John Dory is a sustainable fish, generally a bycatch in the fishing industry.
It is in demand, a really nice meaty fish, so a bit on the expensive side, but sooo worth it.
Apart from John Dory, other good fish are pollock, hake, bream - any meaty white fish.
Also Sea Bass, Bream and Dover Sole are really good alternatives.
This takes about 20 - 30 minutes for a really lovely late summer light dinner.
Please feel free to comment - I really appreciate the time and effort when people do.
This recipe is really influenced by Tony Singh - born and raised in Leith (with as strong a Leith accent as I've ever heard on TV) You may have seen him, as I did.
He is among Scotland's leading contemporary chiefs, and coming from Leith really knows fish.
Having watched him on TV, he did make me think, he is quite inspiring - as a chef he takes traditional Scottish food, and re-invents it.
In a way, this is a meal that is a tribute to his energy and ideas.
I love his demeanor and the way he approaches food. His original version uses Dover Sole. It seems to me to be a sort of Parsee style Buerre Noissette, mine is more like an Indian Hollandaise - if anything, more Indian than the original.
I served this dish with new potatoes and asparagus.
Red Gurnard - a meaty, economic, tasty and sustainable fish, Scale 3 on the Marine Conservation Societies (MCS) list (*See note at end of article)
This type of fish, bony, bottom dwelling, is not usual on the menu - but they are great.
Very common in North African and Middle Eastern cuisine, this recipe is inspired by Turkish and Lebanese food. Good recipe for the more expensive red snapper as well.
I like my fish on the bone - but you can use fillets if you prefer.
The fish is not in great demand in Ireland, I picked these beauties up from Cork cities English Market - Ballycotton seafoods - along with the samphire, for €3.50, with rice can easily feed 4 or a greedy dinner for two.
This meal itself is great with rice, giving it almost a risotto effect.
The rice will cook in about the same time as it takes to cook the fish and veg.
The sauce, with egg, lemon and cream is kind of a Mediterranean hollandaise - rich and velvety. You will need a pan or heavy based pot with a lid or plate that can cover the pan.
INGREDIENTS
Good knob of butter
Fish - 2 or 4 red gurnard fish/fillets, or red snapper - meaty white fish.
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
115 grm button mushrooms (about 9)
1 tomato - skinned, de-seeded and peeled
1 tablespoon - good squeeze - tomato puree
1 egg yolk
4 tablespoons cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice Parsley to garnish .
Melt the butter in a large frying pan.
Cook the onion for 2 - 3 minutes until softened or translucent but not browned.
Add Garlic and cook for another minute, then chuck in your mushrooms, tomato and tomato puree and season to taste.
Cook down for about 5 minutes.
Put the fish fillets on top of the veg and pour over the water.
Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium/low, cover the pan and leave simmer gently for 10 minutes.
There is a trick to this dish.
While waiting for the fish to cook, whisk up the egg yolk and lemon to emulsify- go easy on the lemon juice, you can add more later to taste, After whisking the egg and lemon add the cream and whisk in.
When cooked, remove the fish and keep warm.
Stir the egg/lemon/cream mixture into the veggies and blend, constantly stirring.
Taste the sauce, add pepper and salt to season as wanted, add more lemon juice to taste if you overdo the lemon, a pinch of sugar will bring it back.
Pour sauce over fish and serve.
I served the fish on a sushi rice with tomato and samphire mini salad on the side.
Also very good just with salad.
I hope you enjoy this recipe - please take the time to comment, I really appreciate the time and effort.
* MCS scale 3 - eat but not too often.
Red gurnard is a fast growing fish and matures early at a large size.
Avoid eating immature fish (less than 25 cm) and fresh (not previously
frozen) fish caught during the spawning season (summer).
Well, got a great gift recently from a friend - a few Monkfish tails.
In the old days Monkfish was seen as a by-catch, used for lobster bait. But the Scottish really pushed it as a food and a few TV recipes later and it became a very fashionable food and expensive to buy.
However, any meaty whitefish like ray will also do. Its also a good recipe to stretch a lobster tail when used as a very plush starter.
Monkfish stirfried with nettle leaves in mousseline sauce garnished with marigold petals
I love using Hollandaise sauce, but hate the waste of egg whites. Mousseline sauce is traditionally made with cream, but I just use the egg whites whipped to give a lighter sauce, better for this time of year.
Its probably a healthier option as well.
