Mini salmon scotch eggs

So the first person I saw making scotch eggs with salmon instead of meat was the latest Masterchef- The Professionals winner, Ash Mair. I really like the idea of scotch eggs- crunchy fried stuff and boiled eggs- what's not to like? And as I don't eat meat, a pescatarian alternative seemed ideal.

I actually first tried making these scotch eggs over the Christmas holidays, using smoked salmon. They were alright but somehow a bit bland and unremarkable, and the cooking process left the salmon with a bit of an odd (and not entirely pleasant) texture. I guess the application of heat to smoked salmon is not a particularly good idea in general.
Anyway last weekend, I thought I'd give things another go but this time with some cooked regular salmon. I sort of made up my own recipe, based on the flavours I thought would go together, and second time round there was definitely an improvement. I still wouldn't say these were fantastic though. I think they need a stronger herb flavour, and probably a thicker salmon coating to stop the fish overcooking. Anyway, here's the recipe I came up with, which is currently based on a bit of trial and error.

Recipe (for 12 mini scotch eggs)

12 quails eggs
3 cooked skinless and boneless salmon fillets (around 250g)
Generous knob of butter
4 spring onions, finely sliced
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
1 tblsp mayonnaise
Around 1 tblsp plain flour
Around 3-4 heaped tablespoons of breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Sunflower oil for frying

Put the eggs into boiling water for around two minutes, and then put them straight into some cold water. Carefully peel the eggs and set to one side. Melt the butter in a frying pan and gently sweat the spring onions until they've soften, add the thyme and cook for a couple more minutes. Leave the onions to cool a bit and then flake the fish, add the mayo, and mix everything together to form a thick-ish paste. Have a little taste at this stage, and add salt and pepper to taste.
The next step is to assemble the scotch eggs. First roll the peeled eggs in the flour so that they have a light coating. This helps the fish mixture to stick to the eggs. Put about 2 tsps of the salmon in the palm of you hand and push it out so it's flattened. Place an egg in the centre and gently shape the salmon mixture around it. Do this until you've covered all the eggs, and then roll in breadcrumbs. I found that there was enough oil and moisture in the fish coating to allow the breadcrumbs to stick, but you could beat a whole egg and dip the scotch eggs in before rolling in the crumbs if you wanted a thicker coating.
I then shallow fried the scotch eggs in a couple of centimetres of fairly hot oil until they were browned. You could also deep fry these, but as they are quite small this seemed unnecessary.


So the end product was nice and crispy, with a soft-ish egg in the centre. However, I think these eggs could be better. As I've mentioned before, I probably didn't use enough salmon for these, as the eggs would have benefited from a thicker layer of fish around them. I definitely need to cut the spring onion finer, or only use the white part (the dark green bits in the pictures above are the green parts poking through the breadcrumb). Maybe next time I'll try using raw instead of cooked salmon too. And perhaps a stronger herb like dill. If you've tried any of these ideas for successfully making salmon scotch eggs, I'd be delighted to hear from you.

Arts Picturehouse Bar, Cambridge, UK

This is a quick post on one of the places in Cambridge that I probably take for granted. I do like a trip to the cinema, and really appreciate having somewhere like the Arts Picturehouse that shows independent and foreign language films. And somewhere to have a nice coffee and maybe a snack too, is a bonus. Unfortunately a lot of people share this view of the Arts Picturehouse Bar, as bagging a table or a sofa in the evenings, or other peak film viewing times, can be challenging.

But if you time it right you can lounge around in some classic art deco surroundings and peer down from above on hoards of unknowing Cambridge shoppers. There are usually a couple of different types of cake available on the bar, and on my last visit I had a very nice slice of a chocolate and pistachio one. They also serve plenty of savoury stuff, although the crepes that used to be a mainstay of their menu sadly seem to have vanished.

My milky latte arrived with a bit of art on top, but if you are in need of something stronger then the bar is fully licensed (and you can take your drinks into the cinema too). And so in conclusion, the Arts Picturehouse Bar has squishy sofas, hot drinks, cake, and free WiFi - I heartily recommend it.

