Celery, tomato and echalion sauce - a simple way of serving fish

My friend cookery writer Andrea Leeman is one of the best home cooks I know with a knack of making even the simplest food taste utterly delicious.

Her latest book A Veg for All Seasons, inspired by her (and my) local Bristol greengrocer Reg the Veg and published by Bristol photographer and designer Stephen Morris is a great example of the kind of small-scale publishing project that's burgeoning nowadays.

As the title suggests it includes a selection of recipes for using seasonal vegetables including this healthy sauce for serving with roast or poached white fish.

Andrea writes: echalions are the long torpedo-shaped or 'banana' shallots. An excellent sauce in which to cook fresh white fish such as chunks of flaky cod, sea bream fillets or whole sea bass. You could pep it up with half a chopped green chilli.

Serves 4

4 celery sticks

4 ripe tomatoes

2 echalions (banana shallots)

A small bunch of flat-leaf parsley

2 tbsp olive oil

200ml dry white wine such as muscadet

a small to medium-sized seabass or 4 x 150g white fish fillets

sea salt and black pepper

String and chop the celery sticks in half lengthways, then into small half-moons. Make 3-4 slashes in the tomatoes, put into a bowl and pour over boiling water; after a couple of minutes, run under the cold tap, skin and remove the hard core at the top before chopping into pieces. Peel and chop the echalions and chop the parsley.

Spoon the olive oil into a pan and heat; add the celery, tomatoes and echalions, fry gently until the vegetables soften. Pour in the wine and cook for another 3 minutes before adding the chopped parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the sauce into a suitable dish for roasting or steaming the fish – if steaming the pan will need a lid. Lay the fish on the sauce and spoon a little over the top. Oven time is about 20 minutes in a medium oven, poaching on the stove takes approximately 5-6 minutes on a low heat, but don’t forget to cover the fish so the steam can do its work.

What to drink: As Andrea has mentioned Muscadet it would make sense to drink it with the dish. Picpoul de Pinet or a dry Italian white such as Pinot Grigio would also work well or even a dry Provençal rosé.

You can buy A Veg for all Seasons from Reg the Veg or order it online from Waterstones for £10.

Butternut squash with pistachio pesto, feta and pomegranate seeds

Finding a special occasion vegetarian dish is tough if you're not a veggie yourself but try this show-stopping recipe from Sabrina Ghayour's Persiana which won best new cookbook at this week's Observer Food Monthly awards.

Sabrina writes: "Middle Eastern people often perceive butternut squash as bland. Taking inspiration from an Asian pesto-and-squash dish made by my friend, the chef Tony Singh, I came up with my own Persian pistachio pesto, adding salty crumbled feta cheese and a handful of vibrant pomegranate seeds for a burst of flavour.

The result? It has become one of my most popular supper club dishes of all time and has proven itself to be the dish that converts those who were formerly not the greatest of squash fans."

Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a side dish

1 large butternut squash, quartered lengthways and deseeded

4 tbsp olive oil

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

150g (5 1/2oz) feta cheese

100g (3 1/2oz) pomegranate seeds

For the pesto

100g (3 1/2oz) shelled pistachio nuts

70g (2 1/2oz) Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese, chopped into rough chunks

olive oil

1 small bunch of coriander, leaves picked

1 small bunch of parsley, leaves picked

1 small bunch of dill, leaves picked

3 tbsp chilli oil

juice of 1 lemon

In a food processor, blitz the pistachios and cheese together, adding a generous amount of olive oil to slacken the mixture. Put all the herbs into the food processor with a little more olive oil as well as the chilli oil and lemon juice and blitz again, then add a handful of crushed sea salt and give the mixture one last blitz. Taste the pesto, ensuring it has enough salt and acidity, then allow it to rest in the refrigerator until you need it.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas mark 6. Once the oven is hot, rub each wedge of butternut squash with the oil, season generously with sea salt and black pepper and place it on a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking paper. Roast the squash for about 45–50 minutes, or just until the edges have begun to char slightly. You want to blacken the edges a little – this gives them a nice chewy texture. To check the squash to see if it is properly cooked, insert a knife into the flesh – if it slides clean through, the squash is ready. If you feel resistance, return the squash to the oven for a few more minutes.

Serve each wedge of butternut squash on a plate, drizzled generously with the vibrant green pesto. Crumble the feta cheese on top and scatter over the pomegranate seeds to finish.

What to drink: With the punchy, herby pesto you should be looking at a sauvignon blanc or other crisp white wine here. But a dry Provencal rosé would also work really well.

From Persiana by Sabrina Ghayour published by Mitchell Beazley (www.octopusbooks.co.uk) Photo © Liz & Max Haarala Hamilton

 

 

 

Vivek Singh's butter chicken

In the run-up to National Curry Week TV chef Vivek Singh shares his favourite recipe for Old Delhi-style butter chicken from his enticing new book Spice at Home.

"Butter chicken has to be India’s favourite dish when eating out. I must have asked hundreds of people to name the one dish they always order when they go out and Butter Chicken has featured in every response! As for me personally, this is the best dish ever – it has sugar and spice, kick and texture, creamy unctiousness and bite, all at the same time."

