Fish and fourspice

For the first time after two weeks, a period with disciplined workers in half of my home replacing windows and producing dust, I could regain a moment in my kitchen that didn't look too much like an encampment. And on summer solstice day, of which the eve was marred by heavily overcast skies, my newspaper delivered the most incredible: that a summer high was nigh.

Having come home with some fish at 7 pm I suddenly felt elation. A pressing urge was telling me that vitamin D was waiting on my porch and that I was to take full advantage. Cooking fast was key. So I threw together fish, four spices, and young thin carrots, and bingo.

Fish and fourspice

2 fillets of white fish
liberal sprinklings of: turmeric, ginger powder, curry, and chipotle chilli
olive oil, salt and pepper
young carrots
rocket/rucola salad for decoration

Preheat oven at 180°C

Place fish in oven pan, and liberally coat them with four spices. Turn the fillets around, and make sure they're evenly coated. Season with salt (careful) and pepper, and sprinkle with olive oil.

Steam carrots a little (which I didn't), then place them around the fillets. Take some foil, and cover the oven pan. Place in oven for 10-12 minutes (turn heat a bit lower) or until done. The fish is steaming in juices.

Wash some rocket salad, cut it, and decorate the fish. Serve at once.

Note: be careful with salt. In fact, next time I won't use any.
The ginger powder does wonders here for taste and is good against fishy smells.

Dash to the terrace and soak up that Summer Solstice Day Sun until it ends!

Steak in Stew, Catalan style

More snow this weekend, more short-lived Winter Wonderland, so another wintry recipe for whoever stayed indoors. In the recently quoted Leviathan of a cookbook, French cooking by Françoise Bernard, I was taken with this Catalan stew which oddly uses steak meat. Let's see how that turns out.

Steak in Stew, Catalan style

Serves 4

4 round pieces of beef (one per person)
4 carrots
2 onions
800 g potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
30 g butter
20 cl dry white wine (1 glass)
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 bouquet garni (herbs: bay leaf, thyme)
salt, pepper

Cut carrots and onions in slices. Peel potatoes and cut in slices of 1 cm.

Fry the beef in a pan in very hot oil until browned on both sides.

Transfer the meat to a stewing pot with the carrots, onions, potatoes and the butter. Stew for a few minutes over low heat, then add the wine, tomato puree, herbs, salt and pepper. Put the lid on and let stew for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Notes: Great dish for leftovers, with smells redolent somehow of the simple cooking seen at my grandmother's. The tomato is a great little tastemaker here.
Beware: on account of the potatoes added raw, this dish needs as long to stew.
It wasn't specified what part of beef to use, so I used steak meat. Puzzling!