Seafood chowder

I love classic seafood chowder it’s a great way of showing of all of our local fish that we have on our doorstep. At the Portaferry hotel Gary Bell loves to serve this dish in a very dramatic fashion and bring a little of the seaside to our customers table.  Serve on a big board draped with seaweed and netting for two people to share with fresh wheaten bread and crispy fish skin seasoned with salt and vinegar.

I know this is quite excessive at home but it works equally as well served in individual bowls with plenty of wheaten or crusty bread.

Ingredients;

1tbsp olive

500g mussels

500g cockles

300ml white wine

50g butter

6 slices of streaky bacon, rind removed, cut into 5mm dice

4 onions finely diced

50g flour

500ml fish stock

500ml milk

3 large potatoes cut into 5mm dice.

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Pinch of cayenne pepper

500g smoked haddock

500g gurnard

250ml single cream

To serve;

Freshly chopped parsley, scallions and chives

Method;

Heat 1tblsp of olive in a large pan, when hot add the mussels and the white wine, cover and bring to the boil, cook for 1min, add the cockles and cover again. Cook over high heat for a further 2-3mins or until all of the cockles and mussels have opened and are cooked through.

Place a sieve over a large bowl. Remove the pan from the heat and strain the cockles and mussel. Place them onto a tray and reserve the liquid.

Heat the butter in large saucepan and brown the bacon well until it is crisp and golden.

Add the onion, cover and sweat for a few minutes over a low heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Add the fish stock and the reserved mussel liquid gradually. Add the milk and potatoes. Season well with salt, pepper and cayenne.

Cover and simmer until the potatoes are almost cooked, approximately 5-6 minutes.

Cut the fish into small cubes. Add to the pot as soon as the tip of a knife will go through a potato.

Simmer gently for 3-4 minutes, stir in the cream and add the shelled mussels and cockles, bring to the boil and when boiling, remove from the heat.

Taste, correct the seasoning, sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley, scallions and chives.

Serve in a deep dish with plenty of bread and butter.

Seared scallops with sweetcorn puree and bacon jus

This is a great dish to serve as a starter at a dinner party. It is very simple to make and very easy to serve. The creamy, sweet taste of the sweetcorn works beautifully with the scallops and the saltiness from the bacon jus pulls the whole dish together.

Local scallops are at their very best at this time of year, they may be expensive but they are worth a treat for a special occasion.

SERVES 6,

Ingredients;

For the sweetcorn puree;

1 onion

4 fresh corn husks - decobbed

1/2 cup olive oil

200ml milk

400ml chicken stock

200g butter

1tblsp of fresh thyme

For the bacon jus;

1tblsp olive oil

1 shallot, finely diced

200g pancetta

1ltr beef or veal stock

500ml chicken stock

For the scallops and to serve;

1kg scallops trimmed of there coral

Olive oil

Seasoning

6 slices of streaky bacon, cooked until crisp

Watercress leaves

METHOD;

For the sweetcorn puree;

Place oil in large soup pot, add onion and cook over medium heat until the onions have softened but haven’t taken on any colour, add half the butter, the corn and the thyme, cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes or until the corn is tender.

Remove from the heat and add to a blender, add the rest of the butter and then puree in the blender until very smooth, season to taste and set aside.

For the bacon jus;

Place a small pan over high heat and add the olive oil, add the shallots and the pancetta, cook until all is golden brown. Add the beef stock and the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Turn the heat to a simmer and continue to simmer until the sauce has reduced and thickened, season to taste.

For the scallops and to serve;

Heat a frying pan over high heat and add some olive oil. Make sure the scallops are very dry, season well and carefully sit the scallops in the pan. Keep the heat quite high so as the scallops sear, taking on a slight burnt tinge around the edges. Cook for 1min then add a knob of butter. Cook for a further minute and turn and cook for a further1-2mins depending on the size. For best results keep the scallops slightly rare in the centre.

To serve place a spoonful of sweetcorn puree into the centre of each serving plate, arrange the scallops around the puree and pour over the sauce. Garnish with crisp bacon and watercress. Serve at once

Roast parsnip soup with sage and bacon dumplings

This is a beautiful soup to have for Christmas dinner. Parsnips are at there best at this time of year. The honey roasting of the vegetable enhances their natural sweetness. The sage and bacon dumplings are a wonderful addition to the soup and it is really worth making the effort to prepare them.

