The Family Cook Book

The time has finally come for Joe to go off to Uni. This was our last Saturday night meal for a while (sniff sniff) As Gus had already headed back to Falmouth it gave us the chance to have something fishy for his last supper. I decide to try this Morrocan dish from the Moro cookbook. There is a little bit of preparation to do but it ends up being very easy and pretty tasty. The original recipe is for Hake which I think might be better but I couldn't get it on Saturday. Halibut would probably work well too. To make the Charmoula (marinade) 2 garlic cloves tsp salt 2 tsp ground cumin juice 1 lemon 1 tsp paprika 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp red wine vinegar some fresh chopped coriander Make the charmoula in a mortar and pestle (you could also do it in a blender). Pound the garlic and salt until smooth, then add cumin, lemon juice, paprika, vinegar, coriander, and olive oil. Rub two thirds of this mix into the fish and refrigerate for up to two hours. Main ingredients 300gms monkfish tail

I know I have blogged about this before but we took advantage of the fact that Martha was at a party to enjoy this very particular dish on Saturday night. Even Gus, who doesn't really like fish enjoyed this. The ink imparts a delicious depth of flavour to the dish. The recipe below is from the first River Cafe book. We added finely chopped onion to the garlic and cooked until soft to start the risotto off and as well as the chopped squid we added some flash fried prawns too. We all ended slightly black toothed but very happy. Ingredients 1L fish stock (qv) sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 75g butter 4 cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped 300g risotto rice 120ml wine 3 sachets squid or cuttlefish ink 2 tbspns finely chopped flat leaf parsley Method Heat fish stock and check for seasoning. Melt the butter in a saucepan and fry the garlic for 1 minute. Add the rice and continue to cook gently stirring for a further minute. Pour in the white wine and cook until it has been a

The Super Sunday refers to the football of course .. although the lunch wasn't half bad either. Gus is heading back to Uni this week and requested a 'proper roast' before he returns. Joe will be heading off for his first year in two weeks so this was the last opportunity for a while for us to have a proper Cook family Sunday lunch, even if it was timed to work with the footy. Martha evn decided not to row today just so she didn't miss out. I thought that I would try this recipe from Jamie. I was intrigued by the whole boiling the lemon thing. Although I reckon we needed about 10 minutes longer than the recipe said I thought that it was pretty damn tasty. I made a gravy by de-glazing the pan with a little wine( heating on really high and boiling the wine rapidly for a minute or so whilst scraping the nice gooey bits off the bottom of the pan) and then added the garlic flesh from inside the chicken (I didnt spread it on the chicken as per the recipe),some veg water and a

We had this for a late Sunday lunch (dinner actually) as Martha had been rowing and the boys were up late dealing with various alcohol induced tiredness problems. Although at one point it felt like Hades in the kitchen, and I also managed to get red wine up the wall, we all thought that this was pretty delicious. We had it with courgettes, green beans and broccoli. We followed it up with a delicious Tarte Tatin from Lisa and washed it down with a rather nice bottle of Langhe Nebbiolo from Vinoteca. Entertainment followed in the form of dancing with hats, this was closely followed by a bout of narcolepsy. Ingredients * zest and juice 1 lemon * zest and juice 1 lemon * a small bunch of fresh rosemary, tied together at the base. * olive oil * 1 × 1.2kg/2lb 11oz rib of beef * peppery extra virgin olive oil * a sprig of fresh rosemary * olive oil or duck or goose fat Directions Put the garlic, lemon zest and the tip of the rosemary brush in a pestle and m

On Saturday I tried this pizza dough recipe from Alice Waters 'The art of simple food', I know it's heresy but for my money it's better than Saint Jamie's, which has been my reference recipe to date. I think it must be something to do with the 'biga' (I think that's what you call the yeast concoction ) that you make to start off with. two other tips: Firstly,get the biggest heaviest oven tray you have and put it on the bottom shelf of the oven when you turn the oven on, you want it to get really hot. Secondly, ignore anything I have said before, make your pizzas on a well floured board and only prepare them immediately before they are due to go into the oven. If you leave it too long they will go soft and wont slide off the board easily. we all made our own very personal choices ( tomato sauce, anchovies, courgettes, slow cooked red onions, Salami, Parma ham, black olives, basil, oregano, courgettes and of course buffalo mozarella) and then tucked into t

I felt the overwhelming need to cook something new on Saturday night. I didn't want the tired and tested I wanted to explore new culinary waters. However combined with this desire was an equal and opposing force, driven by being absolutely knackered, that meant it had to be simple too. I returned to one of Jamie's early books, to a recipe that IO had meant to do on countless occasions but never quite got round to. I have done several versions of Sea Bass on a bed of potatoes, some that I have written about on this blog. The one question I would have is about the thickness of the potatoes and the length of time they need to be cooked through ... in my oven I reckon they need about 10 minutes more than the recipe suggests. I would suggest a bit of a trial run if you are going to do it for a dinner party ... however once you have given it a whirl I think this makes for a very easy recipe for a crowd. Here's the recipe. Roasted slashed fillet of sea bass stuffed with herbs, bak

Have to declare that, although I bow at the altar of Jamie's talent, the new series on America has not impressed me that much ... a bit too much Jamie hangin' with the homeboys and not enough hob action for my taste. However this didn't stop me from cooking two of his older recipes on Saturday night. The first was this simple beef carpaccio. As usual Mr Dale of Hampton Court provided the meat. beneath is Jamies unexpurgated recipe serves 4 ingredients • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper • 250g green or mixed beans, topped but not tailed • 1 x 500g piece of beef fillet • a few sprigs of fresh thyme • olive oil for the marinade • 2 small shallots or ½ a small red onion, peeled and very finely chopped • a handful of fresh soft herbs (chervil, parsley, yellow inner celery, tarragon), leaves picked and chopped • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard • 1½ tablespoons white wine vinegar • extra virgin olive oi Carpaccio is very thinly sliced raw meat. I like mine Italian style, with the