Tofu with Teriyaki sauce and sesame seeds

I've decided to declutter several boxes of recipes torn out of weekend magazines and food supplements, including a big stash of Feast magazines. I might still keep some of Rachel Roddy's column pages on the Italian food though.
Reading last year's Feast while sipping my coffee, I nodded in agreement with Fiona Beckett who wisely says "I know it's an unfashionable view these days, but January is not a time for abstention. Moderation maybe, but no booze at all? That makes an already miserable month even more dismal."

It's not that we drink much. Certainly not on par with numerous Insta and Twitter posts, announcing it's Gin o'clock to the world. Last week when I was sorting out the recycling, I realised we only had 2 empty bottles to put in the black box - from a sweet dessert wine we opened days before Christmas, and champagne which we had for the new year's eve. Nothing like the full, overflowing black bins I've seen around in town. They must have been partying at full steam, lucky devils. 

I had a small sherry on the 7th to celebrate the Russian Christmas.

Then tomorrow, on the 14th of January, the Russians will be celebrating the so called Old New Year (the start of the new year according to the Julian calendar). It's not a formal holiday, but is traditionally observed with parties and having family get-togethers. I might raise a glass of something like a G&T to mark the occasion, though that would depend on what I'm going to cook. I usually make evening meal plans in the morning.

So, not a Dry January for me then.

I have had no plans for Veganuary either, but that doesn't mean we don't eat meals which happen to be vegan-friendly.

There was a Blue Dragon Teriyaki Street Food Skewers kit in the latest Degustabox.
Last Monday I cooked tofu, using the kit, which includes a Teriyaki sauce sachet, a Teriyaki marinade, sesame seeds and skewers. The kit has the advantage that all the necessary ingredients are present. The only thing I didn't use is the skewers.

Tofu with teriyaki sauce and sesame seeds
Ingredients:
1 pack of Cauldron tofu
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 sweet pepper
1 kit of Blue Dragon Teriyaki Street Food Skewers
OR
Teriyaki marinade
Teriyaki sauce
sesame seeds
+
rice and peas

Put cubed tofu in marinade for about 20 minutes.
In the meantime, chop a couple of carrots and a red sweet pepper. After cooking them for about 5 minutes in a big frying pan, add tofu, splash the Teriyaki sauce and finally sprinkle sesame seeds.
Cook for another 5 minutes stirring frequently.
Serve tofu with rice and peas.

My younger son loved it so much, he requested it for the next day. And while I could easily find all the other ingredients, I couldn't find Blue Dragon kit in the local Waitrose.

Rather than change the plans, I simply bought a bottle of Teriyaki marinade, a jar of Teriyaki sauce and a small bag of sesame seeds.

It's not much of a recipe, I agree, but do give it a go, if you haven't tried tofu before.
The brand I used is Cauldron (it's organic and GMO-free).

My son asked me today to cook the same dish again, so I promised to oblige him one day this week.

Are you observing Dry January or Veganuary?

Salmon fishcakes with kimchi

Some time around Christmas I have seen a small feature in one of the food supplements, on what to do with leftover kimchi. I remember thinking that it was not exactly an ingredient that would be so easily found in many kitchens. I think it was a recipe for potato cakes with kimchi, but rather than that I don't remember much. It was most likely The Guardian's Feast, but looking through my boxes of recipes from newspapers, I cannot seem to find it. It might have been recycled, or is hidden somewhere until Doomsday in our house. I tried to google, but couldn't find the one I had in mind.
If anyone remembers that recipe article, and knows what I am talking about, please let me know.

I recently opened a jar of kimchi to cook a tinned tuna and kimchi soup, but there was still 2/3 left.
One of the possible recipe ideas was to use it in fishcakes.

I had a small pack of two salmon fillets (220g), which needed using. I have removed the skin, and chopped the salmon into small cubes.

Salmon fishcakes with kimchi
Ingredients:
1 big potato (580g with skin)
220g salmon, cubed
1tsp mustard
1tsp ketchup
1 medium egg
3tbsp self-raising flour
2tbsp finely chopped parsley
kimchi (about 1tsp per fishcake)
Breadcrumbs

Peel the potato, slice into quarters and cook in salted water until soft. Drain the water, mash the potato. Once cooled, add the mustard, ketchup, chopped salmon, egg, flour, kimchi and parsley and mix well.

