Emma C’s January 2024 Meal
Meal for the night
Herby rice with roasted veg, chickpeas & halloumi
Smoked haddock gratin
Ingredients
For the dressing
zest and juice 2 lemons
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
large handful of parsley leaves
large handful of coriander leaves
For the salad
2 cos or romaine lettuces, chopped
2 avocados, stoned, peeled and chopped
½ cucumber, sliced
2 green peppers, deseeded and sliced
2 celery sticks, sliced diagonally
bunch spring onions, sliced diagonally
Method
STEP 1
Using a stick blender or the small bowl of a food processor, whizz together all the dressing ingredients. Season to taste.
STEP 2
To serve, put all the salad ingredients in a large bowl, drizzle with the dressing and toss together.
Ingredients
2 red onions, cut into chunky wedges
3 peppers, sliced (we used green, red and yellow)
3 courgettes (about 600g), cut into batons
5 tbsp olive oil
200g brown basmati rice
small pack flat-leaf parsley
85g cashew nuts
1 garlic clove, crushed
400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
200g halloumi, cut into chunky cubes
Method
STEP 1
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the red onions, peppers and courgettes in a large roasting tin, toss in 2 tbsp oil and season. (You may need to do this in 2 tins.) Pop in the oven and cook for 25 mins until the veg is tender and beginning to turn golden.
STEP 2
Meanwhile, cook the rice following pack instructions. Whizz together the parsley, cashew nuts, remaining oil, the garlic and seasoning to make a pesto. Stir the chickpeas and halloumi into the roasted veg and cook for 10 mins more. Fork the parsley pesto through the rice, spoon over the veg and serve.
Ingredients
500g leaf spinach
butter, for greasing
about 500g (2 fillets) smoked haddock, skinned and cut into 4 portions
For the topping
200ml double cream or crème fraîche
juice ½ lemon
100g cheddar cheese, grated
2 spring onions, sliced
small grating nutmeg
handful dried breadcrumbs
Method
STEP 1
Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Place the spinach in a large colander in a sink and carefully and slowly pour over a kettleful of hot water to wilt it. Cool again under the cold tap then squeeze out as much liquid from the spinach as possible. Butter a medium gratin dish. Roughly chop the spinach and scatter evenly over the base of the dish. Season the spinach lightly with salt and pepper and lay the haddock fillets, skinned side down on top. Nestle the tomatoes among the haddock fillets.
STEP 2
Mix all the ingredients for the topping, except the breadcrumbs, in a small bowl and season with lots of pepper and a little salt. Dollop and spread the mixture over the fish and spinach. Scatter everything with the breadcrumbs and bake for 30 mins until bubbling and golden. If you like things really grilled finish for a few mins under a hot grill. Serve straight from the dish.
Ingredients
For the cake
175 grams soft unsalted butter
150 grams caster sugar
100 grams rice flour (or plain flour / all-purpose flour if you don't need this to be gluten-free)
75 grams ground almonds
50 grams full-fat Greek yogurt (at room temperature)
A pinch of fine sea salt
1½ teaspoons baking powder (gluten-free if necessary)
3 large eggs (at room temperature)
1 large unwaxed lemon
2 x 15ml tablespoons undiluted elderflower cordial
For the drizzle
3 x 15ml tablespoons of fresh lemon juice (from the lemon above)
100 millilitres undiluted elderflower cordial
Method
Heat the oven to 180℃/160℃ Fan/350°F. Butter an ovenproof dish (mine measures 26 x 17 x 5cm / 10 x 7 x 2 inches, though any ovenproof dish of the same depth, with a 1.5 litre / 6-cup capacity would be fine).
Put the butter, sugar, rice flour, ground almonds, Greek yogurt, salt, baking powder and eggs into a processor. Finely grate over the zest of the lemon and blitz until you have a thick batter. Pour the 2 tablespoons of elderflower cordial through the funnel of the processor, with the motor still going, until combined.
If you don't have a processor, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest together until smooth, light and aerated. In another bowl, mix the flour, ground almonds and salt together, add just 1 teaspoon of baking powder; you don't need as much for the non-processor variant, as you're whipping more air into the batter. Beat 1 egg into the butter mixture, and when that's combined, beat in a third of your dry ingredients, and carry on in like manner until eggs and dry ingredients are used up. Finally, beat in the Greek yogurt and the 2 tablespoons of elderflower cordial.
Pour and scrape this fragrant, slightly nubbly and quite delicious batter into your prepared dish and bake for approx. 25 minutes, covering loosely with foil at 20 if the top is browning too much.
While the pudding cake is in the oven, prepare the drizzle. Mix 3 tablespoons of juice from the zested lemon and 100ml / 7 tablespoons of elderflower cordial in a jug.
When the pudding cake is out of the oven, prick the sponge and drizzle with the elderflower lemon syrup. Eat warm with double cream. This is an order!
Optional: serve with Able and Cole blueberry compote