SERVES 6

Ingredients;

For the dumplings;

1 onion, finely chopped

100g streaky bacon, sliced

2tblsp sage, chopped

225g full fat cream cheese

225g plain flour

1 egg, beaten

1 egg yolk

Seasoning

For the soup;

600g parsnips, peeled and chopped

1tblsp honey

1 onion, finely chopped

800ml chicken stock

150ml single cream

Seasoning

Deep fried sage

Method;

For the dumplings;

In a pan sweat the onion and bacon in a little butter until the bacon is crisp, add the sage then remove from the heat and cool. Mix together the onion mix, cream cheese and flour, add the eggs and season to taste. Leave to rest for 30mins. Mould the mix into small dumplings with well floured hands and cook in a pan of simmering water for 20mins.

For the soup;

Pre heat the oven to 220c. Place a large tray into the oven with a little butter and oil. When the pan is hot and the butter starts to foam add the parsnips and toss well to coat. Cook for 15min then stir in the honey cook for another 20mins, stir every 5mins to prevent the parsnip from sticking. In a large pan add a little butter and sweat the onion, add the roast parsnip and the stock and bring to the boil, cook for 15mins then puree the soup with a blender. Strain the soup back into the pan and bring back to the boil, add the cream and dumplings and season to taste, simmer for 5mins then serve piping hot poured into soup bowls. Garnish with crisp sage.

Chicken liver pate

I think pate is great for a Christmas dinner starter as all of the work can be done in advance. I like to serve a sweet and sour style sauce or chutney with this pate. At the Merchant hotel we make a red onion jam to accompany it but a good quality store bought Cumberland sauce or chutney will work well and save you a lot of time in the kitchen. This recipe may seem a little daunting at first read but it really is very simple if you just follow the recipe.

Ingredients;

1 onions, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic

2 smoked bacon rashers, diced

500g chicken livers

100ml brandy

100ml Madeira

4 whole eggs

1 egg yolks

200ml clarified butter

Seasoning

METHOD;

Place a large pan onto the heat and add a little butter. Add the onions and garlic and cook to translucent. Add the bacon and cook until it starts to brown. Turn up the heat in the pan and when hot add the chicken livers, brown very quickly. Add the Madeira and the brandy, flame and reduce by half. Remove from the heat and place on a tray to cool, keep stirring the livers so they cool very quickly.

When the livers cool to room temperature add the eggs and the yolks and blend with a stick blender or in a food processor to a puree, pass the mixture through a fine sieve and blend in the clarified butter. The butter must be the same temperature as the liver mix to incorporate properly. Season well.

Pour the mixture back through a sieve and into a terrine mould until level with the top of the mould. Place in a tray and half fill with water, cook at 140c for 45mins. After this time check that the terrine is set in the middle by piercing it with a skewer, if the skewer comes out clean it is ready, if not continue to cook for a further 10mins or until cooked through.

Cool for at least 24 hours before removing from the terrine.

At this point the terrine can be covered with softened butter. To do this beat softened butter until it starts to lighten. Spread this in an even layer over all sides of the terrine.

Slice the terrine and serve with chutney, a few dressed salad leaves and toasted bread.

Party food and snacks

Below are few ideas for pre and post Christmas cocktail parties. They are all very simple and work well for easy entertaining. The most important thing is to keep them small and neat, so they are easy for your guest to handle, because it is most likely that they will be eating with a drink in one hand and trying their best to keep their new frocks free from unwanted dribbles of food.

I suggest making a selection of 4-5 different canapés and present them on large plates. All of the canapés below are best served at room temperature so try to plan ahead and have everything ready so when your guests arrive you can spend quality time with them instead of being stuck in the kitchen and missing all the fun. All of the ingredients listed below can be purchased from good supermarkets, making your party preparations a doodle.

CROUTES;

These are simply baguettes cut into slices at an angle, drizzle very lightly with extra virgin olive oil and baked for 5-6mins at 140c or until brown and dry. The advantage of these canapés is that they can be made up to 4 days in advance and stored in an air tight container, just leaving them to be topped when required. Any topping can be used, but below are just a few simple ideas. All of the ingredients below can be purchased in good supermarkets

Topping suggestions;

Pesto and goats cheese

Tomato, basil and mozzarella

Slices of melon wrapped with Parma ham

Smoked salmon, cream cheese and chive

Turkey and cranberry jam (Great for a Boxing Day party)

Pate and Cumberland sauce

Cheddar cheese and Branston pickle

Anchovies and black olives

TOASTED PITA TRIANGLES;

Throw away your crisps and tortilla chips, these pita triangles are a great and healthy alternative to are party favourites. Just simply toast the pitas under the grill until crisp, cut into triangles, dust with salt and a little cayenne pepper. These can then be made 2 days in advance and kept in an air tight container.

