Stuff yer bake

This is the final recipe I made with the scallops. It’s a really simple dish that can be a mid week treat as it’s so quick to make. Smoked pancetta goes really well with the scallops and the crunch of the ciabatta gives a good contrast in texture.

Ingredients

Serves 2

Half a ciabatta loaf

two large handfuls of fresh salad leaves (watercress and rocket works well)

16 fresh queen scallops

a couple of handfuls of podded broad beans

8 rashers of smoked or ordinary pancetta

a tbsp of grated parmesan and parmesan shavings to garnish

A bay leaf

tbsp olive oil

Extra virgin olive oil 

Walnut oil (optional)

Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper

Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the broad beans in a pan of unsalted water and add the bay leaf. Bring to the boil and cook for about 20 minutes until tender. Immediately refresh under cold water to keep their colour, then slip them out of their skins. Cut the ciabatta into 1 inch chunks, put in a bowl with salt and pepper, tbsp of grated parmesan and tbsp of olive oil and mix to combine. Spread out on a baking sheet and put in the oven for five to ten minutes to go golden and crispy. Place the scallops in a bowl and season lightly and dress with a little olive oil. Take each rasher of pancetta and tear in half then wrap each scallop in a piece of pancetta and place on a baking sheet. Cook for about eight minutes until the pancettta is starting to crisp slightly. While the scallops are cooking, dress the salad leaves and broad beans with a little extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper. Take the ciabatta and scallops out of the oven. Place a handful of salad and broad beans on each plate then add the scallops and the ciabatta and drizzle with a little walnut oil and garnish with parmesan shavings. 

I have made three dishes in all with my scallops now and have one more to go. I made a fish pie last night with some of them which was really tasty but the meal I did tonight was so simple and absolutely delicious I had to share it with you first. I think this one might be a contender for entering the competition in the Isle of Man Queenie festival. This scallop dish was lovingly created thanks to the generous donation from Island seafare Ltd.

Serves 2

Ingredients

For the skewers:

24 fresh queenie scallops

zest of one lime

olive oil

tsp of paprika

tsp cayenne pepper

salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Guacamole:

1 ripe avocado, cut into bite size chunks

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

3 or 4 small vine ripened tomatoes, deseeded and cut into bite size chunks

zest and juice of 1 lime

a spring onion halved and cut into small chunks

salt and freshly ground black pepper

a small handful of fresh flat leaf parsley chopped

a drizzle of olive oil

For the flatbreads: 

255g self raising flour

1 tsbp of greek yoghurt

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

water

Begin by making the flatbreads. Put the flour, spices and seasoning into a bowl and make a well in the center. Add the yoghurt, olive oil and a tbsp of water and begin to bring together. Keep adding water a little at a time until the dough comes together. Knead the dough for about five minutes on a floured surface until it becomes soft and elastic. Leave to one side. 

In a bowl add the scallops, lime zest and juice, paprika, cayenne pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and seasoning and mix to combine. Leave to marinade. 

To make the guacamole simply combine all the ingredients in a bowl.

Light your BBQ and when the coals are glowing white and there is no flame left they are ready to use. Thread the scallops on to skewers.

Divide the dough into three and roll each bit out very thinly on a floured surface. Set each flatbread on the BBQ and allow to bubble up and brown lightly on each side, this should take about two or three minutes.

Set to one side and then place the scallops on the BBQ. Cook until nicely coloured all over and cooked through, then remove.

Immediately serve on the flatbreads with a spoonful of the guacamole and a little lightly dressed salad. And to drink, a chilled Pimms and lemonade. Lovely.

One bag of frozen squid is a little much for one person, so as I was on my own this weekend (the other half was living the high life in London for the weekend) I decided to do two different squid dishes, one for Saturday night and one for Sunday night. I had seen a Nigel Slater recipe for squid on TV a few days ago which got me salivating and I thought I’d give it a try. I did my usual trick of just going from memory and not bothering to look up the recipe so I ended up doing it quite differently.

I made up a similar marinade by pounding up zest of one lemon, 2 tsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp thyme leaves, half a small garlic clove, 2 tbsp olive oil, tsp salt and lots of freshly ground pepper in a pestle and mortar. I then cut open about 6 baby squid and scored it as the recipe suggested, dried it thoroughly and fried in olive oil in a very hot pan. It cooked for only a few minutes until slightly golden and then the hot squid was tossed in the marinade. I then put the squid into a bowl with some salad leaves and tomato and tossed them together to coat the leaves and heaped in onto a plate. The other recipe looks good too… maybe I should try it sometime. 

