Tunisian Octopus

Discovery of this dish was, for me, an unintended consequence of buying Octopus rather than Squid in the supermarket, about a month ago. The Technical Dept took the opportunity to make some comment to the effect that I should wear my glasses more often - the sort of unnecessary remark which should not be dignified by being noticed - but in fact I put it down rather to the 'Stepford Wives' effect that takes hold whenever I enter any supermarket anywhere: the brain closes down, I glaze over, and I go into autopilot.
Anyway...Octopus. I contemplated ploughing on with the intended menu, and pretending that Squid and Octopus are interchangeable, although I know they aren't (generally) and that I risked a much tougher end-result than intended, and then resorted instead for inspiration to Alan Davidson's 'Mediterranean Seafood'. (Actually, I don't know why I say 'resorted', since it is a splendid volume...I suppose because I have a misplaced tendency to regard it as a reference book rather than a book for general browsing.) And I came across this recipe, which is quite simply delicious. And so easy, it barely warrants being called a 'recipe'.
I serve it on a bed of rocket, which cuts the richness and spiciness of the sauce, but I imagine it would do just as well as a pasta sauce, or else stirred (at the end) into a plain risotto bianco.

Sufficient for two generous servings.
Ingredients: 1 Octopus, about 1 kg in weight, and thoroughly cleaned and prepared; 1 onion; Olive Oil; Seasoning; 1 tbs Tomato Purée; 1 tsp Chili Powder (or harissa); 2 tsps ground Cumin.

Method:
1. In a couple of tablespoons of oil, gently sauté the finely chopped Onion for a minute or so.

2. Chop the body and tentacles of the Octopus into half-inch peces, then add to the pan, along with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes, stirring, until they begin to take colour.

3. Mix the tomato purée and chili powder with a cup of water, and add this to the pan. Continue to cook, stirring from time to time for ten minutes. Then, add enough water to cover, bring to the boil, and then reduce to a low simmer, cover the pan, and leave simmering for an hour and a quarter.

4. Add to the pan the ground cumin, and continue to simmer for a further 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Serve immediately, in your preferred form, or else leave to serve later, after having reheated over a low heat for about ten minutes.
 

 

Sea Bream with Star Anise

Delicious, easy, quick, and practical (in that, the whole dish can be prepared in advance and then put to one side, ready to go into the oven half an hour before you plan to serve). This is a slight re-working of a Robuchon recipe, where once again, tomato is combined with red pepper, to the benefit of both ingredients - Technical Dept has a bit of a down on both, on the basis that he finds both tomato and capsicum rather 'one-note-ish', and that individually their flavours tend to dominate any dish of which they are part; combined in this way, though, the end result is subtly complex, and somehow both the pepper and the tomato manage to play to each other's strengths. 

Don't be tempted to replace the whole crushed star anise with powdered anise instead - I've tried it, and it doesn't work!

For two.

Ingredients: 2 medium-small sea bream, gutted; olive oil, seasoning; 1 oz butter; half a medium onion; 1 large garlic clove, diced finely or crushed; 2 beef tomatoes, peeled; half a medium red pepper; one and half teaspoons dried thyme; i whole star anise.

Method:

1.  Place the fish in an oiled ovenproof dish. Crush the star anise roughly with a heavy rolling pin (or similar), so you have maybe a dozen pieces; divide these between the cavities of the two fish, along with half a teaspoon of dried thyme (again, divided equally between the two fish). Add a generous pinch of salt and a couple of grindings of pepper to the inside of each fish.

2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, and gently sauté the finely diced onion for three or four minutes, until it has softened but not coloured. Cut the tomatoes into quarters, more easily to remove and discard the central 'root', and then cut each quarter into about twelve pieces. Add the tomato to the pan, along with the finely diced pepper, the remaining thyme, and the garlic clove. Simmer over a medium heat for about fifteen minutes, until the tomatoes have completely collapsed, and the mixture is quite thick. Add salt as desired (I normally find a scant teaspoon is sufficient).

3. Pour a tablespoon of oil over each fish, and then add the tomato-pepper mixture, effectively to cover the fish. Bake for 25 minutes in an oven pre-heated to 250 degrees C, and serve immediately on heated plates

I don't normally bother with an additional vegetable, as the tomato-pepper mixture is substantial enough to take the place of a vegetable. If you wanted something else, though, then some crisp Pommes Maxims would work well, and not fight with the provencal flavours of the fish and herbs.

