Baked Wild Trout with Red Rice and Sea Beet

I was given a wild trout that was caught by the husband of a friend of mine in the Teifi River near Cenarth in West Wales. He prepared the fish beautifully and gutted it, cut off the head & tail and removed the dorsal fin etc. I brushed it with olive oil inside and out and squeezed some lemon juice over it and then covered it with bread crumbs (panko and finely grated pecorino in melted butter and olive oil). I then put it in the oven for 30 mins at gas mark 5 or 375 and meanwhile, i had earlier fried some chopped chorizo in the pressure cooker and added 1/2 cup each of short grain brown rice and wild red rice (both organic) and fried a bit longer and then added about 1 1/3 cup of chicken stock (real made earlier in the week) and brought to pressure and then turned to low and put on the heat diffuser for 45 mins and turned off and let come to room temp on its own. I then added a big spoonful of homemade coriander pesto. for the pesto, i use maldons sea salt, garlic and cashew nuts (pine nuts cost too much now days, might try walnuts next time, but had cashews) and olive oil and  used my bamix to pulverise and then added more olive oil and lots of coriander and pulverised again adding olive oil till i got consistency right and then added grated pecorino and added more olive oil till consistency was as i like - i then put in frig and this is good for weeks. for the sea beet, i soaked for awhile cause you never know if a dog has been walking the beach etc and then i steamed it and added toasted sesame oil and soy sauce to taste. Needless to say, the meal was superb, i only ate 1/2 of the fish tonight, but will put it back in the oven tomorrow night for about 20 mins to heat up and it will again be superb, perhaps a bit drier, but it will be a quick meal. Milky the cat also thought the trout was superb!!

Brown Risotto Rice

I found a website, http://www.vit-shop.co.uk, which has the best selection of macrobiotic/japanese foods I have found on the web for the uk. The range is extensive and the prices most reasonable. The site also has a full range of health foods, beauty products and all of that. The name doesn't lend itself to being a place to get macrobiotic foods and I found it by putting in clearspring to see where I could get their products. I live in West Wales and it is not easy to find the items I want. I can order a lot of them from my health food store, but not all. I do travel to London once a year perhaps to source new foods from Planet Organic or WholeFoods, but this vit-shop site does have a brilliant selection...

So now back to the brown risotto - I found it on the vit shop site where I put in Biona and brought up all their products. I do love risotto and figured that brown must be better than white so bought a pack and have just now used it for the first time. I have used Pru Leith's Cookery Bible for making my risotto for years and basically do 8 oz of risotto to 1 1/2 pt (30 oz) of stock. Well today I had made hummous (the best ever) and used the water that I had pressure cooked the chick peas in for 45 mins. To this I also added the water that I had soaked the Maitake Mushrooms (Grifola frondosa) in. I had read about these in Japanese Foods that Heal and found them on the vit shop site. I used olive oil and sauteed 3 smallish organic brown onions that I had sliced into thin half moons. When they softened, I added 4 chopped sun dried tomatoes (yes, I know, a solanoid) and the mushrooms that had soaked all day. Meanwhile, I got a small dish and added saffron to some soya milk and put it in the microwave (yes, i know about this too) for about 30 seconds to bring to the boil so that the colour would bleed into the milk (this turned out to be a waste as the brown rice did not absorb the saffron colour). When the onions, etc were well sauteed, I added a big slug of marsala wine and the brown risotto and cooked over medium heat until all was absorbed. I then started to add the stock a small portion at a time and cooked till absorbed. I added the saffron milk to the stock, but you can also add directly to the rice mixture. Well, 45 mins later I was still adding and stirring and had run out of stock so made up some quick marigold stock and was adding this and the rice was still very al dente, not teeth breaking, but not as it should be. I continued on and finally when it got close, I added about an ounce of grated organic parmesan cheese (yes, cheese, I know) and put the lid on in hopes that it would absorb and soften. I had in the interim, briefly steamed some purple sprouting brocoli (not organic, havent seen it organic) and then added a bit of organic balsamic vinegar and olive oil (not organic, but will get some next time I hope).

The risotto was very nice and the chewiness was close to just right and the brocoli went along well with it. Now you might not think this is exactly macrobiotic by the book, but the weather has changed here in the UK during the past week and has been very warm and I have been craving Mediterranean food. The challenge of the Solanaceae family will definitely be a subject of internal debate this summer as I take on board the reasons that they are eschewed by hard liners, but find that I like them in my food during the summer. I will just have to pay very close attention to my body, back health and all that to see if they affect me adversely....

n.b.I just read the back of the risotto pack and it recommends 70 mins and more stock - perhaps I should have read that first.... that would be long time to be tied to the stove stirring and adding so I will have to ensure that I have other dishes on the go at the same time so as to maximise productivity...

I shall have to write about my hummous later...

