Battered Monkfish with Sweet and Spicy Pineapple...

... served with sweet potato chips.

This is my barstardised version of the delicious meal I had at the Porthminster Beach Cafe in Cornwall. Having failed to procure their recipe I thought I'd have a bash at it myself and the result was pretty close to the real McCoy.

It makes for a fantastically fresh but devilishly deep fried meal and an interesting alternative to your standard fish and chips.

I don't often deep fry things so it was a good learning exercise too. The three key things I found were:

1) Small batches work best (otherwise the temperature of the oil drops right down and takes too long to heat up, making the result less crispy)

2) When using batter it is best to drop your frying basket in the oil and then drop in the battered pieces of fish rather than place them in the basket and then lower the whole thing, since that way the batter gets a bit entangled

3) You need a lot of frying oil! Around 3l for enough chips for 4 people

Two other well known tips: olive oils does not work for deep frying as it has a low burning point. A kitchen thermometer is really helpful for judging the temperature of the oil, otherwise there are various tests involving scraps if bread and a timer that you could look up.

Here are my recipes below (serves 4):

The best order of events is to prepare the garnish first then deal with the sweet potato chips before leaving them in a hot oven and getting onto the fish.

Sweet and Spicy Pineapple Garnish

Ingredients
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons of water
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of pineapple juice (squeezed from a bit of your pineapple)
1 chilli
2cm stub of ginger
A large handful of coriander
A large handful of mint
Half a pineapple
4 cloves of garlic
A teaspoon of flour

Method
Begin with the caramel sauce. Place the sugar in a small, thick based pan and heat without stirring until it just begins to go dark brown. Then carefully add the water (avoiding and hot spitting sugar) and let it dissolve the caramel - this will probably involve more heat.

Pour the mix into a saucer and add the soy and pineapple juice to taste (it should be very sweet and salty since you only use a little on each plate).



Now cut your pineapple in half and slice off all the skin. Very finely slice the pineapple horizontally into 1-2mm thick slices (they will look like flowers with the pineapple core in their centre). If you don't get perfect circles it really doesn't matter as you will then cut them into semi circles anyway.

Now deseed your chilli and slice finely. Peel your ginger and slice into threads (see below). Pick your coriander and mint leaves and chop very very roughly (see photo).

Finely slice your garlic and toss in flower to be deep fried just before the sweet potato chips.

When it comes to assembling the whole dish, place the pineapple into a nice tallish clump drizzle over a tablespoon of sauce then sprinkle the herbs, chilli, and garlic on top

Sweet potato chips

Ingredients
1-2 sweet potatoes per person depending on appetite
3l frying oil
Cornflour for dusting
Salt
Mayonnaise for dipping (I cut up coriander into mine. Wasabi mayonnaise would also work well)

Method
Heat the oil to 200 degrees Celsius and turn the oven up to 200 degrees too. Line a baking tray with kitchen towel.

Slice your sweet potatoes into the shape you like - skinny or fat. Toss with flour and a teaspoon of salt.

Once the oil is hot enough add the chips in 3 batches. Each time fry for 6-8 minutes (maybe longer if you are doing thick wedges) until crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. You can check this with a fork.

Scoop them out with a slotted device of some sort, I use a frying basket that I put in the oil before hand.

Carefully shake off the boiling oil and empty onto the kitchen roll lined tray to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle with salt. Place in the oven to keep warm.

Beer Battered Monkfish

Ingredients
4 monkfish fillets
100g self raising flour
150ml beer
A pinch of salt and pepper
3l frying oil (you can use the same oil as the chips)

Method

Heat the oil up to 200 degrees celsius again. (Don't forget to do your garlic for the garnish which you can do at 180 degrees Celsius).

Now make the batter by sifting the flour and seasoning into a bowl, pouring over the beer and mixing.

Coat your fish fillets in the batter and drop into the hot oil. Fry for 8-12 minutes until the batter is a good colour and crispy.

When done drain and pat off excess oil with kitchen roll then serve immediately while hot.

Tom Kerridge's Hand and Flowers

Tom Kerridge has been getting a lot of press recently with the launch of his BBC series Proper Pub Food, following on from beeing awarded a  second Michellin star in 2012. Having always had a bit of a soft spot for him (and the look of his food) on Great British Menu, I decided to go and see for myself what all the fuss is about.

His gastropub, The Hand and Flowers, is in Marlow, Buckinghamshire - a sweet little town on the river Thames. It takes a good hour and a half to get there and you can either get the hourly train straight to Marlow or a faster and more regular train to High Wycombe followed by a taxi. If you are driving there are some scenic stately homes near enough so you could make a proper outing if it. On foot however, there isn't much to do (other than a nice little riverside walk), so it is a big trip just for a meal.