Salmon Mousse with Tarragon Sauce

Simple, quick, reliable (as long as you respect the proportions to the letter, otherwise it won't unmould properly, but will merely collapse dispiritedly onto the plate!)...on its own, this mousse is perfectly serviceable, but a little one-note-ish; with the addition of a chilled tarragon sauce, though, it is lifted to a whole other level. The original for the mousse came from Evelyn Lauder's rather alarmingly day-glo pink 'In Great Taste'...which actually has a number of  good things inside, if you can make it past the front cover.

For four individual mousses:

Ingredients: 450g Salmon Fillet; 2 sprigs of Dill; 8g powdered gelatine; quarter cup of tomato puree; 2/3 cup of Sour Cream (or creme fraiche); 1/2 cup plain Yoghurt; half a medium onion; zest and juice of a medium lemon; seasoning. For the sauce: 1 cup of fish stock (from powder is fine); half a cup of white wine; half a cup of cream; a handful of finely chopped tarragon.

Method:

1. With a sharp knife, remove the skin from the salmon, then cover the fish with water in a shallow pan, add the dill, and poach gently for about six minutes until cooked through. Remove the fish, to cool, and discard the poaching liquid and dill.

2. Add the gelatine to about 50 ml warm water in a simmertopf, or a bain marie,  and stir whilst dissolving over medium heat.

3. Put all of the ingredients (apart from those for the sauce) into a food processor and blend throughly. Adjust seasoning as appropriate. Then divide the mixture between four ramekins, and chill in the fridge until set - probably four hours or so (or longer, if you want to be on the safe side).

4. Combine all of the sauce ingredients, apart from the tarragon,  in a small saucepan and reduce over medium heat for fifteen or twenty minutes until the consistency is like thick cream. Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary (you won't need any if using commercially made stock), and stir in the sauce the chopped tarragon. Allow to chill.

Unmould onto cold dishes, and spoon the sauce over the top to serve.

Recipe: Risotto with Red Mullet

When deconstructed, this is simply a risotto made with fish broth - but the broth that goes into the dish is so good that the end result is quite spectacular! Light, unctuous, and absolutely delicious. This particular recipe is normally associated with Livorno where the red mullet ( or 'triglia' as they're called round here) is dirt cheap, and mullet recipes are generally given the handle 'alla livornese'. I have seen it said that the mullet in this recipe could be substituted by any firm-fleshed white fish - I'm not so sure about that; triglie have a flavour which is particularly full, and give to the stock a richness which I suspect might be missing if cod, say, or bream were to be used instead.

Quick and straightforward, the entire dish takes about forty minutes in total (much of which is elapsed time, when other work can also be done): twenty minutes of which is to make the stock, and another twenty or so to produce the risotto.

For four.

Ingredients: 4 tbs Olive Oil; 1 Carrot, diced; 1 stick of Celery, diced; two or three Red Mullet Fillets, cut into 2 cm pieces; 1 Bay Leaf; 200g chopped tinned Tomato; 5 cups Water; 2 cloves Garlic, finely minced; 1 1/3 cups Carnaroli Rice; 1 wineglass of White Wine; Seasoning; Chopped Parsley (for garnish).

Method:

1. Heat 2 tbs of Oil in a saucepan, and gently sauté the Carrot and Celery, along with the fish pieces, for ten minutes. Stir occasionally, and keep the heat at medium.

2. Add the Bay leaf, Tomato, and Water. Bring to the boil, and then reduce to simmer, for a further ten minutes. Allow to cool slightly, then sieve into a clean pan, pressing the pieces against the sieve to extract as much of the flavour as possible. Put the sieved broth onto medium heat, to simmer.

3. In a large sauté pan, heat the remaining Oil, and gently colour the minced Garlic. Add Rice and stir to coat in the Oil and Garlic for a minute. Add the wine, maintain the heat such that the liquid barely simmers, and keep stirring until all the Wine has been absorbed by the Rice. Start adding broth, one ladle at a time - only add a new ladleful of broth once the previous one has been absorbed.