The mousseline sauce is a great one to know how to whip up, unlike
hollandaise it uses all the egg and is great with seafood, asparagus or
broccoli. Using different herbs infused through the whipped eggwhite it is very versatile and adaptable
This recipe is an ideal 'Hungry gap' dish from the garden. As a sort of celebration of butter I did it with some beetroot fondant and a few carrots thrown in for good measure but pureed parsnip is also a great accompaniment.
For the fondant and the sauce I would recommend Cuinneog butter - it may cost a little more, but seriously, if you have bought the monkfish it deserves that extra touch of flavour.
I only wish my asparagus crowns were growing better to add to the meal, I must say that the (rather expensive and very delayed in delivery) Mr Middletons asparagus crowns planted and cared for from last year have been very poor performers thus far in comparison with the Lidl types that I bought on impulse.
This recipe in itself is a great way to show off the herbs from the garden, with the fennel and russian tarragon in the sauce, sorrel stirfried with the monkfish and the Rosemary and thyme in the beetroot fondant.
Monkfish does require careful filleting and skinning, it may be best to ask the fish monger to do it for you.
Mousellelin sauce a la Simon is technically tricky to make. Main thing is keep it moving.
100 gm Cuinneog butter
2 eggs, separated
pinch of cayenne pepper
Good squeeze of lemon juice
Optional Herbs - I use fennel and tarragon
Melt the butter in a bain marie
Separate the eggs, reserve the yolks
Whip the egg white until frothy - I whip in the herbs at this point to let them infuse
Now, remove the bowl of your bain marie from the heat
Add the egg yolks to the melted butter, keep it moving - dont let it set, add a good squeeze of lemon.
After the lemon is added the sauce changes colour from a deep egg yolk yellow to a lovely looking light yellow - essentially a hollondaise sauce
Add a good pinch of cayenne pepper and then add the mixture to the egg whites in the cold bowl, mix in to give a nice light texture.
The sauce is served over the food, let the food and a heated plate heat the sauce, it is very light and heats up quickly - dont risk leaving it on the heat unattended or it will set - this is not what you want. You can heat it up in the bain marie prior to serving, but it needs to be watched carefully.
Monkfish is easy, simply cut the fillets into chunks, dust with flour and stirfry.
I serve this with monkfish chunks strifried with some sorrel or blanched nettles added to the wok at the last minute to add a bit more colour and zing.
Serve with a few slices of home made soda bread.
I hope as always that you find the posting helpful or useful, please feel free to leave a comment.
Fennel is a great Italian staple, cooked on its own its wonderful. If you visit an Italian market you're likely to see them in carefully stacked pyramids of fennel, fronds trimmed and the blemished outer layer removed.
But the great thing about it is that it is delicate, and can be used to enhance a meal without overpowering it, and can be used raw or cooked.
I just got home from Naples to a very overgrown garden, but not all the fennel had bolted.
All homegrown and sustainable
I love fennel when added to pinzimonio (raw vegetables), and in winter salads. The best examples of this that use the sweetness of Fennel against sharper flavours come from southern Italy, like in Sicily where it is served with blood orange and olives, or Finocchi del Sud - a warmed fennel salad with anchovies, olives and nutmeg.
Fennel is great in mixed salads, with other vegetables including celery or tomatoes, cheeses, or finely chopped walnuts.
As a general rule, the Italians do not use vinegar in fennel salads.
The leafy fronds are a nice addition to any salad and as a veg itself, braised, it has a unique and delicious flavour.
A neighbour of mine, Con, very kindly dropped off a few pollack fillets, pin boned and cleaned caught the day before. He has always done this, but in keeping the garden it's nice that I can finally return his generosity with homegrown veg. I really do have too much, particularly when one has a glut.
We had a very pleasant young French couple, Thomas and Estelle, visiting, so it was a real pleasure to be able to cook a meal like this using all local produce.It's quite a small world - I met Thomas and Estelle at the Pony show, they had no real plans of where to stay so they camped on the croft. The meal was put together with available produce, and the fact I have just got back from the Italian Maritime Academy has my cooking brain on one track, so thats where the meal came from.
But as it turned out later, Thomas has worked with Catherine Fulvio - Ireland's leading expert in Italian cuisine - hows that for serendipity!!!!
Whitefish poached with milk and fennel
This dish is very simple, using Irish dairy produce to enrich an Italian style flavour.
Using milk to cook fish is not something I found in Italy, but in more Northern countries it's quite common.
