Butter bean curry

 This worked well and was already quite hot with our mild curry powder and no chilli

Blitzed the paste with the hand blender in the clear plastic jug, worked fine

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/curried_butter_beans_34633

Farinata

Latest recipe:

Mix chickpea flour, water, olive oil, and salt; rest the batter; bake in a very hot oven until thin, crisp-edged, and golden.

Ingredients (serves 2–3)

100 g chickpea flour

300 ml water

2 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for the tray)

½ tsp salt

Black pepper (optional)

Optional: rosemary or thinly sliced onion

Method

Whisk flour, water, salt, and olive oil until smooth.

Rest at room temperature for 1–2 hours (removes raw taste; improves texture). Skim any foam.

Heat oven to 230–250°C. Place a well-oiled metal baking tray (or cast iron pan) in the oven to get very hot.

Stir batter, then pour into the hot tray to about 3–5 mm depth. Add pepper or toppings if using.

Bake 15–20 minutes until set and golden with crisp edges. For extra colour, finish under the grill for 2–3 minutes.

Rest a few minutes, slice, and serve warm.

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Followed this recipe and it's the best I've tried:

https://www.themediterraneandish.com/farinata-recipe/#how-to-make-farinata

Took our big oven tray, heated with olive oil, they poured all batter in. Cooked for 15 minutes. Nearly didn't stick, just 1 square CM did. Don't really understand the thing about pulling the oil over the batter, but kind of dragged a wooden spoon across the surface from the olive oil pooled at the edges. Don't think it made a difference.

Had oven at 250C but oil hit smoke point while preheating. Next time try 200C.

Roast halibut

Bought 2.5kg halibut loin from Billingsgate for £55. About 1cm thick at one end and 2.5cm at other end. Alex and Femke helped cook for NYE.

- Pan cooked some strip of roast pepper

- Sliced red potatoes and parboiled

- Roasted halves of small onions

- Made a big parcel from foil. Put in potatoes, scattering of onions and peppers. Also capers and lemon slices. Put halibut on top and closed parcel.

- Roasted for 45 mins (at 180c?). After 30 mins the thinner part was cooked but the thicker part definitely needed more time.

- served with sauce of oil, capers, parsley + extra peppers

Went well, would do same again exactly.

Bought from stall at back of Billingsgate near cafe, around 5:30am. They weren't very friendly. Next time could try the one MSC certified place, which was closed when I was there.

Recipes used for reference:

https://food52.com/recipes/289-halibut-and-vegetables-en-papillote

https://www.thespruceeats.com/simple-lemon-caper-sauce-3060546

Shortcrust pastry

 Haven't tried it yet, but this looks good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjtxrY0jTaA

250g flour

125g butter (tried with vegan block)

1 egg yolk

50ml water

pinch of salt

Parsnip, feta & butter bean pie

This worked very well but was quite a lot of work. On the other hand it made lots. Could probably simplify the filling. But the principles are very useful - fill a pie with creme fraiche, eggs, feta and veg and it's delicious.

I used a spelt flour pastry instead of the one here, pastry recipe in another post. I used 400g of flour (doubling quantities in the other recipe) and had loads - enough to make 2 pies one in the round ceramic lidded dish with the flowers, and the other in a silicone loaf tin. And still had pastry left over for an apple flan.

• Prep:35 mins
• Cook:1 hr and 35 mins plus resting and cooling
• Serves 8 - 10

Ingredients - pastry

• 400g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 150g rye flour
• 300g cold butter, cut into cubes
• 1 tbsp thyme leaves
• 2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk to glaze
• pinch of dried thyme or mixed herbs

Ingredients - filling

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 600g parsnips, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
• 2 large eggs
• 200g crème fraîche
• 200g feta, crumbled
• 1/2 small bunch of thyme, leaves picked
• 2 x 400g cans butter beans, drained and rinsed
• ½ tsp ground mace (skipped)
• 1 lemon, zested

Method

STEP 1

To make the pastry, put both flours into the bowl of a food processor with the butter, thyme leaves and ½ tsp fine sea salt. Pulse for a few seconds until the mixture resembles sandy rubble, then add the whole eggs and 2-3 tbsp cold water. Pulse again until it comes together into a ball, then transfer to a lightly dusted work surface and knead briefly until smooth. Wrap and chill for 30 mins.