4. Keep adding broth either until it has all been used up or until the Rice is properly cooked. Depending on the quality of the Rice, this should take twenty minutes or so. If the broth is finished before the risotto is ready, add water instead, until the Rice is cooked.

5. Add seasoning, to taste (none has gone into the broth, so it will definitely be needed at this stage) ans serve, garnished with chopped fresh Parsley.

Recipe: Sicilian Swordfish Pie

Slightly adapted from a recipe of Alan Davidson - for who's writing I have a lot of time - this rather surprising dish is excellent. Surprising, because of the unusual structure, where effectively two pies are baked one on top of the other, not unlike a pair of steamer baskets. In fact, the middle layer of pastry simply disappears in the finished pie...and, on reflection, the structure isn't a million miles away from a version of good old lasagne.
The flavours included in the stuffing suggest this is a very, very old dish - shades of Apicius, if not even earlier. Definitely, this would be credible as part of an ancient roman buffet, or else being carried in hefty slices as food to eat whilst working the fields or organising the odd legion or gladiatorial display.
I've simplified the pastry which Davidson uses, and I've taken out the step where he egg-and-flours the slices of courgette before frying them - the latter step is important in reducing the water content in the courgette, but the former merely wastes time, IMHO, as the crisp coating that results from frying in egg and flour completely disappears once the courgette has been incorporated with the other stuffing ingredients.
This pie is delicious served either hot - as we had it several weeks ago when Pietro came down from Montemarcello for dinner, one evening - or cold, for lunch on the day afterwards.

For eight.

Ingredients: Shortcrust pastry, made with 250g butter, 280g '00' flour, a pinch of salt, and approximately 50 ml of water; 500g swordfish; 2 medium onions, finely diced; 2 tbs tomato paste; 2 celery stalks, finely diced; 100g greenolives, chopped; 2 tbs capers; 5 medium courgettes; olive oil; 1 egg yolk.

1. Make the shortcrust pastry:

• Freeze the butter in the freezer until it is rock hard. This is imperative.
• Grate the butter straight from the freezer using the grater disc on the food processor; add the remaining dry ingredients to the processor bowl and process using the blade until it has resolved itself into large flakes.
• Add water in very small increments through the top opening, whilst the processor is running. Be very careful not to add too much.
• As soon as enough water has been added, the mixture will form itself into one large solid lump and will adhere to the blade as it goes round. Stop the processor at this point.
• Remove the pastry from the bowl and perform the fraisage - using just the heel of your palm, push the mixture six inches or so across the work surface in half a dozen or so bite-sized pieces, then gather them back together into a ball and wrap in cling film. Only do the fraisage once - the success of good pastry lies in limiting contact with your hands to a bare minimum, as otherwise the heat from your hands will cause the butter to melt within the pastry, and it will lose its shape as it cooks.
• Preferably leave the pastry to rest in the fridge for several hours before rolling it out for use - again, this allows it to relax, and reduces the risk of it sliding out of shape or shrinking as it cooks.
  

2. Gently cook the chopped onion in oil until it begins slightly to colour, then add to it the tomato paste (diluted in a quarter cup of water), celery, olives and capers. Cut the swordfish into small cubes, add this to the pan, and cook, stirring over medium heat until it is well amalgamated and noticeably thickened - about twenty minutes. Check and adjust seasoning.

3. Slice the courgettes into thin strips, then these into approx 2" lengths; sprinkle with a little salt, and then fry them briefly in hot oil, until slightly coloured, and then drain them on kitchen paper.

4. Grease an 8" spring-form pan. Divide the pastry into three pieces. Roll out one of the pieces, and use it to line the base of the pan, with pastry coming halfway up the sides. Into this, put half of the swordfish mixture, topped with a layer of half of the pieces of fried courgette. Roll out the second piece of pastry, and repeat the process exactly (so you have your two pies with stuffing sitting on top of each other), and finally roll out the last piece of pastry and use it to make a lid, pressing it firmly into place all round the edge.

5. Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg yolk and bake for fifty minutes at 150 degrees C.

Serve either hot, at room temperature, or else cold. Delicious, whichever.