Although Elle and I rarely give bad reviews and simply omit our worse experiences from the blog, there is so much hype around this place that I thought it might be useful viewing. First though, I must admit that my expectations were extremely high. Upon opening in 2005 the pub quickly rose to fame and was awarded a Michellin star that year, achieving its second in 2012 - the first pub to do so. Although I don't have the income or the inclination to seek out Michelin starred establishments wherever I go, the few I have been to have indeed been very good and two Michelin stars begs the question, why, what is so much more surprising / consistent / delicious?!

I was disappointed not to find the answer. I didn't love any of it. Nothing gave me that heady sense of euphoria that a really, really excellent dish can, nor did I feel comforted, warm and fuzzy by the end. I didn't feel ripped off in any way (the prices are pretty reasonable), I just didn't feel at all inspired and was left a little confused by Michelin's accolade.

When we arrived I was surprised to find a sweet little pub-like building in a not so picturesque location (admittedly we went mid-construction of a second bar area). Nevertheless, the window tables look out on to a road where I had envisaged a nice little garden, or even better, the river! We arrived 10 minutes early and waited 20 minutes to be seated (the couple before us had overstayed their allotted two hours but the staff were too polite to rush them). As an apology, our drinks were complementary. Fine by me.

To start with I had the Demi “En Croute” of Whole Baby Truffle with Foie Gras and Port for £18.50, a golf ball sized pastry with a white truffle centre, surrounded by chicken and frois gras parfait. I liked this a lot but the frois gras didn't stand up to the truffle, it's flavour having been too diluted by the chicken. The sauce was good, meaty, sweet but sharp, and tied the whole thing together. So far so good.

The Mr had the salt cod scotch egg with red pepper sauce and chorizo for £11.50 -a quails egg encased by turmeric-stained salt cod which had been breaded and deep fried. I like salt cod but here it was too salty, and any delicacy of flavour was taken away by the stodgy, deep fried coating. Give me the Bull and Last's scotch egg any day!

For the main course I had the Tenderloin of Wiltshire Pork with Pickled Mustard Leaf, Malt Glazed Cheek, Garlic Sausage and Potato Dauphine for £25.50 and was very disappointed. The loin was a beautiful cut of meat, full of flavour and delicately handled (sous vide I think) but the other elements pulled the dish in a direction that I really didn't like. The 'garlic sausage' was very smokey and reminiscent of frankfurters whilst the pickled mustard leaf had the flavour of sauerkraut. The mustardy mayonnaise was cloying and didn't really go with the meat whilst a piece of ham lay confusedly on the plate. The whole dish was a disparate mix of Bavarian flavours which hadn't been adequately communicated by the menu description (if it had I would have steered clear since that sort of cuisine is one of my least favourites).  The sweet, glazed pork cheek was at least pretty tasty on its own.

I also tried the Slow Cooked Duck Breast with Peas, Duck Fat Chips and Gravy for £28 which was much better bit still a little soul-less - a tried and tested formula that is safe but not magnificent and easily done en masse. The duck fat chips were too processed for my liking and lacking any deep potato flavour. The greens were far too salty but once again the main meat element, the duck breast, was perfectly cooked with a good sauce.

For pudding we shared the Hand & Flowers Chocolate and Ale Cake with Salted Caramel and Muscovado Ice Cream.  This was good and tiny (which is probably a good thing because it is so rich). When you delve into it and hit its salt caramel centre, the delicious sauce will seep out of it. It was good but not incredible.

All in all, it really pains me to say that I don't think it was worth the journey.... I might however return for the £16 fish and chips since I really want to give Tom Kerridge another chance!

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Dabbling in Dab

The weekend is coming and for me that means a big weekly shop at my local farmers market, yum! I have recently been experimenting with the 'catch of the day' / whatever is cheapest at the fish stall since it seems that whatever I buy there is so fresh it is delicious.

What the fish stall at Parliament Hill Farmer's Market catch varies a lot, but if you see any sand dab, they are well worth a shot. Sand dab are by far the most common flat fish, and very sustainable as wild fish go. When the fish stall does sell them, they you can probably get around three for a fiver so there is no excuse not to treat yourself!

It always amuses me that, like sole, dab are of a type of fish that is born with eyes on the left and right of its head before one eye travels over and the fish becomes a flat fish as it grows up. The sand dab I bought had a delicious, delicate flavour to them much like good lemon sole but much cheaper. The fish are admittedly a little smaller than the more expensive flat fish so arguably a bit more fiddly, but if you cook them right the flesh will slide beautifully off the bones.

My recipe is very simple so you can taste how fresh the fish are.

