The Recycled Cook

The Recycled Cook Cajun Spiced Roasted Cod Loin  For this dish I used two Cod loins but you could easily substitute Cod for another firm white fish such as Hake or Haddock or even Monkfish. The first thing to do is to make the baste. Put some softened butter in a bowl, add some extra virgin olive oil, or rapeseed oil if you prefer, and mix well.  The quantities will depend on how many loins you have, you will need enough to cover then well. Next add some garlic purée, if you don't have any crush some garlic cloves and blitz them down to a paste. Add a  generous  amount of ready mixed Cajun spices to your taste. Check that you are happy with the flavour. I added some hot chilli powder to  mine. Cut your Cod loins diagonally to approximately the same size for uniform cooking. Season these on both sides with white pepper and salt. Slice some lemons thinly and lay them on the bottom of your casserole dish, Place the cod pieces...

Chilli rice cakes A nice simple blog today, well its hot and I want to be in the garden. This is one that your children might want to help with too, tough on them not being having the freedom the are used tonight  now. All I needed for this was leftover rice (please  make  sure that you chill your rice as soon as it is cool, leaving cooked rice in room temperature for even an hour can be risky). The first thing to do is mix the rice with some chilli sauce, this will not only add heat and colour but will help bind the rice cakes together. Depending on the rice and how loose it was when it was cooked you might ned to add a little flour too, I used rice flour but corn flour works just as well. Once you have mixed the rice roll it out onto a clean  surface, baking tray or ideally a silicone baking mat  if you have one. They shouldn't be too thick or they won't dry out very well. Dust the rolling pin an...

The Recycled Cook By Adrian Sleeman "Som Tam" Thai Salad Traditionally this salad is made with Green Papaya but they are a little hard to get in Carmarthen so I have made this dish, as always, with what I had available. In this case that was carrots and courgette, the latter courtesy of my neighbour's allotment. This salad makes a really great accompaniment to Thai food but also works well as a side dish, a starter or just a healthy snack. Preparation time is about ten minutes but don't rush if using the Mandolin. What Thai people call a Salad feels more like a pickle to me as they use citrus juice (lime or lemon), Fish sauce (Nam Pla) and vinegar in their preparation. The Thai term for salad can be confusing for Westerners. Mandolin with shield Carrot and Courgette Start by shredding your vegetables into thin ribbons, I used a Mandolin with a medium side shredding attachment but a potato peeler and a knife will do the jo...

The Recycled Cook By Adrian Sleeman Pasta Bolognese (Ragu) Bake Did you ever make Pasta Bolognese and end up with a lot of the Bolognese (Ragu) sauce left over? Well here is a nice idea for an oven baked dish that will let you turn that first dish into another, even tastier one. Left over pasta doesn't really work well next day so you will probably need to cook of some fresh pasta for this dish. It doesn't matter what pasta you use but a smallish  shape suits this well as it is easier to mix into the sauce.  I used Orzo (Barley) pasta as it is not only nice and small but has a distinct flavour. You can find this in most good supermarkets or your local Deli but Penne, Farfalinne, Fusilli or Orecchiette (Little Ears) will do just as well. This is a useful list of pasta shapes for you  http://pastafits.org/pasta-dictionary/ Simply mix the left over sauce in a large mixing bowl with the pre-cooked pasta and add some finely chopped leftover vegetables. I fried o...