Recipe: Red Mullet with Orange

Or Triglia alla Siciliana, more properly called. The basic recipe came from Alan Davidson's excellent 'Mediterranean Seafood' and is one of those splendidly satisfying throw-it-on-the-grill dishes where the fish has had almost nothing done to it beforehand. You can either use fish which are small enough for it not to be necessary to clean them, or - for a more elegant result - use the fillets taken from a smaller number of larger fish. Whichever you do, the end result is both simple and delicious.

For two.

Ingredients: 12 small Red Mullet (approximately 3" in length); Salt & Pepper; 1 tsp Peperoncino (ground dried red pepper flakes); 3 tbs Olive Oil; juice and grated rind of 2 Oranges; juice of 1 Lemon; 3 tbs Stock (either light or dark); 3 tbs White Wine; 1 cup Butter, finely diced. Finely-chopped Parsley, for garnish.

Method:

1. In a shallow dish, coat the fish with half of the Oil, along with the Peperoncino and Salt & pepper. Leave to sit for half an hour, while you make the sauce.

2. Combine all the remaining ingredients (apart from the remaining Oil) in a double boiler or simmertopf, and heat gently until the Butter has completely melted. Whisk gently to amalgamate all the ingredients.

3. Heat a heavy frying pan or iron griddle over a high flame and add to it the remaining Oil. Once very hot, quickly fry the fish for about a minute on each side, and then transfer to two heated plates to serve. Ladle the sauce over the plated fish, and sprinkle with chopped Parsley.

Serve.

Recipe: Lemon Sole Fillets in Marsala Sauce

An excellent recipe! Lemon sole is a fish not famous for its flavour - particularly once the head and bones have been removed - and as a result finds itself at the cheaper end of the fishmonger's counter. With this particular treatment, however, the flavour and texture are dramatically improved, and the rich and unctuous sauce that accompanies the fillets would make you believe the whole thing had been cooked on the bone, and the end result is completely delicious!

Simplicity itself to cook, this dish takes five minutes from a standing start, and can easily be made with no prior preparation once the first course has already been cleared.

For two.

Ingredients: 2 Lemon Sole fillets; quarter cup of plain Flour, seasoned with Salt & Pepper; 40g Butter; 3 tbs freshly grated Parmesan; quarter cup of Fish Stock; quarter cup of Marsala (or medium Sherry).

Method:

1. Coat the fillets on both sides with the seasoned Flour.

2. Melt the Butter over medium/high heat in a large heavy frying pan, and fry the fillets a couple of minutes on each side, until they are slightly browned and crisp.

3. Sprinkle 1 tbs of Parmesan on each fillet. Then add the Fish Stock and Marsala (or Sherry) to the pan. Cover the whole thing with a lid, reduce the heat to low and let it cook for two or three minutes. When the lid is removed, the liquid should have reduced almost to nothing.

4. Plate the fillets on heated plates, sprinkle over them the remaining Parmesan, and spoon the sauce over and around them from the pan.

5. Serve with a green vegetable, like mange-touts or beans.

Recipe: Fish Stuffing for Ravioli

For years, by far my favourite pasta was the black ravioli filled with Cod that Claudia sold in Vettovaglie; cooked as soon as the water came back to the boil, and served with just a coating of melted butter, the flavour was always excellent. Even after I began to make my own pasta again, last year ( after Claudia had disappeared and her beautiful shop had been transformed into an anodyne aladdin's cave selling sweets and over-decorated cakes) I held off trying to replicate this particular dish... probably from an undue sense of diffidence.

I shouldn't have done.

The following recipe is straightforward, and absolutely delicious. Even better, I think, than Claudia's version used to be. You don't have to use black pasta, if no squid ink is available, but it's better if you can, as the result is better aesthetically, and the ink imparts a slight tang to the pasta which works well against the creamy fishiness of the stuffing.

The quantities given here will leave you with enough stuffing to fill ravioli for four, with sufficient left over to make fish pithiviers as a starter for dinner later in the week.

For Four:

Ingredients: Black Pasta, made with 2 cups of '00' Flour, 3 Eggs, a generous pinch of Salt, a teaspoon of of Olive Oil, and a teaspoon of Squid Ink; 1 medium White Onion; 1 oz Butter; 2 large Anchovy Fillets; 14 oz Cod Fillet (or similar fleshy white fish); 1 cup White Wine; 5 oz Ricotta; 1 Egg; Salt & Pepper.