STEP 2

To make the filling, heat the oil in a frying pan over a low-medium heat, and cook the onion for 30 mins until sticky, golden and caramelised. This will take some time, but it will add depth and sweetness to the pie. Add a splash of water if the onions start to darken too quickly or catch.

STEP 3

Add the parsnips and 250ml water. Cook for 15 mins, stirring often until the water has evaporated and the parsnips are tender and just starting to colour. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

STEP 4

Mix the eggs and crème fraîche together in a large bowl until smooth, then fold in the feta, thyme, butter beans and the veg mixture. Add the mace, lemon zest, ½ tsp black pepper and a little salt.

STEP 5

Cut off two-thirds of the pastry and roll it out on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of 3-4mm. Use it to line a 23cm cake tin or round pie dish (it should be about 7cm deep), leaving some pastry overhanging. Spoon in the filling, levelling the top.

STEP 6

Roll out the remaining pastry until it’s large enough to cover the top of the pie. Brush a little of the egg yolk around the edge of the pie, then lift the pastry lid over the top and press the edge to seal. Trim any excess pastry with a sharp knife. Make a steam hole in the middle of the lid, then glaze with the rest of the egg yolk. Sprinkle over the dried herbs, then chill for 30 mins. Will keep in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

STEP 7

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Bake the pie for 50 mins until the pastry is golden, crisp and dry. Leave to rest for 15 mins before cutting and serving.

Source: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/parsnip-feta-butter-bean-pie

Wholemeal Spelt Pastry

I doubled this recipe and it worked well.

Ingredients

• 200g Doves Farm Organic Wholemeal Spelt Flour
• 100g butter
• pinch of salt
• 8-9 tbsp cold water
• butter, for dish
• flour, for dusting

Method

• Pre-heat the oven.
• Rub a little butter around the inside of your dish or tin.
• Put the flour and butter into a mixing bowl.
• Using a fork or pastry blender, work the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the salt and mix. (I used hands)
• Stir in enough of the water to bring the pastry together into a soft dough.
• Using your hands gather the mix together to form a smooth ball of pastry dough.
• Dust the work surface with flour, put the dough in the middle and sprinkle it with flour.
• Roll out the pastry into a circle 5cm larger than your dish and lift it into the dish, OR simply press it into the baking dish using your fingers.
• Cut away any pastry that hangs over the edge of your dish.
• Continue as per your recipe.

Temperature

Fan 160°C. Recipe I used had it baked for 50 mins, which came out fine.

Source: https://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/recipes/wholemeal-spelt-shortcrust-pastry

Spinach, pumpkin and potato curry (no onions or garlic)

This was delicious. Took a bit of time to soften potato and pumpkin but otherwise pretty quick and easy. Could probably speed them up by sautéing with some water rather than just frying them.

Ingredients

• 500 grams spinach, roughly chopped (one I used works fine, but no idea if it's the type the recipe calls for, which is pui shak/basella leaf/malabar spinach)
• 250 grams pumpkin, cubed. I substituted a small butternut squash which was fine.
• 1 potato, peeled and cubed
• 2-4 green chilis, slit but not chopped (I used 2, but it was mild so prob fine with 4 as recipe suggests)
• 1 red chili, whole not chipped (I substituted with chili flakes, which promptly burnt)
• 1 tsp punch poron (Bengali 5 spice mix)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• Pinch of sugar
• Salt to taste
• Cooking oil/ghee

Method

• Heat oil and add red chili and panch porom, let them crackle (not too hot, definitely possible to burn them)
• Fry chopped potato until light golden, about 2 mins
• Add pumpkin and cook until they soften (not sure of the time,15-20 mins?)
• Add green chilis and turmeric powder, mix well and cook for 2 mins
• Add spinach a handful at a time and stir continuously. It needs to reduce a bit to fit it all into the pan.
• Dry up as much as possible of the water released from the spinach (weirdly spinach I used didn't release much water, but think it normally does)
• Stir in salt and sugar
• Cover and cook for 5-10 mins until soft
• Lightly smash some of the veg with end of spatula and stir well

Based on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=iZwbBZhLxOU

Left out shrimp from original recipe. Didn't cook in mustard oil as discovered after some research that there's credible evidence of negative health effects.