Salmon in pastry with currants and ginger

This is one of my favourite recipes ever - made famous by the late, great George Perry-Smith and faithfully reproduced by one of his most talented protegés Stephen Markwick.

Aware that he thinking of stepping down back in 2009, I persuaded Stephen to share his best-loved recipes in two small books 'A Very Honest Cook' and 'A Well-Run Kitchen'. The first has unfortunately sold out but you can still buy the second which also contains Stephen's Scallops with Shellfish Risotto, Roast Chicken with Cream and Tarragon and Summer Pudding from the Culinaria website.

Stephen says: "The marrying of sweet ginger and currants with fish must go back to medieval times. George’s unique twist was to serve it with a light herby sauce, (sauce messine, below) which lifts what could be thought of as a slightly heavy dish to one that is so pleasurable to eat. We had customers who asked to be phoned up when we had it on the menu!

Although the recipe is incredibly simple the trick is to wrap the salmon in the thinnest of pastry and cook it in a sufficiently hot oven to keep the pastry crisp while keeping the salmon slightly pink in the middle.

The salmon should be wild or organic farmed if possible (Glenarm, Clare Island or Loch Duart I find the best of the farmed). I remember when we started at Bistro 21, late February always brought the first of the wild Wye salmon at a price you would laugh at now. It is best to use the middle or thick part of the fish - if you have a whole side of fish you can cut off the tail end and use it for another dish like fishcakes. It needs to be filleted, skinned and pin boned.

Serves 6

Ingredients

375g (13 oz) shortcrust pastry (Stephen's own recipe is on p. 61 of A Very Honest Cook)

110g (4 oz) butter, at room temperature

3-4 pieces stem ginger in syrup

2 tbsp currants

A thick piece of wild or top quality farmed salmon (at least 700g/1 1/2 lbs) filleted, skinned and pin-boned

1 egg, beaten

Salt and pepper

You will also need a thin baking tray with slightly raised sides so that any leaking butter doesn’t go all over your oven!

Method

First make your shortcrust pastry and rest it.

Cut up the butter and put into a bowl to soften. Chop the stem ginger finely and add to the butter with the currants and some salt and pepper and mix well. (I find the easiest way to do this is by hand so it is well mixed and soft enough to spread over the salmon but you can obviously use a wooden spoon.)

Cut the salmon fillet in half lengthways so you have two pieces. (There is even a natural line marked on the fish indicating where to cut!) Season one piece with salt and pepper and spread half the butter mix onto the side that was next to the bone. Now make a sandwich with the other piece by putting it top-to-tail so the salmon is an even thickness. Season the outer top half and spread the remaining half of the seasoned butter on it.

Now roll your pastry as thinly as you can into a rectangle. (I usually roll a piece slightly larger than I need, then cut it to size and discard the edges which are usually thicker.)

Place the salmon at one end of the rectangle leaving an edge of just over 1 cm (1/2 inch) for the seal. Brush all around the four edges with the beaten egg. Now lift the pastry over the salmon and press the edges firmly together to seal. A very slight overlap is OK because you can trim it. (The ends do not have to look pretty as they will be cut off too. Mind you, they do taste pretty good as the butter and salmon juices tend to leak into them!).

Your salmon parcel is now ready but needs time to rest in the fridge - at least an hour but preferably longer. It is best to put it on a double thickness of well buttered tinfoil. (A useful tip that works like magic to stop the salmon from sticking to the foil while it is cooking: When you bring it out of the fridge peel the salmon off the foil, then, with your hand just smooth the foil before replacing the salmon - it sounds a bit far-fetched but it does work!)

Place the salmon and foil on a thin baking tray. Brush the surface of the pastry with egg wash and cook in a preheated oven at 220°C/425°F/Gas 7 for 20 minutes (slightly longer if there is anything else in the oven though it’s best to cook the salmon on its own to keep the pastry crisp). You’ll need to turn the baking tray round half way through to cook the pastry evenly unless you have a fan oven. Rest the baked salmon for 5-10 minutes on top on the stove so that the residual heat will finish cooking it. If you cut it straight away without resting it the middle might still be too pink.