Method:

1. Make the Pasta dough in the food processor, and leave it to rest as you prepare the stuffing.

2. For the stuffing: sauté finely diced onion in melted butter for three or four minutes until it is translucent, add the Anchovy and cook for a further couple of minutes, stirring, to break up the fillets. Add Cod Fillet, cut into half-inch dice, raise the heat, and cook stirring for a couple of minutes, then add the Wine and reduce until the liquid has almost all gone. Remove from the heat, and leave to cool down for a few minutes before you stir in the Ricotta and the Egg. Before using, taste the stuffing and add seasoning as necessary.

3. Roll out the Pasta Dough into sheets about a foot long, and use each one to make five ravioli, using a teaspoon of stuffing in each one.

4. Bring to the boil a large pan of salted water, and add the ravioli to this. They're cooked as soon as the water returns to the boil, and the ravioli rise to the surface.

Serve, tossed in melted butter.

Recipe: Seared Salmon Fillet with Orange & Juniper

This is lazy cooking at its best - no more than five minutes prep beforehand, and the cooking time is merely the two minutes it takes to sear the fish fillets on both sides. The flavours of Orange and Juniper are subtle but definitely present, and the slight bite of the citrus goes well with the oiliness of the salmon.

I generally serve this with a light green vegetable - more often than not julienne of cucumber, sautéed in butter.


For three.

Ingredients: 300g Salmon Fillet (skin on or off, as you prefer - I rather like the crispness of the grilled skin, but it takes a minute or so longer to cook); grated rind of one large Orange; 6-8 dried Juniper Berries, ground in an electric coffee grinder; 2 tbs Gin; oil, or Trennwax, for frying.

Method:

1. Slice the fillet into three pieces, and place in a shallow dish. Evenly scatter the Orange rind and ground Juniper over the Salmon, and pour the Gin over the top. Turn the pieces of fish over several times, to make sure the other ingredients are evenly distributed over the surface. Leave to sit until you're ready to cook them (as I've stated elsewhere, I'm no great fan of the benefits of marinading, but it is practical to get the Salmon to this stage some time in advance of cooking it, and you can certainly leave it like this for several hours or so)

2. Heat a griddle or heavy frying pan on the stove until very hot, and either brush it with Oil, or else spray with Trennwax (if using oil, be sparing - you don't want the Salmon to swim in it).

3. Grill the Salmon pieces two minutes or so on both sides - you can watch the salmon coagulating as the heat penetrates it, and turn it once the heat has clearly penetrated from the bottom to the middle. Lightly salt the Salmon pieces just before and just after you turn them.

Serve.

Recipe: Salmon & Tarragon Pie

Although this might sound like a complicated dish, it is actually quite straightforward, and probably the prep time needed from scratch until baking is no more than thirty minutes, if you're organised. The recipe is not unlike a quick-and-dirty version of Coulibiac, and - as with Coulibiac - benefits significantly from the fact that all of the different flavours are layered separately rather than mixed in together - with the result that you end up with a series of distinct flavour hits on the palate, all working with and against each other at the same time......Salmon, and Lemon, and Tarragon, and Mushrooms......delicious!

Being greedy, I would serve this as a starter - but it is substantial enough that it could also work as a main course, with the addition of an appropriate green vegetable. Even as a starter, though, it's light enough that it doesn't spoil the appetite for the courses to follow.

For two individual pies.

Ingredients: 3 sheets of Phyllo Pastry, each 6" x 12"; 8 oz Butter; 250g Salmon fillet, skinned; 100g Button Mushrooms; 1 tablespoon finely chopped Tarragon; grated rind of 1 Lemon; 4 fl oz Cream; 4 fl oz dry Vermouth; 2 Egg Whites, stiffly beaten; Salt & Pepper; a pinch of Nutmeg. Chopped Parsley & melted Butter, for serving.

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees C.

2. Using two of the Phyllo sheets and 1 oz of Butter, make two individual phyllo tart shells. Make sure you leave enough melted Butter in the pan to brush the third sheet of Phyllo at the end of construction of the pies, when you'll need it for the 'lids'. Leave the oven switched on after you take out the baked tart shells, as you'll need it later to bake the pies.

3. Finely chop the Mushrooms, and sauté gently in 1 oz Butter for about five minutes, along with a generous pinch of Salt.

