Miso Salmon

Miso is a salty paste made from fermented rice or soya beans and is traditional in Japanese cooking. It gives rich and sumptuous flavour to this spicy broth. Poaching is a lovely, delicate way of cooking salmon. Keep the skin on to stop it from breaking up as the stock gently simmers.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp light miso paste

750ml fish stock

2 kaffir lime leaves

1–2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped, to taste

3cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely sliced

500g side of salmon, skin on, scaled and pin-boned (see here, step 6)

1 pak choi

150g tenderstem broccoli

2 small bunches of enoki mushrooms, separated

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Sea salt

Coriander leaves, to garnish (optional)

Procedure:

1. Place the miso paste in a pan and whisk in the stock. Taste and add a little salt if necessary. Bring to a simmer (don’t boil too rapidly, or it may separate), then add the lime leaves, chillies and ginger.

2. Cut the salmon in half widthways, then add to the stock, skin side down, and gently simmer for 8–10 minutes, basting the salmon in the liquid until cooked through.

3. Separate the pak choi leaves from the stems. Chop the stems into bite-sized pieces and shred the leaves. Slice the broccoli into bite-sized pieces.

4. Carefully transfer the salmon to a plate with a fish slice and pour a small ladleful of broth over it. Bring the stock remaining in the pan back to the boil.

5. Put the broccoli into the broth to cook, and after 30 seconds add the pak choi stems. Cook for a further 1–2 minutes, then add the shredded pak choi leaves. Cook for about 1 minute until wilted. Meanwhile, flake the cooked salmon into large chunks, discarding the skin.

6. Just before serving, add half the mushrooms to the broth. Rub your serving bowls with a little toasted sesame oil, then divide the remaining mushrooms between them. Add some flaked salmon and vegetables to each bowl, then spoon over some broth. Serve immediately, garnished with coriander if liked.

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Bacon, Pea and Goat's Cheese Frittata

Don’t limit yourself to cheese or ham when filling an omelette. This open Italian version is a meal in itself, and because it is finished under the grill, doesn’t involve any awkward folding or flipping. Check that one of your goat’s cheeses is firm enough to grate finely – if not, firm it up in the freezer first. Olive oil, for frying 

Ingredients:

8 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced

3 spring onions, trimmed and sliced diagonally

150g frozen peas

Handful of basil, leaves roughly chopped

2 goat’s cheese crottins (about 120g in total)

8 eggs, beaten

3–4 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Freshly ground black pepper

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.

2. Heat a glug of oil in a 27cm non-stick ovenproof frying pan and fry the bacon for 2–3 minutes. Add the red pepper and continue to cook for another few minutes until the bacon is golden brown and crisp. Add the spring onions and sweat for 4–5 minutes until everything is tender. Stir in the peas and heat through. Sprinkle in the basil, roughly mixing it through the vegetables. Cut one of the goat’s cheeses into chunks and scatter on top. 

3. Heat the grill on its highest setting.

4. Put the beaten eggs in a bowl, add the Parmesan and season generously with pepper. Pour into the pan over the vegetables and gently shake over a medium heat. As the omelette begins to set at the bottom, grate the remaining goat’s cheese on top and season with pepper.

5. Place the pan under the hot grill in the hot oven for 4–5 minutes until cooked through and golden on top.

6. Slide the frittata out of the pan and cut into wedges to serve.

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Pasta With Tomatoes, Anchovies And Chillies

Pasta and tomato sauce has become a midweek standby in every home. In this classic Italian dish, we are taking that basic sauce to another level by adding a few store cupboard staples – chilli, anchovies, olives and capers. Ready in the time it takes for the pasta to cook, and utterly delicious.

Ingredients:

400g dried spaghetti or linguine

Olive oil, for frying and drizzling

2–3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

1 dried red chilli, crumbled or chopped into small pieces

1 × 50g tin anchovies in oil, drained and finely chopped

200g pitted black olives, roughly chopped

3 tbsp capers, drained and rinsed

250g cherry tomatoes, halved

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Basil leaves, to garnish

Procedure:

1. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente, according to packet instructions.

2. Meanwhile, heat a wide high-sided frying pan or saute pan over a medium heat and add a glug of olive oil. Fry the garlic, chilli and anchovies for 1–2 minutes until the garlic is aromatic and the anchovy is beginning to melt into the oil.

3. Add the olives, capers and tomatoes to the pan and stir over a medium heat for 4–5 minutes until the tomatoes have collapsed and everything is well combined.

4. Drain the pasta and toss in the pan with the sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary (you probably won’t need any salt because of the saltiness of the anchovies, olives and capers).

5. Serve drizzled with a little olive oil and garnished with basil leaves.

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