Seared Plaice with Spicy Butter Beans

Saw this on the telly, so thought I would give it a try,

You'll need a couple of good size plaice fillets, I asked the chap on the fish counter just to de-skin them for me to save time, they are always happy to accommodate.

Also to save time I used tin butter beans too, cuts down on the cooking time (and the scum - never like scum when cooking)

So;

1/2 a red onion sliced and diced
1 red chilli almost de-seeded (the recipe on the telly called for de-seeded- but this is my version)
Rind of half a lemon
1 garlic glove crushed
4 teaspons of grated ginger
Sprig of Thyme
3  Table spoons of chopped Dill
2 tins of butter beans
1 or two tablespoons of creme fraiche
400 ml of chicken stock


Prepare your herbs 

Cook your butter beans with a sprig or two of Thyme and I drain and wash the tinned butter beans and  cook them in the chicken stock 

Just before the butter beans are cooked, add the onion, chilli, ginger and garlic to a good sized pan with a couple of table spoons of vegetable oil and cook gently for a couple of minutes.  Don't let the onions garlic brown. 

Add the butter beans and the stock to the pan and stir to combine the beans with the herbs. Add two table spoons of the chopped dill to the pan and stir.

Add the creme fraiche and stir and allow to gently cook through 

 Add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil to a non stick pan and add the plaice fillets.  As yo can see I cut the fillets down to more manageable sizes, and sear on one side for two minutes.  Use a pallet knife to turn over and squeeze the juice from a half a lemon on top, remove from heat after 1 minute







Spoon the butter beans and sauce onto a plate and serve the plaice fillets on top sprinkle with more chopped dill

Enjoy

Don't forget to clean the hob afterwards 

original recipe; BBC Saturday kitchen 

Sunday Dinner

Couple of quick recipes for you, but not much in the way of ingredient measurements

Braised Pork Chops:

Depending on how hungry you are and on how big the chops are, so this was for Ishbel and me:

4 small to medium pork chops, Ishbel likes the fat off I don't mind

2 or 3 small onions sliced

About a tablespoon of finely chopped fresh ginger

A handful of fresh chopped coriander ( cilantro )

nob of butter and Olive oil

A glass or two of red wine

Chicken Stock

Take an nice deep pan and add the nob of butter and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil melt down.

Add the pork chops on a medium to high heat and brown on both sides.

Once the chops are nicely browned add the onion, ginger and coriander and cook on a medium heat until the onions are soft and just beginning to brown too.

Once the onions have softened add a glass or two of good red wine and turn the heat up a little.  Once the wine starts to bubble add chicken stock and reduce the heat.

You can cook this on the hob on a very very low heat or in the oven at say 140 to 160 for an hour to an hour and a half.  Keep an eye on it and if need be add some more chicken stock as it will be reducing as it braises the chops.

Once ready served with veg of choice and mashed potatoes,  Today's mash had a table spoon (or was it two) of Southern Comfort.

Enjoy!


Rhubarb, Apple and Raisin Pie 

Don't suppose you need me to tell you how to make one of these, and I am lousy at pastry, even when I buy the damned stuff I end up getting holes in it or breaking it up, go figure, but there you go....


So, today I took

five stalks of rhubarb stripped of outer skin

Two large braeburns

Large cupful of California raisins

Two Tablespoons of cognac

Four tablespoons of Demera Sugar

Some grated nutmeg

Cup of water

Combine all the ingredients in a pan and reduce down until the fruit is soft, remove from heat and leave to cool.


While the fruit is softening line a pastry dish 

 Add the cooled fruit to the dish














Cover the fruit with some more pastry and brush with melted butter












Place in a preheated oven at 180, best not to use the fan, and bake for about 35 - 40 minutes


Remove from Oven and allow to cool, sprinkle with icing sugar, slice and serve, with fresh cream, custard or ice cream.