Arts Picturehouse Bar
38-39 St Andrew's Street
Cambridge CB2 3AR

Alimentum, Cambridge, UK

I remember hearing about Alimentum when it first opened several years ago, but only managed to visit for the first time last year due to some good planning from a London-based blogging friend. I really don't know why it took me so long- lack of organisation and a slight fear of disappointment I guess. Anyway, self-flagellation aside, this initial enjoyable visit provided enough of a prompt to think of Alimentum when considering venues for a bit of a social celebration with friends.

But as we trudged along some of Cambridge's busiest roads in the grey drizzle of a Monday evening, I recalled that Alimentum's location might have had something to do with the lack of earlier visits. It's almost opposite the city's 'Leisure Park' and on one of the main roads leading to Addenbrooke's Hospital, so has a great view of the top of a multiplex and numerous ambulances zooming by. However once we'd made our way in, the restaurant and its staff did a very good job of insulating us from the traffic and neon lights outside. We were soon supplied with some appetisers while we waited for our table, and though views were mixed I was an immediate fan of the cheese and onion macarons. The pale pink macaron shells were flavoured with caramelised onion, so had a sweet edge, and were filled with a sort of whipped goats cheese. I am currently wondering if it would be foolish to try and recreate these at home....

Anyway, onto the food proper. Alimentum has a very reasonably priced set menu on Monday evenings, so that's what we plumped for. As we settled into our booth, carafes of water and some delicious bread appeared rapidly. The warm sage bread was particularly nice, and came in the form of min-loaves (in the top picture). I had an amazingly light and frothy cauliflower soup to start with, which had little nuggets of subtly pickled cauliflower and sweet spring onion (I think). The whole thing had the quality of a vegetable marshmallow, which I really liked.

My sea bass main course came with a sort of chickpea stew with tomato and olives, and some sort of anchovy cream. This was a perfectly functional dish, if not terribly exciting. Personally I think a few more olives and maybe anchovy was needed to perk things up. And though the fish was beautifully cooked, I would have preferred a nice crispy skin rather than the sesame seed coating.

Pudding was a deconstructed apple and blackcurrant crumble, which caused a little consternation amongst the crumble traditionalists when it arrived at the table. However I quite liked my block of fruit mousse, and despite their similar textures it went well with the ice cream. The 'crumbs' were more like a shortbread biscuit rather than crumble topping, but still very acceptable. I also sneaked a taste of the male companion person's chocolate and passion fruit terrine type thing, and was very impressed with the rich chocolate ganache leading to a fleeting moment of regret about my fruit-based dessert.
The fixed price menu is £22.50 for three courses, which I think is very reasonable for the quality of food and service, though drinks can ratchet this up quite a bit.

Alimentum is probably not somewhere I'd pop in for a casual dinner, but is perfect for a bit of a treat. It has most of the elements of a fine dining restaurant in terms of presentation and quality of food, but doesn't make a fuss if you order a diet Coke and tap water for the table. It also does pretty well with trying to inject some soul into its new build location. On this occasion the food was good rather than stunning, but I enjoyed everything and actually those macarons and the soup were pretty outstanding. After my huge delay in going to Alimentum, I suspect I'll be making some more regular return visits.

Alimentum
152-154 Hills Road
Cambridge CB2 8PB

Tandoori-style salmon

I'm not really sure why I've never made this before. I like salmon, I like salmon with lots of Indian spices, but somehow it has never occurred to me to try and make a tandoori-style version. Until last week! I've learnt my lesson after my previous ready made paste disappointment, and made my own marinade, which was actually perfectly straightforward. I marinated the fish for a couple of hours, and then cooked it under a hot grill. It wasn't exactly the heat levels of a tandoor, but I did end up with a few nice charred bits with the rest of the fish staying succulent.

