Mushroom & Cashew Nut Stroganoff / Lemon seasoned brown rice / buttered baby carrots

image courtesy of bbc good food

Its been a while since i ate / made a mushroom stroganoff. I do however get the urge once in a while to make and eat one, even if it is to relive some halcyon days from my years in the industry. Theres a number of things i like about it, the tanginess and mellow spices, the earthy mushroom flavour and of course its hearty and homely feel. This recipe in particualrly aims to bring out all of those elements, whilst at the same time creating a delicate balance of them all.

You will need (makes a faily sized batch serves 4-5):


1 Kilo of close cupped mushrooms, sliced
2 Onions, finely diced
2 Cloves of garlic, crushed
75g of cashew nuts
50g of pickled gherkins, diced
2 Red peppers, skinned, seeded and cut into 1 cm strips
125ml of milk, 125ml of double cream mixed
1 Tablespoon of Dijon mustard
Healthy splash of Worcestershire sauce
Seasoning
Paprika

The doing bit:


Sauté off the mushrooms, once soft set aside to drain in a colander

Fry off the onions and garlic till soft; add the peppers and cashew nuts. Cook for a couple of minutes.

Add cream / milk and reduce then season

Once thickened add mustard and the Worcestershire sauce, stir in the mushrooms and gurkins, check the seasoning and serve.

For the rice (4/5 person batch)

350g brown rice
2 lemons, zested and juiced. keep the peels though we will use these as well
Handful fresh coriander chopped.
tsbp butter or margarine

Cooke the rice as normal in water until the rice begins to soften. Strain the rice then add the rice to a large oven tray adding the lemon juice, lemon peel and zest and mix thoroughly. Ad the butter, then vover the tray with greaseproof paper and tinfoil and put into oven at about 200C. Check every five minutes until done. When done remove the lemon peel, and stir in the coriander. Serve.

For the carrots:

allow 5/6 baby carrots per person. Cook in a pan of hot water with 1 tsbp sugar added. When cooked to preference, strain and serve with 3/4 portions of herb butter (optional) or alternatively glaze with ordinary butter or margarine.

Poached salmon fillet / hollondaise / canarian new potatoes / griddled asparagus

Image courtesy of splashfoods.co.uk

*part of the Sizzling Staffordshire menu series*

This version of the classic dish brings to the table a healthy balance of protein and nutrients whilst appealing to the luxuriated palate. It also brings in an influence from the outskirts of Europe, with the influence of canarian potatoes, whilst retaining the elements of the traditional classic.

Salmon is one of my favourite fishes as it is incredibly versatile, full of flavour and exceedingly good for you. In recent years I've also noticed its becoming cheaper and cheaper, which not only presents an advantage from a consumer perspective, but it also gives me faith in the fact that supplies of freshwater fish are becoming responsibly renewable.

You will need (serves 2):

2 fillets of salmon, skin on (size dependent on preference).
12 spears of asparagus, (trimmed if large)
8 moderate salad potatoes (jersey are ideal)
1 batch of 2 egg hollondaise (leftovers can be saved and chilled)
1 batch pink fish poaching liquor
1 and 1/2 tbsp Sea salt


The doing bit:

For the potatoes

Add the sea salt to 750ml of water. Add the potatoes and bring to the boil then simmer until cooked. Strain potatoes then add to large frying pan with the asparagus and a small amount of oil. Serve when asparagus is cooked.

For the salmon:

Bring poaching liqour to the boil in a poaching pan, then add the salmon until cooked (salmon should be firm but springy to the touch). Remove from the liqour then serve on top of the bed of asparagus with the canarian potatoes and the hollondaise.