Tag Archives: Capers

May 14, 2013

Smoked Salmon Fishcakes

It seems like ages since I made fishcakes. In fact I know it is. Why exactly this is I’ve no idea when they’re always a huge hit with J & F, just as much as with us. Particularly with Master J who wolfed two down in breakneck speed. But then it appears, at newly three, he’s suddenly acquired a taste for smoked salmon, together with a near screaming obsession with olives….and Parmesan. The boy certainly appreciates the finer things in life and I have secret hopes he’ll be a fully fledged foodie one day. Maybe even a chef? Now how good would that be.

These fishcakes really are a cinch to make, and a fast cinch at that. And pretty frugal too if you use the considerably cheaper smoked salmon trimmings. They’re simply a matter of combining cold mashed potatoes (you could even use leftovers) with a generous amount of smoked salmon, plenty of parsley, capers, lemon zest, a couple of spring onions and a dollop or two of creamed horseradish. Then there’s the fun moulding into golf balls, dipping in beaten egg and rolling around in breadcrumbs and flattening into a fishcakey shape. So easy. You could even get the kids to make them. With their eyes shut (could be messy!). Then obviously there’s a brief shallow frying which is more grown up territory.

Smoked Salmon Fishcakes with Herby Mayo, Lemon Wedgies and Steamed PSB and Carrots.

Since there’s a handsome amount of parsley involved I’m entering my post to Lavender & Lovage’s monthly Herbs on Saturday event, this month hosted by the lovely Anneli of Delicieux. And as these work out as a particularly frugal, but nevertheless exceptionally tasty, munch to this month’s Credit Crunch Munch challenge!. Jointly held by Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food 4 All, and this month hosted by Farmersgirl Kitchen.

Smoked Salmon Fishcakes

Great for Toddlers & Young Children (omit the capers if they’re adverse to strong flavours), Bigger Kids, Cooking with Kids, Family Dinners, Mid-Week Suppers, Grown Ups too!

Makes 9 fishcakes (plenty for a family of 4!):

500g of Potatoes, washed, peeled and cut into large chunks

150g of Smoked Salmon trimmings, roughly chopped

2-3 Spring Onions, finely sliced

zest of a Lemon

2 heaped tablespoons of chopped Parsley

a heaped tablespoon of Capers, rinsed

2 teaspoons of Creamed Horseradish

Salt and Pepper

a free range Egg, lightly beaten and seasoned with Salt and Pepper

4 heaped tablespoons of dry Breadcrumbs or Panko or a mix of the two

Sunflower Oil for frying

Boil the potatoes in water until tender. Mash and set aside to cool.

Once cool stir in the smoked salmon, spring onions, lemon zest, parsley, capers, horseradish and a generous amount of black pepper. Taste and season with additional pepper if needed. You may want to add salt but it’s unlikely you’ll need it with the salty capers and smoked salmon.

Place the beaten egg in a bowl and the breadcrumbs or Panko in another.

Form the fishcake mix into nine evenly sized golf balls. Dip each into the egg so it’s coated all over, then the breadcrumbs, flattening to a patty as you do so. Refrigerate until you’re ready to cook them.

Heat a very fine layer of sunflower oil in a frying pan until medium hot. Carefully place however many fishcakes will fit in your pan and allow them to crisp up and golden on each side. This will only take two to three minutes on each side. Add a little more oil to the pan and continue until all the fishcakes are cooked.

Serve hot. With lemon wedges and Herby Mayo on the side, and a salad or streamed veggies. Bliss.

You might also like:

Smoked Salmon & Broccoli Penne

Cheese & Tuna Veggie Bombs!

16 Comments | tags: Breadcrumbs, Capers, Credit Crunch Munch, Fishcakes, Herbs on Saturday, Horseradish, Lemon, Panko, Parsley, Potato, Smoked Salmon | posted in Bigger Kids, Family Dinners, Grown Up Dinners, Mains, Mid-Week Suppers, Toddlers & Pre-schoolers

May 6, 2013

A Couple of Fishy Dippy Dip Dips

By Eat Your Veg

To be truthful things have been a little on the busy side at Chez Foti lately. Make that insanely hectic. Way too much flitting to and from the UK for a multitude of reasons, four times in the last few weeks!. Which is all very tiring, both emotionally and physically, and has sadly meant less time to potter in the kitchen putting together new recipes and ideas. Not that we haven’t eaten well, very well indeed. But there’s been a greater reliance on those firm family favourites and the pulling together of goodies from the freezer. I’ve also been on somewhat of a mission to cook and eat my way through five enormously fruitful PSB plants, and probably been a little too reliant on my PSB Pasta and Tart recipes for quickie mid-week suppers. Plus there’s been PSB pizzas, PSB pesto pastas, PSB stir fries and PSB crostini and bruschettas a plenty!

Between the flitting and Mission PSB I’ve managed a few catch ups with friends, involving various nibbles and numerous drinkies. Nibbles at this time of year, as the weather’s happily warming up, usually means a plate of assorted Crostini (including one with the the aforementioned PSB, cooked with anchovies, garlic and chili) and a dip or two with various dipping accompaniments.

