Barbecued Mackerel with Lemon&Rosemary

This is a Jamie Oliver recipe and we were going to do this on the barbecue but weather was so cold and windy did it on the cooker grill instead. Really lovely flavour as used all fresh herbs from the garden :)

Zest of 1 lemon

½ tbsp coarse sea salt

1 sprig of rosemary

Sprigs of thyme

freshly ground black pepper

small bunches of parsley

2 fresh mackerels, cleaned, scaled and gutted

Slash your mackerels on each side 3-4 times. (about half a cm deep). 

In a pestle & mortar bash up your rosemary, thyme, salt and lemon zest until you got a greenish-yellow sort of paste. Fill your mackerels with parsley and a pinch of pepper. 

Rub them with olive oil and smear all over the skin and into the slashes your lemon-rosemary-salt. Barbecue on each side for about 5 minutes or nicely charred and crisp on the outside and perfect on the inside. 

Serve with a slice of lemon

Fruit Cobbler

I used 1 can of cherry pie filling and some defrosted strawberries and blueberries.
I bought a victoria sandwich cake mix which did not make breadcrumbs so I had to add some extra flour but it worked out OK. The pudding did sink a little when cooling.

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix

1/3 Cup Softened Butter

2 Large Eggs

2  Cans Cherry or any Fruit Pie Filling

1 (8 oz) Bar Softened Cream Cheese

1/3 Cup Sugar

1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees / Gas 4 / Fan 150. 

In a large bowl combine your cake mix, softened butter, and 1 of your eggs.  Mix the ingredients thoroughly with a fork until it forms a crumble like mixture.

Reserve 1 cup of the mixture and put aside. 

Spray a 9 x 13″ baking dish with non-stick spray.  Press crumble mixture in to baking dish to create a crust.  Bake for 10 minutes. 

While the crust bakes combine your cream cheese, sugar, remaining egg, and vanilla in a small bowl.  Beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. 

Remove baking dish from oven and pour the 2 cans of cherry  pie filling over crust and create an even layer. 

Next pour your cream cheese mixture over the cherry filling.  Smooth out with the back of a spoon so the cream cheese layer covers the whole dish. 

Grab your remaining crumble mixture that you reserved and sprinkle evenly over the top of the cream cheese mixture. 

Bake for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes. 

Serve with vanilla ice cream or a whipped topping of choice.  

Serves 8-10 - so I had 2 puddings

Potato Lyonaise

This was plenty for 4 of us

3 medium potatoes
1 onion
Salt & Pepper
1/4 pint milk
4 tbsp light cream
80g Grated Cheddar Cheese

Slice the potatoes and onions thinly
Boil the potatoes and onion in salted water for 15 minutes
Strain veggies and layer in a casserole dish
Pour over milk and cream mix
Sprinkle with pepper and cheese
Bake for 25-30 minutes; grill the top if it doe not brown

Rack of Lamb with mustard & herb crust

This went well with Potato Lyonaise and vegetables. I used racks with 6 ribs which was plenty for 4 of us. I also cooked it for 35 minutes as I am not keen on pink lamb.

 2 racks of lamb, each with 8 ribs, Frenched (about 2lb )

 Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

 1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs

 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

 1 Tbs. chopped fresh rosemary

 2 Tsp Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp Olive Oill

Season the racks of lamb with salt and pepper. 

Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. 

In a bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, parsley, rosemary.

Preheat an oven to 375°F Gas 5 Fan 160.

Brush the meaty side of each lamb rack with the mustard.

Pack the bread crumb mixture onto the meaty side.

In a large fry pan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil until just smoking.

Add the lamb racks, bread-crumb side down, and brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side.

Place the racks, bread-crumb side up, on a rack in a roasting pan.

Transfer to the oven and roast until the crust is nicely browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat, away from the bone, registers 130°F for medium-rare, 20 to 25 minutes, or until done to your liking.

Transfer the lamb to a carving board, cover loosely with aluminum foil and let rest for 15 mins.

Lemon Mousse

This must have been good as Ricky ate 2 of them; recipe from my sister Linda

zest from 2 lemons
2 fl oz lemon juice
3 eggs
3 oz sugar
1/2 oz gelatine
1/2 pint thick cream

 

1. Put Lemon Rind, Egg yolks and 2oz sugar in a bowl over hot water and whisk till pale and creamy.
2. Dissolve Gelatin in lemon juice and add to mixture
3. Allow to cool
4. Add whipped cream
5. Whisk egg whites till stiff, gradually add rest of sugar and keep whisking.
6. Add to lemon mixture
7. Allow to set

Oeufs a la Prawns

My take on the Oeufs Drumkilbo recipe found while looking at the Royal Yacht Britannia website :)

4 hard boiled eggs

8 ozs prawns (cooked but chilled fresh or frozen)

1 diced ripe tomato

1/4 cucumber diced

6 tbsp mayonnaise

2 tbsp ketchup

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Save a slice of egg, some prawns and diced cucumber for decoration

Mix ingredients for sauce and taste to see if its spicy enough

Dice eggs, tomato and cucumber and mix into sauce

Place the mixture in a china or glass bowl and chill