The poaching in milk process enriches the fish, and gives it a more creamy texture.
Fish poached in milk is actually quite a regular Scottish way of preparing whitefish like haddock, whiting, pollack and on occasion even herring. The Scottish will also cook smoked fish like haddock or kippers in milk.
In Nordic cuisine, the Finns soak salted or sometimes even fresh herring in milk before cooking.
You will need:
Filleted and pin boned pollack - enough for each person. Another sustainable white fish like whiting is also good.
1 fennel bulb - trimmed and finely sliced
2 small shallots
knob of cuinneog butter
enough milk to barely cover fish
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 180 deg centigrade
Grease the dish with a little butter
Arrange the fish fillets in a single layer
Sprinkle over the finely chopped fennel and shallot
Add salt and pepper
Pour over milk until the fish is barely covered
Cook for 20-25 minutes at 180
When the fish is done, the liquid can be strained off to make the base of a parsley sauce.
I tried to use sorrel instead, but it is tricky because the milk can curdle a little, so I would advise sticking to a parsley sauce only. It was my first time using sorrel, so there is more I need to learn about it.
Spuds, peas, carrots and local fish - a little confused perhaps, but still good.
Served with new potato's (different varieties, Orla, Nicola, Kerr pink and Mr.Littles) and a quick Moroccan carrot mix.
The potato's were buttered and garnished with samphire and salsola, pretty much everything on the plate came from within 5 miles.
The samphire really adds to the meal, that nice crispy, salty bite makes it more than just a decoration.
The poaching process takes about 20 minutes, so timing wise, get the potato's and other veg down first.
In hindsight however, I think in future when doing this, I would cook the fish and potato's - but rather than have cooked carrots, I'd go for a carrot and fennel salad with a lemon based dressing as the veg.
Thanks for reading and please take the time to comment
A great dish, very simple and very very good with new potatos boiled in seawater. Im sure regular readers here know I tend to look to Northern Europe for inspiration for a lot of my dishes, but really it is to Normandy we Irish should look.
I am uploading this while at work - on a ship - so you will have to wait for some better photos folks - sorry, some even upload sideways from here! Why we never developed a better cuisine culture in Ireland I will never know, probably has something to do with a landless peasant class, and a virtual fuedal system lasting so long, but that is too big a divergence.
I feel that Normandy, with its climate, mixed Celtic and Norman heritage and its food produce is a great place for us to look at, with dairy, seafoodmeat and fruit more like our own than the rest of France.
This dish could not be simpler, with sustainable fish and home grown veg and fruit. This really is one of my favorite meals. Use a good medium-dry cider to make a fairly sharp sauce. This will contrast well with the rich definite flavour of the mackerel.
There's nothing fancy about this dish, the only advice I'd give is to try and find a good real cider if you can.
English and Welsh readers are spoiled for choice when it comes to organic ciders, especially in the west country, make really good but astoundingly potent ciders they call scrumpy.
I have not tried it yet but there is an artisan cider producer in Ireland I can find based out of Dublin. Fruit and Vine who produce, among other things, Double L cider, are available from several outlets that you can find online at their website, I'm looking forward to trying their cider and especially the Balsamic Cider Vinegar when I get home.
Also, a big thanks to the beer revolu, a regular poster at boards.ie who also suggestedStonewell cider from Cork.
I really think it is important to support and promote our own artisan producers, so I'd give them a shot over the big corporations like Magners/Bulmers whose cider need to be mass produced to the same consistency, thats fine for some-like MacDonalds, and has its place, but I like to have variation and choice as well.
Fresh whole mackerel, cleaned and filleted as you like (one each)
Enough dry cider to come half way up the fish (about 1 or 2 wine glasses)
1 large Bramley Apple,diced
1 large onion, sliced
White Pepper
tsp whole grain mustard
Preheat the oven to moderate hot 180 C - gas 4 Gut, clean and fillet fish. Wipe the mackerel with a bit of kitchen paper. Put it in an overnproof dish with the onion, cider, mustard and a little pepper. Peel, core and chop the apples into smallish chunks. Push some of them into the middle of the mackerel and place the rest round. Spoon the cider over them and the fish. Cover the dish and put in the oven or 15 mins. Remove the cover and cook for another 15 mins. Lift the fish out onto a warm plate and pop in the (now switched off) oven leaving the door ajar. Pour the juices into a small pan with some of the apples. Cook fairly quickly, mashing up the soft apples, to make a sauce. Put the remaining apples round the fish and pour the sauce over. Serve with potatoes and some nice garden green - spinach or chard is great with this.