4. Meanwhile, process 175g of the Salmon fillet, along with Cream, Vermouth, 6 oz Butter, nutmeg and seasoning to taste. Remove this mixture to a bowl, and fold in the beaten Egg Whites.

5. Divide half of the Salmon mixture between the two pastry shells, and top with a layer of chopped Tarragon and then a layer of grated Lemon rind (use all of the Tarragon and rind in doing this).

6. Finely slice the remaining Salmon fillet, and divide it between the two tarts, making a layer of sliced fillet in each one. On top of this layer, divide the remaining Salmon/Cream mixture, and then use the final sheet of Phyllo to top the pies. (Brush the Phyllo with melted Butter, then cut it in half and use each half to make a lid, working round and folding it in to fit the shape of the pie; cut a cross in the centre of each top, and fold back the corners to leave a small square hole in the Phyllo. If you have any melted Butter left, use it to brush the top of each pie.)

7. Bake 30 minutes in the pre-heated oven. Leave to cool down for ten minutes or so after you remove the pies from the oven, and serve warm, with a spoonful of melted Butter and chopped Parsley over each one..........and a glass of chilled Pouilly Fumé alongside!

Recipe: Salmon and Lemon Fishcakes

Unusually, this is a dish which can be constructed and then cooked in either of two ways, to significantly different effect. Steamed, the texture is soft, and the flavours of the herbs and of the sauces within the mixture are much more pronounced, whereas frying the fishcakes gives a crisp outer shell, which you break through to get at the flavours within. To my mind, either way is excellent....

For four.

Ingredients: 450g Salmon Fillet, skinned; 1 tablespoon Thai Fish Sauce*; 2 tablespoons Light Soy Sauce; 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger; 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice; scant teaspoon fresh Lemon Thyme; 1 generous tablespoon fresh Coriander, chopped; 1 Egg Yolk; seasoning, to taste.

*A modern version of Garum, the sauce so beloved of the ancient romans; made from anchovies, salt and sugar, this is the fermented liquid thrown off by the combination - and I think the commercially-produced product available these days must then be somewhat 'tidied up' for modern palates; years ago, in Greece, we made some Garum as an experiment, and the end result was enough to make anybody within smelling distance take to the hills! If you can't find Thai Fish Sauce for this recipe, I suppose you could try substituting finely chopped anchovies, but I suspect the end result would miss some of the edge that the sauce gives it.

Method

1. Finely chop the Salmon Fillet, either by hand, or else very carefully in the food processor (but be sure not to reduce it to a mush, if you do so)

2. Add the chopped Salmon to all the other ingredients, and mix thoroughly.

3. Divide the mixture into four, and shape each piece into a ball which you then flatten into a patty shape, tidying the edges as you do so.

4. Either Steam the fishcakes over boiling water for about four minutes, or else dredge lightly with Flour and fry in Olive Oil for about three minutes on each side (taking care as you turn them, to minimise the amount of 'drop-off' from the edges of the fishcakes.

Serve.

Recipe: Coulibiac

Ok. Since it's the end of the first week in December, I suppose it's time to stop feeling grumpy about the intemperate appearance of Christmas decorations in the streets and shop windows and to start to acknowledge the imminence of it all.....in a positive way. Hence this recipe - which, over the past few years, has become a standard first course for us for Christmas dinner. Years ago, when I first encountered Coulibiac, it was the version given by Julia Child, and although unquestionably delicious, it required a very experienced touch with Choux Pastry, and generally involved an anxious period during the final cooking, on tenterhooks about the end result - would the pastry have baked properly, or would it have separated and slithered messily onto the baking tray, leaving the innards of the thing horribly exposed to view?
The version given here is a slight re-working of Martha Stewart's recipe, which I found about fifteen years ago, and although it involves a lot of stages, it is indeed foolproof. Famous last words, of course - but I've lost count now of the times I've made it, and it's not let me down once......
To spread the load, all of the various elements of preparation can be done the day before, leaving just assembly and final cooking to be done on the day the Coulibiac is to be eaten. The amount given here is about right for fifteen or more healthy servings: certainly, I know that the last time I made it, it did comfortably for eight servings as a starter at dinner, as well as a further generous appearance - cold and delicious - at lunch the next day.

