James Martin's Roasted Sea Bass with Chorizo, red onion and cherry tomatoes

I'm getting obsessed about sea bass lately - tasty, sustainable (UK Farmed Sustainable fish guide)and reasonably priced. This week I tried out a recipe from one of my favorite chefs James Martin, available on the BBC Food website (recipe). I find his recipes easy to follow with readily available in season ingredients. 

Following James recipe, I fried chopped red onion, sliced chorizo, yellow pepper (instead of olives) and chopped garlic for about 5 minutes, then taking it off the heat I added thyme and cherry tomatoes. I chucked this into a glass dish, then placed the sea bass on top (with the skin slashed and stuffed with sprigs of thyme), added some seasoning and drizzled with olive oil before cooking in the oven for about 22 minutes. Just as simple as it sounds - the hardest part is to remember to take it out of the oven on time!

Peppermint Cream Recipe

Ever find you've baked a cake but end up with lots of icing left over? This happened to me at the weekend so I made some yummy peppermint creams. As children, my mum would let me and my sister make them with the left over icing pieces. 

Ingredients
- Roll out icing 
- Peppermint flavouring or essence
- Green dye (optional, preferable free from additives!)
- Icing powder
- Dark chocolate

Roll out the icing slightly and make a dip in the middle. Add in the peppermint essence/flavouring (about 2tsps per 100g icing) and colouring (see packet for guidance). Kneed the icing to mix in the peppermint and colouring. Roll out the icing on a clean dry board with a sprinkling of icing powder to stop it sticking. Make into shapes with cutters. Dust with icing powder a little to prevent them sticking! Let them sit for a few hours then melt some chocolate in a bowl and tip half of the creams in, then leave to dry on a baking rake. If you can resist eating them straight away, the taste even better after they've been left to harden!

I also made some delicious raspberry creams - same process with raspberry flavouring and red dye. If you'd like to make the icing from scratch use egg white and icing sugar - have a look on BBC Good Food website . 

Have fun!

My Jamie Oliver Recipe Experience Part Two..

Fish tray-bake with Jersey Royals, Salsa verde and simple spinach salad.

Another try out of a Jamie Olivers 30 minute meal which again made a delicious meal. I played the video in the background and got all the ingredients ready at the start. I wasn't so sure about the side orders (someone doesn’t like jersey royal potatoes and I don’t have a food processor to make the salsa verde) so we used sides from other Jamie recipes we've made so it was…

Fish tray-bake with simple spinach salad, flatbreads and pomegranate drink.  

Fish tray bake: I used Salmon and River Cobbler from the local supermarket. In the tray (I used one of my favourite melamine dishes) I just chucked in all the ingredients (minus a few that Jamie uses) – cut up chunks of fish, Asparagus (with wooden ends snapped off), Lemons (in quarters), Baby tomatoes, pancetta, Garlic, pepper, basic leaves and olive oil. Mix it all up then arrange it so that it is evenly mixed with the fish skins facing upwards and lemons are in the corners. Cook in the oven. 

Flatbreads: As per my previous post I made some flatbreads. I love these…..so tasty. Scrunch up and wet a large piece of greaseproof paper then open it up. Place on the flatbreads, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with herbs (today I used Thyme and oregano). Wrap up the flatbreads and pop in the oven to warm up.

Spinach Salad: Using a selection of 'leaves' - spinach, rocket and watercress, chopped fresh tomatoes and drizzled with lemon juice and balsamic vinegar

Pomegranate drink: In a large jug I added ice, the juice of two pomegranates, some slightly flat lemonade (fizzy water would do), a little bit of lemon juice, mint leaves and stirred. Taste and adjust amounts. 

Here’s the link to the episode on 4od and the recipe is in Jamie's 30-Minute Meals: A Revolutionary Approach to Cooking Good Food Fast . 

Easter Nests

I made Easter chocolate nests for the office this week - a little late for Easter but I think they went down well anyway! Here's my recipe...

 Melt one large bar of dark cooking chocolate in a large bowl. Break up Shredded Wheat (the key to the nest look!) - about 4 blocks and mix into the melted chocolate. I added a couple of handfuls of raisins (or sultanas) and mixed in. Put mixture into small cake cases and pop a couple of mini eggs on the top. The mixture makes about 16. Pop in the fridge for an hour and then they are ready to eat!

My Jamie Oliver Recipe Experience

Moroccan Lamb, served with flatbreads, herby couscous, stuffed peppers and pomegranate drink.


I've been trying out Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals with (I think) some good successes. I play the video in the background and between the two of us we can almost make it in 30 minutes! My favourite so far has been the moroccan lamb chops - quite simple, tasty and fun to do. I find it's easy to alter parts of the recipes to what I've got around the house and to use bits elsewhere so thanks Jamie for improving my cooking!


My tips are to get all the ingredients and serving bowls out first and if you get chance have a quick watch of the video. Here's the link to the episode on 4od http://www.channel4.com/programmes/jamies-30-minute-meals/episode-guide/series-1/episode-24 and the recipe is in Jamie's 30-Minute Meals: A Revolutionary Approach to Cooking Good Food Fast . 

This is how I carried out the recipe, following Jamie as much as I could but adapting to what I had in the cupboard and had remembered to buy.


Lamb: I used some racks of lamb from the local supermarket, but chops would work to I think. Score the surface and rub in the suggested herbs and spices - cumin, paprika and Thyme. Cook in a hot frying pan for 5minutes, colouring all the sides then cook in the oven. 

Houmous: In a bowl I put the plain houmous, making a well to add olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and some paprika


Flatbreads: This was a new technique to me (I always just used foil) but really works - scrunch up and wet a large piece of greaseproof paper then open it up. Place on flatbreads on, drizzle with olive oil and some herbs (I used rosemary and thyme). Wrap up the flatbreads and pop in the oven to warm up. 

Couscous: Pop the couscous in a bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil and cover with bowling water. Add a lid on the top. After the couscous has absorbed the water, I added some more olive oil, lemon and Italian herbs. 


Stuffed Peppers: I used roasted jarred peppers and put some cheese inside and cook on the pan for a few minutes until cheese melts. 


Pomegranate drink: In a large jug I added ice, the juice of two pomegranates, some flat slightly lemonade (fizzy water would do), a little bit of lemon juice, mint leaves and stirred. Taste and adjust amounts.