Recipe: Pan Fried Salmon with Rosemary Roasted Courgettes & Sweet Potato in Watercress Herb Oil

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(Serves 4)

Ingredients Needed
For the watercress oil; 

• Pine Nuts / 50g (cashew nuts are cheaper) 
• Watercress / 75g
• Olive Oil / 500ml (vegetable oil is cheaper)                      
• Salt & pepper

For the roast vegetables;

• Sweet Potato / x4
• Courgette / x3
• Rosemary / 10g (dried mixed herbs are cheaper)
• Red Onion / x1

For the fish;

• Salmon / x 4 fillets (these can always be obtained cheaper from a produce market. If you don’t have one close then buy them frozen from the supermarket to save money)
• Cooked Prawns / 200g [not compulsory] (these are also much cheaper if you buy them from frozen)

Equipment Needed

• Roasting Tray / x 1 small, 1 large (1 for pine nuts and one for vegetables, large tray needs to be metallic so it can be placed on the hob)
• Frying Pan / x1 (for salmon & prawns)
• Kettle / x1
• Colander / x1 (to wilt watercress)
• Chopping Board / x1
• Knife / x1
• Blender / x1
• Fish Slice / x1 (to get the fish in and out the pan)

Recipe
Firstly prepare and roast the vegetables;

• Peel and roughly dice the sweet potato and the courgettes. Then chop the rosemary as finely as you can and dice the red onion and leave to one side.
• Place a little oil in a large roasting tray (around 25ml) and place the tray on top of the hob on a high heat. Once the oil is hot add the sweet potato chunks to the tray and shake. Fry these in the tray for 5 minutes, moving regularly(by putting the roasting tray on the hob first you are ensuring that the sweet potato has a nice colour and doesn’t take too long to cook).
• Once the sweet potato begins to colour add the courgettes, onion and rosemary and season with salt and pepper. Lastly add the tray to the oven pre heated at 180 degrees for 15 minutes and then remove to add the salmon, return to the oven for a further 15 minutes.

Next make the watercress oil;

• Firstly place the pine nuts on a small tray and add to the oven with the vegetables for 3 - 4 minutes until they begin to colour (be careful when toasting pine nuts as they burn very quickly – keep an eye on them and they are ready when they turn light brown in colour)
• Next boil the kettle and place the watercress in a colander, then place this in the sink. Pour the boiling water over the watercress to wilt it (this means to soften the leaves so they can be easily blended with other ingredients). Finally refresh the watercress in cold water, drain thoroughly and roughly chop.
• Now add the pine nuts, watercress, and 450 ml of oil to a blender and season with salt and pepper to taste and then combine to form a green liquid that has the consistency of oil)

Lastly cook the fish;

• Heat some oil in a frying pan on a high heat (around 25ml). When hot add the salmon fillets flesh side down and leave undisturbed for 2 minutes. Next flip the fillets so they are skin side down, season to taste and then leave again undisturbed for 3 minutes (this is to insure that the skin goes crispy)
• Then as described above remove the vegetables from the oven and add the salmon fillets to the centre of the tray. Then return it all to the oven for 15 minutes, ensure the salmon is piping hot throughout before serving.
• If you have got some cooked prawns then reuse the same pan that you used for the salmon (if the prawns are frozen run them under cold water for 5 minutes until they have thawed out). Add a little of the watercress oil that you made into the pan and put on a medium heat. Once hot add the prawns and toss until they are all coated in the hot oil - then serve (remember that you only want to coat the prawns in the hot oil as they are already cooked).

To Serve

• Place a quarter of the roasted vegetables in the centre of a plate.
• Then place a fillet of salmon on top of the vegetables.
• Lastly position a quarter of the prawns around the plate and drizzle some watercress oil around the plate (it is easier to use a tablespoon to do this).

 
I hope you all enjoy the recipe. Find more of my recipes, hints and tips at http://www.livelikeastudent-eatlikeaking.blogspot.com/. As always I would love to hear feedback and am happy to answer questions or requests. You can now also follow me on twitter @sebbyholmes.

Recipe: Coriander Burgers with Caramelised Red Onion Chutney

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(Serves 4)

(Makes 8 Burgers)

         

Here is another great recipe straight from the kitchen with head chef Brian Arnold. After minced beef has been cooked it can last in the fridge for about 3-4 days safely, it also freezes well so why not save a few for future meals. The caramelised red onion chutney also keeps for months in the fridge and tastes great with cheese so is well worth the investment (if you get time try a little of the chutney in a bacon and brie sandwich).   There will be loads of spare chutney so keep some in the fridge and eat it whenever you need a quick meal. Money savers and tips can be found (in brackets) throughout the recipe.

