Pan Roasted Monkfish, Apple & Lime Puree, Fennel & Lemongrass Sauce

I love fish and I love this combination. The lime/apple puree is zingy with a little sweetness and cuts through the richness of the lemongrass sauce. The fennel has a nice aniseed flavour that always works with fish.

This dish would also work really well with sea bass. Skip the salting step for the sea bass.

Go on try something different and tickle your pallet.

Pan Roasted Monkfish, Apple & Lime Puree, Fennel & Lemongrass Sauce

By Trevor Thornton

Serves 2

Difficulty Moderate - Hard

Ingredients
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil
Butter
Monkfish
2 x 150g pieces of monkfish tail, cleaned and prepared
3 tbsp rock salt
Apple & Lime Puree
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cubed
2 limes, zest & juice
10g caster sugar
Fennel
1 bulb of fennel
Lemongrass Sauce
50ml Pernod/Noilly Pratt
200ml fish/chicken stock
100ml cream
2 lemongrass stalks, crushed and chopped
1 lemon, juice only

Method

“Mise en Place”

Firstly you have to salt the monkfish to remove most of the water from the fish. There is a lot of excess water in a monkfish tail and it’s best to remove it before cooking. Sprinkle the cleaned monkfish tail pieces with the rock salt. Place into a dish and set aside in the fridge for 40 minutes. Remove from the fridge and wash each fillet under cold running water to remove the excess salt. Pat completely dry with kitchen paper and place back into the fridge.

For the apple and lime puree place the apples, sugar, lime zest and juice into a saucepan and place over a medium heat. Cook for 6-8 minutes with the lid on. The apples are done when they are soft. Blend the apples with a stick blender until really smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside.

To make the lemongrass sauce, place a saucepan over a medium – high heat and add the Pernod. Boil the alcohol until there is only a tiny bit left. Add the fish/chicken stock into the saucepan and reduce by half. Add the cream with the lemongrass stalks and reduce by a further two thirds. Add the lemon juice to taste and season with salt and pepper. Its best to season with white pepper as the sauce is white. Place the lemongrass sauce into a food processor and blend to a smooth puree. Pass the sauce through a fine sieve and set aside. Cover with a lid to stop a skin forming if you are making it in advance.

For the fennel, remove the hard outer skin and top and tail the bulb. Remove the hard core with a sharp knife. Slice the fennel as thin as you can. Its best to use a mandolin. Cook in boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Remove from the water and place into iced water to stop the cooking. Remove from the iced water after a few minutes and pat dry and set aside.

“Service”

Heat a frying pan over a medium heat. Make sure the pan is on for 2-3 minutes to heat up. Season the monkfish with a small bit of salt and some pepper. Put 2 tbsp of olive oil into the pan and place the monkfish into the pan and cook for 1 minute without moving the fish around. This will develop a nice brown colour on that side. Repeat this on all 4 sides. Cook each end of the monkfish fillet for 30 seconds aside. This will give a total cooking time of 5 minutes. Add 3 tbsp of butter to the pan and let the butter foam. Lap the fish with the hot butter for another minute. Remove the monkfish from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.

Reheat the apple puree and lemongrass sauce. Place the sliced fennel into a saucepan with a tbsp of butter. Reheat slowly and season with salt and pepper.

To serve place a dessert spoon of the apple puree onto a plate and run the spoon through it. Place the fennel on top and follow with the monkfish. Drizzle with the lemongrass sauce and serve!

Fillet of Beef with Carrot Puree, Spinach, Asparagus and Fondant Potato

My mouth is salivating even looking at this photo. The flavours of the spices in the carrot puree really work with the spinach and steak. I don’t really like carrots but these spices really bring out their sweet flavour. The nutmeg in the spinach also is a winner as it brings out the earthiness flavour.

My wife and I love eating fillet steak every once in a while. I don't order it out in any restaurant because I am always disappointed. I either get a poor cut or they don’t rest the meat long enough and there is blood all over the plate when I cut into it.

