Mussels with potatoes & chorizo

Serves 6

2 tbsp olive oil
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
375g chorizo, sliced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
125ml fish stock
4 tbsp fino sherry
about 2-3 dozen large mussels, cleaned
salt & black pepper
chopped flat leaf parsley to garnish

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the potatoes, and cook gently, stirring from time to time, for 12-15 mins until golden and softened. Add the chorizo and garlic, and cook, stirring constantly, for a bout 2 mins.

2. Add the fish stock, fino, and mussels, and season with salt & pepper. Cover the pan tightly, and bring to a boil. Cook , shaking the pan frequently, for 5-8 mins or until the mussels have opened.

3. Transfer the mussel, potato and chorizo mixture to a large serving dish, and pour over the cooking juices. Serve hot, garnished with parsley.

(Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook)

Hearty Winter Vegetable Soup

Serves 4

1tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 medium swede, cubed
2 large carrots, diced
1 medium turnip, diced
2 leeks, sliced
80g pearl barley
1tsp mixed dried herbs
1ltr hot vegetable or chicken stock
salt & freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the vegetables, cover and cook for 5 mins until soft. Add the barley and cook for 2-3 mins.

2. Stir in the herbs, stock and seasoning to taste. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 45mins until the vegetables are tender. Adjust season and serve.

(Everyday Diabetic Cookbook - Stella Bowling)

Salmon with chilli ginger sauce

Serves 4

2 balls of stem ginger in syrup (and 2 tablespoons of the syrup)
3 garlic cloves
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
finely grated zest of ½ well-scrubbed orange
freshly squeezed juice of 1 orange (about 125ml)
½ long red chilli, thinly sliced
4 x 125– 150g salmon fillets, skin on
freshly ground black pepper

1. Put the ginger balls on a board and slice them thinly. Pile up the slices from each ball and cut through them to make thin matchstick strips. Put these in a bowl that’s large enough to hold the salmon and add 2 tablespoons of the stem ginger syrup from the jar.

2. Peel the garlic cloves and slice them thinly, then add them to the bowl with the ginger. Stir in the soy sauce, orange zest, orange juice and red chilli. Put the salmon in the bowl with the marinade. Season with lots of ground black pepper and turn a couple of times, ending with the fish skin side up. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 220°C/ Fan 200°C/ Gas 7. Line a small baking tray with baking parchment. Take the salmon fillets out of the marinade, scraping off any bits and pieces, and place them on the tray, skin side down. Season with more ground black pepper. Bake for 12– 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the salmon.

4. While the salmon is cooking, prepare the sauce. Pour the marinade into a small non-stick saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook for 6 minutes or until the liquid has reduced and the garlic is softened. You need enough of the marinade to pour over the salmon but not swamp it completely. Put the salmon fillets on warmed plates, carefully lifting off the skin as you go. Spoon the hot sauce over the salmon and serve with a small portion of rice or new potatoes and some steamed or stir-fried vegetables.

(The Hairy Bikers - The Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight)

Reindeer Stew (Reinsdyrgryte) with Thyme Dumplings

Serves 4

600g reindeer meat (preferably shoulder), cut into cubes
150g bacon, sliced
1 carrot, chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
400ml game stock (or use beef stock)
½ bottle decent red wine
200g button mushrooms, sliced
3 juniper berries, lightly crushed
1 bay leaf
2tbsp plain flour

For the dumplings:

200g self-raising flour
105g butter
2tbsp thyme, chopped
a little water

1. Fry the bacon in a little olive oil in a suitable casserole pan. Add the carrots, onion, celery, and garlic and continue to cook gently until softened then remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside.

2. Dust the reindeer meat with seasoned flour, add a bit more oil to the pan and turn up the heat. Brown the reindeer meat; you may need to do this in two batches.

3. Add the cooked vegetables back into the pan, along with the wine, stock, mushrooms, bay leaf and juniper berries and bring to the simmer.

