Sustainably caught Mediterranean Cod with Asparagus and Carrot Hummus

There’s something lovely about Cod with some seasonal asparagus, spruced up with a warm Mediterranean medley and a light dip, like carrot hummus which I made last week and which has featured in most of my lunches and evening meals as a ‘dollop-here’ and a ‘spoonful-there’ ever since.

You may be surprised about me being an advocate of the use of Cod in this recipe. For thousands of years Cod has been one of Europe’s favourite fish and its numbers have dwindled rapidly in the last few years as a result. It was this impending danger of the extinction of Cod in European waters which first aroused an awareness for sustainably caught fish and of course, the inability to eat Cod without tarnishing your conscience.

Only last year, on the 23rd of June, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified Cod as a sustainably and responsibly caught fish, which saw it emerging on our supermarket shelves and dinner plates once again.

I made this dish after finding some sustainable, line-caught caught Cod in my local supermarket and decided to pay homage to its delicious density and flaky texture, which has made it such a favourite for us Brits for years. More importantly though, I made it to remind myself of our impact on the earths resources and to enjoy Cod practically, to keep it in our oceans for many more years to come.

For the Cod

What’s great about Cod is that it is so versatile and can be cooked in a variety of ways. You can bake it in some grease proof paper in the oven with some lemon juice and herbs, pan-fry it in a little olive oil or, when the weather calls for it, stick it on the barbecue with some simple seasoning. If you do decide to barbecue, be sure to wrap the fillets in foil first. Cod has a tendency to break up and the foil will ensure that it all holds together. Another way is to pop it in the oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes and then whack the grill on full heat and finish the fillets of, skin side up, for a few minutes so that it’s nice and crisp.

For the Hummus

Boil a few carrots (maybe 5-6, depending on their size) in a little water with a clove of garlic. Once their tender drain them and keep them in a colander with the cold tap running for a few seconds to cool them down. If you have time, though, you could always put them in a bowl and pop them in the fridge to save water. Once cooled, blitz the carrots and garlic with a tablespoon of Tahini in a blender. Chill in the fridge until use.

For the Asparagus

Simply snap of the fibrous ends and plop in a pan with some water and steam until tender.

For the Mediterranean Medley (makes for two)

you will need:

2-3 tomatoes

2 tbsp of Capers

a few stoned olives

olive oil

cider vinegar or white wine vinegar

fresh herbs such as dill, parsley or coriander

half a red onion (one if it’s small)

Chop everything up and heat in a pan with the olive oil and cider vinegar until the tomatoes are soft and sweet.

Once everything has cooked and chilled, dot a few spoonfuls of carrot hummus around two plates. Then divide the steamed asparagus between them and top with the cooked Cod. Finally, top with the Mediterranean medley and serve with a slice of lemon.

WOMAD (World Of Music And Dance) Festival

I recently wrote a preview of WOMAD Festival which is coming to Charlton Park in Malmesbury this July from Friday the 27^th until Sunday the 29th for Quench, Cardiff University’s student magazine. I’ve posted it here but you can check out the rest of the magazine and the double page article it features in on page 35 which previews a few of the finest foodie festivals in Britain.   http://issuu.com/gairrhydd/docs/quench_-_issue_123

WOMAD

All those who have a penchant for music, dance, food and exploring different cultures will be delighted to know that the World Of Music And Dance (WOMAD) Festival is returning to Charlton Park in Malmesbury this July from Friday the 27^th until Sunday the 29^th. Alongside a tantalising array of artists from all over the world, including Jimmy Cliff from Jamaica, NZ Shapelifters from New Zealand and Lo’Jo from Algeria, festival  goers are guaranteed the chance to indulge their taste buds with food from Mali to Madagascar. But it’s not just a case of mooching around hundreds of stalls to find out which country’s traditional dishes hit your spot. The WOMAD team have been extra creative this year and have come up with some ingenious ways to immerse their visitors into different cultures through food, music and dance; Taste The World Food shows get artists preparing and cooking their favourite dishes with a side order of spontaneous music whilst Adult workshops allow culture vultures to step into the world of the artist and enjoy an opportunity for cultural exchange, active participation, collaboration and musical exploration. And there are plenty of other ways to appreciate multiculturalism and enjoy the real sense of shared community which WOMAD highly encourages. Anyone interested in going can sign up to partake in the festival’s Human Library and become a ‘human book’, sharing and learning something new from your others experiences. It really does sound like the perfect place to feed both mind, tummy and, as cheesy as it may sounds, soul. And if you can’t wait until July, fear not, you can sample the festival at Bristol Zoo on Saturday June the 30^th. Just WOMderful.