Both these dips are made in minutes, which is always a bonus in my book. Both are very tasty indeed but I wouldn’t necessarily serve them together, possibly being a little bit too similar. And both have funnily enough been stolen from other people!. The first is a Smoked Salmon & Roasted Pepper Dip, which also makes for a wonderful sandwich filling, pate or crostini topping. It’s a recipe I ‘stole’ from a friend of mine, Anita, who nearly always turns up at social occasions with a pot of this pink loveliness. It’s a heavenly blitzed-up mix of creme cheese, smoked salmon, roasted red peppers (I use the jarred ones), a little red onion, horseradish, lemon zest and juice, and plenty of black pepper.

My second recipe is for a Tuna & Caper Dip, which I stole in idea from my big brother Julian. Again it’s wonderful in sandwiches or on crostini too.. And no blitzing required, just a stirring of creme cheese, tuna, capers, parsley, lemon zest and juice and black pepper. So so simple, and perfect for impromptu drinks parties.

And they’re not just for the grown up folk. My kids love these ‘fishy dippy dip dips’, and dips are a fine (and manipulative) way to get your kids eating more raw veggies and lots of them. Namely carrot, pepper, celery and cucumber strips. So along with my faithful hummus I make dips pretty frequently at Chez Foti. For more baby and toddler-friendly dippy ideas please do bob over to a blog I wrote last year: A Trip of Dips for Babies & Toddlers.

Since there’s parsley involved I shall be entering my blog to Lavender & Lovage’s Herbs on Saturday challenge, this month hosted by Anneli over at Delicieux.

Smoked Salmon & Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Great for Parties, Drinks and Nibbles, Starters, Picnics, Kids, Finger Foods, Grown Ups, Sandwiches, Crostini Toppings

150g of Creme Cheese, full fat, light, or extra light depending on how virtuous you’re feeling!

100g of Smoked Salmon trimmings

80g of Roasted Red Peppers – about 2 or 3 (you can make your own but I use the jarred shop bought ones for speed), drained of all oil

zest of ½ a Lemon plus a couple of generous squeezes of juice, to taste

¼ of a small red onion, diced

a heaped teaspoon of Creamed Horseradish

a large pinch of freshly ground Black Pepper

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz until you have a smooth and creamy texture. Or alternatively blitz with a hand held stick blender. Season with more black pepper and lemon juice to suit. Eat and devour.

Tuna & Caper Dip

Great for Parties, Drinks and Nibbles, Starters, Picnics, Kids, Finger Foods, Grown Ups, Sandwiches, Crostini Toppings

a 185g tin of Tuna, drained

150g of Cream Cheese, full fat, light, or extra light

a tablespoon of Capers, drained and rinsed

the zest of a Lemon plus a squeeze or two of juice to taste

a heaped tablespoon of chopped Parsley

a large pinch of coarsely ground Black Pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Taste and season with more black pepper and/or lemon juice. Eat. So so easy.

You might also like:

A Couple of Winter Crostini: Lovely Cannellini Beans & Homemade Tapenade

Courgette, Feta & Basil Bruschetta

16 Comments | tags: Capers, Cream Cheese, Crostini, Dips, Drinks, Herbs on Saturday, Lemon, Lemon Zest, Nibbles, Parsley, Peppers, Picnics, Red Peppers, Sandwich Fillings, Smoked Salmon, Tuna | posted in Bigger Kids, Dinner Party, Finger Foods, Nibbles, Party Food, Starters, Toddlers & Pre-schoolers

January 28, 2013

Pizza Puttanesca

By Eat Your Veg

We do eat quite a few pizzas at Chez Foti, probably too many. Well about once a week if the truth be known. But in my defense they are always homemade. And I’m not being a ponsey foodie by saying that. Believe me I’ve absolutely nothing against good quality take away pizza, but we do live in distinctly rural SW France and without wanting to be too rude, the quality of the take away pizzas in these parts is considerably below par. Bordering inedible. Which is a shame as the only two fast food joints in a 25 km radius both happen to be pizza take aways!. And once or twice bitten I won’t be going back. Just don’t get me started on the supermarket offerings either. Think 80s Britain, say no more. Hence I’ve become a bit of geek at homemade pizza ….. and homemade Thai/Chinese/Indian to boot!. And we do happen to have an original bread oven in our lounge that bakes the most perfect pizzas.

I love playing around with inventing toppings and this recipe so happens to be one of my favourites of the moment. Think Puttanesca Sauce but on a pizza. Puttanesca, in case you didn’t know, is a tomato based sauce revved up with oodles of garlic, anchovies, capers, chilli and olives. And it’s sublime on a pizza with the addition of Mozzarella and a little Parmesan. Pizza simplicity at it’s best.

I’m also delighted to be entering, for the first ever time, my Pizza Puttanesca to Javelin Warrior’s Made with Love Mondays, a weekly series promoting, sharing and celebrating foods made entirely from scratch. Foods without any of the nasties and all the good stuff!.

