Georgina Hayden

Roasted skate with sherry sauce and crispy capers

10.01.2014 by georgie // 1 Comment

I adore this recipe. I can’t remember when I first had it, but all variations are winner with me (skate often being paired with a burnt butter and caper sauce) – this being my all time favourite though. It isn’t difficult but you’ll need to focus at the job at hand, as the sauce doesn’t sit particularly well.

ROAST SKATE WITH SHERRY SAUCE AND CRISPY CAPERS (Raya con salsa de jerez)

From Casa Moro: The Second Cookbook by Sam and Sam Clark

Serves 4

4 portion sized skate wings, about 250g each
7 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
200ml fino sherry
1 banana shallot or 2 normal shallots, finely chopped
a sprig of fresh thyme
2 bay leaves, preferably fresh
5 tablespoons sherry vinegar plus 1 extra teaspoon
10 black peppercorns
200g good quality unsalted butter, cold, cubed
80g capers in salt or vinegar
4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 lemon, quartered

Prepare and fry the capers in advance: Wash the capers in a sieve for 1 minute under running water and then leave in a bowl of cold water for an hour, changing the water a few times. Heat 4 tablespoons of the olive oil in a small saucepan over a medium heat and when hot add the drained capers. Fry, stirring occasionally until they are slightly browned and crisp. Remove from the heat and drain on kitchen paper. Set aside.

To make the sauce, place the fino, shallots, thyme, bay leaves, 5 tablespoons vinegar and the peppercorns in a small saucepan and simmer over a low to medium heat until you are left with roughly 5 tablespoons of liquid. Strain out the thyme, bay leaves and peppercorns. Over a very low heat, stirring constantly, add the cubes of butter, a couple at a time. Add more when the butter has melted into the sauce and continue to do so until all the butter has been used and a light emulsion has formed. Add the remaining teaspoon of vinegar and a little salt and taste. Keep warm over the stove or in a bain-marie while you cook the fish, but do not allow to bubble.

Preheat the oven to 220/ 425/ Gas 7. When you are ready to cook the skate heat a large metal roasting tin on the hob until very hot. Season the skate with salt and pepper on both sides, drizzle the olive oil into the pan to cover the bottom and gently ease each wing into it, shaking the pan as you do so to prevent the skate from sticking. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the wing, or until cooked through. Remove and serve immediately with the warm sauce spooned over the fish, the capers and chopped parsley sprinkled all over, and lemon wedges on the side. Delicious with braised spinach or chard and new season’s boiled potatoes.

Roast skate with homemade bread to mop up the sauce and a radish and rocket salad — Roast skate with homemade bread to mop up the sauce and a radish, rocket and watercress salad

Roast squash soup with coconut and pumpkin seeds

09.29.2014 by georgie // Leave a Comment

With my fertility chat in mind, my first recipe is a squash and pumpkin seed recipe, of which I can’t take full credit. When we got back from holiday I came home to the new Ottolenghi book ‘Plenty More’, and was over the moon. I love Ottolenghi, I love his restaurants/ cafes/ books/ column, and I don’t think I have ever made a dud recipe written by the man (Jerusalem is our favourite, the fish chapter is already in tatters).

After a trip to our fabulous local greengrocers, where the produce is ridiculously beautiful and the service is rude and grumpy, I came away with a mound of autumn treats including a beast of a butternut squash. So with a little flick through my newest book I came across ‘Squash with cardamom and nigella seeds’, a delicious sounding recipe, which is packed with good stuff (if you ignore the knob of butter at the start).

So I made this for friends, and got thinking, if you omit the yoghurt this would make a wonderful base for a soup, with coconut milk and coriander… So here is a little tweak on Mr Ottolenghi’s recipe, resulting in an incredible soup for Autumn.

ROAST SQUASH SOUP WITH COCONUT AND PUMPKIN SEEDS

Serves 4 – 6

olive oil
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 large butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
2 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds, plus extra for serving
1 teaspoon nigella seeds
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 large cinnamon stick
1 green chilli, halved lengthways
400ml vegetable stock
A can of low fat coconut milk
Half a bunch of coriander chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
100g feta (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200/ 180/ Gas mark 6.

Place the onion and butternut squash in a large roasting tray, so they are spread out in one layer and add the pumpkin seeds, nigella seeds, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, chilli and a good pinch of salt. Drizzle with a good lug of olive oil and mix well. Pop in the oven and roast for around 30 minutes, tossing occasionally, until cooked through and golden. Transfer the tray to the hob and add the coconut milk and stock and gently bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for a further 5 minutes, then remove from the heat. Discard the cinnamon and chilli and stir in the chopped coriander, stalks and all. Blitz with a stick blender until you have a thick and creamy soup, adding a little extra water if needed. Then serve with the feta crumbled over the top, and a few extra pumpkin seeds.

NB: You can keep the recipe similar to the in ‘Plenty More’ by not turning this into a soup. Ottolenghi likes to serve his with greek yoghurt, or do as I did and serve with crumbled creamy feta.

