Instant Blackberry Ice Cream

Blackberry season is just drawing to an end and our freezer has several bags which will be the base for my excellent Red Wine Jelly, but I fear they will not last long now I've discovered this ...

You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream!

What you do is take a handful of blackberries per person and put them into a receptacle. So as not to shower the place in blackberry pieces, take a rolling pin and break up the berries, breaking them down a little, too.

Now, take your stick blender and gently blend as you pour in double cream. The cold from the berries will freeze the cream and the liquid from the cream will blend the berries - the result: Instant Ice Cream!

Serve immediately ...

No stirring every 30 minutes, no unwanted ice crystals, just instant ice cream.

Spicy Grilled Fish

Inspired by a Mexican dish of food I saw on the internet, I made my own grilled fish, black beans and rice with a little salad underneath and boiled egg with guacamole alongside.

It's all fairy self-explanatory ...

Gut and scale a fish, any fish - it was a sea bass for me, slash it and rub some paste in. My paste is a jerk seasoning of thyme, spring onions and Scotch Bonnet pepper with a little salt. Grill for 15 minutes each side.

Meanwhile cook your rice, your beans - the adventurous might want to combine these with some coconut milk for a Jamaican-style Rice & Peas; make a little salad, boil your eggs and make up a Holy Guacamole by blending avocado with lime juice and salt.

Plate up!

Mrs didn't like hers, which was great for me since leftovers make fantastic breakfasts ... just bung the lot into a skillet with some good fat: goose fat, for me.

I've said it before, but this is living proof that good, real food is simply a case of putting good ingredients together. No recipe, no method, just cook some real food and put it on a plate ... re-cook it and put it on a plate.

Stuffed Aubergine

It's a use-up meal ...

I have a cabbage which has been sitting around for ages and some chorizo that wants using up. Perfect partners and a meal with a good piece of white fish ... but, no fish! I also have an aubergine that is starting to soften, some lovely tomatoes, some prawns and some flaked salmon. I have an idea forming ...

So, cabbage steamed and fried through with some chorizo - that's the side done.

Eggs boiled, yolks popped out and blended with some wasabi, avocado oil, sea salt and a spritz of rice wine vinegar. Pop a parsley leaf in and we've got a delicious garnish.

The aubergine was cut in half, slashed through the flesh (not the skin), slathered in olive oil, given a little salt and committed to the oven set to 180C (350F?) for 15 minutes, skin side up, turned over and give another 15 minutes.

Flesh removed and added into a skillet of prawns, the flaked salmon, the tomatoes, some Scotch Bonnet pepper, parsley, black pepper and sea salt.

Skins re-filled, we have dinner.

Pisces

... after a long day assembling Swedish flat-pack furniture at my son's, I had hoped to go home and cook up a fun Mexican dish of fried fish and all the accompaniments, but as afternoon turned to evening and evening turned to night, it was all getting a bit late.

Home around half past nine, I reckoned I could still cook the fish ...

Simply.

I had a couple of Sea Bream which just wanted gutting, slashing, sea salt, splash of lemon juice and under the grill for 5 minutes each side.

Done, garnished with fresh coriander and some black pepper, laid out on the plate like the star sign and I was ready to eat but Mrs said it was just too late.

So ... I enjoyed two whole Sea Bream with the cat!

I have never seen our cat "fished out" but tonight was the night; the little blighter simply could not eat all the fish I gave him.

What a great meal! So simple, barely any preparation, simple cooking methods, simple flavours and the full enjoyment of the fish cooked on the bone.

Sea Bream are very easy to eat as the fearsome spines top and bottom simply pull away once cooked, skin easily removed and you're left with four fillets (two each side, one either side of the middle line) which slide off readily.

I heartily encourage everyone to try a meal like this ...

Simply done, refreshing and wholesome, just protein and fat.

Lamb Liver Bhuna

It's the weekend, and I'm partial to a little (late) breakfast, but only at the weekend ...

