My friend Sheri and I have a Saturday tradition of getting up early, having brunch, shopping at the market for ingredients, having coffee, parting ways and then meeting up later in the day to cook together. It is so much fun that when we plan this (almost monthly) activity, I look forward to it all week. Our husbands joined us in tasting the fruits of our labours and each dish was deemed "a keeper".
This time we took inspiration from the current issue of BBC Good Food magazine. We started with an amazing sweet potato and coconut soup with Thai pesto. The pesto recipe alone was worth trying this recipe, it was so good.
The main meal was a Gordon Ramsay recipe for fish. Pan-fried sea bass with citrus-dressed broccoli. The technique for frying the fish was really wonderful, as it resulted in a delicious, crispy-salty skin.
For dessert, we tried a cake version of a favourite English dessert. Bakewell tart is a wonderful marriage of almonds and jam in pie pastry. The cake version was a neat twist that eliminated the pastry and put the ground almonds into a layer cake. Marvelous with a "cuppa tea"!
All recipes are based on recipes in the February 2009 edition of BBC Good Food magazine. Some changes were made due to ingredient preference or availability. The amounts listed here are what we used to make our dinner for four adults.
Sweet Potato Soup with Thai Pesto
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon red curry paste
500 ml (2 cups) vegetable stock
1 X 400ml tin coconut milk
-------
100 g salted peanuts
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
2 green chillies, deseeded and chopped
1 small bunch fresh corriander
1 large handful fresh mint
1 large handful fresh basil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon brown sugar
* Make the soup - in a large pot, over medium heat, add the oil, sweet potato and onion. Cook partially covered for 15 minutes. Add the curry paste and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the stock and coconut milk and bring to a boil. Using a stick blender, process soup until it is smooth.
* Make the pesto - put all ingredients into a blender and whiz until you have a chunky green paste.
Serve the soup with a dollop of the pesto on top.
Pan-fried Sea Bass with Citrus-dressed Broccoli
1 wild sea bass fillet (not Chilean sea bass), cut into 4 pieces
1 head broccoli
2 oranges
6 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons small capers
6 anchovies, chopped fine
1 lemon
*Score the fish, skin side up about 6 times, 1 cm deep. Segment the oranges by cutting away the peel and cutting out each segment (over a bowl to catch the juice). Cut the broccoli into small florets and cook in boiling salted water for 1-2 minutes. In a hot frying pan, toss in the broccoli to burn off the moisture. Turn off the heat and add the oranges, juice and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Wipe out the pan and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
When hot lay down the fish fillets, skin-side down. Cook for 3-4 minutes (until flesh is cooked 2/3 of the way up). Flip over the fish, cook for 2 minutes and baste with pan liquid.
When hot lay down the fish fillets, skin-side down. Cook for 3-4 minutes (until flesh is cooked 2/3 of the way up). Flip over the fish, cook for 2 minutes and baste with pan liquid.
Plate 1/4 of the broccoli/orange salad and lay the fish skin-side up on top. In the hot frying pan, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, scatter in the capers and chopped anchovies. Grate lemon zest over top of the sauce and squeeze in the juice of 1/2 lemon. Pour the hot sauce over the fish and vegetables.
Cherry Bakewell Cake
200g (1 cup) butter, soft
200 g sugar
100g ground almonds
100g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
4 eggs
-----
1/2 (340g) jar morello cherry conserve
175g icing sugar
5 teaspoons water or lemon juice
3 tablespoons flaked almonds
* Make the cake - preheat oven to 350F and grease two 8" cake tins. Using electric beaters, cream butter and sugar together. Add a pinch of salt and the ground almonds, flour, baking powder, extract and eggs until the batter is smooth. Divide evenly between the cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes.
*Assemble cake - when the cake layers are cool, put one on a serving plate. Spread top with cherry jam and put the second layer on top. Mix together the icing sugar and lemon juice and drizzle over the top of the cake. Sprinkle top with flaked almonds.
