Kedgeree at the end of Easter Weekend

Easter bank holiday weekend 2013 will go down as one of those bank holidays when little is achieved and you feel good about it.  Normally, a bank holiday is the perfect excuse for a food blow-out, plenty of shopping and cooking, but my one plan for the weekend got in the way.  Rather than mooching around markets and food fairs I went to Manchester for a stag do.

The details of the stag will remain the knowledge* of the attendees.  Suffice to say, by the time I got back to Leeds I was starving and probably still a little drunk.  A hot cross bun had been saved for my return but I had longer to wait for the meal of the day.  It's not a Celebration without a roast and we had bought a rolled pork shoulder joint to celebrate Easter.  If you want to read more about cooking pork please feel free to venture over to Everything But The Oink where I am eating every edible part of a pig over the course of the year.

Today I woke up relatively hangover-free and set about the order of the day.  Firstly, meal planning for the week ahead and writing a suitable shopping list, followed by a trip to Temple Newsam.  More specifically a trip to Home Farm to show R the lambs**.  The sun was shining when we set out but the clouds quickly gathered and cut off the little warmth that the sun was providing.

After a couple of cold and enjoyable hours at the farm we decamped back to Leeds for a warming pub lunch.  We found ourselves in The Adelphi.  We'd been to The Adelphi a couple of months ago for Sunday lunch and were so impressed with the food and the service that we were keen to go back.  By the time we arrived a brief twitter conversation had resulted in a reserved table.  It wasn't needed because we had the run of the place when we arrived, but within half an hour the pub was really filling up and we would have struggled to get in.

I ordered bangers and mash and Z chose chicken and leek pie.  We knew that the staff wouldn't bat an eyelid at us letting R share our food which makes life very easy indeed.  R isn't a fussy eater for a two year old, but occasionally he still picks at food that I know he loves.  Not ordering him his own food might seem a bit tight but I'd rather share than waste money.

While we waited for our food I had a pint of the wonderfully named Hoptimus Prime, Z had a hot chocolate and R had a glass of milk which was served in the cutest flip-top Kilner bottle.  When the food arrived R had more than his fair share of my bangers and mash and wasn't interested in Z's chicken pie.  He's a harsh critic as both meals were superb!  That said, I do have ongoing issues with pies that are actually a stew with a pastry lid.

With lunch out of the way we cracked on with the shopping and I re-thought our evening meal.  Originally we were going to have smoked mackerel fish cakes, using up a packet of cooked peppered mackerel that had been destined for Z's lunch last week.  After a hefty pub lunch I fancied something lighter but was determined to use the fish and not waste food.  That was when kedgeree struck me.  I have only eaten kedgeree a couple of times and I had never cooked it before, but how hard could it be? 

Cooked rice and smoked fish stirred into fried onions and curry spices.  I always have some home ground garam masala in the store cupboard so there was no need for curry powder.  The finished dish is garnished with a hard boiled egg.  It really is that simple.  I know that it is traditionally eaten at breakfast time, but in a society that worships the All Day Breakfast, why can't we eat what we want when we want it.  I'm hereby reclaiming kedgeree as a supper dish.

*drunken miss-rememberings
**he's currently obsessed with Timmy Time and Shawn the Sheep.

Smoked Mackerel Thai Fishcakes

Yesterday I found myself looking into the fridge seeking inspiration for our evening meal.  I was faced with a motley crew of ageing vegetables and very little else.  There was one shining light, a packet of smoked mackerel that had been bought for Z's lunches.  For reasons that I might come to another day, Z hasn't been taking lunch with her to work this week, so the mackerel was in danger of being wasted.

Z regularly makes fish cakes for her and R's lunches at home.  I never get a look in so I decided to knock up a batch myself.  It was then I noticed that amongst the sorry looking salad in the fridge, sat the beginnings of a Thai curry.  There is nothing unusual about a Thai fish cake but I was unsure about the combination of Thai aromatics and smoked fish.

I decided to make a Western, potato based, fish cake and add the Thai flavours to the mix in the hope that the smoked fish wouldn't be too over powering.  To the smoked mackerel and mashed potato I added spring onions, garlic, ginger, chilli and coriander.  I didn't bother with fish sauce as I presumed that the mackerel would be fishy enough.

Standard British fish cakes are usually served with peas and I wanted something along those lines to have with mine tonight.  Having searched the internet I came across Pad Prig King or Green Beans and shrimp.  Steamed green beans fried in red curry paste, is without a doubt the easiest side dish I have ever cooked.  I left out the shrimp but I can see how their sweetness would work in the dish.

I served the fish cakes and green beans with jasmine rice.  I was nervous when I took my first bite of the fish cakes, they smelled superb but I was still unsure about the clash of flavours.  I needn't have worried.  The fish cakes were great and the aromatics worked really well with the smoked fish with no individual flavour dominating.  I know that the meal wasn't authentic but I'd rather make good tasting food than let it go to waste.  With that in mind, Tonight's meal was a huge success.

Tandoori Mackerel with Spiced Potatoes

Last night we had planned on having Tandoori chicken as our Friday night Take-away but inspiration came along.  Instead we had oregano chicken from a book that Z bought me.  I was still in the mood for a tandoori so we switched it to tonight.  However, we try not to eat the same protein or carbohydrate on subsequent days, so chicken was off the menu.