Serve with a selection of dips.

Dips for the crispy pitas;

Tomato, red onion and coriander salsa

Yogurt with cucumber and mint

Hummus

Crème fraiche with chilli and basil

Sweet chilli sauce

KEBABS;

Kebabs are a fantastic and fun way of using up any extra ingredients that may be in your fridge. They are so versatile that any meat, fish or vegetables can be used to make them. Skewer the ingredients onto toothpicks and marinade in soy sauce, sesame oil, a little sugar and fresh lime juice. Leave to marinade for 6 hours. When ready to cook the kebabs place them under a hot grill and cook on each side until cooked through. Serve with satay sauce and sweet chilli sauce.

Kebab suggestions;

Chicken and roast pepper

Pork fillet and mushroom

Prawn, cherry tomato and basil

Aubergine, tofu and courgette

Roast pepper and halloumi cheese

Beef and onion

Salmon, roast pepper and coriander

TARTLETS;

These are just small pastry cases filled with a selection of different fillings. The cases can be bought from most supermarkets and this will save you a lot of time in the kitchen, select 3 or 4 different filling from below.

Filling suggestions;

Smoked chicken, pesto and crème fraiche

Peppered mackerel, apple and horseradish

Prawn, coriander and mayonnaise

Bacon, onion and mushrooms

Smoked salmon, chive and crème fraiche

Roast pepper, olive and parmesan

Roast cherry tomatoes and tapenade

FRITTATAS;

Frittatas are Italian style omelettes.  They are very simple to make and are best served at room temperature, any flavour can be added, which make them ideal for party food.

The basic recipe is; whisk 4-5 eggs together and add a little salt and pepper and grated parmesan. Melt a knob of butter in a frying pan and once it starts to bubble add the egg mix. Stir lightly until the bottom sets, when the frittata is half set place under a pre heated grill and leave to cook until completely set. Remove from the grill and turn out of the pan, when at room temperature cut into wedges or squares. The flavourings for the frittata can either be cooked in the pan before the egg is added or added to the egg mix before it goes into the pan.

Serving suggestions;

Potato, onion and rosemary

Tomato, basil and mozzarella

Bacon and cheddar cheese

Smoked salmon and horseradish

Roast pepper, pesto and olive

Mushrooms on toast

A simple and easy starter that is perfect for this time of year. Any mushrooms can be used in this recipe, making it a very versatile dish to have in your repertoire. I also like to finish this dish with a little truffle oil, this adds a fantastic deep truffle flavour to this simple mushroom on toast recipe.

Ingredients;

300g button mushrooms or mushrooms of your choice

50g butter

2tblsp olive oil

1 clove garlic crushed

1 small red chilli seeded and finely chopped

Juice from half a lemon

1tblsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley

150ml double cream

4 thick slices of crusty bread

100g Glebe Breton cheese, grated

50g fresh breadcrumbs

Maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method;

Pre heat a grill.

Clean and trim the mushrooms as appropriate to the mushroom choice. Cut the mushrooms if necessary. Place a large pan over high heat and add the butter and the oil. Sauté the mushrooms for a minute or two then add the garlic and the chilli, continue to cook until slightly softened. Add the lemon juice and parsley and stir briefly.  Add the cream and cook for 8mins or until the mushrooms are tender and the cream has reduced and thickened. Season to taste.

 Place the bread slices under the pre heated grill and toast on each side until golden brown.

Place the toast slices onto a tray and top each slice of toast with some of the mixture and sprinkle over the cheese. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and place under the grill again. Cook for 5mins or until the cheese is golden and bubbling.

Serve at once.

Pea Soup, Spiced Black Figs, Ibérico Ham and Goat’s Cheese

After the drama of the first three courses of the evening of Pop up Belfast, the soup would be the course to simply deliver on taste and texture without any dramatic effects.

We placed a bowl with half a grilled sweet spiced fig, some crisps Ibérico ham and some crumbled St Tola goats cheese into a bowl and garnished them with a little rocket cress. The chefs then walked around the tables behind the waiters and we poured the fresh, simply flavoured pea soup, fresh and vivid green in colour into the bowl.