I bought a book called The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit and it’s a great reference for combining ingredients with other ingredients. I would really recommend it for any novice cook.

This dish is relative hard to complete as there are so many elements, so I have tried to explain how restaurants would do it. “Mise en Place” means everything in place and it’s the best way to prepare ingredients in advance especially if you are cooking for a dinner party. Every single restaurant carries out “Mise en Place” and most restaurants actually call it by its French name as homage to French cooking.

Fillet of Beef with Carrot Puree, Spinach, Asparagus and Fondant Potato

By Trevor Thornton

Serves 2

Difficulty Moderate - Hard

Ingredients
Salt and Pepper
Carrot Puree
2-3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
½ tsp garam masala
¼ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
50ml single cream
Spinach
1 bag spinach
½ tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp butter
Asparagus
10 asparagus spears
1 tbsp butter
Fondant Potato
3 large potatoes
1 tbsp butter
1 chicken stock cube
50ml hot water
Steak
2 x 200g pieces of fillet steak, (1” in Thickness)

Method

“Mise en Place”

Place a large saucepan over a high heat and half fill it with water. Bring the water to a fast rolling boil and add 2 teaspoons of salt. Add the carrots to the water and cook until you can pierce the carrot with a knife without feeling any resistance. This should take about 6-8 minutes. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and place directly into a food processor. Add the spices and cream and season with salt and pepper. Process until the puree is very smooth. You may need to scrape the sides down a few times to avoid any lumps. Add more cream if the mixture is not pureed enough. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Push the puree through a fine sieve for a really smooth finish. Set aside until ready for use. This will keep covered in the fridge for a day or two.

Prepare a large bowl of iced water in advance of cooking the spinach. When you cook the spinach and asparagus, you want to stop the cooking process to preserve the beautiful vivid green colour. This can be done in advance as the vegetables can be reheated just before serving. This process is called blanching and you can do this for any vegetable especially peas, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, French beans, and cabbage.

Using the same water as the carrots, bring the water back to the boil and add the bag of spinach. Cook for exactly 90 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and place into a bowl of iced water. Trim the woody ends off the asparagus and place into the boiling water. Cook for exactly 90 seconds. Remove the asparagus from the water with a slotted spoon and place into the iced water. Leave the vegetables in the water until cold. Remove the asparagus from the iced water and set aside. Remove the spinach in a large ball and try to squeeze all the excess moisture out by squeezing your hands together and holding the spinach like a tennis ball. Set aside until ready for use.

For the fondant potato, push a 30-40mm circular cutter through the potato. You want to get two fondants through each potato. Remove the cutter from the potato and trim the top and bottom to achieve a nice cylindrical shape. Repeat this until you have 6 fondants. Place a small frying pan over a medium heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter to the pan. When the butter begins to foam place the fondants carefully into the frying pan. You can to cook the fondant on the top and bottom until they achieve a nice golden colour. They will probably take 2-3 minutes aside. Mix the stock cube and hot water together and add enough to cover the bottom of the frying pan. Remove the frying pan from the heat and cover with tin foil. Set aside until ready for use.

“Service”

Place the fondant potatoes covered with the foil into an oven preheated to 200°C. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, or until you can pierce the potatoes with a knife without feeling any resistance. You can prepare everything else while the potatoes are cooking.

For the steak, make sure to take the steak out of the fridge for a good 30 minutes to come up to room temperature. This is very important as if you cook steaks from cold they won’t be as succulent.

Place a griddle pan over a medium high heat for at least five minutes. Season the steak with salt generously and smear with olive oil. Place the steaks onto the grill pan and cook for 2 minutes on one side and then turn over and cook for 2 minutes on the other side. Turn the steak over again remembering to keep a diamond pattern and cook for another 2 minutes. This is six minutes total cooking for a 1 inch piece of steak. Remove from the heat and place into aluminium foil to rest for 3-5 minutes. This will leave the steaks rare-medium.