Dab and Salsa Verde

Serves 3

Prep time: 15 mins

Serving suggestions: warmed up ciabatta and a couple of salads

The Fish

3 large sand dab

1 teacup full of plain white flour

Salt

Pepper

Oil for frying

Lemon to serve

The Salsa Verde

20g basil (leaves picked)

20g mint (leaves picked)

20g parsley ((leaves picked)

4 anchovy fillets

1 small crushed clove of garlic

1 tbsp capers

250ml extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

For the salsa

Finely slice the herbs (if you use a food processor it won’t be quite as nice) with the crushed garlic, anchovies and capers. I like to use a mezzaluna such as this one since it really speeds up the process. 

Then stir in the lemon and oil until all incorporated and you are done.

For the fish

Dust the fish in seasoned flour. Heat up a large, flat pan with a coating of oil to a medium heat. Once the oil is hot, drop the fish in and cook for 3-4 minutes per side. 

Flo, Arthur and Elle's Tuscan Recipe 2: Courgette Flower Pasta

Twice a week at the crack of dawn Leopoldo, the local farmer) scales the hill up to Lotti and leaves us an offering from his garden. This will invariably involve a delicious supply of baby courgettes with their flowers still on, succulent,sun-ripened tomatoes and inedibly sour grapes!We (brother Arthur included here) are often looking for new ways to use these courgettes - we also grow them in Sussex - and this recipe is useful in using both flowers and vegetable. 

If you don’t grow them, they can be bought at farmers markets like the one at the end of our road in Parliament Hill. My only warning is that courgette flowers die pretty quickly after being plucked so use them the day you buy them or the day after and whatever you do, don’t refrigerate them – they just wilt – and don't eat the stamen, its a disgusting mouth full of pollen!

Ingredients

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Serves 4

Courgette Flower Fritters:

120g courgette flowers

A handful of basil

45g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, freshly grated on a rough setting

1 white

45g flour

1tbspn extra virgin olive oil

15ml water

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Sunflower oil for deep-frying

Pasta:

400g pasta – penne or farfalle are good

80ml extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

30g red chillies, finely chopped

4 medium courgettes, coarsely grated

40g Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated

To make 12-16 fritters 

First, remove the stamen from the flowers with scissors. Discard the stem

Next snip your courgette flowers into rough little strips into a bowl.

Snip your basil up roughly too and add to the bowl

Add the roughly grated parmesan and a good sprinkling of black pepper

Now make a batter by mixing the water slowly into the flower until it forms a paste

Whisk your egg white until it is white and foamy and fold into the flour paste

Add 5 tablespoons of batter to the mix, or enough that it will form balls without being too wet

Form 12-16 balls from the mix

Heat the oil in a deep pan so that it is at least 1 ½ inches high

Get it hot to the point where a small piece of bread will instantly start bubbling away and turn golden in 30 seconds

Gently drop the balls into the oil, wearing rubber gloves in case any oil spits

Cook for 2-3 minutes until they just begin to turn golden

Remove and drain on kitchen roll to remove any excess oil

To make the pasta and sauce:

400g pasta

In salted water, boil the pasta of your choice until it’s al dente, 10-15 minutes if using dried pasta, less for fresh or egg pasta. Drain.

In a pan, melt the butter and heat the garlic and chillies. Don’t let them colour as this makes the garlic turn bitter

Add the grated courgettes and fry for a minute or two. Add the cooked pasta and season with salt and pepper.

Serve with the fritters neatly dotted around and a sprinkle of parmesan

Free Martini Month!

I feel I should probably start this post with some pun about art and martinis but I am too tired and tipsy having just returned!

Just down past the Ritz and opposite(ish) the Royal Academy is the restaurant I probably rave about most often. Le Caprice is certainly not the most exciting restaurant I have ever been to, but year in year out they deliver traditional dishes with that extra little twist or attention to detail that makes them best in class. Not only that, it is ideally situated for a relaxing brunch before or after an exhibition.

We went for the last day of the summer exhibition, which is always good fun. There is an interesting looking Mexican exhibition and the Richard Rogers on at the moment too that I will hopefully return for soon. If you visit, make sure you coincide with the fantastic martini offer Le Caprice are doing this month. When you order a la carte, you can get a martini of the watermelon, cucumber, espresso, apple or lychee variety completely free! 

I opted for the burger since the quality is fantastic and the piccalilli to die for! Having tried all five martinis, I would particularly recommend the cucumber (which also has elderflower and apple in it), the watermelon, or the espresso as a digestif.

Cucumber Martini (usually a different colour, we were experimenting with the barman here!)

Watermelon (half-drunk - sorry!)

Coffee (usually bigger - we were sharing one)

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