For anyone who keeps chickens and has a run on eggs, this is a great brunch or Sunday Breakfast.
A few years back I was working in Australia, where I was introduced to Eggs Benedict. A variation that is common in Australia is more properly known as Eggs Montreal or Eggs Royale which substitutes smoked salmon for the ham in the classic dish.
After that I toured New Zealand, and ordered Eggs Royale in the So Hotel in Christchurch, near Tuam street and on Cashel street!
I think my favorite hotel in the world, with a great story behind it and fantastic staff.
It has gone into receivership, but has new management and has been renamed the All Seasons hotel.
I really hope they kept the same ethos and staff.
They served their Eggs Royale with a small fillet of smoked salmon cut thickly rather than the usual slices, and I loved it.
While in Malta once I had Sardines that were served with Maltese sauce, a variation on Hollandaise that uses blood orange in place of lemon and duck egg yolk in place of chickens.
Funny thing is, although I had the sauce in Malta - its actually a French Recipe! I guess it's like having french fries instead of fritte in France.
Smoked fish and eggs are a classic combination - salmon and scrambled eggs, kedgeree in Scotland with smoked herring, eggs and rice - there are many examples.
I can't wait until the perennial bed comes up next year so I can use asparagus spears with the mackerel and garnish with samphire - Nevin watch out!!
With that inspiration, I came up with this brunch, with the usual Irish twist - as the mackerel came from Ballyconeeley I'm calling this one Eggs Errislannan
Smoking fish has long been a way of preserving, and here in Connemara we have some of the cleanest water in the world.
We also have a multi award winning smokery in Ballyconeeley, the Connemara Smoke House, producing great salmon, gravlax and mackerel. This is really top end Irish produce, and I cannot recommend it enough.
Mackerel is a great fish which has featured on this blog before and will no doubt again. Its also a sustainable species, and the way Irish fishermen shoot for it commercially is quite specific and environmentally sound. In Connemara, most mackerel is line caught. Smoked mackerel is tasty and filling, packed with Omega oils that are healthy etc etc - but for me the main factor is taste.
My take on Eggs Benedict is simple boxty, smoked mackerel with a poached egg and Maltese sauce.
FOR THE MALTESE SAUCE
The Maltese Sauce is the hardest part of the meal to make, but the great thing about it is that you can make it in advance and re-heat. The Tarragon is not in the classic sauce, but I feel it really does add a lot more to the meal.
80ml freshly squeezed orange juice
1 Tsp orange zest
1 duck egg yolk (you can keep the white or chuck in the boxty mix if you like)
230 grams Cuinneog butter (using Cuinneog really adds to the flavour)
1 Tsp dried Tarragon
Good pinch of Cayenne
Melt the butter at a low temperature and keep warm in a bowl. Keep about 2 tsp in reserve for the boxty.
In a small saucepan, combine the orange juice and orange zest, and place over medium-high heat.
Bring the saucepan to a boil and reduce by 2/3, about 3 minutes.
Remove from the heat and strain into a bain marie bowl.
I would like to point out this was my Grandmothers bowl - been in the family since at least the 1920's
Add the duck egg yolk, Cayenne and Tarragon - whisk.
Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water and continue to whisk until the egg starts to thicken, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat, and slowly drizzle a little of the butter into the egg mixture.
Whisk constantly to incorporate.
Return the bowl to the heat, whisk again, and when the egg starts to thicken again, continue to add more of the butter to the egg.
Remove from the heat periodically to cool the bowl, and return it once it cools slightly.
Continue in this on-the-heat, off-the-heat fashion until all of the clarified butter is incorporated.
The moment the butter is incorporated remove the bowl from the saucepan, transfer the sauce into a cool sauce boat, and season with the salt and pepper.
As a base for the meal I used buttermilk Boxty, I did try buttermilk whey chapatti, but this gives more depth and richness.
FOR THE BOXTY BASE AND EGGS
250g, peeled, grated, squeezed
250g cold mashed potato
100ml Cuinneog buttermilk- another great product from the Mayo dairy
200g plain flour
If prepping from scratch, you can also add the duck egg white.
Wrap the grated potato in a clean tea towel and wring well to get rid of any excess liquid.