Using a tablespoon, scoop up a biggish lump of salmon potato mix and drop into a plate with breadcrumbs, carefully turn it over, so that the fishcakes are covered with crumbs on both sides.
Place the fishcakes on the griddle pan, which has been lightly oiled. Place the griddle in the oven preheated to 180C and bake for about 20 minutes.

Skip kimchi, if you don't have it. I actually didn't put it in all fishcakes, as I thought my guys might not like the idea.

In this recipe I used Sainsbury's pistachio & herb crust breadcrumbs (they also have dried onion in the mix), but any decent breadcrumbs will work.

Serve hot, with a salad, or roasted peppers and olives. It is also lovely in a bun, like a burger.

Gluten free potato blini and salmon cured in gin

Jay Rayner always makes me chuckle. Christmas edition of Observer Food Monthly had another funny editorial written by him. In it he gives us 10 Christmas food commandments.

Commandment no.1 from Jay says "Thou shalt not mistake Nigella, Mary and Jamie for the Lord, thy God. Those Christmas specials are only TV programmes. They're entertainment, not a blueprint for how your Christmas is meant to be. Yours won't be anything like that because you don't have battalions of home economists to knock up the food and set designers to decorate the house. Even Nigella's won't be like that".
And how true is that. This rule should apply to all dinners we host. And if the only paper napkins I could find at Easter are Christmas-themed because I bought five packs on offer after Christmas, kind friends won't judge me on that (or if they do, they won't tell me).

We had a wonderful dinner last night with our close friends, two of their children go to school with Sash, and one of their boys is in the same school as Eddie, only a year older.
Cooking is one of pleasures of life for me, a creative outlet and more than a hobby. I would say a vocation, though an unpaid one.

I considered preparing a different starter for our new year's eve, as I tend serving blini with home-cured salmon as a starter frequently, but then I thought that this is one of my favourite starters. It looks festive and tastes great. I did tweak both recipes though.

As one of our friends is a coeliac, I cook all dishes gluten free when they come for dinner. Last year I also cooked gluten free blini, but this time I added some mashed potatoes to the recipe, and the little pancakes turned out to be very fluffy and thick. Everyone seemed to enjoy them, including my fussy boys.

Gluten free potato blini (makes 18+ blini)
Ingredients:
1 potato (100g)
2 medium eggs
125ml milk
125ml water
250g gluten free flour (I used Doves Farm gluten free flour)
1tsp baking powder
2tbsp melted butter + more butter for frying
sea salt
First cook a potato in skin in salted boiling water. Once cooked, let it cool, peel off the skin and mash the potato with a fork. Beat in two eggs, add milk and water, and mix well. Sift in the flour and baking powder, add melted butter and season with sea salt until you get thick smooth batter.

Place the pancake pan (with four cups) over medium heat, add a small amount of butter or cooking spray. The pan should be hot but not smoking, or the blini will be quickly burnt.
Pour a tablespoon of pancake batter in each cup. Cook for about 3 minutes on one side, then carefully flip over each pancake with a knife, and cook for another minute or two, until golden.

These blini make a great base for all sorts of toppings. Smoked salmon is wonderful on blini. Serve with a ready-made smoked salmon or make your own a day in advance, pickles, lemon slices, soured cream with dill, or whatever topping you fancy.

Salmon cured in gin
Ingredients:
340g salmon fillet
100g sea salt, flakes
100g caster sugar
1/2tsp caraway seeds
1tbsp juniper berries, crushed
100ml gin, unflavoured (or vodka)

1. Lay the salmon in a deep baking dish lined with a big piece of cling film.
2. Add the salt, sugar, caraway seeds and crushed juniper to a small bowl and mix well.
3. Press the salt and seeds mix evenly all over both sides of the salmon. Pour gin or vodka over it.
4. Wrap the salmon in cling film carefully, trying to contain all liquid inside the film. Place another smaller dish on top and weigh down with some heavy tins.
Place in the fridge for 24+ hours.
5. To serve, unwrap the cling film and rinse off the salt in cold water. Pat dry with kitchen paper. Slice the salmon thinly and place on a serving plate with crayfish tails (optional).