To serve: Carefully peel off the tinfoil and trim the excess pastry off the ends of your salmon parcel. Divide the salmon into six thick slices (a bread knife is good for this). Serve with sauce messine (below), new potatoes and a cucumber salad (thinly sliced, salted and pressed then rinsed and dressed with dill vinegar and oil).

If you'd like to know what kind of wine goes with salmon check out 10 Great Wine Pairings with Salmon

Sauce Messine

A really fresh and vibrant herb sauce.

Serves 6

Ingredients

25g (1 oz) parsley

25g (1 oz) chervil

20g (3/4 oz) tarragon

2 small shallots or 1 large shallot, chopped

1 egg yolk

300ml (1/2 pint) double cream

1 dsp Dijon mustard

Juice of half a lemon

Salt and pepper

Method

Wash the herbs and pick the leaves off the stalks then put them into a blender with the other ingredients and blend well. Check the seasoning then tip into a heatproof bowl. Stand the bowl in a pan of boiling water and heat the sauce gently to avoid curdling it. (This should take about 10 minutes.) Serve with salmon or other fish.

What to drink: The butteriness of the salmon and the slight sweetness of the currants and ginger means you want a want a wine of some weight. Personally I think it's a great excuse to crack open a good white burgundy or other top class chardonnay but Viognier would work well too. If you wanted to drink a red I'd go for a Pinot Noir, probably burgundy again.

Quick tiger prawns (shrimp) with pinot grigio, fresh tomato and basil sauce

It's always a struggle to think of something quick and delicious to make for a mid-week supper. This easy Italian-inspired recipe from my book Cooking With Wine solves the problem.

Serves 2

3 tablespoons of olive oil
200g/7oz raw fresh or frozen tiger prawns (shrimp)
1 small onion or 2 shallots, peeled and very finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
A small glass (about 100ml or half a cup) Pinot Grigio or other crisp dry white wine
4 medium sized or 2 large vine-ripened tomatoes (about 350g/12oz), peeled* and roughly chopped
6-8 basil leaves
Salt, sugar and freshly ground black pepper

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan or wok, add the prawns/shrimp and fry briefly until they turn pink. Remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the remaining oil to the pan and fry the chopped onion for a couple of minutes without browning. Add the garlic, stir then pour in the white wine and cook until it has almost evaporated. Add the tomatoes and their juice and cook for about 4-5 minutes, breaking them down with a fork or spatula to make a thick sauce.

Season to taste with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a small pinch of sugar. Roughly tear the basil leaves and stir them into the sauce. Return the prawns and any accumulated juices to the pan and heat through. Serve with rice and some peas or courgettes/zucchini.

Recommended wine match: the same wine you use to make the dish - a Pinot Grigio or other crisp dry white.

See also: Wine and seafood: the best pairings for prawns or shrimp

* to peel tomatoes make a cut in the skin with a small, sharp knife, put them in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Let them stand for a minute then drain and refresh with cold water. The skins should slip off easily.

Moqueca baiana (Bahia-style fish stew)

If you're inspired to cook Brazilian with the Olympics kicking off this weekend try this classic fish stew from Thiago Castanho and Luciana Bianchi's Brazilian Food.

This stew is one of the most famous dishes of Brazil and, as its name implies, is traditional to Bahia state. It is prepared with coconut cream and dendê oil and served on a moquequeira (a clay dish made specially for serving moquecas). I usually make this with one of the most popular fish of our region, the filhote.