Ingredients:

2 pounds of Puff Pastry (ready-made is fine...)

For the Fish filling:
3 tablespoons of minced Shallots; 2 oz of Butter; 2 pounds of fish fillets (the original recipe specifies Bass; I use Palumbo in Italy, which I think is dogfish in English - a fraction of the cost of Bass!) ; half a pound of field mushrooms, thinly sliced; quarter of a cup of chopped Dill; 2 teaspoons of Salt; Pepper, to taste; 1 cup of dry White Wine; Veloute sauce (made with 2 oz Butter, 3 tablespoons of Flour, half a cup of Milk, and half a cup of Stock, plus seasoning); 5 Egg Yolks; juice of 1 Lemon; pinch of Cayenne.

Egg & Rice Filling:
1 tablespoon of Tapioca; half a cup of cold Water; 1 medium onion, minced; 2 oz Butter; half a cup of long-grain rice; one and a half cups of Stock (chicken or duck); 3 hard-boiled Eggs, sieved; 4 tablespoons of chopped Parsley; 1 teaspoon of Salt; Pepper, to taste.

Dill Pancakes:
12 fluid oz Milk; 9 oz Flour; 3 Eggs; pinch of Salt; 6 tablespoons of Dill, finely chopped.

Glaze:
2 Egg Yolks, mixed with 2 tablespoons of Cream.

Method:

For the Fish Filling:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C.

2. Sweat the Shallots in the Butter until soft, then combine them in a baking dish with Mushrooms, Dill, Salt & Pepper. Place the Fish Fillets on top, add the Wine, cover with foil, and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

3. Remove from the oven, and remove the fillets from the poaching liquid to a platter. Measure half a cup of poaching liquid, for use in the Veloute (the remaining poaching ingredients can be used in as a sauce base for a fish recipe on another day, if you want.)

4. Make the Veloute: heat the Butter in a double-boiler or Zimmertopf; stir in the Flour, then add the Milk and Stock, and whisk over low heat as the mixture thickens).

5. Pour the Veloute over the Egg Yolks, lightly beaten, and mix them together, then return to the double boiler and continue to cook over low heat, stirring all the time with a whisk, and add the Lemon Juice and Cayenne as the mixture thickens. Pour this over the fillets, and refrigerate, to allow the fillets to firm.

For the Pancakes:
1. Make a batter in a liquidizer with all ingredients apart from the chopped Dill, then stir in the Dill, and use to make pancakes in the usual way - this amount should make about 18 pancakes.

For the Egg & Rice Filling:
1. Soften the Tapioca in the Water for about 5 minutes, then cook over a low heat until the Tapioca is thick - about 6 - 8 minutes. Let the Tapioca cool, then drain in a sieve for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, soften the Onion in Butter over a medium heat, then add the Rice and cook, stirring constantly, until the Rice is transparent. Add the Stock, reduce the heat to low, then cover the pan and leave to cook until the rice is done - about 18 minutes.

3. Combine Tapioca, Rice, sieved Eggs, and chopped Parsley. Season the mixture lightly.

Assembly:

1. Roll out half the Puff Pastry to make a rectangle 14" x 22". Lay 6 Pancakes on the Pastry, leaving a 2" border all the way round.

2. Spread a third of the Egg & Rice mixture over the Pancakes, then lay half of the Fish Fillets on top of this; lay another 6 Pancakes over the fillets, then another third of the Egg & Rice mixture and the remaining Fillets. Finish off with the last of the Egg & Rice mixture, and cover this with the last of the Pancakes, which should drape over the top of the whole construction. Refrigerate, to firm up as you roll out the remaining Pastry.

3. Roll the remaining Pastry also into a rectangle 14" x 22". Take the Coulibiac from the fridge, and fold the 2" border up around the construction. Brush the exposed edge of this Pastry with cold water, so that the second piece of Pastry will adhere to it when placed over the top. Once this has been done, press the two pieces of Pastry together, and crimp the edges with the blunt end of a knife handle.

4. Refrigerate the Coulibiac for at least an hour, before baking.

5. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C. Brush the surface of the Coulibiac with the glaze, then make two small holes in the top of the beast and insert two funnels made from aluminium foil, to allow steam to escape. Bake at 200 degrees C until the Pastry has puffed, then reduce the temperature to 175 degrees C, and continue baking until the Pastry is a deep golden brown - it should take about an hour.

