Sam and Sam Clark’s monkfish rice with saffron – paella de rape con azafrán
Clams or prawns can be added to this rice with great success. Put the prawn shells in the stock for extra flavour.
Serves 6 as a start, 4 as a main
olive oil 7 tbsp
monkfish fillets 400g, trimmed and cut into 2-3cm bite-sized pieces
Spanish onions 2 large, finely chopped
green peppers 2, halved, seeded and finely chopped
garlic cloves 6, finely chopped
fennel seeds ½ tsp
fish stock 800ml
saffron threads 1 tsp (about 100 threads)
calasparra (paella) rice 250g
white wine or fino sherry 80ml
fresh flat-leaf parsley 1 small bunch, roughly chopped
sweet smoked Spanish paprika ½ tsp
piquillo peppers 225g, torn in strips
lemon 1, in wedges
sea salt and black pepper
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a 30-40cm paella pan or frying pan over a medium high heat. Carefully add the monkfish to the pan and stir-fry until still fractionally undercooked in the centre. Pour the monkfish and any of its juices into a bowl and put to one side. Wipe the pan clean with kitchen paper, and put back on the heat. Add the remaining olive oil and when it is hot, the onions and peppers, and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring every so often. Turn down the heat to medium, add the chopped garlic and fennel seeds, and cook for a further 10 minutes or until the garlic and the onions have some colour and are sweet. Meanwhile bring the stock to the boil and add the saffron to it to infuse for 10 minutes off the heat. Now add the rice to the pan and stir for 1 minute to coat with the vegetables and oil. (Up to now everything can be done in advance, and you need only continue 20 minutes before you wish to eat.)
Put the heat to medium to high and add the white wine or sherry to the pan, followed by the hot stock. At this point, add half the parsley and the paprika and season perfectly with salt and pepper. Do not stir the rice after this as it affects the channels of stock, which allow the rice to cook evenly. Simmer for 10 minutes or until there is just a little liquid above the rice. Spread the monkfish out evenly over the rice along with its juices. Push each piece of monkfish under the stock. Gently shake the pan to prevent sticking and turn the heat down to medium to low. Cook for 5 more minutes or until there is just a little liquid left at the bottom of the rice. Turn off the heat and cover the pan tightly with foil. Let the rice sit for 3-5 minutes before serving. Decorate with strips of piquillo peppers, the rest of the chopped parsley and the lemon. We would serve this paella with a salad.
From Moro: The Cookbook by Sam and Sam Clark (Ebury, £20)
Nigel Slater’s clear, hot mussel soup
Inspired by David Thompson’s clam soup, I have done something similar with mussels, a cheaper alternative to clams at about a quarter of the price. The stock should be a mild one – either of chicken or vegetable. This is a clean-tasting broth, hot and aromatic. If you wish to add fish sauce or even soy sauce then do – but I suspect the recipe will lose its clean, simple flavours. The coriander is essential.
Serves 2
mussels in their shells 1kg
light chicken or vegetable stock 800ml
red chilli 1 small, hot
limes juice of 2
sugar and sea salt a little
coriander leaves a handful
Scrub the mussels thoroughly, tug out any of the fibrous “beards” that may be hanging from their shells and discard any that are broken or open. I always squeeze each mussel hard, pushing the shells together tightly to check they have some life in them. Any that refuse to close when squeezed or tapped on the side of the sink, or any that seem light for their size, should be discarded.
Tip the mussels into a large heavy pot with a splash of water over a high flame. Cover them tightly with a lid and let them steam for a minute or two, till their shells are just open and the mussels are quivering and juicy. Remove them from the heat the second they are ready.
Bring the stock to the boil. Cut the chilli in half, remove the seeds and chop the flesh very finely, then put it in with the stock, together with the lime juice, and a pinch of salt and sugar. Turn the stock down to a simmer.
Remove the mussels from their cooking liquor, pull the flesh from the shells and drop into the pan of stock, with a little of the mussel juices. Roughly chop the coriander leaves and stir them into the hot soup.