Pizza Puttanesca

Serves 1 to 2 (depending on how much of a pizza monster you happen to be!)

One quantity of Pizza Dough (I usually stick to this Jamie Oliver recipe, using part semolina flour when I can get hold of it)

2 tablespoons of Olive Oil

2 cloves of Garlic

a Red Chili (or go wild with 2 if you like your heat), finely sliced

4 Anchovy Fillets in oil

a 400g can of good quality Chopped Tomatoes or 450g of ripe and flavoursome Fresh Tomatoes (I’m still using up my frozen stock from The Great Chez Foti Tomato Harvest!)

a very large pinch of Black Pepper

a pinch of Sugar

a dessertspoon of Capers, rinsed

40g of stoned Black Olives, halved

80g of Mozzarella cheese, finely sliced

a heaped tablespoon of finely grated Parmesan or Grana Padano

Special Equipment: a pizza stone, pizza baking sheet or an ordinary baking tray/sheet

Pre-heat your oven to the hottest it will go and pop your pizza stone or baking tray in to warm up.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan on a gentle heat. Fry the chili, garlic and anchovies for a few moments until the anchovies are almost disintegrated. Slide in the tomatoes and add a very generous pinch of coarsely ground black pepper and a small pinch of sugar. Give everything a good stir. Allow to simmer gently for 20 minutes.

The sauce is ready when it’s considerably thickened and very flavoursome. Stir in the capers. Have a taste check adding more black pepper to suit. Obviously you could add salt but there’s a fair whack already in there from the anchovies so it’s unlikely you’ll need more.

Now for the pizza. Roll out your pizza dough to your desired size and thickness. I personally prefer mine very thin. Place on your hot pizza stone or baking tray.

Spread the puttanesca sauce evenly over the base. Place the halved olives and slices of mozzarella. Scatter over the parmesan or grana padano.

Place in your extremely hot oven and cook until crisp and golden. This could be anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes! Our woodfired bread/pizza oven usually takes less than 5 minutes and the oven at it’s hottest around 10.

You might also like:

Roasted Wild Mushroom Pizza Butternut, Feta & Red Onion Tart with Thyme

14 Comments | tags: Anchovies, Capers, Chilli, Grana Padano, Made with Love Mondays, Mozzarella, Olives, Parmesan, Pizza, Plum Tomatoes, Tomato, Tomato Sauce | posted in Bigger Kids, Grown Up Dinners, Mains, Pizza, Vegetarian, Winter Warmers

September 26, 2012

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca with fresh Tomatoes

By Eat Your Veg

Ordinarily this a wintry mid-week supper favourite at Chez Foti; a handy and quick store-cupboard dinner using tinned tomatoes. But with so many fresh tommies to hand it’s been made numerous times over the summer in my efforts to use up some of the glut. And it’s good, so much the better to be made with perfectly ripe, flavoursome, sweet and in-season tomatoes. You won’t be disappointed.

A bit of an Italian classic, Puttanesca is a heady mix of tomatoes, anchovies, capers, garlic, chili and olives. In Italian it literally translates as ‘whore’s spaghetti! Lovely. And it is. If you’ve never tried or made it you should. Deliciously simple.

I have no problem with using the tomato skin or seeds in recipes like this, but purists would balk. It’s up to you. If you want to remove the skins immerse the tommies in boiling water for 30 to 40 seconds then in a bowl of really cold water, they’ll then slip off easily. I use my plum tomatoes (which are the best for cooking with) for this sauce, but any very ripe, sweet tomatoes will be wonderful.

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

Enough for 2 grown up folk (with hearty appetites!):

2 tablespoons of olive oil

a clove of garlic, finely chopped

a red chili, finely chopped (or less if you’re adverse to too much heat!)

4 anchovy fillets

450g of fresh chopped tomatoes or a 400g tin of good quality chopped tomatoes

a large pinch of freshly ground black pepper

a pinch of sugar

60g of stoned black olives

a dessertspoon of capers, rinsed

250g of spaghetti

Heat the oil in a large saucepan on a gentle heat. Fry the chili, garlic and anchovies for a couple of minutes until the anchovies are almost disintegrated. Slide in the tomatoes and add a generous pinch of coarsely ground black pepper and a small pinch of sugar. Give everything a good stir. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile cook the spaghetti to packet instructions.

The sauce is ready when it’s thickened and very flavoursome. Stir in the olives and capers. Have a taste check adding more black pepper to suit. Obviously you could add salt but there’s a fair whack already in there from the anchovies and capers so it’s unlikely you’ll need more.

Run the sauce through the spaghetti and serve immediately.

Here’s some other quickie mid-week supper ideas: Tagliatelle with Cherry Tomatoes & Mascarpone, Garden Pasta, Cheese, Courgette & Tomato Bread & Butter Pudding, One Pot Ratatouille, Tomato Tarts, 70s Flashback Stuffed Marrow, Spinach, Courgette & Pesto Risotto, Noodles with Pork & Veggies