Allow to cool slightly before slicing to serve.

Don't be daunted by the apparent complexity of the dish - it's worth the effort!

Recipe: Cod in Chorizo Sauce

Ingredients: 50 ml White Wine or Vermouth; 150 ml Chicken Stock; 50 ml Fish Stock; 1 small clove of Garlic; 100 ml Double Cream; 50g Chorizo Sausage, thinly sliced; 30g Butter, chilled and cut into small pieces; half a tablespoon of Red Wine Vinegar; 1 tablespoon of Fresh Chives; 2 skinned Cod Fillets (approximately 160g each)

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C.

2. Heat the wine to boiling point, then boil it for one minute. Add the Chicken and Fish Stock and the Garlic, and return the mixture to the boil.

3. Add Cream and Chorizo, then simmer for ten minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool slightly before liquidizing. If necessary, return this mixture to the pan and reduce over medium heat until the sauce is quite thick.

4. Put the Cod Fillets into a buttered oven-proof dish; season lightly with salt & pepper, then cover the dish with foil and bake in the pre-heated oven for ten minutes.

5. Gradually add the chilled Butter to the sauce and whisk it in piece, by piece, to give the sauce a creamy consistency. Finally, whisk in the Vinegar and chopped Chives.

Plate the Cod fillets and spoon the sauce generously over the top before serving.

Recipe: Tartare of Fresh Tuna....

For Two.
Ingredients: 350g Fresh Yellowfin Tuna; rind of 1 Lime; juice of half a Lime (1 tablespoon); 1 tablespoon chopped Dill; 1 Egg Yolk; 1 tablespoon Olive Oil; 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion; 2 Anchovy fillets, chopped; 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard; 1 tablespoon Capers, chopped. To serve: Soured Cream and Black Fish Eggs.

Method:

1. Whisk the Egg Yolk with the Oil to create an emulsion. Stir in the Mustard, then add Dill, Onion, Anchovies, Lime rind and juice, and Capers. Mix all together very well.

2. Cut the Tuna into dice of approximately 1 cm each, and carefully mix in with all the other ingredients to ensure the Tuna is well coated. Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge for at least half an hour for the flavours to mingle and penetrate.

3. Divide between serving plates - the mixture should be solid enough that you can use a ring to shape each serving and it will retain its shape when the ring is removed. Put on top of each serving a spoonful of Soured Cream and a teaspoon of Back Fish Eggs.

Recipe: Salmon Fillet in Walnut Oil

For Two.
Ingredients: 2 Salmon Fillets; half a cup of Walnut Oil; 4 tablespoons of mixed chopped Herbs ( Parsley, Chives, Tarragon, Chervil....); 3 tablespoons Dry White Vermouth; Salt & pepper; 1 clove Garlic, minced; small head of Celery, trimmed and cut into julienne; 3 tablespoons Double Cream; 2 oz Butter.

Method:

1. Make a marinade with the Oil, Wine, Garlic, chopped Herbs, and seasoning. Mix vigorously to emulsify, and marinate the Salmon Fillets for about an hour.

2. Blanch the Celery julienne 5 minutes in boiling salted water.

3. Bake the marinated fillets for five minutes on the bed of blanched julienne, in an oven pre-heated to 250 degree s C.

4. Meanwhile, heat the marinade in a small saucepan with the cream, and whisk the butter into the cream in pieces.

Serve the Salmon on the Celery julienne, and spoon the sauce over the top.

Recipe: Sea Bream with Tomato & Basil

Ingredients: 2 fillets of Sea Bream; 1 tbs Milk; 2 tbs Olive Oil; 1 Salad Onion; 1 Beef Tomato; 1 tbs Rosemary; 2 tbs Basil; Half a Lemon.

Method:
1. Moisten fillets with milk, dredge on both sides with flour, add seasoning, and then fry approximately three minutes on each side. Remove to heated plates.

2. Add to pan: 1 chopped salad onion, 1 beef tomato (peeled, seeded and roughly chopped), 1 tablespoon rosemary, 2 tablespoons chopped basil, juice of half a lemon, seasoning.

3. Cook through briskly for three minutes, and serve over/alongside the fillets.