Whilst the steak is resting reheat the carrot puree in a saucepan. Place two small saucepans over a medium heat and add 1 tbsp butter to each saucepan. Place the asparagus in one and the spinach in the other. Season the asparagus with salt and pepper and coat with the butter. Add the nutmeg to the spinach and season. Reheat both whilst stirring.

To serve, remove the steak from the tin foil and place on the plate and season with some pepper. Place the spinach on top. Remove the potatoes from the oven and place on the plate. Spoon a large tablespoon of the carrot puree and run the spoon through it in a semi circular direction. Place the asparagus on top or the carrot puree and serve. Yum!

Beef and Guinness Casserole

This is a real winter warmer. I would normally cook this on a Sunday night for myself and my wife. We would have it Monday and freeze the rest for another time. The sauce has a deep golden brown colour with a rich intense flavour. The Guinness adds a real deep finish to the sauce.

You can always add a squeeze of lemon juice to the finished sauce to make the sauce a bit more refreshing.

A casserole is a great way of cooking as it is all done in one pot and the preparation time is short. This is a relatively easy recipe to try out.

Beef and Guinness Casserole

by Trevor Thornton

Serves 6 - 8 persons

Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

20g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1Kg diced beef/stewing steak
salt and pepper
500ml Guinness, (1 large can)
2 tbsp tomato puree
500ml chicken stock, (2 stock cubes)
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2-3 bay leaf
2 sprigs of thyme, (1tsp dried)
1 sprig of Rosemary, (1/2 tsp dried)
2-3 carrots, turned into barrels
450g/1 lbs button mushrooms, 2 small packets
1-2 medium onions, peeled and halved
2 tbsp parsley, roughly chopped

Method

Firstly preheat the oven to 180ºC/Gas 4

Heat the butter and oil in the casserole dish over a medium high heat. Put in one third of the meat and brown on all sides for 3-4 minutes. Season the meat as it is browning with salt and pepper. Do not put in all the meat as you want the meat to take on colour. If you overcrowd the pan the meat will begin to stew. Transfer the meat to a separate dish and repeat this procedure until all the meat has been browned. You will find that some of the meat will stick on the base. This is no problem as this gives extra flavour to the finished sauce.

Return the meat to the pan and add the tomato puree. Don't forget to add the meat resting juices in also. Cook for 2-3 minutes whilst stirring. This cooks out the tomato puree and removes some of it's bitterness. Place the Guinness, stock, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf, thyme and rosemary into the pot and turn the heat up to high. Use a wooded spoon to scrape up all the residue from the bottom of the pot, this is called deglazing.

Bring the mixture up to the boil and place the lid on and transfer to the middle shelf of an oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Take the pot out every 30 minutes or so and stir. Just in case anything catches on the bottom.

After 1 hour and 15 minutes add the carrots, onions and the mushrooms. Place back in the oven with the lid off. The mushrooms release a lot of moisture at this point and some of the moisture will need to escape. Cook for a further 20-30 minutes. When ready take out of the oven and stir in the chopped parsley. Check for seasoning as you can add more at this stage.

Serve into warm bowls with some creamy mash or tasty colcannon. If you want the sauce to become a little thicker you can pour the sauce out of the pot and reduce until it is thick and glossy. Alternatively you can add cornflower to thicken the sauce.

Easy Scotch Eggs

We all secretly like deep fried food and these Scotch eggs are one of the best things to deep fry second to potatoes. Homemade Scotch Eggs are so tasty and they don't taste like their shop bought counterparts at all. This recipe relies on good quality sausages. I use sausages with a pork content above 70-75%.

These eggs can be eaten cold or warm. If you are taking them on a picnic it is best to hard boil the eggs. Cook the eggs for 15 minutes instead of 11.

