Seabass with Curried Veloute and Coconut Peas

I do love seabass and I hardly ever cooked fish two years ago. How things have changed. This was in a curried veloute but not too overpowering.

Salad of Seared Tuna with a Sauté of Treviso

I enjoyed this which was surprising as I have always had the impression that tuna is a bit like cat food. Possibly because I've not had tuna cooked like this before. I sautéed the Treviso (or red chicory)after dusting it with icing sugar. The treviso was a little bitter so it was not perfect but something to work on. It was a Gordon Ramsay recipe.

Fillet Steak with Redcurrant and Red Wine Sauce and Beetroot, Turnip and Parsnip Dauphinoise

Thick red wine sauce, looks a bit like chocolate. I used a lot of port in the sauce, the redcurrants were a bit sour. I tried the dauphinoise using beetroot, turnip and parsnip. I have decided I don't really like beetroot it tastes too much like mud for my liking. Soya beans and panchetta. Possibly a bit too many flavours on the plate!

Gnocchi Mad

I went a bit mad and made far too much gnocchi. 2kg of potatoes baked in the over for 1.5 hours on a bed of salt. Its great for freezing but we spent most of Sunday evening rolling and shaping the stupid wee things.


Gnocchi with Meatballs
The great news is that the kids loved the gnocchi as well. I didn't tell them it was made with potato until afterwards but it worked. The wee soles spent ages rolling out the meatballs and actually did a really good job.

Clams with Panchetta in a Port Jus with Samphire

I absolutely loved these clams really sweat and went well with the port just and panchetta. Reminder to self, I really need to buy more clams.


Ah yes also found this picture, chicken and sag korma.

Razor Clams White Wine and Herb sauce.

I'd actually just realised that I have a few dishes I haven't posted and how could I forget the razor clams.

Sauté the diced carrots then set aside. Heat a large pan then place the razor clams, 100ml white wine and shallots in together, they only take about a minute to cook and it is important not to over cook them. Then remove (reserving the wine), and chop up the clams. Reduce the wine by half then add some whipping cream, chives, carrots and dill. As the cream thickens, add the clams and lemon juice and serve in their shells.

Venison with Red Wine Sauce and Rosemary Herb Oil

I'm gutted this picture didn't come out well as this a cracking plate of food. I bought the venison from the farmer's market in Edinburgh and it was very tender. Nothing too complex, just leeks, mashed potatoes and venison in a thick red wine sauce.
There are two schools of thought to a red wine sauce, one where you sweat the onions in oil/butter first(then add pepper corns, garlic and bay leaves) and then skim off the fat when it is reducing. The other one is those that don't use butter as the sauce is said to split. Either way you can get the same result and you need to cook for at least 45mins to reduce the wine, then sieve off the onions etc. The rosemary herb oil just completed the dish.


The above picture didn't come out well and I just happened to find another venison dish I did but haven't posted, venison in a beetroot and caper jus, and sweat potato and potato mash.

Belly of Pork with Sage Anya Potatoes and Caramelised Shallots and Leeks

Amazingly enough, this was the first time I have cooked pork belly and there are conflicting ways to cook it. I went for Tom Kitchin's suggestion to cook it fat side down for an hour then flip it over and cook for another 40 mins. The result, crackalacking! I was really pleased with the accompaniments on this one. I sweated the leeks and shallots with some pancetta then added sugar to caramelise slightly before adding chicken stock and reducing. I always feel that pork needs a little bit of sweetness like an apple sauce, and the caramelised leeks and and shallots was just the ticket.

I've bought a big block of pancetta from the Foodies Festival in Edinburgh. It is great, it is cured so you don't need to keep it in the fridge, its just hanging from my cook books in the kitchen.


I added some sage from the garden to beurre monte (emulsified butter, just whisked into a splash of boiling water) and added a little cream before adding this to the anya potatoes.

Lemon saybon tart with honey mascrapone cream

There is a lot of whisking with this one, just a shame the kids didn't like it. I stole the recipe from The French Laundry which is an American book and restaurant and it was a little sharp.

Smoked Haddock and soya bean risotto

On old favourite of mine, this time with soya beans as an alternative to spinach.

Sri Lankan Curry with Basmati Rice

I cook a lot of curries and decided to do something really different with this one, I wish I had written down what I did as it went down very well. I'm not sure why I have called this a Sri Lankan curry, I'm just have a feeling that their curry's are a little fruitier. I used a lot of amchoor(mango)powder, fenugreek and star anise which gave it a different flavour and I deep fried the chicken in spicy breadcrumbs.

Sea Bass with a herb veloute, peppered spinach, boulangere potatoes and leaks

The veloute really made this dish, I used a mixture of herbs from my garden especially lemon thyme, a small amount of marjoram and sage. Boulangere potatoes were cooked in fish stock for about 50 mins.