Serves 4

Spice paste

* 6 black peppercorns

* 1 tsp ground turmeric

* 10g root ginger

* 6 coriander seeds

* ½ pimenta malagueta or hot red chilli, deseeded

* 20g dried salt shrimps

Coconut cream

* 900ml coconut water

* 420g dried coconut meat

* 240g young (green) coconut meat

* 550g filhote or catfish steaks, or hake or halibut fillets

* juice of ½ lime

* salt

* 20ml dendê (palm) oil

* 30g onion, chopped, plus 30g onion, sliced

* 30g tomato, chopped, plus 30g tomato, sliced

* 5g garlic, crushed

* 3 pimentas-de-cheiro or other mild chillies

* 30g red pepper, sliced

* 20g green pepper, sliced

* 5g coriander leaves, roughly chopped

* 5g spring onions, finely chopped

1. First make the spice paste: process the black peppercorns, turmeric, ginger, coriander seeds, chilli and dried shrimp in a blender or food processor until a smooth paste forms. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

2. To make a coconut cream, warm the coconut water in a saucepan. Put it in a blender with the dried coconut meat and process until the coconut pieces are very finely chopped. Strain through a fine sieve, then return it to the blender. Add the young (green) coconut meat, blend until smooth and creamy and set aside.

3. Season the fish with the lime juice and a little salt and set aside.

4. In a large clay pot, heat the dendé oil over a medium heat and sauté the chopped onion, chopped tomato, garlic, pimentas-de-cheiro and 1 tablespoon of the spice paste until the vegetables are softened.

5. Stir in 1.1 litres of the coconut cream, bring to a simmer, then add the fish and cook for 5 minutes.

6. Add the red and green peppers and the tomato and onion slices and cook for a further 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the coriander and spring onions before serving.

Tips from Thiago:

Dendê oil and dried salt shrimps are sold in Brazilian and African stores. Substitute a good-quality shop-bought coconut milk for the coconut cream recipe if you can’t find young (green) coconut meat to make it fresh.

What to drink: Although Brazilians themselves tend to drink caipirinhas or beer with food you might like the idea of serving a Brazilian wine. Marks & Spencer has put together the best selection of which I'd pick the Aracauria Riesling Pinot Grigio which is on offer at the time of writing at £42 a six bottle case (£7 a bottle). Otherwise I'd probably go for an Argentinian Torrontes. A fresh young Viognier could also work.

Extracted from Brazilian Food by Thiago Castanho & Luciana Bianchi, published by Mitchell Beazley at £30 www.octopusbooks.co.uk

Lemons filled with tuna cream

It may feel far from summery in the UK but one can always hope so get yourself into the mood with this lovely recipe from Eleonora Galasso's As the Romans Do.

Lemons filled with tuna cream
Limoni ripieni alla crema di tonno

Eleanora writes: In a favourable climate, lemon trees flower and bear fruit four times a year. Therefore this festive citrus dish can be found on our tables all year round. The creamy filling reminds me of the more famous Pesce Finto di Natale, but with the addition of mascarpone cheese. Italians like variations, after all, hardly ever sticking to a fixed plan. This luminous dish resonates with rural tradition, a nod to the little details that make life a marvellous journey. Bella la vita, eh?

Preparation time: 20 minutes plus chilling

Serves 4

4 large unwaxed lemons

180g (6oz) tinned tuna in olive oil, drained

2 teaspoons salted capers, rinsed

90g (3 1/4oz) mayonnaise

50g (1 3/4oz) mascarpone cheese

50g (1 3/4oz) pitted black olives

3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled

small handful of chives

small handful of dill fronds

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

pinch of salt

pinch of white pepper

pinch of chilli flakes

To garnish

1 tablespoon chopped chives

1 tablespoon chopped dill fronds

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Halve the lemons lengthways.

Squeeze 4 tablespoons of juice out of one lemon and set this aside, then scoop out the pulp from all the lemons using a teaspoon. Remove and discard the seeds and put the lemon pulp and reserved juice in a food processor together with the rest of the ingredients. Blend together well to form a thick, creamy paste.

Use a spoon or a piping bag to fill the empty lemon halves, then scatter over the chopped herbs and dried oregano to finish. The filled lemons can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days until needed.

What to drink:
Lemon is quite hard to match with wine. I would choose something crisp and fresh but without too much of a powerful citrus flavour of its own like a Frascati, Falanghina or Greco di Tufo. Assyrtiko from Santorini would also work

This recipe comes from As the Romans Do: La Dolce Vita in a Cookbook by Eleonora Galasso, £25 Mitchell Beazley. Photograph © David Loftus