Friday 17 July 2009

ricey fish (an ode to the kitchen gadget..)

Godpapa brought home some lovely haddock (on offer in Morrison's this week) so I decided to use up some of the box veg and steam the fish en papillote. I have these wonderful silicon papillote dishes from Lakeland:
http://www.mastrad.fr/produits-list.php?fam=cuiss&isfam=0&cat=papil

saves on foil and paper and fuss and fiddle. Anyway, I layered in carrots, broad beans and courgette. Then I laid the haddock fillets on top (beautifully skinned by my handsome fishmonger) and then added a layer of spring onions, some seasoning and finally a little dribble of white wine. Pop the lid on and pop in oven and it really only took 15-20 mins!

Along side, I made a lovely dill "pilau" rice. I fried the rice grains (2 cups) in some oil with a sprinkling of homemade garam masala (thank you Bamix) and about a tablespoon of dried dill weed, with a salt spoon of salt (oh I found some gorgeous juniper wood things in Covent Garden, just couldn't resist the salt spoon and a butter spreader, the scent is wonderful, and they are so pleasing to use.) I then added a teaspoon of Marigold bouillon powder and 2 and 3/4 cups of water (made easy by using my Tefal Quick Cup, LOL). Of course it boiled almost immediately, and I put the lid on and turned the heat down very low. 20 minutes later I gently stirred in half a bag of finely shredded organic spinach. Re-lidded and left for another 5 minutes, and then served it all. Gorgeous! And SO filling, and loads of veg portions!

Thursday 9 July 2009

perfect home made naan bread

I've experimented and sampled and finally come up with what I think is the definitive perfect recipe for home made naan bread, using bread machine and very very hot grill.

Into the breadmachine (follow the usual order as detailed in your breadmaker instructions)

1/2 tsp yeast
250g strong white flour
1tsp sugar
1 tsp kalonji (onion) seeds - optional
1-2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (NOT CRUSHED) - optional
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp veg oil
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
100ml water

Put these in the breadmachine and put it on the pizza dough program (or basic dough program is you don't have a pizza program)

Divide dough into 4 balls and roll each into vaguely oval shapes or teardrop shapes. While you are doing this, heat a baking tray preferably with a non-stick liner on, under the grill and when hot, place 2 of the dough shapes onto the tray. Watch it and turn round if needed until evenly puffed and slightly blistered on top. Turn over with tongs and cook the other side. It should take about 2-3 minutes per side. The grill needs to be very hot to create the required air pocket inside the bread.

Tasted better than shop bought to me, as good as something from a ghetto curry house.