As the hot soup hits the spiced fig the smells of all of the spices that the fig had been marinated in are release and the dinner gets a sense of the flavour to come.  

This soup is a very simple dish to make at home and well worth the effort, all of the flavours from the soup and the marinated fig are pulled together with the salty goat’s cheese and Ibérico ham a truly great combination!!

Serves 10;

Ingredients;

For the vegetable stock;

2 onions

1 leeks

2 sticks of celery

3 carrots

1 bulbs of fennel

4ltr water

1 head of garlic, sliced in half

4 star anise

2 bay leaves

1tsp white peppercorns

1tsp pink peppercorns

1tsp coriander seeds

1 cup of mixed coriander, tarragon, parsley and basil

½btl of white wine

For the soup;

1tblsp extra virgin olive oil

25g butter

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled and minced

1kg frozen peas

1ltr vegetable stock

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

For the fig;

2 cloves

1 star anise

1tsp 5 spice powder

1tsp cinnamon powder

1tsp ground ginger

5 very ripe plump black figs

To serve;

250g St Tola goat’s cheese crumbled

5 slices of Ibérico ham cooked until crisp and golden

Small punnet of rocket cress

Method;

For the vegetable stock;

Chop all the vegetables into a rough dice and place in a large pan, cover with water and add the garlic, star anise, bay leaves, peppercorns, and coriander seeds. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10mins. Add the herbs and simmer for a further 3mins, now add the wine and remove from the heat, allow to cool. When cold place in the fridge. Leave the stock to marinade for 2 days in the fridge. Then strain and reserve liquid ready for use. This will make more of the vegetable stock than needed for this recipe, but any left over stock can be kept in the freeze ready for anther use.

For the soup;

Gently heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan, add the chopped onion and cook on a gentle heat for 10 minutes or until the onion is soft but not brown. Add the garlic and cook for a further 3 minutes. Add the 1ltr of stock and bring to the boil.

Place the soup and frozen peas into a blender in batches depending on the size of your blender and blend the soup, until you have a very smooth, vivid green puree.  Pass the soup through a very fine sieve and store in the fridge ready for use.

It is important not to cook the peas in the soup as they will discolour; we are looking for a very fresh taste of pea from this soup with a very deep green colour.

For the figs;

Place the cloves and the star anise into a mortar and grin to a powder with a pestle. Add this powder to the other spices and mix well.

Cut each fig in half and place onto a tray, sprinkle over a little of the spice mixture, wrap the figs in cling film and leave to marinade in the fridge for 1 hour.

Remove the figs from the fridge and brush with a little oil. Heat a ridged grill pan and when hot grill the figs on the cut side only for 4-5mins. This will intensify the spices and draw out the sweet nature of the fig. keep figs hot ready to serve.

To serve;

Place the soup into a pan over high heat and bring to the boil.

Place 1 half of fig into each bowl, crumble over the goats cheese and the crisp Ibérico ham, garnish with a little rocket cress and bring the bowls to the table.

Pour the soup into serving jugs and pour over the prepared bowls.

Eat and enjoy!!!!!!

Organic Glenarm salmon:-tea smoked, tartar, Ballotine and blinis & salmon eggs

The third course of the evening.

This dish again was designed to create a dramatic effect with a box of salmon being presented at the table, lid removed and a cloud of tea scented smoke filling the room. We knew from the start that this dish would be smoked tableside; we just hadn’t worked out how to do this for 90 people at once. I had been looking around for weeks to try and find anything that would work as a smoked and that wouldn’t cost us a small fortune at the same time. Then I had been in the wine cellar talking to Marco the hotels food and beverage manager, when I saw in the corner a magnum of champagne in a large wooden box, this would be exactly what I needed to smoke the salmon at pop up Belfast. I got on the phone to James Nicholson and before you knew it we had 10 perfect boxes. The boxes again where sent over to Stuart and within a day he had transformed then into a home smoker.

All we needed now would be to find the perfect smoke mixture. Walter Ewing our fish supplier for the hotel, is renowned for his famous smoked salmon, so after a quick phone call to him he had sorted us out with the oak and we mixed it with Lapsang Souchong which has a very distinctive, Smokey character and would work beautifully with the dish.

So below is the salmon 4 ways course, it is a very adventurous dish to recreate at home, but even if you just want to try some of the elements individually, you will still have a great course for a dinner party at home.