Pressure Cookers

I recently purchased a WMF Perfect Plus Pressure Cooker 6.5ltr from amazon.co.uk. I had been watching it and when I saw that it was 25% off, I went ahead and bought it. I already had a pressure cooker, a much cheaper one, and although it was ok, it wasn't brilliant and also wasn't big enough. Mayumi recommended a Silit which from the reviews does appear to be excellent, but it was more expensive than the WMF which also had excellent reviews. The WMF is German and they do the best washer machines (Miele), the best knives (Wusthof - yes I know about Global which are comparable), etc, so I figured I'd go for it. I also went for the larger size, 6.5 ltr, and although I have not used it to full capacity, it is there if I need it. The first time I used it I nearly cried as I thought I had spent all this money and well, not that it didn't work, but I really didn't understand what I was to do as it was so different. But, I figured all the reviews couldn't be wrong and I persevered and within a few more uses I had it down. You can't hear it making lots of noise which made me think it wasn't working, but it is so far advanced from what I had that I simply wasn't prepared. It is brilliant and I highly recommend it - also, Mayumi says that all her recipes are for the Silit and I find the recipes/times work perfectly for the WMF!!

Macrobiotic Cooking

I have most of the macrobiotic cookbooks out there and this is the one I come back to over and over. It is perhaps not for the hardliner, but it has helped me to learn to cook in a whole new way - the marcobiotic way with a bit of leeway.... the new macrobiotics.

Homemade Sauerkraut

here are the pictures - will update with details later

Sourdough Pizza

The nicest pizza i ever had was in a pub in sarasota florida where they also served pizza - the crust was nearly paper thin and believe it or not, i loved it - i was always a thick and chewy pizza crust person, but this pizza was so exceptional because you could taste the flavours in the toppings and not be overwhelmed with stodge - i have never until now been able to emulate this kind of crust!

I am now making sourdough bread and came across this recipe in the monthly e newsletter from www.culturesforhealth.com which is an excellent american site - lots of good recipes and advice - so i have made crusts from this recipe (first bake only - less than 7 mins)  and cut them in half and froze them for later.. read recipe and then go below for how i made the pizza

Sourdough Pizza Crust Recipe

Ingredients: 1.5 cups Fresh Sourdough Starter* 4-5 tablespoons Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, etc. 1 teaspoon Salt 1.25 to 1.75 cups Flour Preheat the oven to 500° F.  Mix together the fresh sourdough starter, one tablespoon of oil, the salt and 1.25 cups of flour.  Add more flour, a little at a time, as needed to form a pizza dough consistency.  The amount of flour needed will depend on the hydration level of your sourdough starter (i.e. the ratios used when feeding the starter).  Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes as it will be easier to roll out (it won't rise significantly if at all).  Roll the dough out into a circle using a minimum amount of flour to prevent sticking.  Bake the crust for approximately 7 minutes.  Remove the crust from the oven and brush on the remaining oil to prevent the toppings from soaking into the crust and making it soggy.  Add the desired toppings and bake the pizza until the crust browns and the cheese melts. *We recommend using sourdough starter which has been fed three times 4-12 hours apart prior to making the pizza crust.  Click here for more information on feeding your sourdough starter prior to baking. i put a pizza stone in the oven and turned it up high (6 or more) and spread coriander pesto on the crust along with tomato purée and then topped with cooked chorizo slices, black olives, cheese, anchovies, black pepper and chili pepper flakes and baked for about 5 mins - incredible - you can really just put whatever you have around!!! this was a quick lunch, but for a full dinner you could obviously spend more time preparing toppings - also, basil pesto would be best, but i only have coriander pesto in the frig (homemade or course)

Dinner with Diana Henry...again

Penne with kale, roast onions and Gorgonzola, page 88

In Food From Plenty, Diana will have a main recipe on the page and then at the bottom will usually offer variations - in these variations one can often find a real treasure as I have done with the penne recipe.

Heat oven to 375 or 6 and cut 3 onions into wedges - i should have done 8ths as quarters did not roast quickly enough, and mix with 6 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper - put in the oven and roast until tender and slightly charred, (30-60 minutes) meanwhile, remove ribs from kale (or not depending - you can always remove and use for something else or sometimes i will remove ribs and steams leaves and put chopped ribs in boiling water below), cut up kales into long strips and steam - i used chopped spring greens as tescos was out of kale and there is none in my garden yet - once steamed, set aside, then cook penne (about 200gm depending) - i used biona organic spelt wholegrain penne (a favourite which i always have on hand) and once cooked, add some good quality olive oil and let rest in covered pan till onions are ready - right before onions are ready, put a bit of olive oil in a biggish pan and fry kale gently to reheat and then add pasta to mix and heat and then add onions and also about 5 oz of gorgonzola which has been chopped up to melt quickly - keep over heat for a few minutes until all is melted!!! very very nice!!

you can always go to amazon look inside to find this recipe....