Andy Oliver’s salt crust fish, rice noodles and lettuce parcels – miang pla pao
A miang is a general term for a bite-sized collection of ingredients, often wrapped in some kind of leaf or parcel, designed to be eaten together creating a perfect mouthful. I first came across this dish at a restaurant in Isaan (Thailand’s north-eastern province). There are lots of possible variations but the basic principle is serving a whole grilled fish with a pile of rice noodles, a dipping sauce, leaves to wrap and a selection of condiments to put inside, allowing diners to customise their own “miangs”.
Serves 2-4 people as part of a Thai-style shared meal
lemongrass 1 stalk
wild black bream or similar sized white-fleshed fish, eg gilt head bream or small sized seabass 1 (300-500g), scaled and gutted with gills removed
kaffir lime leaves 3-4 (fresh or frozen, not dried)
pandan leaf 1 (optional)
rice flour or cornflour 2 tbsp
coarse sea salt 250g
bamboo skewer
For the dipping sauce
green bird’s eye chillies 3
long green chilli 1
coriander roots 3
garlic 4 cloves
golden (or white) caster sugar 1½ tbsp
lime juice 3 tbsp
fish sauce 3 tbsp
mandarin or tangerine juice of 1 (optional)
For the garnish
Vietnamese-style rice vermicelli noodles 150g (dried weight), cooked according to packet instructions, drained and kept at room temperature
ginger 60-80g, peeled and sliced into fine matchsticks
lime 1, diced (with the skin) into small pieces
plain peanuts a small handful, pan-roasted until lightly charred
lemongrass 3 stalks, thinly sliced
red Thai shallots 4-5, or 1-2 banana or regular brown shallots, thinly sliced
lettuce 10-12 leaves, washed (ideally lollo bianco or baby gem)
coriander and mint sprigs and, if desired, dill and Thai basil
bird’s eye chillies 4-5, roughly chopped (optional, if you like a lot of spice)
First make the dipping sauce – char the chillies over the BBQ or on a griddle pan until slightly softened and partially blackened. Then pound them in a pestle and mortar with the coriander roots and garlic cloves until a fairly fine paste is achieved. Add the sugar, lime juice, fish sauce and mandarin/tangerine juice, if using. Mix to dissolve the sugar and taste, adjusting as necessary: it should be spicy, sour, sweet and a little salty and smoky. Set aside.
Now prepare the fish: bruise the lemongrass stalk with a rolling pin or the back of a knife, and stuff it into the cavity of the fish along with the lime leaves and the pandan leaf, if using.
Mix a little water with the rice flour or cornflour to make a thick paste. Rub this over the skin of the fish lightly coating all of it except the head.
Pat the salt over one side of the paste-covered skin, then leave for 5 minutes to firm up, before gently rolling the fish over and doing the same to the other side. Grill fish for around 5-8 minutes on each side until just cooked.
Serve the fish with the lettuce leaves, noodles, herbs, dipping sauce and other garnishes alongside.
To eat, peel back the salt crust from the fish, allowing people to make their own parcels as they please.
Andy Oliver is co-head chef at Som Saa, London E1; somsaa.com
Margot Henderson’s langoustines and mayonnaise
Simple but expensive. Buy them alive and kicking. Check them over, to make sure they are alive and a good colour. I prefer the medium or small ones, as they are easier for your guests to shell. Don’t be afraid of your guests doing the shelling, my kids could shell a langoustine and suck the head almost at the same time as they began to walk.
You need at least six langoustines per person, though most people can eat more. Even if you are eating them the next day, they need to be cooked as soon as possible.
Serves 6
langoustines 40 (6 each and 4 to fight over)
For the mayonnaise (makes 550g)
egg yolks 3
Dijon mustard 1 tsp
lemon juice of 1
olive oil 450ml
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
To make the mayonnaise, put the egg yolks, mustard and half the lemon juice into a bowl or a food processor (I prefer the processor). Whizz together, then with the machine running, slowly add the olive oil through the funnel. If you are using a bowl, place it on a damp tea towel to keep it grounded. Whisk the egg yolks, mustard and lemon juice together, then slowly, slowly add the olive oil, whisking all the time.