I use two heavy ceramic baking dishes for preparing the fish, one smaller size goes on top.

If you want to add colour, grate a raw peeled beetroot into the salt mix.
You will surely wow your guests with such a delicious starter.

Stella Artois Cured Salmon with Pickled Cucumber, Horseradish Cream & Stella Artois Barley Crispbreads

Homecured salmon always makes a great starter - it looks impressive and tastes delicious. I quite often cure a big slice of salmon with salt, sugar, selection of herbs and spices and usually vodka. And it's the first time I have tried a recipe for the salmon cured with a beer. Stella Artois as an ingredient in cooking adds a special flavour to the cured salmon.
Jimmy Doherty has recently partnered with AB InBev to open the Barley Beerstro, a unique dining experience that puts emphasis on beer and barley as ingredients in cooking. Jimmy has designed an inspired taster menu, using some of the most popular beers in the UK.
Each recipe uses barley as a base ingredient.
I was inspired to recreate his recipe for Stella Artois cured salmon. I don't often drink beer, but if I do, it's usually a Peroni, Birra Moretti or Stella.

Stella Artois Cured Salmon with Pickled Cucumber, Horseradish Cream & Stella Artois Barley Crispbreads will make a splendid starter for a festive meal (think Christmas or any other occasion when you are entertaining).
It is a delicious starter, made with the beautiful natural ingredient, barley, a key ingredient in beer, including Stella Artois.

Stella Artois Cured Salmon with Pickled Cucumber, Horseradish Cream & Stella Artois Barley Crispbreads (recipe courtesy of Jimmy Doherty)

Prep notes: For easy on the night preparation of this dish both the pickled cucumber and crispbreads can be made up to one-week in advance, and stored well in airtight containers. The Stella Artois cured salmon is able to be cured up to 3-4 days in advance.
Tip: The salmon can be left for a further 24 hours for a more intense flavour.

Ingredients:
For the Salmon
400g side of salmon fillet
100g sea salt flakes
100g caster sugar
1/2tbsp fennel seeds, crushed
1/2tbsp coriander seeds, crushed
1 bunch of dill, finely chopped
100ml Stella Artois

For the Stella Artois Barley Crispbreads
200g barley flour
200g spelt flour
1/2tsp fine sea salt
7g dried fast action yeast
350ml Stella Artois
40g barley flakes
40g pumpkin seeds
20g linseeds
Rapeseed oil

For the Pickled Cucumber
1x500ml clip top preserving jar
1 whole cucumber, peeled and deseeded
1tsp salt
80g caster sugar
100ml white wine vinegar
10g dill, finely chopped

For the Horseradish Cream
200ml creme fraiche
1tbsp creamed horseradish
salt and pepper

Method
For the Salmon
1. Lay the salmon in a deep sided baking tin lined with a double layer of cling film.
2. Add the salt, sugar, fennel seeds, coriander seeds and dill to a small bowl; mix well.
3. Press the cure mix evenly all over both sides of the salmon. Drizzle Stella Artois over it.
4. Wrap the salmon in cling film, and use extra cling film if necessary to enclose the salmon and cure completely. Place another tray on top and weigh down with some heavy tines.
Place in the fridge overnight.
5. To serve, unwrap the cling film and scrape off all the cure mix. Rinse in cold water and pat dry with kitchen paper. Slice the salmon thinly and place on a serving plate accompanied by the crispbread, cucumber pickle and horseradish cream.

I used two heavy ceramic baking dishes for preparing the fish, one smaller size went on top. The salmon I cooked was over 500g, so I have adjusted the amount of salt, sugar and spices accordingly.

I didn't bake my own crispbreads as I couldn't find barley flakes and barley flour. I might find them locally, if I visit all delis and health food shops in town, but it's being summer holidays, I had no chance. Shopping with my younger son is not a walk in the garden as it is, he starts asking "Are you nearly finished?" as soon as I put the first item of my shopping list in the basket.