Easy Scotch Eggs

by Trevor Thornton

Makes 4 eggs

Difficulty Moderate

Ingredients
4 large free range eggs
8 sausages, high pork content
flour
1 beaten egg
breadcrumbs

Method
Firstly place the eggs into a saucepan and cover with cold water. Leave the very tops of the eggs sticking out. Place the saucepan over a high heat and cook for 11 minutes for a soft boil. After 11 minutes remove from the heat and drain the hot water. Run the saucepan under the cold tap and leave the eggs in the cold water to cool. After 10 minutes, carefully de-shell the eggs and set aside. Roll the egg in flour and set aside. This makes sure that the sausage meat will stick to the surface of the egg.

Remove the skins from the sausages and place the meat onto a large sheet of cling film. Place another sheet of cling film on top and gradually roll the sausage meat to form a long sheet. You should stop when the thickness is around 5-7mm. Place into the fridge to firm up for 15-20 minutes.

Take the rolled sausage meat out of the fridge and cut into 4 rectangles of equal size. Carefully roll each rectangle around the egg. Use your hands as cups to spread and join the sausage meat. It is best to repair and holes at this stage. Wrap each egg in cling film and place into the fridge to firm up for 10-15 minutes.

Place the egg and breadcrumbs into two separate bowls. Un-wrap the sausage coated eggs and place into the egg and roll around coating all surfaces. Place into the breadcrumbs and coat all over. Repeat this procedure again. You have to double coat the eggs for them to deep fry correctly.

Heat a deep fat fryer with vegetable oil up to 180°C and carefully place the eggs into the oil once the temperature is up. Deep-fry for 8-10 minutes or until the sausage meat is thoroughly cooked through. Carefully take out of the oil with a slotted spoon and eat when cooled slightly.

Trout En Papillote

En Papillote is a French cooking technique in which the food is placed into a pouch or parcel and it is then baked. The food cooks quickly as steam is created inside. It is a beautiful way to cook fish as you can't overcook it. The fish stays moist and flakes apart.

If you can't get trout you could use sea bass, salmon etc... Remember if you use a really thick piece of fish the cooking time should be increased. Also you can use absolutely any vegetable. I sometimes slice fennel and carrots really thinly and use these instead of asparagus. Just use whatever is in season. Remember that some vegetables might need precooking as the 10 minutes in the oven might not be enough.

I always add a shot of Pernod as I love the hint of aniseed. This flavour goes extremely well with fish. Serve with buttery Cous Cous or new season potatoes. If you don't have parchment paper you could use aluminium foil also. The fish might stick to the foil though.

Trout En Papillote, with Asparagus

by Trevor Thornton

Serves 2

Difficulty Easy

Ingredients
parchment paper
2 small packets of asparagus tips
2 trout fillets, de-scaled and pin boned
4 tsp butter
4-6 thin slices of lemon
2 tbsp white wine or Pernod
salt and pepper

Method

Cut 2 sheets of parchment paper roughly 37cm x 37cm. Place the asparagus tips directly in the centre. Place the trout fillets skin side up on top of the asparagus. Dot some butter over the fillets and add slices of lemon on top. Season with salt and pepper and add a splash of white wine/Pernod. Close the sides to create a bag. You can do this any way once none of the steam escapes during cooking. Once the parcels are ready you can keep them in the fridge until you are ready to eat.



Remove the parcels from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking to allow the fish to come up to room temperature. To cook, place into a preheated oven for 10 minutes at 180°C. Remove from the oven and open the bag and remove the skin before eating.

White Chocolate Mousse, with Raspberries

This is another one of those recipes that you should master and keep under the belt for a quick simple dessert. I have a dark chocolate mousse recipe that uses egg whites as the mousse element. This is a cream based mouse so its rich but so extravagant.

It's good to have 5 starters, main courses and desserts in the bag for when people come over. The first time I made this the mixture split and I had to start again so don't worry.

My brother actually took the photo for this recipe and his girlfriend polished the dessert.

