Crepes parmentier with smoked haddock

I made this a while ago, and it didn't quite live up to expectations.  The ingredient list makes it sound great, but it didn't quite work, probably down to my cooking.  It was probably because i cooked the smoked haddock as well as marinading it because it wasn't that fresh.

- Peel and dice 500g potatoes and steam them for 20-30 mins until tender.
- While the potatoes are cooking, marinade 500g smoked haddock in 3 tablespoons olive oil, the juice of 3 lemons and some salt, for about 5-10 mins.
- Put the potatoes into a bowl and add 4 teaspoons plain flour, mixing well, using an electric mixer.
- Now add 3 eggs, 4 egg whites, 50ml creme fraiche, and 50ml milk, and mix to a smooth batter, adding salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat a film of vegetable oil in small pan, and when its very hot, add a ladleful of batter.
- You should get around 8-9 pancakes, enough for 4 people.
- Serve the pancakes with the marinaded smoked haddock, some creme fraiche and chopped chives and coriander.

I am going to try this again at point with fresh smoked haddock and will report back.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Mushroom Crostini

You wake up, get up, make a cup of tea, feel hungry, think about having some breakfast, and of course, if you are me, you turn to nigella for another recipe to tick off. But, nigella doesn't really do breakfast, at least not in "How To Eat". Tara wasn't really on for the suggested Jam Tarts and Custard for breakfast, so mushroom crostini it was, turned basically into mushrooms on toast.

- Put 2 tablespoons olive oil in a pan, add 2 finely chopped sprigs thyme and 1 finely choppedclove garlic, and heat for a few mins while the oil hots up.

- Add 200g finely sliced mushrooms and cook until soft.

- Add 1 tablespoon grated parmesan, season, and sprinkle with parsley.

For mushroom crostini, nigella suggests finely chopping the mushrooms rather than slicing, and also combining everything afterwards in a processor. It makes a tasty mushrooms on toast recipe, although maybe using butter instead of olive oil, would make it even tastier.

Sunday Morning Crepes

i've made lots of pancakes but according to Nigella, with the addition of melted butter and rum (i used brandy) to the batter, this turns it into a crepe!

- Add 1 egg to 125g of plain flour
- Add a pinch of salt, 300ml of milk and beat to a batter
- Whisk in 20g of melted butter
- Add rum/brandy/marsala for a crepe taste
- Add batter to a little hot oil and flip when brown

Nigella says non-stick pans are useless and steam the pancakes rather than sear them. I only have a non-stick pan, so time to buy a small normal one and test this out.

As a filling, i added chopped strawberries, double cream, some granulated vanilla sugar, and a squeeze of lemon. Mmmmm...