Ingredients Needed
For the Caramelised Red Onion Chutney;

• Red Onions / x 6, peeled and sliced
• Malt Vinegar / 200ml
• Balsamic Vinegar / 200ml (Red wine vinegar can be used as a substitute if you can get it cheaper)
• Redcurrant Jelly / 250ml
• Light Soft Brown Sugar / 300g
• Olive Oil/ 20ml (vegetable oil is cheaper)

For the Coriander Burgers;

• Minced Beef / 1kg
• Egg Yolks / x2
• Fresh Coriander / about 30g, chopped (1 handful)
• Butter / 150g, softened
• Olive Oil / 20ml (vegetable oil is cheaper)
• Salt and Pepper
• Worcester Sauce / 10 dashes (Not Compulsory)
• Dijon Mustard / 1 tbs (not compulsory)
• Burger Buns and a little salad if you like

Equipment Needed

• Large Boiling Pan / x1 (large enough to fit the chutney ingredients in)
• Mixing Bowl / x1
• Frying Pan / x1 (to colour the burgers)
• Spatula / x1 (to flip burgers)
• Wooden Spoon / x1
• Chopping Board and Knife / x1
• Oven tray / x1 (to finish the burgers off in the oven)
• Shaping Ring / x1 (if you do not have a shaping ring carefully cut a baked bean tin in half and use this to shape the burgers, it will work fine)

Recipe
Firstly prepare and cook the red onion chutney

• Peel and slice all the onions and place into 20ml of hot oil. Once coated turn the heat down and cook gently for about 20 minutes until the onions are dark and sticky.
• Next add the sugar, vinegars and redcurrant jelly to the pan and stir well. Continue to cook on a gentle heat for about an hour to an hour and a half (the chutney is ready when it has become thick and syrupy)
• Once hot remove from the pan into containers and allow to cool. The chutney still tastes great hot in a burger so give it a try.

 
Next make the burger mixture and shape into rings;

• In the mixing bowl add the minced beef, chopped coriander, egg yolks, olive oil, softened butter (about 20seconds in microwave), salt and pepper and if you have it the Worcester sauce and Dijon Mustard.
• Next get stuck in with your hands and mix it all together. Continue to do this until the mixture is one solid mass and all ingredients are mixed evenly.
• Still using your hands rip the mixture in half, and then in half again, then once again this will leave you with 8 portions that are roughly the same size.
• Lastly stuff the baked bean tin rings full of these portions one at a time. Flatten the top down so that the minced beef takes the shape of the ring to look like burgers.

 

Lastly cook the burge rs and enjoy;

• Heat the 20ml of oil in a frying pan and then add the burgers. Allow to cook und  i s turbed on one side for 2 minutes then flip and do the  same to the other side.
• Next place the burgers onto  an oven tray and place in the top of a hot oven prehea ted to 220 degrees. Leave for 20 minutes then enjoy (a lways ensure that the burgers are piping hot before serving, if in doubt return to the oven for 5 minutes) .

To Serve 

• Place the burger in the bun and coat with a generous portion of caramelised red onion chutney and enjoy - If you like add some slices of tomato and some lettuce leaves.
• If you’re in a really indulgent mood add a slice of cheese and toast theburger bun before you serve it. You can also have it with chips if you have any in the freezer.

I hope you all enjoy the recipe.

Swapping pens for pans (Featured in Mouth)

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Mouth is preparing to scream school’s out and spend summer sipping sweet ciders beside smoking barbecues. But spare a thought for KU student Sebastian Holmes, who will instead be spending the summer coping with epic temperatures while he slogs it out in the kitchen.

The media and cultural arts student, originally from Oxford, will swap pens for pans and work at the King’s Arms Hotel and Restaurant in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, with a small team of chefs cooking up 120 covers a day. The 22 year old, who is in his final year at Kingston, has worked at the King’s Arms, which has a grade one rosette, for the last seven years during breaks from studying and travelling.

But the student isn’t just a glutton for punishment, his part time work is actually all part of a master plan to become a food journalist. Sebastian decided that this was his vocation when he travelled for eight months through Fiji, New Zealand, Thailand and Australia. Originally he debated whether travel journalism or food journalism was for him but settled on the latter as he already had years of experience as a chef.
He began working with food from the age of 13, in an Oxfordshire kitchen when a family connection led him to a chef position. Before Sebastian knew it he was serving hundreds of customers a day and had developed a passion for food and plenty of skills. “I felt that I was pretty good so I worked in a few busier kitchens, though only part time as I was at school,” says Sebastian. Sebastian then met the head chef at the King’s Arms who gave him a job. “The standard of food at the King’s was leagues above anything I had previously been involved in, so god knows why he gave me the chance,” he says.
The foresighted individual feels that returning to the King’s Arms every summer is something he must do, not only to fund his education, but to keep his culinary skills in check. He feels his part time job keeps him on his toes, as he is constantly thrown in at the deep end when he returns to the hotel because he is expected to be a fully fledged member of the team on each return.
Also part of the master plan is the student’s successful food blog www.livelikeastudenteatlikeaking.blogspot.com, on which Sebastian posts recipes and ideas, often inspired by student budgets. He also freelances, writing recipes and articles for a number of publications. Most recently Sebastian was commissioned by a publication to live on a budget of £54.54 for a week, which is the same budget an under-25 on benefits is likely to live on. The chef also intends to have a recipe book published within the next five years.
Sebastian hopes that his course in media and cultural studies, his published work and experience in the kitchen will take him one step closer to his dream job. He says: “My degree will do me favours but my extracurricular activities will make me stand out on paper.”

Written by Cara Louise Lawson