SALMON WITH BRAISED CABBAGE AND BACON

The weather has cooled down a lot and although there are some warmer days forecast it definitely feels autumnal now and we feel more like "proper cooking" as opposed to barbecues, quiches and salads.

This is a version of something I cooked a few years ago to a much more involved recipe.  

The sauce is one we make regularly which also works well with chicken or pork.  It’s a method we call "camp cooking" as that’s how we used to cook ourselves a decent dinner while on holiday - chicken in a creamy sauce done in a frying pan, having brought a separate pan of potatoes up to the boil and left to cook by themselves.  It’s amazing what you can do with a one burner camping stove with a little imagination.

For this version, the cabbage was cooked until just done then stirred through the hot sauce.  The salmon fillets were cooked plain and simple in the air fryer, or you could oven bake or fry them.  I added some courgette just because we have so many to use up but you could leave that out.  We had ours with plain boiled potatoes as the dish is already very rich - and delicious!

Ingredients 

half a small hard white cabbage, roughly shredded

1 small courgette, diced (optional)

a splash of vegetable oil

1 onion or shallot, chopped

a small pack (125g) lardons (we prefer smoked)

2-3 tblsp full fat crème fraîche

2 small salmon fillets

a few snipped chives

Method

Cook the shredded cabbage in boiling water until just tender.  Drain and set aside.

Cook the salmon fillets separately using an air fryer or by baking in the oven or in a frying pan.  They will  take 12-15 minutes.  Keep your eye on them as it’s easy to overcook and they’re best if just done and flaky.

In a deep sauté pan or large frying pan heat a splash of oil and add the onion, courgette and lardons.  Cook on medium heat until the onion and courgette are just tender.

Add the crème fraîche a spoonful at a time, stirring on low heat, until you have plenty of sauce.  Season with black pepper but very little salt.  Tip the drained cabbage into the pan and stir through the sauce.

Place the salmon on the bed of cabbage, sprinkled with snipped chives.  Serve with plain potatoes or pasta.

Serves 2.

COURGETTES ON TOAST #2

Blogger friend Angela recently posted about leftovers, how not to waste them and how to make a delicious meal from what could easily be just thrown away.  Sometimes it takes quite a bit of imagination to do that.  See here.

Whilst on holiday in our gite in Brittany on a rainy day we decided to stay indoors and do some painting.  The gite was a long way from any shops so I aimed to produce lunch from what we had in rather than go on a long trek for supplies.  What we really fancied was beans on toast but we had no beans!  We did have sliced bread for sandwiches but also had half a baguette from the day before, so I decided to use that.

It turned out really well, almost like ratatouille on toast!  Very tasty and something I would do again.

However, on return from our holiday we found that our rogue courgette plant had produced these monsters!  Even with quite a bit of imagination I'm not sure we can keep them from the compost heap!

Ingredients 

A splash of olive oil

Half a small courgette 

Half each of a small red and a small green pepper, de seeded 

Four mushrooms 

Two small tomatoes 

1 tsp herbes de Provence (or a dash of chilli flakes or Worcestershire sauce would work)

A sprinkle of grated parmesan

Two eggs

Half a stale baguette

Method 

Wash and dice all the veg.  Heat the oil in a small saucepan and add the veg and herbs, adding the tomatoes last and cooking gently until soft.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cut the baguette into four chunks.  Slice through into halves vertically and remove the crust.  Toast.

Serve the veg piled onto buttered toast, sprinkle with parmesan and topped with a fried egg. (Or poached, or scrambled if you prefer, but sometimes only a fried egg hits the spot.)

Serves 2.

TOMATO SAUCE

Our tomato harvest has been less than normal this year, as we only planted four plants, but we are still not keeping up with the supply.  So as per previous years I have been hunting for ways to use them and this time, I decided to make tomato sauce.

I found a recipe for a simple tomato sauce on the internet and adapted it, as always, to what I had in stock.  I used most of our home grown tomatoes, reserving a small dishful for use in salads and sandwiches.  The original recipe was for 500g of tomatoes but I had three times that when I weighed the ones that were ready for using so I scaled it up.  You can see the recipe here.

1½ kilos of tomatoes made a full litre of the most delicious garlicky sauce, perfect for pasta or for adding to pies, stews and soups.  After using some straight away I divided the rest into 300g portions using ziplock bags for the freezer.  If you flatten the sealed bags before freezing they take up less space in the freezer.

Ingredients 

500g / 1500g ripe home grown tomatoes 

2tblsp / 6tblsp extra virgin olive oil

4 / 12 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped 

a good handful of fresh basil or 3 tsp dried basil

Salt to taste

Method

Roughly chop the tomatoes, removing any scarred or damaged bits.  No need to peel.

Heat half of the olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat.  Add half of the tomatoes, turn the heat down to low and add the garlic.

Add the remaining tomatoes and cook gently until they begin to break down, stirring regularly.

Add the remaining olive oil and salt to taste and cook on a low heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring regularly.

5 minutes before the end of cooking add the torn basil leaves and/or dried basil.

When cool transfer to a food processor and process until as smooth as you want it, or use a stick blender in the pan (be aware it may splatter and tomato stains can be very stubborn).

Makes 33cl / 1 litre of sauce which will keep for a week in the fridge.  Freezes well.

You might be interested in other ways I have used tomatoes:

airport potatoes

preserved roast tomatoes

ratatouille

roast salmon with courgettes and tomatoes

gazpacho soup

smoked salmon and halloumi stuffed courgettes

roasted cod with potatoes and tomatoes

stuffed chicken fillets

tomato, ham and goat's cheese tart

noggle end tomato tarts

roasted tomato soup

courgette and tomato gratin

easy tomato and cheese tart

green tomato chutney