Instead we got a couple of mackerel from Kirkgate Market, which the fishmonger insisted were small.  Have you ever noticed how things are bigger in the kitchen, than they were in the shop where you bought them?  Rather than two small fish, enough for one per person, we had what seamed to be a bottle nosed dolphin each.  Admittedly, by the time I had filleted them they were a bit more manageable.  I smothered the fillets in tandoori paste and popped them back in the fridge until we were ready for them.

The fish were roasted in the oven set to its highest temperature*.  While they were cooking I tossed some parboiled potatoes in some butter which had been flavoured with turmeric, coriander, cumin, fennel and mustard seeds.  Finally I fried some onions and peppers and added some leftover madras sauce that we had in the freezer.  The fish more than stood up to the strong flavours and the potatoes made a great change from rice.  With a few tweaks we'll be doing this again.

*I only wish my oven's highest temperature would be higher.  Tandoori and pizzas really need a scorching oven.

Mackerel Fish cakes

After last night's pasta with its slow cooked sauce, Z decided to raid the freezer for tonight's meal.  What she found was a box of mackerel fish cakes.  Now these were no ordinary fish cakes.  To start with they were home-made, not shop bought.  They were made using the remains of the massive mackerel that I bought a couple of weeks ago and so they were already infused with the flavour of the chimichurri sauce, which is a great start.

The real advantage of home-made fish cakes is that you can monitor the quantities of the ingredients.  All too often shop bought fish cakes are far to heavy on the potato and scant on the fish.  They should be fish cakes, not potato cakes with a hint of fish.  The balance is important.

The final crowning glory to these fish cakes is that they were coated in garlic-bread crumbs.  A while ago and in a complete break from tradition, we managed to have left over garlic bread.  This got crumbed and frozen for a rainy day and that day came.  The extra hint of garlic really set off the fish cakes.  Z served the fish cakes with oven chips* and a side salad.  The salad dressing was based on tartar sauce, to go with the fish. She really thinks of everything.

*well, the oven was on.

Chimichurri Mackerel

The eagle eyed amongst you will notice a slight gap on Tonight's Menu.  "What happened to Thursday 7th June?" I hear you all cry.  In a nutshell work happened.  Yesterday was always going to be a long day, not only was I covering the late shift, but due to the caretaker being on holiday I also had to open up in the morning.  The long shift wasn't a problem, in fact it worked in my favour as I could take today off as time owed.  The problem was a call to reception at 8:30pm from a tenant who had an emergency and needed to work later than usual.

I finally got home at 10pm, having informed Z to go ahead and eat without me.  It looks like I missed out on a cracking plate of tagliatelle with a bacon, cabbage and cream sauce.  These things happen, it's not the end of the world and at least I got a day off out of it.

To me a day off in Leeds tends to mean one thing, a trip in to town for lunch and a mooch around Leeds Kirkgate Market.  We stopped for lunch at The White Swan where I had a great Roast beef* sandwich, which was smothered in the best home-made horseradish sauce I've ever had the pleasure to eat.  It was like Russian Roulette with the occasional bite sending pleasurable nose numbing heat through my senses.  We had such a good time that I almost forgot to pay, but I remembered before we got to the door!

With the embarrassment of almost running off without settling the bill avoided we headed down to fish row on the market with one item on our shopping list, mackerel.  We still had some chimichurri sauce left over from our steak night.  With deep slits cut in the flesh of the fish, I rubbed the sauce all over them and baked them in the oven set at its highest temperature.  The punchy sauce mellowed with cooking but went really well with the oily fish, boiled Jersey Royal potatoes and asparagus.  As food filled days go, they don't get much more tasty.

*No, I have not eaten enough roast beef this week.

Mackerel Fish Cakes

There has been quite a lot of chatter about fish cakes* on my Twitter feed recently, so when Z offered to make a batch of mackerel fish cakes for tea, I could hardly say no.  Z looks after the boy on Thursday and Friday so managing to knock up a batch of fish cakes whilst toddler wrangling was a herculean feat.

Z used peppered smoked mackerel** as the fishy part of the mixture along with mashed potato, softened leeks, sweetcorn and parsley.  The mixture was shaped into cakes, coated in egg and bread crumbs and put into the fridge so that they would hold together better in the oven.

Apart from the egg everything on our plates this evening had been reduced for quick sale, including the breadcrumbs which we make from stale bread and keep in the freezer.  The fish cakes were much lighter than any that you could buy pre-made.  All to often bought fish cakes have far too much potato and not enough fish.  Z got the balance just right.

*including images of Finnish cakes decorated with fish!
**it's one of R's favourites.

Mackerel with Rhubarb

We spent yesterday at the Wakefield Food, Drink and Rhubarb Festival, seeking out some of the finest produce the region has to offer.  We didn't find much of it but what we did find was top draw.  This included rhubarb from E Oldroyd & Sons.  I love rhubarb but always have it as a dessert, which is why it hasn't featured too often on Tonight's Menu.

I had noticed the combination of fish and rhubarb on Food and Biscuits' review of Create, a restaurant with a concience in Leeds.  I loved the sound of the sour, sharp fruit cutting through the oily salty fish.  I didn't have to think twice about what we were going to cook.

Simply fried mackerel served with roasted rhubarb, boiled potatoes and mixed stir-fried greens made a great Sunday lunch for the three of us.  I don't know why I've not used rhubarb with savoury food before.  It would go equally well with pork as fish and I'll be trying it out a lot more.