Creamy Mushrooms on Toast - Brunch Dish For Two

This is a lovely weekend brunch or lunch dish improved when you can get hold of a glut of delicious wild mushrooms. I crave this though and sometimes supermarket fungi just has to suffice, in fact with a mixture of mushrooms, it's still gorgeous. A great alternative to bacon and eggs and fab with some fresh orange juice or better still a Bloody Mary cocktail.

Here's how:

Drizzle olive oil
1 small red onion
1 large clove of garlic
150g mushrooms (a mixture of any)~
2tbsp balsamic vinegar
3tbsp creme fraiche
2 ciabatta rolls or a ciabatta loaf sliced in half

Slice the red onion finely and crush the garlic and add to a frying pan with a generous glug of olive oil and place on a low heat.

Cut the ciabatta in half, drizzle a little olive oil over and place onto a griddle pan on a low heat. Alternatively you can grill or even toast.

Slice the mushrooms and set aside.

Once the onions are softened, add the balsamic vinegar to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon. Cook for 3-4 minutes longer then add the mushrooms to the pan. 

Allow to cook for a few minutes until the mushrooms have softened slightly then add the creme fraiche, a pinch of salt and a generous sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper, stir through and cook for a further 3-4 minutes.

Remove the ciabatta and place on a plate and spoon over the mushroom mixture. Add some freshly chopped parsley and enjoy. 

Mid-week Magic: Haddock baked on a tomato, chorizo and bean stew

During the working week it is very easy to become stuck in a meal rut, cooking the same predictable dishes week after week.

I often draw inspiration from restaurants, cookery programmes, magazines, books and other blogs for some mid-week magic and aim to cook at least one ‘new’ dish each week.

I’ve decided to share some of these recipes in the hope that they inspire others to try something new. These recipes should give readers the idea for a meal that can be pulled together in well under an hour, that requires the minimum of effort on your part and that will be filled with flavour.

This first one takes forty minutes to cook, but after the first five minutes of preparation, pretty much takes care of itself. The bean stew makes a great, healthy carbohydrate substitute, and makes for a great meal on it’s own too. I served my white fish dish with a selection of curly kale, sprouting broccoli and asparagus tips, all steamed, but you could serve with any veg you have in stock. And if you’re after a true one-pot dish rather than having to cook the veg towards the end, you can always bulk up the stew with chopped courgettes, aubergines, carrots or mushrooms too.

After you’ve chopped all of the necessary, fried off the chorizo and bunged the dish into the oven, it’s a perfect opportunity to relax with a glass of wine, have a hot relaxing après work bath, or if essential crack on with any boring household chores.

Apologies for the dodgy bright white light on the fish – I have a new camera and am slowly getting used to it – hopefully this will improve soon!

Here’s How (for 2):

2 fillets of haddock, or your favourite white fish

1 can each of butter beans and cannellini beans

100g chorizo

Can of chopped tomatoes

1 red onion

2 garlic cloves

1 small red bell pepper

1 red chilli

2 tbsp Manzanilla Sherry or a dry white wine

1 tbsp fresh or dried Oregano

1 tbsp fresh or dried parsley

1 tsp paprika

Salt & pepper to taste

Firstly get the oven on at around 180-200 degrees. Next chop the garlic, pepper, chilli and onion up small and add to an ovenproof tray dish.

Chop the chorizo into small, coin-like pieces and dry fry in a hot pan for four-six minutes, until the tell-tale orange-hued oil is exuded.

In the meantime open the beans and tomatoes and add to the dish with the herbs and spices and sherry. Add the fried chorizo, stir and add salt and pepper to taste.

Add to the oven for fifteen minutes, remove and place on top the fish fillets. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the haddock, cover with foil and then return the dish to the oven for a further 20-25 minutes – cooking time will depend on the size of the fish fillets but the foil will help to prevent the fish from over-cooking.

Whilst the dish is back in the oven, prepare your vegetables and when you remove from the oven sprinkle with a last flourish of parsley and oregano before serving. 

Two Ways With...