Served as a starter instead, with crumbled feta

Fertile foods

09.29.2014 by georgie // Leave a Comment

I’m combining 2 of my biggest interests for this (and subsequent) posts; food and pregnancy. Much to my surprise I managed to conceive Archie very easily last year (I battled with PCOS for a long time), however I don’t know what will happen next time round and feel conscious that I want my body to be in the best shape possible. It’s taken a bit of blow, emotionally and physically, and I’m using this time to focus on getting everything back in working order. I know people get pregnant every day, without taking folic acid, omega 3, vitamin C etc, but being conscious of it and actively trying is a whole different ball game, and eating healthily can only be a good thing right? So I’ve been doing some research and come up with a fertility foods hit list (below) and will be blogging some fertility friendly recipes.

MILK

There has been extensive research to suggest that full fat milk (and cream and yoghurt!) is not only better for you when trying to conceive, but can aid conception and that skimmed milk and skimmed milk products can actually hinder it/ promote infertility. So ditch the low fat yoghurts and have a scoop of ice cream whenever you like, and when drinking milk make sure it is organic. Here is a link outlining the 8 year Harvard study and for more in depth explanation check out this great blog, however I will be sticking to whole organic milk, I can’t quite face raw milk.

ALL VEG BUT ESPECIALLY…

BUTTERNUT SQUASH

As a huge lover of all gourds, I’m over the moon that butternut squash is such a fertility star food. It is rich in selenium, zinc, calcium, iron, vitamin A and C, folic acid and just about any other fertility-super-nutrient you can think of. I’ll be posting some squash recipes later on.

GREENS

As far as I (and a million others I am sure) are concerned, greens are always the answer. With years of vegetarianism and anaemia behind me, I had to battle my iron deficiency as best I could with leafy greens and pulses. Juice, salad, stew, soup, curry? Shove some spinach in it. Spinach is iron rich, which is crucial when trying to get pregnant, studies show that women who got their iron from non-meat sources increased their chances of becoming pregnant. This goes for other leafy greens too such as kale, cabbage, chard. These wondrous vegetables are also rich in folic acid and contain a compound, found in broccoli too, that help the body get rid of excess oestrogen. My favourite tip is always keep a bag of frozen spinach in the freezer, it really can be put in almost anything and is much cheaper and handier than buying it fresh.

CAULIFLOWER

Amongst the highest in Vitamin C, cauliflower is also high in iron fibre, potassium and calcium. All key nutrients to get your fertility to its peak.

FISH

Omega-3 rich fish such as wild salmon, sardines, mackerel and herring have huge fertility boosting benefits (as well as making you more clever!). They are said to help regulate reproductive hormones and increase blood flow to reproductive organs. Also they can help relieve stress, which is potentially a big issue when trying to conceive.

BEANS AND PULSES

In the same Harvard research linked in the ‘milk’ category above, the researchers also found that infertility was 39% more likely in women with the highest intake of animal protein. Where as those who a lot of plant protein where significantly less likely to have trouble conceiving. So ditch the red meat and add some chickpeas, beans and lentils into your life.

CARBS

Pasta, bread, rice… Don’t avoid carbs! It really upsets me that everyone hates carbs so much, as if carbohydrates are the root of all evil. We need carbs, carbs are good for us but go easy on them and opt for complex carbohydrates over refined ones, as they take longer to digest, keeping blood sugar and insulin levels stable. What has this got to do with conception? Well an increase in insulin levels can disrupt reproductive hormones. A Dutch study found that when women had high blood sugar levels they were only half as likely to have gotten pregnant. So switch your rice for brown, pasta to wholewheat, and same with bread.

NUTS AND SEEDS

Nuts and seeds are great sources of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Not all fats are bad, in fact having unsaturated fats in your diet can help conception as they aid insulin sensitivity (see ‘carbs’ for more details). Good nuts to go for are brazil, almonds, walnuts and pecans. Pumpkin seeds are great as they are high in non-heme iron (the type of iron found in certain plant food and iron-fortified foods). One study found that women who took iron supplements (which is non-heme iron) were 40% less likely to have trouble getting pregnant. Try snacking on an omega 4 seed mix, containing pumpkin, sunflower, sesame and flax seed, or sprinkle into your cereal/ muesli/ porridge or even try adding to smoothies. You can also get a wide range of seed and nut butters now, which are fantastic (make sure they have no added ingredients, just the seed or nut in question). I’m a big fan of pumpkin seed butter which I use as a spread, but have also tried in smoothies – it works fantastically.

CINNAMON

I love cinnamon and will put ground cinnamon in almost anything. Porridge? Winner. Smoothies, cakes, stews… all good. It has been long suggested to diabetics to eat cinnamon as it can help improve insulin resistance in the body, which is great when try to conceive as it keeps hormones and blood sugar levels in check.

AND THE REST…

Then it’s all the obvious stuff, that we all know and have heard before – be at a healthy weight (BMI 18.5 – 25), don’t smoke, don’t do drugs or drink (although personally I need the odd glass of wine at the moment). Eat home cooked foods, use olive oil instead of butter, cut out (or down at least) refined sugars, don’t drink fizzy drinks and eat your 5/7/10-a-day, but mainly from veg as fruit is high in sugar too.