Add the grated potato to a mixing bowl with the cold mashed potato and mix until well combined.
Add the flour and baking powder to the potato mixture and mix until well combined.
Stir in the melted butter and season, to taste, with salt and black pepper.
Add the buttermilk, a little at a time, to the potato mixture, beating after each addition until the buttermilk has been fullyworked into the mixture. When all of the buttermilk has been added to the potato mixture it should resemble a thick, heavy batter. If the mixture is too sticky, add more milk as necessary. Set aside.
Heat some oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium to high heat.
Around this time its a good time to start poaching the eggs.
Add spoonfuls of the boxty batter to the pan, leaving enough space around each spoonful for the mixture to spread. Fry the boxties on a medium to high heat for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until the boxties are golden-brown and the grated potato is cooked through. Remove the boxties from the pan using a slotted spoon, set aside to drain on kitchen paper and keep warm.
PREPPING THE MACKEREL AND PLATING UP
The fillets from the Connemara Smoke House have a beautiful and natural colour, particularly on the skin - but dont be tempted to leave it on, its best to remove it.
Place the smoked Connemara mackerel fillet, skin side up, on the warm boxty base. Remove skin and any excess bones.
For a brunch serve with some lightly dressed sliced tomatos - I just use salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice - or a micro salad.What works especially well is radishes - but I ate all mine yesterday :-(
Place the poached egg on top of the mackerel carefully. Spoon over the warmed Maltese Sauce and garnish with fresh kitchen garden herbs - serve and bask in the glory.
Thing is, although the meal is quality, filling and delicious, once you've cracked making the Maltese sauce, its very easy to prepare everything in advance for a quick cook and reheat.
As always, I'd advise messing around with the recipe - try smoked salmon from the smoke house - and if you are visiting the region they dotours of the smoke house. The tours run seasonally in June, July and August on Wednesdays at 3PM - thats one day a week so booking is advisable, but a visit is very much worthwhile.
Its great to see traditional, artisan food production.
As always, I hope you enjoyed the recipe - and as always, feedback and comments on variations etc are welcome.
There are a few very simple dishes that always work well.
Bisque and Moule mariner are two, and by making and freezing shellfish stock, you always have this at hand - it's simple, tasty and straight forward.
Making the shellfish stock is easy, and also gives you more value for money - and another helpful addition to the garden.
Whenever I have finished with the shells, I put them in the ash grate of a fire.
This way they toast or bake dry. I then break them up coarsely and spread them on the garden pathways. I hope that like egg shells the sharp, broken shell helps in the struggle against slugs and snails, besides, it's a form of recycling and can't do any harm.
The shellfish stock serves as a basis for two fish soups I like to do. The first is the simplest, and a classic Belgian staple - also very popular in the Zeeuws region of the Netherlands, served on the street every year outside De Mug - one of my favorite pubs in one of my favorite towns in the world.
There are several variations on Moule Mariner, but this one works for me and is pretty true to its Belgian origins but might be better described as a Mussel Bisque with more depth, using shellfish stock.
Quite often the soup in Belgium has additional kick added to it by adding a dash of Pernod, but I just add fennel bulb for that same aniseed flavour.
Ingredients:
1 Kilo Mussels
750 ml Shellfish stock*. (See footnote)
3 sticks celery, finely sliced
1 bulb fennel, finely sliced
1 leek, finely sliced.
1 Onion, finely diced.
2 Cloves Garlic finely sliced.
250 ml dry white wine
Parsley to garnish
Cream
Method:
In a heavy based pot, add a knob of butter and heat until foaming.
Add the sliced veg until softened.
Add the wine and mussels, steaming the mussels for 5 minutes - or until open.
Remove the mussels and set aside, add the shellfish stock and bring to the boil.
Return the mussels to the pot and heat up.
Serve in large bowls with a dash of cream and garnish with parsley - serve with soda bread, warm and delicious.
FOR BISQUE
Bisque is just a richer version without the aniseed flavours and contains more meat in the soup.
The mushrooms add richness. Rather than the aniseed flavour of fennel, this gets a kick from cayenne pepper.
Its more a winter/autumn soup than the Moule Mariner.
You can vary it to your own taste of course, one version pictured here was served with lobster shell for decoration and sliced, raw Oca to decorate and to add a citrus style zing to it.
The Oca really works for this recipe, its tart, sharp apple/citrus flavour cuts the richness giving a very nice tang to the meal.