But - in case you fancy trying the full Monty, here is the recipe for Stella Artois Barley Crispbreads.

For the Stella Artois Barley Crispbreads
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.  <--- I presume, that's after the dough has risen, as you wouldn't keep it on empty for over an hour.
2. Add the barley, spelt flours, salt and yeast to a medium bowl.
3. Make a well in the centre and pour in the Stella Artois. Mix well until it comes together into a dough.
4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Return the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a piece of cling film and leave to rise for 1 hour until doubled in size.
5. Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly flour dusted work surface. Add the barley flakes, pumpkin and flax seeds. Knead well to fully incorporate all the seeds.
6. Divide the dough into quarters, place one ball of dough on a baking sheet between two sheets of lightly oiled baking parchment. Cover the dough you're not working with in a piece of cling film to prevent it from drying out.
7. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough until very thin. Use a fork to make dot marks all over the crispbread, drizzle with a little rapeseed oil. Cover once more with a sheet of baking parchment. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and crisp.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. Break into shards to serve.
9. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.

For the Pickled Cucumber
1. Cut the cucumber into 2cm slices on an angle and place in a bowl.
2.Sprinkle over the salt. Leave for 10 minutes to let the cucumber absorb the salt.
3. Rinse the cucumber in cold water; gently squeeze out any excess water.
4. Add the cucumber to a bowl.
5. Heat the sugar and vinegar together in a small saucepan, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before pouring over the cucumber. Stir in the dill. Store in the fridge in a sealed preserving jar.

I sliced the cucumber thinly rather than into 2cm pieces.

For the Horseradish Cream
1. Mix the creme fraiche and the horseradish, season with a little salt and pepper and serve.

Serve with a cold chalice of Stella Artois.

This is an excellent recipe. I have discovered that the beer works very well in preparing cured salmon. The pickled cucumbers and horseradish cream were a lovely touch too.
If you don't want to make your own crispbreads, Peter's Yard makes outstanding sourdough crispbreads.
I tend to make little size blini to serve as a base for the salmon topping with soured cream and dill.

And while it might not be a budget recipe as such, it is much more economic to make your own cured salmon, as any fancy smoked salmon piece of this size would cost an arm and a leg.

Disclosure: I received a supermarket voucher to cover the cost of the ingredients to try and test the recipe.

Poached salmon salad with soft-boiled eggs

May is almost over, and it was good weather-wise. We had quite a few meals, sitting in our garden, enjoying the sun and the birdsong. It was a month of salads. Different ingredients and cuisines - but eggs featured prominently. I love adding eggs to a lot of salads, like the Poached salmon salad with soft-boiled eggs.

Poached salmon salad with soft-boiled eggs (serves 2)
Ingredients:
250g salmon (2 pieces)
1tbsp olive oil
1 fennel bulb, sliced thinly
1 small carrot, thinly sliced (optional)
50ml white wine (optional)
2 medium eggs
1/2 cucumber
a handful of olives and sun-dried tomatoes
mixed salad leaves
dressing made from 1tbsp honey, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar and 2 tbsp olive oil


First prepare the poached salmon. In a deep frying pan cook the thinly sliced fennel for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. I also added a bit of carrot, for the extra flavour.
Place the salmon on top of the fennel. Season with sea salt and a bit of pepper. Pour a bit of white wine. Cover the pan with the lid and cook on low for about 10+ minutes until the fish is cooked and flaky.
While the fish is cooking, prepare the soft-boiled eggs in boiling water.

Assemble the salad: first the mixed leaves, then a few pieces of cooked fennel and thinly sliced cucumber. Flake the salmon and scatter over the leaves. Add the olives and sun-dried tomatoes.
Make a simple dressing from the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and honey. Drizzle over the salad. Add one soft-boiled egg on top. If you prefer, use a poached egg.

This is an easy dish, yet immensely satisfying. It makes a perfect lunch. The egg is not just a garnish here, but an ingredient which adds an extra flavour and texture.

For more egg facts and information, visit Egginfo.

Disclosure: As part of the ShortcutEggsperts programme promoted by British Lion Eggs, I received vouchers for creating a recipe using the eggs.