I sometimes struggle to think of something quick, cheap and yet satisfying for an evening meal during the week. This recipe, although I use ‘recipe’ in the broadest sense of the word since it’s more of an assembly with little effort, definitely fits the bill.

I had a block of puff pastry in the freezer so I dug it out of the deep freeze, let it defrost and rolled it into a centimeter thick rectangle. I then gently carved an indent about an inch in from the edge and gave the pastry a brush over with a beaten egg. I layered a couple of handfuls of spinach over the base then topped with sliced red onions, pitted black olives and crumbled feta, then seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. The pastry was cooked in a 200 degree centigrade oven for about fifteen to twenty minutes, or when puffed up and golden brown. Cut into generous slices and serve with a lightly dressed green salad.

This is so versatile as you can put pretty much anything onto the puff pastry, like butternut squash, morels, toasted walnuts and goats cheese or tomatoes, basil, mozarella and pine nuts. Get creative and enjoy.

I have had rather a productive day for a bank holiday, when generally everyone lazes around relishing the fact that it’s another day off the full working week (although I was at work on Sunday so it doesn’t really count for me). I did sleep in just a little but I struggle to get up when it is really humid. It’s been about 20 degrees centigrade here today, which is a big change from just a few weeks ago when we had snow and I don’t think my body has had time to adjust.

First off was a quick trip to the garden centre to try and get my garden sorted for summer. I bought some strawberry plants and some seeds to sow peppers, tomatoes and lettuce and some shrubs for the front garden. I have been a bit lax with the garden this year and it was slowly beginning to look like a poster advertisement for Day of the Triphids. I also had time to squeeze in making a pavlova, which I will post about later. I’m now rewarding my efforts with a glass of wine but sadly it will be my last before my 10k run next Sunday.

I have seen frozen squid in the supermarket on several occasions and since I can’t get any fresh I thought I’d buy some. They were prepared baby squid and I decided they would be very nice pan fried for dinner and served on salad. 

Ingredients 

Around seven prepared baby squid

I bag of salad leaves, eg rocket, spinach, watercress

A handful of black olives, pitted

A handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

olive oil

1 tsp of dried chilli flakes

Half a small clove of garlic, crushed

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tsp rock salt

3 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp vinegar 

4 tbsp plain flour

Prepare the salad first by assembling the salad leaves, tomatoes, and olives in a bowl. Make the dressing by putting the garlic, vinegar, soy sauce and freshly ground black pepper into a glass. Add the oils and whisk to combine, set aside. Cut the squid into rings, leaving the tentacles whole and pat them dry. Heat a couple of tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan over a high heat. Mix the flour together with the chilli flakes, salt and pepper and coat the squid with it. Drop the squid into the very hot pan and move it around to get the squid evenly coloured, this should take about four or five minutes and no longer as the squid will become tough. Whisk the salad dressing again to combine, drizzle over the leaves and mix to cover the leaves lightly. Divide between two plates. When the squid is cooked and golden brown take out of the pan, heap on top the leaves and serve immediately. 

Serves two.

I am enjoying making recipes out the new Bill Granger cook book. One of the most successful recipes I tried this week was a recipe for roasted pumpkin with cumin and cayenne pepper but unfortunately there seemed to be a pumpkin/squash drought and so I plumped for sweet potato instead.The combination of the soft luscious sweet potato, the salty cheese and olives and the sharp shallot dressing was to die for. This is a really quick and simple recipe that I will definitely be doing again.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 packet of washed salad leaves
• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil
• 100g feta cheese, crumbled
• couple of handfuls of kalamata olives, pitted

Dressing

• 1 tblsp red wine vinegar
• 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 shallot finely sliced

Cut the sweet potato into roughly 2 inch cubes and place in a bowl. Add the cumin, cayenne pepper, a good slug of olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix to coat all of the sweet potato. Tip the sweet potato out onto a roasting tray or tin and spread out. Bake at 220 degrees centigrade for about 30 minutes or until slightly golden on the outside and nice and soft in the middle.To make the dressing simply whisk together all the ingredients. Assemble the salad on a plate and drizzle over the dressing. Enjoy!