Skip to main content

More great stuff From Tom Kerridge.

We love big Tom. In fact Lisa met him at a pop up restaurant at Sonny's in Barnes before xmas, which is why I have the signed copy of the menu beautifully stitched into my copy of his new book  ... And yes Tom, you can be in my blog with pleasure.

Last night we cooked his pot roasted pollock, chickpeas and chorizo. I was really interested in particular in how he salts the fish with saffron for an hour before cooking. We all thought that it gave the fish an amazing flavour.

I couldn't get pollock so I cooked it with a nice thick loin of cod and it still worked very well.
I also cheated and used the delicious cooked chickpeas in a jar that I got from Brindisa, we think that their flavour is a significant step up from your average tinned ones it also cuts out all the faff.

We also got our chorizo from the same place, in fact I purchased a big 'job lot' before Xmas and froze them.


The recipe requires a bit of work up-front but is very easy and would make a great dish for a dinner party because you could prepare everything up to cooking the fish in advance.


Here's the recipe
A one-pot dish that's easy to prepare and serve a crowd. Pollack is a cheaper variety of white fish and is perfect for poaching in the flavourful stew.
Ingredients



Method

  • Soak the dried chickpeas overnight in a bowl of water.
  • Drain the chickpeas and place in a large pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and cook for two hours, or until the chickpeas are cooked. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool in the water.
  • Lay out a large piece of cling film on the counter. Mix the rock salt and saffron together and sprinkle half of it over the cling film. Place the pollack on top and sprinkle the remaining salt mixture over the top. Wrap tightly in the cling film and place in the fridge for 1½ - 2 hours.
  • Place a casserole on the heat with the olive oil. Add the onions, grated garlic and red chillies and cook over a medium heat for 6-8 minutes, or until the onion has softened.
  • Slice the chorizo into bite-sized chunks and add it to the casserole. Cook for a further five minutes, or until the red paprika oil renders out of the sausage. Add the cumin, paprika, bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Cook for a further 3-4 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3. Drain the chickpeas and add to the pot with chicken stock and tinned tomatoes. Bring to the boil and cook in the oven for 45 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  • Wash the pollack thoroughly under cold running water. Pat dry and place on top of the chickpeas. Transfer to the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the fish is cooked.
  • Remove the casserole from the oven. Gently lift the fish from the pot and place on a large serving plate.
  • Stir the spinach into the hot chickpeas until it is just wilted. Remove the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Spoon the chickpea mixture over and around the fish and serve.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Crack potatoes courtesy of Ottolenghi. Harissa and confit garlic roast potatoes

Another recipe from Ottolenghi's Simple, another recommendation from Will Saunders.   I know its the middle of summer but who doesn't love a roastie? These little tinkers are so good that they are like crack, class A calories. The clever bit is the addition of semolina and caraway seeds which adds a new level of crunchiness to add to the delicious warm heat of Harissa. Heres the recipe These make a lovely, spicy change from the traditional Sunday roasties. They’re especially good with spiced roast meat. Serves six to eight. 2 large heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled 130g goose or duck fat 4 sprigs fresh rosemary  6 sprigs fresh thyme  2kg maris piper potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks 40g ground semolina 2 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and lightly crushed 2 tbsp rose harissa Flaky sea salt Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Put the garlic, fat and herbs in a small ovenproof pan or saucepan for which you have a lid. Cover and roast for 40 minut

Nigel Slaters deceptively brilliant monkfish

Lisa discovered this recipe in her favourite Nigel book. It is one of those fish, 'but not as we know it Jim' recipes. Not just because Monkfish is the fish that can best impersonate meat but also because of the marinade ingredients that are more often featured with lamb. It's not difficult to do but the flavour is a revelation, which makes it a perfect recipe in my book. This can be cooked on a grill pan or a barbecue. Ingredients 3 bushy sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped 4 anchovy fillets 2 large cloves garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large lemon, juice only 3 tbsp olive oil 800g/1½lb monkfish fillet Method Pull the leaves from the rosemary stalks and chop them finely, then tip them into a bowl large enough to take the fish. Rinse the anchovy fillets and smash them to a rough pulp with the flat edge of your chopping knife. Peel the garlic, crush it flat, then smash it to a purée in the same way. Stir together the herb, anchovy and garlic, adding a grind

Sea Bass on mushroom potatoes with salsa Verde

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