Salmon & Asparagus Stroganoff (Dhruv Baker's recipe for Tilda rice)

I have tried quite a lot of Stroganoff recipes, with beef, pork, chicken and turkey, but never with salmon. When I saw Dhruv Baker's recipe for Salmon Stroganoff, I just had to try it. This is such an interesting twist on a classic Russian dish.
The original Beef Stroganoff (Бефстроганов Befstróganov) was named after Count Grigorii Stroganov (1770-1857), who belonged to one of the wealthiest Russian families and served as an Ambassador to Sweden, Spain and Turkey. As a famous gourmand, he kept only the best chefs in his household(s). The legend says that Beef Stroganoff was invented by a Russian chef, who was Stroganoff's serf.
Fast forward a couple of centuries, and this Russian dish is well known around the world.

MasterChef winner Dhruv Baker has teamed up with Tilda rice to create a Tilda Rice & Spice Guide.
Each of Tilda's rice varieties offers a distinctive flavour tone and texture highlight that can be matched perfectly with dishes and spices from around the globe".

For salmon Stroganoff, Tilda suggests using Basmati & Wild rice. "The nutty wholesome taste of the wild rice matches perfectly with the Basmati grain, adding a visual twist to any dish".

Salmon & Asparagus Stroganoff (serves 4) (recipe reproduced with kind permission from Tilda rice)
Ingredients:
240g Tilda Basmati & Wild rice
1tbsp olive oil
500g salmon fillet, cubed
200g button mushrooms
125g asparagus tips, cut into 3cm pieces
200g low fat cream cheese
100ml semi skimmed milk
1/2tsp smoked paprika
1/2 20g pack chives, chopped

1.Cook the rice in boiling water for 25 minutes, drain.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the salmon and mushrooms for 3-4 minutes.
3. Stir in the asparagus, cream cheese, milk and paprika and cook for 1-2 minutes. Season to taste.
4. Mix the chives into the rice and serve with the salmon stroganoff.

It was a lovely combination of flavours and textures. The mix of wild & Basmati rice might be an unusual side dish for Stroganoff, but it works well. The only thing I missed was a tangy note of soured cream. For me Stroganoff must have a soured cream among its ingredients. I followed Dhruv Baker's recipe precisely (only halved the ingredients for 2 of us, as my boys don't like salmon), but if I cook it next time, I will swap the cream cheese for the soured cream.

You can download the Tilda Rice & Spice Guide (just click on the link on the page).

If you liked this recipe, you might enjoy another of Dhruv Baker's recipes for Tilda - Qabili Pilau.

Salmon in aspic à la Russe

There are literally hundreds of recipes for fish in aspic in the Russian cuisine, made of all kinds of fish and with different ingredients. I have consulted a few of my Russian cook books, and then proceeded to make my own version. I needed to clear space in the freezer and it was time to cook the salmon heads I bought just after Christmas for less than a pound (thinking of making the fish stock).

Salmon in aspic à la Russe
Ingredients:
2 salmon heads (about 900g)
150g salmon fillet
1 onion
1 carrot
1 lemon
peppercorn, bay leaves, cloves
a handful of fresh coriander (or parsley)
1 sachet of Dr Oetker gelatine
a handful of pomegranate seeds
1/2tsp Schwartz Perfect Shake Fish herb & spice blend

First prepare the fish stock, which will be the base for the aspic. Place two salmon heads in a big pan with 1 onion and 1 peeled carrot. Add all the spices and salt. Pour enough water to cover the fish. Cook for about an hour. Discard the onion (this is one of the foods that makes me gag, a boiled onion. I like the flavour in soups, but cannot eat the onion itself). Cook the salmon fillet in the same pan for the last 10 minutes, just put it on top of the heads, sprinkle with Schwartz herb & spice blend, cover the pan with the lid. Squeeze at least half a lemon into the stock.
In a measuring jug, add 100ml of hot boiling fish stock and pour the contents of Dr Oetker gelatine pouch in, stir well until all the gelatine is dissolved. Add more fish stock, to make 500ml of liquid.
Take a jelly mould or a big oval dish. Scatter the pomegranate seeds on the bottom and carefully pour some of the stock, about 1cm in height. Slice the carrot into little circles and add a few in the mould. You might cut flower or star shapes with the mini-cutters, if you like.
Place the mould in the fridge for about 15 minutes. Once the jelly starts to set, take the dish/mould out.
Flake the salmon fillet. Open the salmon heads, remove the skin and bones, use the flesh bits including the cheeks (not sure of that's the right term). Place about 1/3 of all fish in the mould, add some thin lemon slices, more coriander and carrot stars. Pour the stock with gelatine over. Place the mould in the fridge.

