Sushi at the Park Plaza, London

Ordered this combination plate at the Ichi Sushi restaurant in the Park Plaza hotel, Westminster.  My wife and I had stayed here a couple of nights earlier and I was so impressed that I returned there after work with my son.  Started off with Edamame beans then we had the combination plate which comprised spicy tuna and crab rolls, tuna, prawn, eel and salmon nigiri and sashimi of salmon, tuna and seabass.
All beautifully prepared and presented.  At £40 it's not the cheapest but it is worth it for the quality.

Monkfish Medallions with Bacon on Pak Choi

White Monkfish ( Lophius piscatorius), also known as Angler Fish, is an ugly beast which used to be discarded by commercial fisherman as worthless.  Nowadays however its white tail fillets which are quite meaty in texture command a high price on the fishmongers stall.  In the UK it is usually displayed and sold as pre-skinned white fillets with the large head discarded.  However in European countries such as Spain and Portugal you will be offered the whole fish so you can use the head for fish stock or in soups.  


According to the Marine Conservation Society most sources of Monkfish are not sustainable with the best stock management taking place in Icelandic waters.  They recommend that Monkfish should be eaten only occasionally which is good advice considering also the price tag. More sustainable alternatives include Mullet, Gurnard and Tilapia.


Being a 'meaty' fish it combines well with the bacon in this recipe.  Cut your skinned fillet into medallions about 2cm thick.  They will vary in diameter according to where you cut the fillet but that doesn't matter.  Wrap a piece of smoked bacon around each fillet and season with salt and pepper.  Bake in a closed dish (foil will do) in a hot oven for about 20 minutes.  Serve on a bed of finely chopped  Pak Choi tossed in butter. In this meal I added fresh pasta ravioli with butternut squash and beetroot on the side.

Battered Gurnard and Chips

Battered Gurnard and Chips

Friday fish and chip lunch using Gurnard instead of Cod or Haddock. I battered the skinned fish fillets using a light tempura style batter and deep fried it in vegetable oil. Combined with chunky chips and tomato ketchup, what a tasty lunch ! I bought two Gurnard whole from the Good Fish Shop in Haslemere where John, the fishmonger, filleted and skinned them for me. There is a lot of waste with Gurnard but the fillets are meaty and firm and these 2 fish cost £5 which is pretty good value. Gurnard (Aspitrigla cuculus ) is a highly sustainable choice being a fast growing species which matures early to a good size.  It is rated 2 (good choice) by the Marine Conservation Society on their Fish Online website.

New years eve in Florence

Arancine of cuttlefish

Enjoyed a wonderful New Years Eve at the Frescobaldi restaurant at Piazza della Signoria in Florence. The 9 course menu was was superb with a selection of stunning wines to accompany including a bottle of Spumante for each table to celebrate at midnight.

Seafood dishes included Arancine (which literally means 'an orange which has fallen from the tree') of durum wheat stuffed with cuttlefish and diced vegetable and served on a disk of yellow squash.  The durum wheat 'semolina', similiar to large cous cous, was soaked in the cuttlefish ink which provided texture and flavour.

Sauteed scallops

The scallops sauteed in black butter and Rosemary with green onion compote, rice balls and steamed shrimp with caviar were a superb combination accompanied by the 2003 Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino.

After the midnight celebration there was a raffle for bottles of the wines we had enjoyed during the night and we won 2 bottles of the 40 Altari 2006, Vin Santo del Chianti D.O.C. (dessert wine) and a magnum of the Toscana I.G.T. red , Tenuta Luce della Vite, Lucente 2007.  As we were flying back to London with only hand luggage we donated our winnings to the hard working staff at the restaurant so we hope you enjoyed it !

A four and a half hour dinner to celebrate the new year of 2012 !

Fresh Brown Crab



Edible Crab

Shell removed showing gills




Dressed Crab

Cock Crab Underbelly

I bought this beautiful freshly boiled Brown Crab (Cancer pagurus) from the Good Fish Shop in Haslemere.  Being a cock (male) crab it has larger claws than a hen which results in more of the delicately flavoured white meat.  Apart from large claws you can identify the male by the narrower triangular shaped flap on the abdomen which on the female is much wider. To prepare your crab, place it 'nose' down on a chopping board and give it a good thump.  The shell should separate from the legs and main body. Prise the shell off and expose the inside which includes the 'dead mans fingers'.  These are in fact the gills and contrary to popular belief, are not deadly poisonous.  However, they have an unpleasant flavour and can harbour bacteria so should be removed. Also press out the mouth parts which should remove the stomach at the same time. Then scoop out the very tasy brown meat from inside the shell and the flaky white meat from inside the body cavities.  This is best performed with a 'pick' or small fork. Finally crack the claws with a mallet or rolling pin and ease out the claw meat.  Layer the brown, white and claw meat in the original top shell.

Kippers for Breakfast

We recently stayed at the Hotel du Vin in Bristol and enjoyed a very pleasant meal in the brasserie on Saturday evening.  The menu was interesting; I had the cod fillet with seared scallops and pepperonata as a main course.  The cod fillet was nice and thick and not overcooked giving delicate flakes of cod which slid away on the knife.  There are a number of sustainable sources for Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) including Iceland, NE Arctic and Celtic Sea.

The varied breakfast menu offered grilled kippers which I chose.  In fact when it arrived it was a pair of kipper fillets which were nicely presented with melted butter.  I added a couple of poached eggs for good measure.

When cooking a whole kipper at home I favour the method of cooking a kipper in a jug of hot water.  Just place the kipper, head down, into a tall jug filled with boiling water straight from the kettle.  Put a tea towel over the top and leave for 15 minutes.  Remove the kipper and serve with a knob of butter.  This provides a lightly cooked kipper without filling the house with cooking smells.

Oysters and the Food Standards Agency

Why do the Food Standards Agency publish a report which contains an obvious headline-grabbing statement that over 75% of UK oysters contain the Norovirus?  Hidden deeper in their report they state that they were unable to distinguish between infectious and non-infectious forms of the virus.  They also state that the risk is no greater now than it was before the study.  It doesn't take much common sense to realise that the media headlines will concentrate on the 75% bit, so why did the FSA act in such a manner ? They say it is their duty to alert the public of the risks which is fair enough but I say, think about the wording of your press release and understand how the media operate.  The UK shellfish industry has more than its fair share of problems and doesn't need a government agency adding to them unnecessarily.