Florentine crab cakes with tarragon and mustard mayonnaise

This is adapted from a recipe I found on the Sainsbury's website and is very yummy indeed. 

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 5 Minutes

Cooking time: 25 Minutes

Nutrition per serving: 469 cals, 29g fat, of which 11g saturated fat, 5.2g added sugar, 3g salt

You will need

 

• 500g fresh spinach (or frozen)
• 25g unsalted butter
• 75g shallots, peeled and finely chopped (or onions)
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 x 170g can crab meat in brine
• 75g fresh white breadcrumbs (or matzo meal)
• 150g mozzarella cheese, chopped finely as possible
• 1 medium sized egg
• 1 tablespoon oil for frying
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 150ml reduced fat mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon English mustard
• 2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard
• 10g fresh tarragon, finely chopped

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, 400°F, gas mark 6.
2. Wash the spinach and remove the stalks, or if frozen then put in a pan and pour boiling water, straight from the kettle, and leave to soak and defrost for 5-10 minutes before draining. 
3. Over a medium heat, melt the butter and gently sauté the shallots/onions without colour for approximately 2-3 minutes. Add the cloves of garlic and sauté for a further minute.
4. Add the spinach slowly, stirring frequently. When cooked, yet still bright green, remove from the heat and drain off the excess liquid. Then squeeze the spinach by hand to remove as much liquid as possible, chop roughly and put to one side.
5. Drain and rinse the crab meat to remove the excess salt. Then squeeze well to remove as much liquid as possible.
6. Place the breadcrumbs/matzo meal and the cheese into a bowl with the crab ameat nd the cooked spinach, bind together with the egg and season to taste with black pepper. 

7. Shape the mixture into eight, 3cm thick patties. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a high heat and seal each patty, for 2 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Remove from the pan and place on a non-stick baking tray and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

8. Combine the mayonnaise with both mustards in a small bowl and add the tarragon and black pepper.

9. Serve the baked crab cakes with the mustard and herb mayonnaise and your choice of salad.

Stuffed potato skins and homemade soup (adapted from Sophie Dahl)

This is adapted from Sophie Dahl's original recipe of  Roasted tomato and thyme soup with double baked cheese and chive potatoes which I tried:

I loved the potatoes but wasn't keen on the tomato soup. So this time round I decided to do the potatoes with a bowl of my homemade chicken soup (recipe found at this link) and it worked a treat.

Just half or quarter or double this recipe as you need to:

For the potatoes

4 baking potatoes
knob of butter
2 tbsp crème fraîche
small bunch fresh chives, finely chopped
200g/7oz soft goats' cheese  (or your choice of grated cheese)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

(I've chosen to leave the eggs out of this recipe both times of cooking it as I'm not very much into eggs personally, I think it's delicious without but I couldn't tell you what it is like with - it's one of those things which is just down to personal preference I think)

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5/ 170-180C fan

2. Bake the potatoes directly on the wire rack of the oven for 1- 1¾ hours (depending on the amount of potatoes and your oven), or until tender.

 3. Remove the potatoes from the oven and using a cloth to hold the hot potato, cut each one in half and scoop out the insides into a bowl.

4.Mix in the butter, crème fraîche, chives and goats' cheese, and stir in the egg.
5. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and spoon the potato mixture back into the skins. Place onto a baking tray in the oven for
a further 15-20 minutes, or until golden-brown and crisp on top.
6. To serve, reheat the soup and divide among four bowls, with two potato halves each on the side.

Enjoy!

Orange and raspberry Victoria sponge (Sophie Dahl)

I loved  the use of fresh raspberries, would use less butter in the icing next time as I found it a little rich and probably would go with hard icing on top.

Original Recipe Link

Ingredients

For the sponge
225g/8oz butter, plus extra for greasing
225g/8oz golden caster sugar
4 free-range eggs, beaten
225g/8oz self-raising flour, sifted
1 large orange, zest only

For the jam
300g/9oz fresh raspberries
2 tbsp fresh orange juice
1 heaped tbsp golden caster sugar

For the icing
250g/9oz butter, softened
250g/9oz icing sugar, seived
½ orange, juice only
1 large orange, zest only, plus a little zest to decorate

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. For the cake, grease and line two 20cm/8in sandwich tins with baking parchment, and dust with flour.
3. In a food mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
4. Gradually beat in the eggs, then add the flour and orange zest and mix until well combined.
5. Divide the mixture evenly between the two cake tins, then bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden-brown and slightly springy to the touch. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly in the tins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

6. Meanwhile, for the jam, place the raspberries, orange juice and golden caster sugar into a small saucepan over a low heat. Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the raspberries begin to break down. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool completely.

7. For the icing, beat the butter, icing sugar, orange juice and zest in a bowl until smooth.
8. To serve, place one sponge on a serving plate or cake stand, and spread half of the icing on top. Spoon over the jam, top with the second sponge and
finish with the remaining buttercream. Decorate with a little more orange zest if desired.

Arnold Bennett omelette (Sophie Dahl)

Ingredients


100g/3½oz undyed smoked haddock fillet, skin on, pin boned
100ml/3½fl oz milk
knob of butter
2 fresh (or dried) bay leaves
8-10 black peppercorns
2 tbsp crème fraîche
1 lemon, zest only
55g/2oz parmesan, finely grated
small bunch fresh chives, finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 large free-range eggs, beaten
knob unsalted butter
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
small handful fresh watercress or spinach to serve



Method


1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Place the haddock fillet into an ovenproof dish, pour over the milk and add the butter, bay leaves and peppercorns.

3. Transfer to the oven and poach for 10-12 minutes, then remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.
4. Meanwhile, mix the crème fraîche with the lemon zest, grated parmesan and most of the chives. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
5. Heat the butter with half of the oil in a large ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat, and pour in the eggs, stirring slightly as they cook to loosen them from the sides of the pan.
6. Flake the haddock from the skin while the eggs are cooking, taking care to remove any remaining bones.
7. When the eggs are still slightly runny on top but have started to set, spread over the crème fraîche mixture, then scatter over the haddock and transfer the omelette to the oven for 4-5 minutes, 

or until cooked through and slightly risen. Remove from the oven.

8. To serve, drizzle the remaining oil over the watercress in a small bowl and add the lemon juice, turning to coat the leaves. Slide the omelette onto a serving plate, sprinkle over the remaing chives and arrange the dressed spinach/watercress on the side. maybe with some balsamic drizzle over the salad leaves. YUM!

 

(original link)