Once starting to set, repeat until all the fish and stock is used.
The fish will be set in a couple of hours, but best left to set for a few hours. Let's say, cook it all before lunch to have for dinner. The result was quite pretty, very delicate and tasty


Now the fish stock I prepared was not as clear as I wanted it to be. I think if you strain it through a clean muslin it might get clearer. Salmon is quite a fatty fish, so the stock was very rich.

Whenever I cook the fish soup or stock, I mentally salute to my great grandma Alexandra.
She worked as a cook in the baron's household before the Revolution of 1917, and used to say that when they prepared the fish stock, they cleared it by throwing a handful of caviar in the pot for a few minutes, which seemed to do the trick. The caviar sort of coagulated all the bits together. Then the caviar was discarded.

Great grandma Alexandra

I am not in the same profligate category like the cooks of the old days, and don't have spare caviar anyway.

I was also trying to find an old photo of my parents, sitting in the garden, with a big bucket of freshly caught fish and cleaning it for whatever dish they were cooking. In that photo they were just newlyweds and looked so happy in each other's company. I searched high and low for a copy of the photo but couldn't find it (I really should ask my Mum to make a copy). My Dad was an avid fisherman, and whenever we visited our family in the south, he used to go fishing.
The smell of the freshly cooked fish is forever associated in my mind with my childhood, and long summer days, when my Mum cooked the tasty dishes in the open-air summer kitchen.

Fish in aspic is not a dish they used to cook often, it was mostly reserved for celebrations like New Year's eve, 8th of March and other Soviet holidays. It brings back memories of many a party, with lots of friends and a table groaning under the weight of different platters of food.
This recipe is special for me, as it binds together my past and present.

As my foodie blogger friend Chris from Cooking Around the World has been "visiting" Russia this month, I am adding this recipe to his linky.

This post is an entry into the Foodies100/Schwartz Flavour of Together challenge.

If you have your own flavour story to share, visit Schwartz page.

Student's fish pie

Today I'm offering you a slightly glamorized version of a budget recipe for a fish pie which I used to cook often as a student. You can use any oily canned fish, like sardines or tuna, even the tomato sauce variety if you prefer. I had a tin of Princes pink salmon that I've seen on offer in Tesco, and used it for our yesterday's dinner. Of course, when I was a student, I'd have chosen a cheap tin. All the other ingredients were also easily available and cheap, and it makes a very tasty and easy-peasy pie.

Fish pie (serves 6+)

Ingredients:
1 tin of salmon (200g)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1tbsp vegetable oil+
1 mug of cooked rice (I used Tilda basmati)
Schwartz fish seasoning (optional)
250g low fat soured cream
250g low fat mayo
3 eggs
150g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
salt

First cook the rice in the boiling water, once done, rinse with the cold water and drain well. Then finely chop the onion and fry it with 1tbsp vegetable oil (or oil from the tinned fish), cook on low for about 10 minutes until the onion becomes translucent. Set aside and let it cool. Chop the spring onion and add to the onion. Mash the tinned fish and mix well with the onions, season with the fish seasoning if using.
Add the cooked rice, mix.
In a big mixing bowl beat together the eggs with the mayo and soured cream, add the flour and baking powder and mix again. The batter shouldn't be too thick, so that you can easily spoon it. If it is too thick, add a dash of milk and mix. The Russian mayo we used to cook with was of a runny variety, and worked very well in this recipe.
Take a cake tin or a deep pie dish and oil the inside of the tin a bit (you can also use the cake release oil, works a treat for this dish). Spoon in half of the batter. Put all the fish/rice mix on top. Spoon the remaining batter over the fish and rice.
Place the tin in the oven preheated to 180C and cook for about 45-50 minutes until the top is golden brown.
Take the tin out, let it rest for 5 minutes before carefully placing it on a plate.

