden the song 'young folks' burst straight out of the Apple shop and I was sent back to a house that was the pinnacle of east London life. This was a time when life was party party party. I was naive and would listen to this song on repeat to block out a specific person; the walls always felt like they were made from cling film then. Those were the days when I was baking all the time, and I mean every second day. I lived with six people. We all needed cake to get us through the good, bad and ugly times!

This week I haven't been craving cake, only the internet. It's been a nightmare! My hands have felt lifeless from lack of contact on the keypad. Instead I have taken this time to read, plan, and brainstorm about a new business idea. Will let you know very soon what I've been weighing up. Now I'm back to blogging, filming, recipe testing, and everything is all gravy.

Tonight's sunshine in a bowl was incredibly satisfying, tasty and just pure gold glistening on a spoon. This dish was also inspired by a lovely friend in Denmark who just informed me she achieved a sun burn today. Don't get me started on the weather here, let's just say there's no point using the tap, holding a small pot outside for 2 minutes will be enough water to start making chai. Basically it's grey and wet here.

Let me tell you what's great about soup.


Firstly there is a lot of good stuff going in and then blended to make one gorgeous colour. When I've shown kids this process, they don't believe me!
Soup is QUICK, easy and can be smooth or chunky.
Three or more ingredients fill a bowl which is nourishing and can be healthy. To achieve this, opt for potatoes instead of cream.
There is no 'food confuser' questions, you know ones like 'what's that with that?' 
Soup is warming and filling.
Bread with soup is like a pair of drumsticks for a drum: they have to be together to make an impact.

Moving forward to a bit of colour...

Sweet potato is delicious. Rutabaga or swede needs a bit of help to be honest, it's unglamorous and is a cross between a cabbage and turnip. I only bought it because Tesco had it reduced to 20p, and I thought 'why not'. Boiled, blended and partnered with sweet potato, oregano and cheese this soup will give you a healthy kick of potassium, calcium, iron and vitamin C. To be a little daring I have not added salt to this soup, instead the flavour of cheese, black pepper and oregano have been the substitute.

 ▶Here's the recipe to feed 2:

Takes 40 minutes including peeling and chopping.

Ingredients:

2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped.

1 medium swede, peeled and chopped.

2 tsp oregano

Cheddar cheese

Black Pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove crushed

Bread to serve.

Method:

: Boil the swede and sweet potato. This should take 25 minutes.

: Once they are soft, drain the water and save it in a jug. A good tip is to leave a jug in the sink, let it sit under the colander and let it collect the drained water.

: Pour a bit of olive oil in the empty pot and fry the garlic for a few seconds. 

: Then tip in the potatoes, swede and oregano, stir till they are covered.

: Take off the heat and pour in 100ml of water, use a hand blender and get whizzing.

: Keep on adding 100ml and blend, aim for something in between baby food and broth. I used 300ml in total.

: Put back on the heat, season with black pepper and grate a small amount of cheddar. 

: Taste to see if more pepper or oregano is needed. Don't be tempted to add salt at this stage, try adding more of the above flavours.

: Serve straight away with your choice of chunky bread. 
I'm all about the multigrain slices.

DONE!

I love a hearty crusty bread with soup. What's the best and forgiving bread for soup dunking? Let me know what you think.

Favourite Song:

ê 'Young Folks' and 'Paris 2004'

Let's Talk About Salt...

Image from Superlyrics.com

I've wanted to type about salt for a while and finally it has taken a dark clouded weekend to dig out my notes, put my nose in a book, and look on line for facts that will grind sodium chloride just that bit more.

Year after year there is always the same message from health professionals in England, we consume too much salt. What I want to rant and type about is mentioned on Salt 'n' Pepa's album cover, is it 'very necessary' in cooking? Honestly I cook without salt, I think there is enough salt in foods and I don't need to add more because I don't want to drown out natural flavours. When I first started to cook for others I would be asked if I had any, because it was needed on my dish. I took this quite personally, but now understand everyone associates salt with flavour or lack of it. When living at home I was used to what was served and not making a fuss or adding any seasoning on a meal. My mum used an extensive range of fresh and dried herbs in cooking and they worked great, she also used more black pepper than salt in her dishes.

Here is a list of foods that contain a high percentage of salt:

Anchovies
Bacon
Olives
Soy sauce
Baking powder
Cured meats
Gravy granules
Marmite
Sun dried tomatoes
Stock cubes
Cheese

Ouch, all of the above are my favourite types of nibbles and I use them quite a bit in meals. By following my mums methods I can elaborate a dish with even more flavour instead of creating the danger of making it too salty. I'm so gutted about anchovies, I love them at the moment but need to cage them off for a while! I might be punching salt in the corner with my jabs (which I'm pretty good at!), but I know it plays a big part in the function of our bodies. It is needed for transmitting nerve signals and controlling the amount of water in the body. Unfortunately too much eating out, adding salt to food and getting a bit bacon happy could lead to a high blood pressure which leads to heart disease. No one deserves to get to this stage, but we all know this happens and our body wants us to change.

Here are some alternative suggestions:

Unsmoked back bacon
Switch to ripe fresh tomatoes in sauces with oregano.
Make your own stock with water, fresh herbs and fish/chicken bones.Then pour in an ice cube tray and freeze.
Frozen vegetables not canned.
Canning, smoking and curing methods are high in salt.
Dry fruit as a snack not salted nuts.
When a recipe asks for salt, half that quantity.
Opt for raw fruit and vegetables.
Read nutritional labels, which can be a bit tedious when you need to pop to the supermarket for a quick shop, but once you know about one product it will be worth it.
Keep salad dressings to one side and use sparingly.
Sea salt not table salt on the table.
*Drink 2 litres of water a day.*Run, sweat, stretch and drink milk after. 

I cook for kids everyday and watch the salt intake especially for energetic boys, for most meals I try and place raw vegetables to pick on and a protein enriched meal. I know this is easier said than done but try your best to encourage a colourful plate.

In a strange way you can't get away from salt, which I understand because for some it is a matter of habit like the taste for sugar. Gradually cutting down and eating low to medium salty foods in moderation will help. The convenience of buying a ready meal after a hard days work is quick and easy, but if you make this a regular habit, your body will let you know in a scary way. I'm a pure salty victim of certain take aways and try and make what I can at home, which you will see very soon. I'm a person that likes to see and control what goes into a meal.

I might have filled you with one or two new facts, but either way fresh, raw, slow cooked and grilled is the way forward. Listen, no one is perfect, we can all try new diets and fads but every body is different so listen to yours.



Many thanks to:

Helen Mc Grath
Gillian Mc Keith
BBC Health
NHS choices
Superlyrics
Nicola Graimes

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* Great points for fitness fanatics, and a habit of mine to throw them in when I make healthy suggestions.