White Chocolate Mousse, with Raspberries

by Trevor Thornton

Makes about 2-4 depending on moulds

Difficulty Easy - Moderate

Ingredients
90ml whole milk
½ vanilla bean
3 x 2g sheets of gelatine
125g white chocolate
125g single cream
2 punnets or 150g of raspberries

Method

Place the milk into a small saucepan. Split the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds out and place them into the milk. Place the vanilla bean in as well. Place over a low-medium heat and bring to just before boiling point and then remove from the heat to infuse for 10-20 minutes.

Meanwhile soak the gelatine in a large bowl of cold water for 5 minutes or until soft.

Roughly chop the chocolate and place into a large clean bowl. Reheat the milk to hot and discard the vanilla bean. Pour half of the milk over the chocolate and stir until all the chocolate has melted. Remove the gelatine from the bowl and squeeze out any excess water. Add the gelatine to the remaining hot milk in the saucepan and stir until dissolved. Add this to the chocolate and stir to combine. Leave to cool until tepid but do not allow the mixture to stiffen.

Whip the cream until it just holds its own weight. Fold the cream into the chocolate and stir to combine. Whisk the mixture until you see soft peaks begin to form. Be very careful as this happens within 10-20 seconds. The mixture could split if you overwork the mixture. Line the bottom of whatever mould you are using with a layer of raspberries. You could just use a glass or cup also if you don’t have moulds. Divide the mixture between the moulds and smooth the top out. Place into the fridge for a minimum of three hours to set.

To remove the mould, remove from the fridge and run a small sharp knife around the inside of the mould and the mousse will come free. Alternatively if you had a blow torch you could just blow torch the mould quickly. Decorate the plate with fresh raspberries and grate some white chocolate over the top of the mousse.

Apple Wood Smoked Sausage Salad with Poached Egg

I am cooking a lot of salads recently as with the warm weather my appetite changes. I could not think of eating a stew or something heavy. This time of the year is beautiful as the early vegetables are coming into season. Asparagus is bang in season right now.

I found these apple wood smoked sausages in "Fox's Fruit and Veg", in Mullingar. They are made just outside Mullingar and they were fantastic. If you like the taste of a "hot dog" then you would love these. If you don't like smoked meats then just use an ordinary high pork content sausage.

Apple Wood Smoked Sausage Salad with Poached Egg

by Trevor Thornton

Serves 2

Difficulty Moderate

Ingredients
2 free range eggs
1 tbps vinegar
4 large smoked sausages, use normal sausages if you can’t find smoked
1 packet of salad leaves
French Dressing
1 tsp Dijon vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
white wine vinegar
salt and white pepper

Method
Cook the sausages in a frying pan over a very low heat for 10-15 minutes turning occasionally. I use the lowest heat possible on a gas hob. This ensures that the pork cooks slowly and all the bad fats leech out of the sausage. You will end up with a perfectly cooked sausage. When cooked set aside to rest.

Fill a large saucepan with 5cm (2 inch) of water and add in the vinegar. Place over a high heat. Crack the eggs into two cups and set aside. When you can see loads of tiny bubbles appear on the bottom of the saucepan add in the eggs carefully. Set your timer for exactly one minute. When the minute is up remove the saucepan from the heat and set aside for exactly 10 minutes. This was will give you perfectly set whites and a nice creamy warm yolk.

To make the French dressing, add the Dijon mustard to a large bowl and very slowly whisk in 4 tbps of extra virgin olive oil. The mixture will thicken as you are adding in the oil. The mixture will split if you add it too fast. If this happens just start again. Add in enough vinegar to taste. Make sure to whisk all of the time. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

To assemble, add the dressing to the salad leaves and toss well to coat the leaves. Divide the salad between two plates. Cut the sausage into bite size pieces and add to the plates. Remove the egg from the saucepan after the 10 minutes and drain on kitchen paper. Place on top of the salad and serve.