Serve sliced. Great with pickles.

This recipe brings back memories of many a chat over a plate of the fish pie and numerous cups of tea with my friends. I had an old battered frying pan without a handle, which was blackened with age but worked really well, when I made my cakes and pies.

If using this recipe, buy the supermarket own mayo and soured cream rather than branded, so it will work as even less expensive.
I cooked this pie with Tilda basmati rice but again if you're counting the pennies, the supermarket varieties will be as fine.

Now some calculations:
Waitrose half fat mayo - £0.60
Waitrose soured cream h/f £1.10 (for 300ml) which is equivalent of £0.91 per 250ml
Princes pink salmon £1.50 (offer from tesco)
Tilda basmati - £4.49 per 1kg (also bought on offer a couple of weeks ago, when it was £3)
onion? about 10p?
essential Waitrose free range eggs 9 for £1.99 (22p each)
salad onions (about 8 in a bunch) for £0.95 (or 0.12 each)
with rice I'm not quite sure about the weight, as I didn't check, let's say I used less than 100g of dried rice so it would have been less than 30p.
I have a huge bag of flour, again not quite sure about the exact cost of 150g, but I didn't buy it specially for this dish.
The total cost would be about £4.30 for a big fish pie, which makes about 6 portions. If you use sardines, supermarket own rice and flour etc, it will be even less expensive.

Adding my budget recipe to £1 Recipe Challenge on Utterly Scrummy Food For Families Blog

and to January's Crunch Munch linky hosted by Fab Food for All blog and Fuss Free Flavours.

Liquid gold: Clarks honey

We eat lots of honey here, I don't know if it's thanks to my Russian origins (my husband claims he got addicted to tea with honey when he was in high school in Canada) but my kitchen always has a supply of different honeys. British honeys could easily compete with the honeys from all over the world. Honey is a tasty accompaniment to pancakes, blini, crumpets, it transforms the salad dressings, glaze, sauce, and is perfect for both sweet and savoury dishes. Clarks It! has created a new simple design for its Clear Honey.

Pancakes and honey, a marriage made in heaven

If you are a fan of Clarks maple syrup, you are familiar with their iconic splat design. This idea has been extended to a new design for Clarks honey: a flying bee over a flower. A clean striking design, deceptively simple and clear on the message that it contains British honey.
The brand is actively supporting the British Bee Farmers in its policy of blending the British honey.
Clarks think it is important to use a higher quantity of British honey, using 15% British honey - more than any other brand.
What makes Clarks different?
I was astonished to read that 90% of honey we consume is imported to the UK, most of it comes from Asia (80%). The British honey is pretty expensive. If you visit the farmers' market, you might have sighed at the prices. Saying that, I do want to support the local bee keepers and buy a few jars every time I have a chance to stumble upon the farmers' market.
Most of the honey-producing brands blend cheap Chinese and European honey, but are rather economic with the truth, saying it is a blend of EC and non-EC honeys.
I would love to know more about what I am buying, and welcome Clarks' initiative to include a more expensive British honey in the blend.
I would also love them to be more specific about the origins of the blend (it says on the jar "A blend of EC and non-EC honeys").
According to CEO and founder Bob Clark: "We realised that no one else produces a blended honey that contains British honey and we saw a great opportunity to be first to market. It was crucial that we had a brand and design that would stand out on shelf against the established players and communicate to consumers that they were getting British honey how they like it, clear and runny".

Runny honey changes a simple dish of porridge into a delightful treat.
My guys love their tea with a spoonful of honey. My husband adds it to his muesli or granola every morning. How about drizzling it over a fruit salad? Delicious!

Honey is a versatile ingredient. It adds a touch of sweetness and depth of flavours to a meat or fish dish.
Honey and soy sauce glazed salmon

And if you are feeling under the weather, have you tried a cup of hot milk with a spoonful of honey?

More recipes using honey:
Honey cake with walnuts and mascarpone
Honey cake with prunes and soured cream

For more information visit Clarks Honey UK

Disclosure: I received a breakfast hamper from Clarks (see the top image). All opinions are mine.