Serves 10

Ingredients;

For the Ballontine;

1 side of salmon skinned                                                                                                                                                                           

2tblsp Maldon salt

250g parsley and chervil very finely chopped      

For the tartar;

250g very fresh salmon skinned, pin boned and all brown flesh and belly fat removed

4 shallots peeled and finely diced

50g capers very finely chopped

250g parsley and chervil very finely chopped

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

Maldon salt and freshly cracked pepper

For the Blinis;

70g buckwheat flour

70g plain flour

⅓tsp baking powder

⅓tsp dried yeast

175ml warm milk

1 egg separated

125g melted butter plus 1tsp extra

For the poppy seed vinaigrette;

5g Dijon mustard

50ml white wine vinegar

50ml balsamic

200ml hazelnut oil

200ml olive oil

Seasoning

6 cloves of garlic crushed

6 sprigs of thyme

Chervil and tarragon

30g poppy seeds

To serve;

Wooden wine boxes or other boxes you can smoke the fish in

10 white Chinese style serving spoons

10 x 50g portions of lightly smoked salmon

1 Aladin smoker

1tblsp oak wood shavings

1tblsp Lapsang Souchong

10tsps salmon eggs

Baby coriander cress to garnish

Method;

For the Ballontine;

Trim the salmon, remove the tail and the top piece to leave the salmon in a perfect rectangle shape, remove all of the fat and brown flesh from the belly and all of the pin bones. Split the salmon fillet into two lengthways and sprinkle each half with a little salt. Place one piece of salmon on top of the other, season with Maldon salt and roll into perfect barrel shape in cling film, making sure it is very tight, allow to set for 2 hours. Place the salmon into a water bath set at 42c and cook for 1min for every 100g of the salmon weight, plus 20mins extra. Remove from the water and chill overnight.

The next day remove the salmon from its cling film covering and cover with the chopped herbs, season again lightly and re roll the salmon in cling film. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

For the tartar;

In a large clean cold bowl add the salmon. Add the diced shallots, capers and chopped herbs and mix well, making sure all ingredients are evenly distributed. Add the lemon juice and zest and season to taste. Try to make the tartar just before serving as the lemon juice and the salt start to cure the fish and this will change the texture of the overall tartar.

For the Blinis;

Sift the buckwheat flour, plain flour and baking powder together. Mix the dried yeast with the warmed milk, then separate the egg and add the yolk to the yeast mix.

Next whisk this into the dry ingredients to make a smooth batter. Stir in the 1tsp melted butter.

Whisk the egg white to stiff peaks, and then gently fold into the batter, keeping as much volume as possible. Clarify some butter by gently melting it in a pan, then pour off the clear yellow liquid to use (throw away the white bit left behind in the pan). Heat the clarified butter in a frying pan and drop in dessertspoons of the batter. Cook until the surface starts to bubble, then flip over and cook the other side.

Cut the blinis with a small cutter about the size of a 2 pence coin.

For the poppy seed vinaigrette;

Mix the mustard and vinegars together.

Mix the oils together, then slowly add the oil to the vinegar mix, add the seasoning, garlic and herbs and leave in a warm place to infuse for 3 hours. Strain through a fine sieve, add the poppy seeds and store ready for use.

To serve;

Get the wooden box ready to serve. Place 10 spoons in the box.

Heat a large pan over high heat and add a little olive oil, pan fry the smoked salmon pieces until just golden brown on the service side. Remove from the heat. Flip the salmon pieces over and allow to warm in the residual heat of the pan. Keep the salmon pink in the centre.

Place the salmon portions onto each spoon in the box. Working quickly place the wooden shavings and the Lapsang Souchong tea into the top of the smoker and using a blow torch light the shavings. The smoke will be released through the smoke tube. Place the tube into the box and allow the box to fill with smoke. Shut the lid quickly and allow the smoke to sit in the box while you plate the rest of the dish.

Cut 10 slices of the Ballotine and place onto each serving plate.

Warm the blinis and place onto each plate just beside the Ballotine.

Using two spoons shape the tartar into quenelles; place a quenelle of tartar just above each portion of Ballotine.

Drizzle the plates with a little of the poppy seed vinaigrette and garnish with coriander cress.

Serve each dinner a plate each and bring the box to the table, remove the lid and the smoke will fill the room, guest can then help themselves to a smoked salmon spoon each.