As the mixture thickens, you can add the oil a little faster. Add the rest of the lemon juice – this will thin it down, making it easier to add the oil. A tablespoon of boiling water will thin the mayo down a little further if you don’t want it too thick. When it’s ready, season it with salt and pepper. (If the mayonnaise splits, whisk up another egg yolk and whisk it into the split mixture at the slowest pace possible.)
Boil some water in a pan large enough to fit the langoustines comfortably. Salt the water, and when you have a gentle rolling boil add the langoustines whole. Don’t cram them in. Cook them for 2 minutes. Take them out of the pan with tongs or a spider and leave on a tray to cool. Keep them in the fridge if you aren’t eating them until the next day, but take them out an hour before you need them so they aren’t too cold.
Serve the langoustines lined up like soldiers, on a beautiful platter. Surround them with bowls of mayo and lemons halves, with baskets of crusty bread. A few fingerbowls scattered about are always handy. A feast fit for a wedding or a glamorous lunch.
From You’re All Invited: Margot’s Recipes for Entertaining by Margot Henderson (Fig Tree, £25)
Giorgio Locatelli’s seafood salad – insalata di mare
This is a typical antipasto all over Sicily, and will reflect what has been fished at any one time, so there might be more, or less, mussels, squid and octopus. Sometimes there will also be pieces of tuna or swordfish. Any fish goes, as long as it doesn’t have any bones. I have seen people adding things like apple, or carrot, or spring onions, to add a bit of crunch, but I think the best insalata di mare is this simple one, just with celery, which is very important to the flavour, parsley, garlic, lemon and oil.
Serve it at room temperature, not chilled, or something of the flavour will be lost. Ask your fishmonger to clean the octopus and squid for you, and to give you the body and the tentacles.
Serves 4
octopus 1 (about 330g), fresh or frozen (and defrosted), cleaned, with tentacles
squid 330g, cleaned, with tentacles
medium prawns 450g
mussels, clams or both 600g
white wine 80ml
celery stalks 2 (preferably with leaves), chopped
lemon oil 50ml
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
parsley and garlic 1 tbsp (see note below)
If the octopus is fresh, beat it with a meat hammer to tenderise it and rinse it very well under cold running water, with the help of a clean sponge, to remove any excess saltiness. If it has been frozen, you don’t need to do this, as freezing has the effect of tenderising it.
Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add the octopus, but don’t season it, or it will toughen up. Cover with a lid, turn down the heat and let it simmer gently for about 20-30 minutes, or until tender.
While the octopus is cooking, bring another pan of water to the boil and drop in the squid bodies and tentacles. Simmer for about 10 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon and drop the prawns into the same water for about 2 minutes, until they have changed colour and are just cooked. Peel most of the prawns, reserving a handful for decoration. Drain and keep to one side with the squid.
Scrub the mussels and/or clams separately (pulling any beards from the mussels) under running water and discard any that are open. Put the mussels and/or clams into a large pan with the white wine over a high heat, cover, and cook, shaking the pan from time to time, until all the shells have opened. Remove from the heat, strain off the cooking liquid and reserve this. Discard any mussels and/or clams whose shells haven’t opened. Take the rest out of their shells and throw the shells away.
Remove the octopus from its cooking liquid and cut it into small pieces. Cut the squid bodies into strips.
Arrange the octopus, squid, mussels and/or clams with the celery in a shallow serving dish. Whisk 50ml of the strained cooking liquid from the mussels and/or clams into the lemon oil, season to taste and drizzle over the seafood. Scatter with the parsley and garlic and serve.
NOTE
This is a way of preparing parsley and garlic that brings out the maximum flavour in both. Every morning in the restaurant we prepare it. To 1 garlic clove we use about 4 handfuls of flat-leaf parsley. We put the garlic cloves on a chopping board and crush them with the flat of a kitchen knife, so they become a paste. Then we put the parsley on top and chop it finely, so we are chopping through the garlic at the same time, and the two flavours mingle.
From Made in Sicily by Giorgio Locatelli (Fourth Estate, £30)