The other photo has cream and lardon croutons.
FOR BISQUE
Knob butter
Handful button mushrooms.
One onion, finely chopped
One leek, finely sliced
Two good stems chopped celery sticks
One chopped carrot
1 litre shellfish stock*. (See footnote)
teaspoon salt
1/2 (half) teaspoon cayenne pepper
120 ml dry white wine
225 g cooked lobster, prawn, crab or other crustacean meat
Cream
1.Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.
Add the mushrooms, onion, celery, and carrot. Cook and stir until tender, about 10 minutes.
Stir in the shellfish stock, and season with salt and cayenne pepper.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
2.Pour the vegetable and broth mixture into the container of a blender,
and add half the crustacean meat.
Cover, and process until smooth.
3. Return to the saucepan, and stir in the cream, white wine, and remaining crustacean meat.
Cook over low heat, stirring frequently until thickened, about 30 minutes.
SHELLFISH STOCK
Very simple and straight forward. Take any shellfish remains, crab claws, lobster, prawn etc and break up.
Cover with cold water, add some salt, pepper, bay leaves, a small onion, small carrot and some celery.
Bring to the boil, simmer for an hour and a half. Allow to cool and strain off liquid.
Shells can be put in the ash drawer of a fire, dried out, broken up and spread on garden paths or veg beds to deter snails and slugs as eggshells are.
The recipe I developed to stretch lobster also works well with crab as a much cheaper alternative, or prawn tails, and is just as delicious. Also, save any shells left over as the basis of a bisque, further stretching your Euro.
As a poster Lá an Lúbáin at politicalworld.org called it, Gliomach Sínte, stretched lobster
There is an illustrated guide on how to humanely kill a lobster at the end of the post so reader discretion is advised.
Quite simply, the whole concept of a kitchen garden is to deal with what you have at hand, and what is available.
Lobster, an utterly delicious food, but ridiculously expensive. Lobster, for me, is a very welcome gift from local fishermen, and it normally comes around Easter or Christmas. So, with a little imagination, two small lobsters can go a long way - and produce a rich, warm meal rather than a salad.
The thing is, we have been conditioned to serve the food on the shell with a salad and a light sauce, and that is perfect if you can afford it - but if your feeding more than 4 a half lobster each, then it gets very pricey very quick.
This recipe is loosely based on Lobster Newburg - which is quite apt in my case. Lobster Newburg was invented by Ben Wenberg, a Ships Officer. He demonstrated the dish to New York restaurant manager Charles Delmonico in about 1876. After refinements by the famous chief Charles Ranhofer - author of the Epicurean - the creation was sold in the restaurant as Lobster à la Wenberg and became very popular.
An argument between Wenberg and Charles Delmonico caused the dish to be removed from the menu. To satisfy patrons’ continued requests for it, the name was changed into an anagram - Lobster Newburg. Lobster Newburg is related to the better known Lobster Thermidor, but Thermidor only appeared in the 1890's.
FOR THE PASTA
It could not be simpler, you do not need a pasta machine you might use 6 times a year, all you need is a rolling pin. 2 cups flour 2 large eggs, whole 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/2 tsp. sea salt 3 tablespoons water
Put all the ingredients in a food processor and process for 30 seconds. Check consistency and add a small amount of flour is pasta is too wet, or a small amount of water if pasta is too dry. Whizz for another 30 seconds to incorporate any additions.
Turn dough out onto a pastry board, large chopping board or work surface sprinkled lightly with flour and knead by hand for a minute or two, until smooth.
Place the dough under a bowl to rest for 20 minutes before rolling, or refrigerate, tightly wrapped in plastic and stored in a plastic bag if not using right away.
Use within a few hours for best results.
Roll pasta out. Fold dough over and roll through again, gradually making the pasta thinner as it becomes smoother; dust lightly with flour as needed, but not too much.
It helps to brush off excess flour with a pastry brush.
When pasta is thin enough it is ready for use in making ravioli.
Use the pasta sheets as soon as they are rolled; dry pasta sheets don't seal as well at the edges as fresh sheets, causing the ravioli to separate when cooking.
If your pasta sheets have dried out, brush the edges with an egg wash or water (where the pasta is crimped together).
For this recipe you will need at least two sheets of pasta. The first one made can be draped over the back of a chair on a clean dishcloth, the second - base layer, can be left on the board - but make sure the board is well floured. You do not want this sticking when you lift.