4. Meanwhile, to make the thyme dumplings, place the ingredients into a food processor and blitz until you get a fine breadcrumb-like consistency. Now add a touch of water gradually, until you get a firm, but not too wet dough. Form the dough into golf ball-sized balls and float them on the top of the stew, cover and cook on a very low heat for 1½ – 2 hours. Serve with lots of buttered green beans.

(NordicNibbler.com)

Beetroot, Carrot and Potato Cakes

Serves 4 - 8

These cakes are really tasty, and work well as a main dish with apple sauce and salad - or as a breakfast with poached eggs and smoked fish. Alternatively, leave out the potato and serve with sausage, mash and lots of gravy. Serves 4-8

2 medium beetroots, greens removed, peeled & grated (we used golden beets)
2 medium carrots, grated
2 handfuls grated or shredded potato (unpeeled is fine)
½ medium onion, thinly sliced
1 egg
½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper
25g plain flour
Optional: chopped spring onion, garlic, chilli or herbs
3 tablespoons olive oil
Soured cream for serving

1. Preheat oven to 150C/300F/gas2.

2. In a large bowl combine the vegetables; mix in egg, salt and pepper. Add the flour and any extras; stir well to blend.

3. Heat half the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Using 2-3 tablespoons of mixture per cake drop 4 cakes into the frying pan. Flatten each out with a spatula, and cook until just browned and cooked through, 3-4 minutes per side.

4. Transfer to a tray in the oven and keep warm, then repeat with remaining mixture until finished. Serve with soured cream.

(Abel & Cole)

Turbot with caper and parsley sauce

Serves 2

2 turbot steaks, about 350g each

2 tbsp olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

400ml milk

1 onion

8 cloves

2 bay leaves

1½tbsp butter

2tbsp plain flour

2tbsp capers, finely chopped

2tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

Squeeze of lemon, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 240°C.

2. Brush the turbot steaks with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then place in a large roasting dish and cook in the oven for 12-15mins.

3. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Pour the milk into a large saucepan. Cut the onion in half and insert the cloves, then make a couple of slashes in the onion halves and insert the bay leaves. Place the studded into the milk, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 6-7mins. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to infuse for a further 10mins. Remove the onions.

4. Melt the butter in another saucepan over a low heat and stir in the flour until you have a smooth, creamy paste. Slowly pour in the milk while gently whisking until the sauce is smooth and is the consistency of double cream. Season with a little salt and pepper, add the capers and parsley and lastly a squeeze of lemon.

5. Place the turbot in a serving dish, remove the skin, which should come away easily, and spoon over lashings of the delicious sauce.

(Mitch Tonks - Fish)

Grey mullet with mussels, roasted garlic and oregano

Serves 4

2 grey mullets, about 300-400g each, scaled & gutted
2 heads of garlic, unpeeled
150ml good olive oil, plus a little extra for frying and drizzling
Sea salt
1 onion, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
250ml dry white wine
500g ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
Pinch of saffron strands
1 heaped tspd dried oregano
10 live mussels, cleaned and beards removed
1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped to garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 120°C

2. Cut the heads from the fish, then chop into chunks along the length of the fish about 5cm long. It's best to start about 3 inches back from the tail and work your way to the head end, so you still make sure you get a nice tail piece.

3. First, roast the garlic. Cut the top part so you can see the garlic cloves, then place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with a little salt. Roast in the oven for about 20mins or until the garlic is soft and can be easily squeezed out. Leave to cool then carefully peel the cloves and set aside.

4. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan, add the onion and celery and fry gently until softened. Add half of the wine and boil for a minute, then add the tomatoes and saffron. Cover the pan and cook gently for 30-40mins until the tomatoes are soft and stewed and really broken down. If the sauce is a bit dry, add a splash of water, pour the sauce through a strainer to extract the juice.

5. Pour 150ml of olive oil into a hot roasting pan, add the garlic cloves and stir, mashing 6 or 7 of the cloves down. Add the remaining wine, boil for a minute, then add the tomato sauce and oregano and stir together. add the fish.

6. Cover and bake in the oven for 12-14mins. Add the mussels and bake for a further 5mins until the mussels have opened. remove from the oven, discard any mussels that are still closed, sprinkle with parsley and serve.

(Mitch Tonks - Fish)