Atlantic Salmon with Asian Salad

Please forgive the haphazard presentation and blurry image I am giving you for this dish. It was served in a hurry when I was quite hungry after waiting for some time for my lovely boyfriend to return home from work. Perhaps it was the fact that I was so hungry or the fact that all of the greens were picked that day from my vegetable garden, whatever the reason, this dish was the most satisfying I have cooked in weeks!

Ingredients:

1 bunch baby bok choy or other suitable Asian green
1 bunch of roquette
1 handful of fresh mint
1 bunch of coriander (roughly chopped)
1/2 red capsicum (finely sliced)
1/2 red onion (finely sliced)
1cup of warm cooked rice
4 fillets of salmon

Dressing:

Juice of one lime
1/4 cup of stir-fry sauce (see previous post)
Drizzle of olive oil
1 teaspoon of chilli flakes

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees

Mix the first seven ingredients in a bowl allowing the warm rice to wilt the greens.

Mix the ingredients for the dressing together and set aside until just before serving.

Cook the salmon filets in a hot pan for 1 minute each side, then pop them in the oven for a further 4-5 minutes.

Dress your salad, pile it on your plates and top with a salmon filet.

I do hope you enjoy this dish as much as I did.

My Chocolate Mud Cake

To date, chocolate mud-cakes have always been rather disappointing to me. they are either too dense, too rich, not rich enough or unforgivably dry! I know I may sound hard to please but if I am going to eat chocolate cake then I want it to be better than just having a piece of chocolate.

This is a recipe that I have worked on for a while and every time it is served it is met with an unusual amount of praise, so the people have spoken, here is a chocolate mud cake recipe that you can expect to impress. There is however a condition to success with this recipe, you must not overcook it!

Ingredients:
250g Good Quality dark chocolate
250 g butter
1 1/2 cups of water
2 level teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda
3 heaped tablespoons of cocoa
2 cups of caster sugar
2 cups of plain flour
3 heaped teaspoons baking powder
4 eggs

Preheat your oven to 150 degrees C.

Grease and line a medium springform cake tin.

In a saucepan put the butter (cubed), cocoa, chocolate, bicarb and water. Allow all ingredients to melt over a low heat then continue to heat the mixture until you get frothy bubbles as you stir.

In a large mixing bowl combined the flour, sugar and baking powder. Pour the chocolate larva over the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Mix in one egg at a time then pour the batter into your lined cake tin and bake on the lowest shelf for about 50 mins to an hour. the trick with this cake is to bake it until it has now wobble in it and will bounce back when tapped with your finger but don't cook it until a skewer comes out clean. the centre of the cake will set as it cools but will remain moist and sticky.

I recommend icing this cake with a chocolate ganache.

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Stirfry Sauce

I was asked by my brother recently how to make a stir-fry sauce, he's not as obsessive in the kitchen as I so I thought it best to share my simple recipe that can be made in advance and stored in the fridge until required.

Ingredients:

1 heaped teaspoon of chilli jam (or chutney)
1 clove of grated raw garlic
1 heaped teaspoon of palm sugar chopped or grated
1 heaped teaspoon of a grated ginger
soy sauce (amount will vary depending what size jar you are using
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
boiling water
1 large sterilised jar

Method:

this sauce is brilliantly easy, just pop the first four ingredients into a sterilised jar then pour soy sauce into the jar until it reached 1/3 of the way up the jar. pour in the sesame oil then fill the jar with boiling water. pop the lid on the jar/s then give it a shake until you can see that all of the sugar has dissolved.

this recipe is a basic one you can spice it up any way you want, some fresh coriander and chilli is always  a popular addition.

I make several jars up at a time as chicken cashew nut is a favorite in my house and this sauce is perfect for it.