Old Delhi-style Butter Chicken

Serves 4

2 x 750g free-range young chickens (poussin), skinned and cut in half along the backbone (alternatively, use 800g boned chicken thighs, cut into two)

For the marinade

80g full-fat Greek yoghurt

1 tablespoon Ginger and Garlic Paste (see below)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1½ teaspoons salt

juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon red chilli powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon garam masala

For the sauce

1kg tomatoes, halved

5cm piece of ginger, half crushed and half finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled

4 green cardamom pods

5 cloves

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon red chilli powder

80g butter, diced

2 green chillies, slit lengthways

75ml single cream

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves, crushed between your fingertips

½ teaspoon garam masala

1 tablespoon sugar

First, prepare the chicken. Make small cuts all over the chicken pieces with a sharp knife to help the marinade penetrate. To prepare the marinade, mix all the ingredients together in a deep ovenproof dish. Smear the cut chicken with the marinade, cover and set aside in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 220ºC/Gas Mark 7.

Cook the chicken in the preheated oven for 13–15 minutes. You may need to turn the pieces after 8–10 minutes or so to ensure they colour evenly on both sides. The chicken does not need to be completely cooked at this point as it will continue to cook in the sauce. Cut the chicken halves into smaller pieces. Strain off the juices through a fine sieve and set aside.

For the sauce, place the tomatoes in a pan with 125ml water, the crushed ginger, garlic, cardamom, cloves and bay leaf and simmer for about 10 minutes over medium heat until the tomatoes have completely disintegrated. Pick out the larger spices, then blend the tomato broth with a hand-held blender and pass it through a sieve to obtain a smooth purée. Return the purée to a clean pan, add the chilli powder and simmer for 12–15 minutes. It should slowly begin to thicken.

When the sauce turns glossy, add the chicken pieces and the reserved roasting juices. Then add 200–250ml water and simmer for 3–5 minutes until the sauce turns glossy again and the water is absorbed (for a thicker sauce, either add slightly less water or simmer for a little longer).

Slowly whisk in the butter, a couple of pieces at a time, and simmer for 6–8 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is beginning to acquire a glaze. Add the chopped ginger, green chillies and cream and simmer for a minute or two longer, taking care that the sauce does not split. Stir in the salt, crushed fenugreek leaves and garam masala, then check the seasoning and add the sugar. Serve with naan bread or pilau rice.

Eat what you can, then store any leftover chicken and sauce in the fridge. Leftovers make a great filling for ravioli.

What to drink: with the butter and cream in this dish you could drink a creamy oaked chardonnay from Limoux in the South of France or from Chile.

Ginger and Garlic Paste

Makes about 8 tablespoons

100g ginger, peeled

75g garlic, peeled

Chop up the ginger and garlic. Blend it to a fine, thick paste with 175ml water. Keeps in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Recipe extracted from Spice at Home by Vivek Singh, published by Absolute Press, price £25

West country chicken casserole with cider, apple and celery

Now we're firmly into autumn why not try this homely, comforting, very English-tasting casserole from my book Meat & Two Veg? Do try and find some proper ‘dirty celery’ with some soil still clinging to the stalks, if you can. It has so much more flavour

Serves 4

2 level tbsp plain flour

4 boneless (but not skinless) chicken breasts

3 tbsp light olive oil

25g butter

1 large onion (about 175g), peeled, halved and sliced

1 large carrot (about 125g), peeled, cut lengthways and sliced

2-3 sticks of celery, washed, trimmed and sliced

1/2 tsp fresh thyme

175ml ready-made fresh chicken stock

175ml dry cider

1 large or 2 smaller Blenheim or Cox apples (about 150g) peeled and sliced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chives to decorate

Put the flour in a shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper. Pat the chicken breasts dry with kitchen towel then coat them thoroughly in the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess.

Heat a large, deep, lidded frying pan or casserole for a couple of minutes over a moderately high heat. Add 1 tbsp of oil then, when that is hot, half the butter. Place the chicken breasts in the pan, skin side downwards and fry for 2-3 minutes until the skin is nicely browned. Turn the breasts over, turn the heat down and fry the other side for about 1 1/2 minutes. Remove the chicken breasts to a plate, discard the fat in the pan and wipe it clean.

Return the pan to a moderate heat and add the remaining oil and butter. Add the onion, carrot and celery, stir well, cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes until the vegetables are beginning to soften. Stir in the thyme and any leftover flour and stir.

Add the chicken stock and cider, bring to the boil and add the sliced apples. Turn the heat down and return the chicken pieces to the pan, spooning the vegetables over them. Replace the lid and cook at a gentle simmer for about 35-40 minutes, stirring the vegetables occasionally to stop them sticking and turning the chicken breasts over half way through. Add a little extra cider or chicken stock if needed.

Check the seasoning, adding extra salt or pepper to taste. Serve the chicken on warm plates and top with a few scissor-snipped chives. A few buttered new potatoes would be nice.

What to drink: Cider. What else?!

Image © Jason Lowe.