This pasta dough is also great for fresh lasagne sheets.
FOR THE FILLING AND SAUCE
2 lobsters (1 1/2 to 2 pounds each) 3 tablespoons olive oil 250 ml (1 teacup) white wine 125 ml (1/2 teacup) sherry or Madeira 500 ml (2 teacups) heavy cream salt cracked pepper pinch of cayenne pinch of nutmeg Beurre Manie (uncooked roux - See footnote 1)
For Ravioli parcel Cooked Lobster tail meat Freshly chopped chives Pinch of paprika
RECOMMENDED EXTRAS
I love to add a good tablespoon of chopped tarragon to the sauce, it really adds to the flavour. Recently I also added mussels and cooked them in the sauce, they look fantastic, their dark shells surrounding the ravioli parcels.
PROCESS
1- kill the lobster** (See footnote 2)
2- Turn the lobster around and cut the tail and body in half long ways. Cut the tail into sections. 3- Remove the claws and reserve. 4- Along the center of the lobster are three kinds of viscera, the dark green are the stomach and intestine that can be scraped out and discarded. The yellow green and red coral are the tomalley and the roe which are delicious and may be left in.
COOKING THE LOBSTER TAIL
Heat the olive oil in a heavy based pan. Sear all the lobster tail meat pieces until bright red. Remove lobster tail meat from pan - at this point you can start to de-glaze the pan (see further on) and cook any extra shellfish.
FOR THE RAVIOLI
Mix the cooked lobster tail with the chopped chives and paprika, and place on the ravioli sheet, about a tablespoon per parcel.
If you want extra zing, a little chili or a squeeze of lemon juice can be added. Again, be sure that the surface under the base pasta sheet is well dusted with flour and will not stick to the work surface. Then apply a light eggwash beween the food clusters and drape over the second sheet.
Press down between the food parcels, then using a glass or a cookie cutter cut carefully around them. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal. 5 minutes before the sauce is ready, drop the ravioli parcels in boiling water. They will float to the surface when cooked.
If you are in any way nervous about the parcels splitting, you can also use a steamer or fish kettle, although this will make the pasta a little dry, but it's still nice
FOR THE SAUCE
While preparing the lobster ravioli packages, put the white wine on the pan to deglaze. Reduce by half
If you have mussels, cockles or other shell fish, you can also add these to the wine during the reduction process to cook. I now always use mussels as it adds to the presentation
When the wine is reduced remove and put aside any extra cooked shellfish.
Add cream, Madeira/Sherry and seasonings, add the lobster claw meat to the pot and cook until the meat is cooked through, about 8 minutes.
Whisk in beurre manie a little at a time until sauce begins to thicken. Simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes. Return any extra shellfish 5 minutes from the end of cooking, the same time as you start to cook the ravioli parcels. Adjust seasonings and serve sauce over cooked ravioli, surrounded by the extra cooked shellfish.
This meal is very rich, and very adaptable. If you don't like the idea of making ravioli parcels, use the fresh pasta to make tagliatelle instead, and serve all the lobster meat over the pasta as a sauce, this will stretch the lobster meat even further.
Note 1* BEURRE MANIE
Best advice from Spectabilis of politicalworld.org
Beurre manié sounds fancy but its easy to have in store. Put a couple of ounces of butter in a bowl and melt it in the microwave or in a pot.
Then add the same volume of flour, stir well and cook again until it bubbles.
If you let it cool and store it in the fridge. It keeps for ages.
It will make a lump-free sauce in a minute - just flake into any boiling liquid- milk, stock wine or whatever - and whisk.
Note 2 **KILLING A LOBSTER
This is the most humane way to kill a lobster.
This is a living creature, and deserves to be dispatched as quickly as possible to reduce stress.
The main thing is to be quick, clean and confident - don't mess about.
This job is one that is best left to a 10 inch chefs' knife, and one with a good deal of heft.
Make sure the rubber bands around the claws stay on during this process, as you don't want to be dodging the claws while cutting up the lobster. Also, I would advise that you place a dishcloth under the animal for extra grip if at all nervous abour slipping.
To kill the animal as quickly as possible, you are going to cleave the brain in half.
You must first cut it in half down the center of the head part of the body.
You will find a crease in the shell that will give you guide and purchase.
In one movement pierce the shell to the cutting board and cleave forward between the eyes to finish the cut.
This kills the lobster as quickly and painlessly as possible.
