Dill roasted salmon with new potatoes

Searching for inspiration before going shopping, Delicious magazine came up with the goods.

Ingredients

• 500g baby new potatoes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Half a red onion, thinly sliced into rings
• 2 skinless salmon fillets
• Juice and grated zest of 1 orange
• Handful chopped fresh dill

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan170°C/gas 5. Put the potatoes in a large roasting tin with the olive oil and some sea salt. Roast for 15 minutes, then scatter over the onion and cook for a further 15 minutes.

Turn the oven temperature up to 220°C/fan200°C/gas 7 and nestle the salmon fillets between the potatoes and onions. Drizzle over the orange juice and sprinkle with the orange zest, dill and a good grinding of black pepper.

Roast for 8–10 minutes, until nicely browned and cooked through. Serve 1 fillet per person, with steamed or stir-fried greens.

Didn't have an onion (list making not my strong point) - not the end of the world, but caramelised in the orange juice it would have been a nice addition.

Apple rescue

A few sad apples in the fruit bowl, half a pack of butter to use, and some eggs... apple cake, mmm :)

Who better to turn to than Delia? Spiced apple muffin cake.

Ingredients:

• 12 oz (350 g) Bramley apples (weight after peeling and coring), chopped into ½ inch (1 cm) cubes
• 4 oz (110 g) butter
• 10 oz (275 g) plain flour
• 1 level tablespoon plus 1 level teaspoon baking powder
• ½ level teaspoon salt
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 level teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ whole nutmeg, grated
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 3 oz (75 g) golden caster sugar
• 6 fl oz (175 ml) milk

For the pecan streusel topping:

• 2 oz (50 g) pecan nuts, roughly chopped
• 3 oz (75 g) self-raising flour
• 3 oz (75 g) demerara sugar
• 1 rounded teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 oz (25 g) soft butter
• 1 tbsp cold water
  

Method:

Melt the butter and sieve the flour, all the baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and grated nutmeg into a bowl.

Whisk the eggs, sugar and milk together, then whisk in the melted butter. Sieve the flour mixture (again) into the egg mixture and fold it gently until just mixed. Now fold in the chopped apple and then spoon the mixture into the tin.

To make the streusel add the flour, sugar and cinnamon and rub the butter in with your fingertips. Sprinkle in the nuts and 1 tablespoon cold water, then press the mixture loosely together. Spoon it over the surface of the cake, then bake on the centre shelf of the oven for about 1¼ hours, until it feels springy in the centre.

Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 30 minutes then finish on a rack.

The only mistake I made was to omit the water from the streusel, because it wasn't on Delia's ingredient list (I have added it). So I have a dusty crumble topped cake instead!

Something different

A friend lent me a Patrick Holford cook book - not to follow the diet, but just for a few different recipes. We tried:

Chicken with creamy tomato sauce: bake chicken breasts on cherry tomatoes, at the end remove the chicken and stir some creme fraiche into the tomatoes to make a sauce. Delicious, and would be better (OK, and more calorific) with more flavoursome chicken thighs. We broke the Holford principles by having it with mashed potatoes and braised cabbage. But a good easy recipe.

Smoked mackerel and lentil kedgeree: basically make a dhal with red lentils (225g) and an onion, turmeric and curry powder plus stock (690ml), then add flaked smoked mackerel and quartered boiled eggs. The dhal was a bit runny but only because I let it get a bit burnt on the bottom and then added more water to rescue it. With the stock and the mackerel it was a bit salty. Next time I would pay closer attention and stir it more to end up with a thicker dhal, and add some fresh coriander. And again, contrary to the low carb idea, it would be yummy with naan bread...