Tags: dance, festivals, malmesbury, music, womad, world food

Chocolate Mousse (but not as you know it)

Like most women, I have a sweet tooth and love chocolate. What I love more, however, is making things which taste just like chocolate, whilst forfeiting the saturated fat, refined sugar, dairy etc. I made this chocolate mousse for a girlfriend of mine last week when the bout of good weather we’ve had recently had just begun and I had a good excuse to invite someone over for a spot of alfresco dining. It’s made from avocados (lots of good monounsaturated fats), dark cocoa (although carob is a better option for those who go caffeine-free) and a couple of dates. That’s it. And it tastes divine. The secret is to blits the ripe avos up and add the cocoa and dates to your taste. I make it with Medjool dates which are available from Sainsbury’s Extra Special range. They’re really big plump and sweet and I find 4 is enough if your making mousse for two. Make sure you pop your mousse in the fridge for at least an hour before serving, so that it can set and become extra creamy and decadent. Here’s what I used to make the amount pictured above…

2 medium ripe avocados

4 Sainsbury’s Extra Special Medjool dates

2 tbsp Cadbury’s Bournville Cocoa Powder for drinking or baking

Tags: alfresco, dairy-free, dessert, healthy, Medjool dates, no refined sugar, Sainsbury's Extra Special, wheat-free

Pettigrew Tea Rooms, Cardiff – the perfect place to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee

Tea drinking is a global ritual. In Marrakech, you can’t wander around the souks without being ushered in by a street stall owner to enjoy a cup of sugary mint tea. In Malaysia,  tea plantations stretch for miles across the country and are a must-see on the travelers trail, where black tea is harvested and brewed to perfection. In China, its inhabitants are said to drink the most tea in the world, closely followed by India, where the well renowned ‘Darjeeling’ leaf is grown and enjoyed in masses. Personally, however, I think it’s us Brits who linger at the top of the tea-drinking ranks. We are a nation where drinking tea is part of the everyday and lies at the very core of our culture. Indeed, whilst I can’t think of starting my day without a lovely brew, there’s nothing more quintessentially British than a classic cream tea with scones, jam and clotted cream or afternoon tea, with cakes, scones and cucumber sandwiches. Which is why when I discovered Pettigrew Tea Rooms, one of the newest additions to Cardiff’s growing cafe scene, I couldn’t resist stopping in for a pot-ter.

Perfectly located at the entrance to Bute Park, near the Millennium Stadium,  Pettigrew Tea Rooms is close enough to the center of Cardiff to make it obtainable and far enough inside the gates of Bute Park, Cardiff’s beautiful walled gardens and home of the River Taf, for a slice of tranquility. They serve a lovely range of teas, including Earl Grey, Organic Lavender Grey, Sencha Green Tea and Angel Peach Tea; a delicate blend of Sencha green tea and fruity peach. I had the Angel Peach and was pleased to find upon its arrival that all PT teas are loose leaf and come served in a large pot for one with beautiful bone china tea-cups and a strainer, so you don’t have to fish out the brewed leaves with your teaspoon – which would be terribly uncouth, wouldn’t it?

There’s also a good selection of homemade cakes, lovingly displayed in a glass cabinet inside the cafe, which is set in The West Lodge, an extension of Cardiff Castle, just a few meters away.

Sandwiches on the menu sound delicious and when I go again -  which I definitely will – I’ll be trying the beetroot and goats cheese salad.

But what most will be after in the next coming weeks with the onset of the Queen’s Jubilee is Pettigrew’s afternoon tea. At £13.50 a pop or £24.95 for two, it includes your choice of fine loose leaf tea, a selection of mixed elegant finger sandwiches, two scones, local fruit preserve, clotted cream & your choice of cake – a very good deal indeed. Especially when compared with the price of the afternoon tea at Cliveden House in Berkshire where the winners of this weeks task on The Apprentice were sent after breaking deals for online deal-of-the-day company KeyNoir. At a staggering £550 per person, tea at Cliveden includes white truffles, Beluga Cavier, Da Hong Pao, a rare tea which is harvested from one-thousand-year-old plants and a glass of Dom Perignon Rose. Whilst sounding delightful, I’d much rather save myself a pretty penny and take a “leaf” out of Alan Sugar’s book by grabbing a deal when I can see one and celebrating Queen Liz’s 60 year reign with a traditional tea at Pettigrew Tea Rooms, ta.

