Monthly Archives: March 2013

Thai-style Mussels for Supper

10 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by in Seafood, Starter, Supper

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I am a fan of seafood, and shellfish in particular and the other week for lunch at The Outsider in Edinburgh they served up classic mussels with a side of fries which was just delicious.
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So on my travels today I decided that for supper I’d make some for myself.  I was also thinking ahead to a weekend coming up with a few friends at a loch-side cabin.  What better lunch that a huge plate of mussels and bread to soak up all the alcohol we’ll be consuming?

Thai-style Mussels (for 4)

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  • 2kg mussels, cleaned and de-bearded
  • bunch of spring onions (or half dozen shallots)
  • 2 lemongrass stalks, outer layers removed and chopped
  • 2-3 inch chunk of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 2-4 garlic gloves, roughly chopped
  • 2-4 red chillies, roughly chopped + 1 more to serve
  • Large bunch coriander
  • groundnut or other flavourless oil
  • 400 ml tin coconut milk
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 lime, juiced + 1 to serve

Directions

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  1. Clean the mussels and run under cold water, tapping and discarding any that don’t open.  With mussels, any that are open before cooking should be thrown away, any that are closed after cooking should also be thrown away.
  2. Place the onions, lemongrass, chilli, ginger, garlic and coriander roots into a food processor and blitz to a paste (a bit of water can help).
  3. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in as large a pot as you have.  Add in the paste and fry for 2-3 minutes.  Then add the coconut milk, fish sauce and lime juice and bring to a simmer.  Don’t let it over cook of you could split the coconut milk.
  4. Add in the mussels, place a lid on and steam for 3-4 minutes until they are all open (remembering to discard those that don’t).
  5. Place the mussels into bowls and scatter with fresh chopped coriander and sliced red chilli and serve with lots of fresh crusty bread to soak up all the flavours.

Okay cleaning mussels takes time, but this is just delicious.  A huge bowl shared with friends is a great starter to a meal, or just as a light lunch.  The garlic, ginger and chilli are all guidelines so add as much or as little as you like (too be honest err on the generous side).  I did this with just 2 red chillies, and while I don’t like too much heat it wasn’t quite enough and the flavour can handle 4 no problems, the coconut milk help to smooth the heat out.

If you don’t have all the fresh ingredients to hand, you could try replacing the ginger/chilli/garlic paste with a couple of tablespoons of good shop-bought red thai curry paste which would still give a fabulous flavour.

Sweet Potato & Spinach Bake

04 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by in Lunch, Vegetarian

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The advantage of having your own vegetable garden is that you have a ready supply of fresh vegetables that you know are free from chemicals.  The downside is sometimes you have a glut of something.  This summer it was spinach, I didn’t expect it to seed so well, or grow well with all the rain.  Fortunately I also have lots of friends who I like to cook for and so a glut turns into lunch.

I also helps that I love having people over for lunch at the weekend, so I needed to find something to use up lots of spinach as well as being filling and delicious.  A quick search and I found this fabulous bake courtesy of BBC Food.

Sweet Potato & Spinach Bake

Sweet Potato and Spinach Back

  • 300ml single cream (or double if you feel indulgent – I always do)
  • 1 garlic glove, peeled
  • 2 sprigs thyme (or rosemary)
  • 250g bag frozen spinach
  • freshly grated nutmeg
  • butter
  • 850g sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 3mm think) – I used my mandolin
  • 25g grated hard cheese (Parmesan or veggie equiv.)

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the cream, garlic and herb sprigs into a small saucepan and slowly bring to just below boiling. Turn off the heat, season and leave to infuse.
  2. Put the spinach into a colander, pour over a kettle of boiling water and leave to drain for a few mins. Then squeeze out as much water as possible. Season with salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg.
  3. Grease an ovenproof dish generously with butter and spread half the sweet potato slices across the bottom. Top with a layer of spinach, then the remaining potato. Pour over the cream mixture, through a sieve to remove the garlic and herbs, then sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 45-55 mins until golden and tender.

That’s it, easy-peasy.  I probably used more fresh spinach and just wilted it with almost boiling water from the kettle, and a couple of garlic cloves rather than just one.  I also used thyme – although the original recipe says you can use rosemary, it didn’t appeal to me.  I just served this with a huge bowl of salad (mixed leaves, halved baby plum tomatoes, sliced cucumber, sliced red and yellow peppers and finely sliced half-moons of red onion) and lots of fresh crusty bread with butter.

This is a delicious vegetarian lunch dish.  You could use it as a side dish (like dauphinoise potatoes), but why complicate things?  It should feed 4 people easily and perhaps 6 as a side.  I made a dish and a half for 6 as a main.  Oh and I apologise for pinching the photo…..I made this long before I started taking photos of everything I eat.