Recipe (enough for 2 as a main meal):

4 salmon fillets with skin left on
2 spring onions
1 inch-ish, thumb-sized piece of ginger
3 fat cloves of garlic
2 small green chillis
4 tablespoons of full fat Greek yoghurt
Juice of half a large lemon
4 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground corriander
1.5 tsp tumeric
1 tsp paprika (or Kashmiri red chilli powder if you can find it)
0.5 tsp salt
A couple of grinds of black pepper
A few tsps of sunflower oil

Blitz up (or pound) the spring onion, ginger, garlic, and chilli into a paste and tip into a bowl with all the other ingredients except the oil. Mix it all well and pour over the salmon so that all its surfaces are covered. Leave to marinade in the fridge for around 4-5 hours, so basically if I want to have this for dinner I'd try to get it in the marinade by lunchtime. Take the salmon out of the fridge around 30mins before you want to actually cook it, so that it comes up to room temperature. Then heat up your grill, put the salmon fillets on a tray. Spread any remaining marinade in a thin layer over the fish, and lightly brush each fillet with a little oil and sprinkle a bit of extra salt over too. Cook the salmon for around 7-8mins on each side depending on how hot you can get your grill and how thick the pieces are. The fish should have a few dark charred bits, but be just cooked through in the centre.
And that's it really. I serve this with some plain rice, green vegetables, and maybe a raita of some sort. The acidity of the lemon and yoghurt contrasts with the richness of the salmon, and this is such a robust fish it's great with loads of spices. And if you can get all the preparation done in advance this really can be a super-simple and speedy dinner.

Bengali-style egg curry or dim er torkari

So here's some real Indian home-style cooking, which is perfectly suited to the recent chilly weather we've been having. This curry is one of my mother's original speedy dinner dishes that I've been eating for several decades now, and is essentially made with store cupboard ingredients. There are versions of this egg curry from all over India, and I'm not exactly certain that this one is particularly Bengali. But as the person who cooked it is, that's what I've called it.

The dish basically comprises some hard boiled eggs in a tomato-based gravy, and for me is the epitome of hearty and warming. It is also pretty quick to make, especially if you have you eggs boiled and ready beforehand.

Recipe (enough for four as side dish):

4 hard boiled eggs, shelled and cooled
Around 1 tblsp plain flour
1.5 tsp turmeric
2 tblsp oil
1 medium onion, finely sliced
3 fat cloves of garlic, crushed
1 green chilli, pierces several times with the tip of a knife
Small thumb-sized piece of ginger, crushed to a paste
Around 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tsp tomato puree
A dried bay leaf
0.5 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
0.5 tsp salt
3-4 tblsp fresh, or frozen and defrosted peas
About half a mug of water

Start by halving the boiled eggs, and lightly dusting them with the plain flour. Heat up a tablespoon or so of the oil (ideally in a non-stick pan) until its hot but not smoking, and carefully place in the egg halves in. Sprinkle over half a teaspoon on the turmeric, and when the eggs are lightly browned on one side turn them over until the other side matches. The turmeric means that the eggs should be golden by this point, and when they are take them out of the oil, and put to one side.
I should say that this 'frying the eggs' stage is optional, but I do find that it adds a slight crispy texture that I really like. But if you can't be bothered then just start with the below.
Put the rest of the oil in the pan and heat, before adding the bay leaf and the onions. Once the onions have started to soften, add all the ground spices including the rest of the turmeric. Stir well and then add the chilli, ginger and garlic. Cook this over a medium heat for a few minutes. Next throw in the tomatoes, and continue to cook until they've softened. Then add the tomato puree and enough water to create a thick gravy. Once it's gently bubbling put the eggs back in, tip in the peas and season with salt. Let this cook for few more minutes until the eggs and peas have heated through.

You can add some cubed, cooked potatoes to this too which makes it more of a main dish, or perhaps increase the number of eggs per person. Otherwise serve with rice and something else (I made a cabbage dish with ginger and cumin which you can just see peaking through in the picture above). Also feel free to adjust the spicing according to taste. I remember this egg curry as quite a mild dish, but if you fancy more of a kick chop up the chilli and fry it with the onions rather than keeping it whole. If you prefer things mild, don't accidentally bite into the whole chilli (I speak from experience).