Tags: cardiff, afternoon tea, green tea, river taf, queen's jubilee

Brick Lane, London

Despite the smog, masses of tarmac and crowded underground transport, I find London can be such a breathe of fresh air. I love the fact that you can arrive at Paddington station, surrounded by tourists and packaged wrapped shops like M&S and Sainsbury’s, jump on the tube and in minutes step out onto Brick Lane – a cultural melting pot  with exciting food and equally exciting people. I spent the afternoon wandering around SundayUp market a few weeks ago, taking in the sights, sounds and smells. The food was incredible and I had huge trouble choosing from healthy vegan stalls with piles of colorful looking dishes, traditional Turkish spinach and feta wraps and North African stews. After browsing the second-hand stalls in the  in the Old Brewery, where all the action is set, I spent the rest of the day drinking mango lassis and playing Carrom, a traditional Indian board game, with the locals. I didn’t win, but I definitely left feeling like I’d had a trophy of a day…

‘Anything Goes’ Round Lettuce Wraps

Summer inspires all sorts of lawless, alfresco eating. Yes, ice-cream and shed-loads of barbecued meat are probably the more obvious examples of naughty sunny dining, but there is a bit of an ‘oh-what-the-heck’ feel about these ‘Anything Goes’ Round Lettuce Wraps – even if they are literally salad in, well, salad. You can throw just about anything into the mix before wrapping up and chomping down. Just chop things real small so you can fit it all comfortably into your lettuce leaf. I use Round Lettuce because, as well as being cheap, I like the colour and texture – more tender at the top of the leaf with a bit of crunch when you get to the end. But you can use any variety; Romaine, Cos, Iceberg…The List goes on. For the salad filler, rummage around in your cupboard and fridge and fish out anything that takes your fancy.

I quite like grating some carrot, dicing  a few tomatoes and throwing them in with plenty of herbs, olives, capers, chopped red pepper and some cucumber and drizzling with olive oil and a splash of cider vinegar or lemon juice. Super-quick, mighty healthy and so delicious, light and crisp for a summer lunch.

I also like the fact that you have to eat these with your hands – and it can get quite pleasantly messy. The best way to serve them, I say, is to mix all your chopped and dressed salad onto a board with a round lettuce, still in tact, on the side so you and your lunch buddy can tear off your own leaves and fill them with salad as you go.  Sx

Tags: alfresco, capers, cucumber, dill, healthy, lettuce, olives, onion, pepper, salad, tomato, wraps

A Run on the Wild Side: foraging for wild garlic in Bute Park, Cardiff

Ever since watching MasterChef contestants combing for ingredients in the fields and hedgerows of Cumbria with expert forager and Michelin-starred chef Simon Rogan, I’ve become quite drawn to the idea of foraging. What’s not to like about picking your own fresh herbs and foliage  from a nearby field, for FREE? None. Apart from the danger of being ravaged by stinging nettles in the event of forgetting your gloves, or worse yet, contracting a nasty stomach ache after mistakenly picking a few poisonous species of plants. These cons, along with the unpredictability of weather (one advantage of Tescos- if any- is that you don’t have to prepare for torrential rain on your weekly shop) were high on my list of reasons why not to give foraging a bash. Before finding an article on foraging for wild garlic on The Guardian’s Word of Mouth last week, that is.

 

Upon reading it, I was assured by Kate Homer that the humble garlic plant is harmless in comparison to its popular foraging counterpart, nettle, and whilst its wild garlic leaf looks very similar to the  toxic Lily of the Valley, its pungent smell makes it easily distinguishable. All that was left to convince me was the promise of a dry outing – which was almost instantly granted when the clouds cleared and the sun (finally) began to shine  in Cardiff earlier this week. I wasted no time in donning my trainers and running to Bute Park where I found an abundance of sweet-smelling wild garlic growing under the shade by the River Taff, which I proceeded to pick and take home for dinner. I enjoyed mine quite simply, by lightly frying them in a little oil (as Homer suggests) and serving them as a side. But there are plenty of other fancier ways of making use of them –  one being Forager’s Fritters, a fantastic recipe I found on a blog I follow called Food to Glow. And if you don’t fancy eating them, their pretty white flowers make them a good centerpiece too, with the exception of the added whiff…Sx

Tags: bute park, food to glow, foraging, the guardian, wild garlic