Halloumi

In the second of this series of posts I've chosen the Cypriot cheese that is increasingly popular in the UK. Readily available in most supermarkets and a frequent contender on menus in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern restaurants, it is often used in one of two ways.

The first is as 'saganaki', which translated from Greek means frying pan, or fried, and simple as it is, I do enjoy this style. The second which I seem to see more and more of is sliced, grilled and piled up in stacks of grilled vegetables, simply drizzled with oil. Again this is nice, however I think this is a versatile cheese that has more to it than these two dishes let on.

So my two dishes this time cook the cheese in different ways, both ways paired with almost identical ingredients used in different ways. Two different plates of food, and two very tasty dishes.

What's more these are a great couple of dishes to offer to vegetarian guests - something that I seem to have a lot of!

You may notice that both of these recipes use chilli, mainly as I am slightly addicted to spice, and if you prefer a milder flavour then decrease the amount of chilli used.

Chilli and Lime Vegetables with Grilled Halloumi

This is an incredibly simple but seriously delicious hot salad topped with lovely grilled Halloumi, perfect for a warm summer's day when you fancy something light to eat, but don't want to compromise on flavours. I served this with a dip which works as an excellent alternative to Greek tzatziki - using coriander instead of mint, which works well with the lime and chilli.

100g Halloumi
1 courgette
1/2 an Aubergine
1/2 Red Onion
1 Green Chilli
4 Cherry Tomatoes
2 Tbsp Creme Fraiche
1Tbsp Coriander
1 Clove of Garlic

First cut the courgette and aubergine into ribbons using a vegetable peeler. Halve the tomatoes and chop the onion and chilli.
Pour a drizzle of olive oil into a large griddle pan over a medium heat and pop in all the vegetables.
Slice the Halloumi so it's at least 1/2cm thick.
Once the vegetables are nicely cooked, remove to a dish, cover with foil and pop under a warm grill whilst you add the halloumi to the griddle.
In the meantime place the creme fraiche in a small bowl. Crush the garlic and chop the coriander and add to the bowl and give a good stir.
Assemble the hot vegetables onto your serving plate and squeeze half a lime, or more if you require over them. Season with black pepper (don't use salt if you can help it as the cheese has a high salt content).
Once the Halloumi has been grilled for at least two minutes on each side place on top of the vegetables and you're ready to serve with your dip on the side.
For me this is like a taste of the Med.

Deep-fried Halloumi with Chunky Guacamole
100g Halloumi
1 Ripe Avocado
3 Cherry Tomatoes
1 Green Chilli
1 Clove of Garlic
1/2 Red Onion
1 Tbsp Coriander, chopped
1 Tsp Mint, chopped
1/2 Lemon or Lime Juice
1 Slice of White Bread
1 Egg, whisked
1/2 Cup of Plain Flour

Firstly make your guacamole by chopping your onion, garlic, chilli and tomatoes (try to remove seeds) and adding to a mortar.
Cut the avocado in half, remove the pip and skin and slice. Add this to the mortar with the coriander and mint and use the pestle to work into a paste, don't be too vigorous as it's good to still have some larger chunks of avocado.
Squeeze over the lime juice and give one last bash. Either pop in the fridge if you prefer this cold, otherwise just leave to one side.
For the Halloumi slice as in the above recipe.
In a food processor blitz the slice of bread and put into a shallow bowl. In another bowl pour in the flour and season. In a third bowl pour in the whisked egg.
For each piece of Halloumi first coat in the flour, next the egg and then fully coat in the breadcrumbs.
In either a deep-fat-fryer or if you don't own one, then fill a heavy-duty saucepan 1/3 of the way with vegetable oil and put on a medium heat.
Allow to heat up for four or five minutes and test it's hot enough by tearing off a small piece of bread and gently putting in with a metal slotted spoon. If this starts to sizzle then the oil is ready.
Once the oil is hot enough place each piece of breadcrumbed Halloumi into the pan with the slotted spoon. Cook for just over one minute, then use the spoon to turn over and brown on both sides.
Remove from the pan and place on a plate with kitchen roll. Then serve with the guacamole.
The cheese should be lovely, slightly melted and oozy and this works as a great starter or as a rather indulgent snack.