Super-speedy Baileys cheesecake

I made this cheesecake the other day on a sort of trial run, but as it worked well I thought I'd write a quick post on it. There's nothing like a proper baked cheesecake, but if you fancy a speedier alternative then this could be it.
The base is made from pecan nuts and chocolate finger biscuits (a variation on something I saw the Hairy Bikers do on the telly recently- thanks Si and Dave), and the topping is simply some mascarpone cheese mixed with Baileys. A nice person bought me some hazelnut flavoured Baileys for Christmas, and it pretty much already tastes like a pudding in a glass so was ideal for using in this cheesecake. But you could of course use regular Baileys or another cream liqueur.

Recipe (enough for 4 individual servings):

40g unsalted or lightly salted butter, melted
12 chocolate fingers
50g pecan nuts, chopped quite finely
250g mascarpone cheese
6-10 tblsp hazelnut flavour Baileys cream liqueur
A very small amount of chocolate for grating on top (optional)

Crush the chocolate fingers (I put them in a freezer bag and bash them with a rolling pin), until they are in large crumbs. Mix with the chopped nuts and melted butter, and divide equally between four small ramekins. I lined a couple with clingfilm, so I could lift the set cheesecakes out, and used some pots suitable for eating straight out of for the other two. You may well have more matching cookware than me though. Push the base mixture firmly into the bottom of the ramekins, and smooth down with the back of a spoon. Next make up the topping by combining the Baileys with the mascarpone. Have a little taste, so that you achieve your favoured level of booziness. I think there's enough sweetness in the Baileys on its own, but do add a little icing sugar too if you want. Spoon the topping over the base and chill in the fridge for a few hours if you want it properly set, but even 30minutes should be enough if you really can't wait. Grate a little chocolate over the top when you're ready to eat them.

This isn't exactly a classic cheesecake, and the top is more of a mousse-like texture. But I really liked the chocolate biscuit and nutty base with the creamy top layer. And it was pretty much a doddle to put together.

Crisptastic days

Way back in the day when I first started this blog, I had sort of intended to write about ready-made food products. And that was indeed what my first few posts were on. The only problem with this occurred when I realised that I don't actually buy that much ready-made stuff. And I'm not sure anyone would be that interested in my musings on different brands of fishfingers. However, there is one food stuff which I am very keen on and always buy ready-made. And that is one of the finest forms of the fried potato, the crisp.

I spotted these new offerings from Burts just before Christmas. The pesto flavour was marked as 'seasonal', which I thought was a bit puzzling until I found out that they had actually been released over the summer. Although, I'm still not exactly sure how pesto is seasonal. Anyway, I am already an acknowledged Burts fan. They seem like a nice independent brand, and their hand-cooked crisps are pretty much always super-crispy and grease-free. They also tend not to over-season their flavoured crisps, and this applied to the pesto variety too. There was a subtle herby taste, with a gentle cheese flavour in the background. All in all, nothing too pungent and a seasoning that still allowed the flavour of the fried potato to come through. The crisps were also almost the size of my head, but I may just have struck lucky with my bag. So I really liked these, and would be quite pleased if Burts made pesto a permanent flavour in their range.

And on the subject of crisp flavours- I was recently offered the chance to try some mystery flavours from crisp behemoth Walkers. I do like Walkers crisps, but pretty much always go for the ready salted option. As you can see from the pic above, these new flavours were indeed very mysterious. It turns out that this wasn't just for my benefit, and that Walkers are actually running a competition for people to guess what these flavours are.
Here are my attempts:

Flavour A- mildly cheesey with a bit of herb. I think this is something like cream cheese and chive. Definitely my favourite of the three, and the one I'd consider buying in preference to cheese and onion.
Flavour B- something vaguely bacon-y and maybe a little spicy. Maybe trying to be chorizo or salami.
Flavour C-something with tomato and peppers. Maybe a salsa type flavour. My least favourite.

So I think my favourite crisp is still the plain salted type, but there are a couple of flavour options here that I'd happily scoff.

Burts Pesto Flavour Crisps
I rate them 8/10
Around £1.70 for a 150g bag, from lots of shops (though I only saw this flavour in Waitrose)

Walkers Mystery Flavour Crisps
I rate them all perfectly acceptable but the cream cheese-type one is my fave
Around £0.50 for a 35g bag, but I was kindly sent my selection for free and gratis by the nice Walkers crisps tweeting bod.