Lamb Liver Bhuna

Lamb Liver
Large Onion, Garlic & Ginger
Ghee
Turmeric, Ground Coriander, Ground Cumin, Fenugreek & Asafoetida
Black Pepper & Sea Salt
Large Plum Tomato
Chillies

For two:

Take a large skillet and melt some ghee, caramelising off a large onion over a low heat with spices: turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin, fenugreek & asafoetida (a teaspoon of the first three and half a teaspoon of the last couple), a couple of cloves of minced garlic and a good slice of ginger, shredded.

Raise the heat to medium and brown off the liver, chopped into chunks.

Add a splash of water and reduce fully.

Add a couple of whole chillies, simply sliced in two and a large plum tomato, cored and sliced into segments.

Cook on for several more minutes, turning frequently. Bhuna is a dry dish, so ensure that any liquid from the tomatoes is fully cooked out.

Sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Serve out with a light green salad.

Maltese Sea Bass

Following a lovely holiday to Malta, home, inspired and hungry ... here's my little ode to Malta which has nothing at all to do with Maltese cooking but everything to do with that conflux of Mediterranean and North African flavours.

Simply, it's leaves, salad potatoes cooked through with sun-dried tomatoes, olives added and figs at the very end; a warm salad.

The fish is simply gutted, filleted, slashed and pan-fried.

Herring? What a jerk!

It's Sunday morning, I've got a herring and a hankering for something spicy ...

Clean, scale and gut your fish, washing out the cavity, slash the skin, rubbing in jerk seasoning and fill the cavity with lemons.

Place into an ovenproof dish, scatter over some onion rings, courgette, mushrooms, perhaps capers and commit to the oven for about 15 minutes before flipping over for another 10 to finish off. 200C (400F?) will do nicely.

The jerk seasoning? Take a few scallions, top tail and shred, a handful of fresh thyme, a couple of Scotch Bonnet peppers and some salt. Mash the lot together. That's your seasoning.

Retrieve, plate up and enjoy ...

Oily, fatty protein. What a way to start the day!

Have a great Sunday!

Spicy Duck Breast

Who doesn't like a good pair of breasts?

With a couple of duck breasts, some leftover mashed potato and a huge cucumber from a friend's allotment it might sound like the start of a joke, but it is the formation of an idea for dinner.

Peeled, cored and thinly sliced, cucumber is lovely with a splash of rice wine vinegar, a little sea salt and some shredded spring onions to accompany. Finished with fresh coriander, it'll make a spritely accompaniment to the fatty duck.

Mashed potato, chilled, chives and chilli, small egg to bind, a good starchy base for the meal is quickly formed.

... and onto cooking.

Duck breast takes about 10 minutes in total. The potato patties will take about 10 minutes to cook through.

10 minutes, then ...

In a skillet, dry, place the duck breasts skin side down and press down for about 30 seconds. Leave them in place for a further 6 minutes. Flip them over and leave them for 4 minutes, during the last of which use tongs to sear the sides. The meat should be cooked through, but remain pink inside.

In another skillet, coconut oil to shallow fry, drop the patties in. Five minutes each side and they're done.

Meanwhile make up the cucumber side and a sauce.

I keep a few select bottles of sauces in the fridge, sauces with minimal lab ingredients that can be used as condiment to really pull out a punch in a dish ...

Today, I mixed Maggi Chilli Sauce with Worcestershire Sauce, some white pepper, celery salt and a splash of lemon juice. Yum!

Ready?

Plate up, potato pattie down, duck breast just rested for a few minutes and sliced through placed over the top. Sauce and salsa alongside, give the dish a quick crowning with sauce and perhaps some fresh herbs. Don't forget the sesame seeds over the cucumber. I did.

Basa Soup

I have some Basa fillets and fancied a spicy soup ...

Take a whole bunch of interesting flavours and shred them, matchstick them, mince them and set them aside.

I went with ...

Basa Soup

Spring Onion
Garlic
Ginger
Scotch Bonnet Pepper
Carrot
Cabbage
Basa Fillets
Poppy Seeds

Into a large open pan, tip in some bone broth and drop in the vegetables to warm through.

Once warmed, add the fish and any final flavours like fresh herbs, seeds or whatever.

Your soup is ready!

Totally fusion, I know but I made a little pistou to stir in ...

Hazelnut Pistou

Hazelnuts
Parsley
Olive Oil
Sea Salt

Blend the lot together and you're done. Simply stir a spoonful into the soup.