Honey and soy sauce glazed salmon

Honey and soy sauce glazed salmon
Ingredients:

2 big fillets of salmon (about 350g each)
1 lime (zest and juice)
3 tbsp soy sauce (I used Amoy Special Selection)
2 tbsp runny honey (for example, Clarks)
3tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 clove of garlic
1tbsp grated ginger (or frozen ginger flakes)
3 baby leeks

To make the glaze mix the following ingredients: the olive oil, honey, soy sauce, fish sauce, zest and juice of 1 lime, 1 finely chopped clove of garlic and some grated ginger (I confess I have a packet of ginger flakes in the freezer from Waitrose, very convenient for when you need just a small amount of ginger.) Don't worry about the amount of honey, 2tbsp might seem a lot for the fish, but as you add the juice and zest of 1 lime, it will counter-balance the flavours. But by all means, experiment yourself, this is not written in the Scriptures.
Slice the baby leeks.
Place the salmon fillets in a deep baking tray (the sauce will be splattering quite a bit, as you can see from the photo below). Scatter the leeks over the fish and leave it to marinade for at least half an hour before roasting/baking in the oven at 180C for about half an hour.
Serve hot with the rice.

The flavours are pretty amazing: the salmon is zingy and spicy, and very-very tasty. I had a medium piece left, and the next day made a potato salad with chopped potatoes, sliced apple and flaked fish (with the olive oil/lime dressing). It was lovely cold as well.

Many thanks to Darlene Schmidt for the inspiration. I have stumbled across her recipe for Salmon in Asian Soy, Honey & Ginger Sauce on About.com. I have adapted the recipe to suit the ingredients I had (I omitted the hoisin sauce and changed the quantities of the other ingredients etc but it was her recipe that inspired me. I have found quite a lot of soy and honey recipes for the salmon online, but this one was the most exciting).

Potato cakes with duck eggs and smoked salmon

Over a week ago I had a little chat with a fellow foodie blogger Dom from Belleau Kitchen on the subject of chives' flowers. He is a true artist in the kitchen, and his photo styling is always impeccable. I was impressed with his photos of a delicious celeriac soup (if you fancy to have a look and admire his photos, here is the recipe link): a pretty scattering of chives and a purple flower. Dom confessed that the flower was purely served as a decoration. I looked online on what you could do with the flowers of chives, and they are mostly used in salads and soups. Would they work in potato cakes?

The dinner on Sunday was a result of what I had in the kitchen (the smoked salmon needed to be eaten). I also bought a box of duck eggs at Cogges Manor Farm when we visited it earlier that day. And I had plenty of potatoes. Chives grow like weeds in the garden, and keep reappearing every year. I often use the green bits, but haven't eaten the flowers of chives, so this was an experiment for me.

Potato cakes with duck eggs and smoked salmon
Ingredients:
4 small to medium potatoes
1tbsp olive oil
4 heaped tbsp of Greek style yogurt (I used Chobani fat free plain yoghurt)
1tbsp plain flour
a handful of basil leaves
a handful of chives (including 5 flowers)
1 egg
salt, pepper
Cook the potato in salted boiling water (in skins). Once cooked, remove the skins and grate the potatoes. In a medium sized bowl mix the grated potatoes with the olive oil, Greek style yogurt, plain flour and chopped herbs. Add the flowers (just divide the purple mini flowers into sections). Season well.
Using hands, flatten the potato mix into 6 cakes. You can fry them, but I'm trying to cut down the calories, so baked them in the oven on a tray covered with foil and slightly sprayed with the olive oil.
Traditionally I would use a lot of butter and maybe mayo for the potato cakes, but this time Chobani and olive oil worked as a substitute perfectly well.
Cook in the oven at 180C for about 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Serve the warm potato cakes with slices of the smoked salmon and poached duck eggs.
I think adding the flowers to the potato cakes was a pretty good idea, they added a lovely flavour which wasn't overwhelming.

And that's why I love Twitter, you can stumble upon some tweets almost accidentally, get an idea (or in the words of the glorious Baldrick "I have a cunning plan!") and get inspired.