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Posts Tagged ‘Butter’

Salmon is very popular in our house and we particulary like this recipe with a delicious barbery butter.

Wine Suggestion: we like dry Rosé with barberry dishes and chose the Quinta de la Rosa Rosé this time as it has great depth and poise alongside the refreshing red berried flavours.

Salmon with barberry butter – serves 4

  • olive oil
  • 4 salmon fillets, skinned

FOR THE BARBERRY BUTTER:

  • 75g softened butter
  • 2 tbsp dried barberries, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp pul biber
  • 1 tsp garlic granules
  • 1 tsp clear honey

Put the ingredients for the barberry butter into a bowl with plenty of salt and black pepper and mix well.

Heat a large frying pan over a medium-high heat and add a little olive oil. Season the salmon fillets on the skinned side, then put skinned-side down into the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes, then turn over and add the butter. When the butter has melted, start basting the salmon. You need to go quite quickly so the butter doesn’t burn. Keep basting for a couple of minutes or until the salmon is just cooked through.

Serve and spoon the butter over.

(Original recipe from Flavour by Sabrina Ghayour, Aster*, 2023.)

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We have fallen in love with this buttery cabbage dish which we served tonight alongside some salmon with barberries. This is seriously pimped up cabbage and would be delicious with anything! Both recipes are from Flavour by Sabrina Ghayour.

Wine suggestion: we thought the tamarind would be a hard match, so opened a wine we didn’t know, the Lyrarakis Liatiko from Crete, and were delighted when this obscure wine was a total gem. A light, juicy cherry flavoured wine with wild berry and gentle herbs and a cedary spice. We’ll be looking out for this again.

Cabbage with tamarind, maple & black pepper butter – serves 2 to 4

  • olive oil
  • 1 large head of sweetheart cabbage, quartered
  • 100ml cold water
  • 50g butter
  • 1 heaped tbsp tamarind paste
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp coarse freshly ground black pepper

Put a large frying pan over a medium heat and add some olive oil. Arrange the cabbage wedges in the pan, sitting on one cut side and the stalk ends in the centre of the pan, and fry for 5 minutes. Pour in the cold water, then increase the heat and cover the pan with a lid. Cook for 6-7 minutes or until the water has evaporated.

Take the lid off the pan and turn the cabbage wedges onto the other side for 3-4 minutes, uncovered. Add the butter, then mix the tamarind, maple syrup and pepper together and add to the pan with a good seasoning of salt. Stir to melt the butter – making sure it doesn’t burn. Baste the cabbage with the butter, then turnover onto the other side and continue basting for a few more minutes. Serve with any butter left in the pan drizzled over.

(Original recipe from Flavour by Sabrina Ghayour, Aster*, 2023.)

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Typing this recipe to the sound of lashing rain and howling wind but better weather is coming and you might be inspired to barbecue a cabbage. You will be very glad you did.

Barbecued cabbage with chilli and garlic butter – serves 2 as a side

  • 1 pointed/hispi cabbage, cut into 4 wedges
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

FOR THE DRESSING:

  • 1 long shallot, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 red chilli, halved, desseded and finely sliced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 50g butter
  • ½ tsp flaky sea salt
  • a small bunch of dill, fronds roughly chopped

Brush the cut surfaces of the cabbage wedges with the olive oil, then set them cut-side down on a very hot barbecue to char for about 4 minutes. Turn to char the other cut surface for 4 minutes, then set the wedges on the rounded sides for a final 4 minutes. Remove to a platter and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.

Meanwhile, combine the shallots, chilli and garlic with the butter and put over a low heat to melt the butter and lightly cook the vegetables. Cook for about 12-14 minutes or until the shallots are soft and translucent. Remove from the heat and mix in the salt and chopped dill. Pour the butter dressing over the warm cabbage and serve.

(Original recipe from Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around the Levant by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich, Pavilion, 2021.)

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This is a cheat recipe using a packet of shop-bought stuffed pasta. It makes a delicious lunch!

Lazy mantí – serves 2

  • 300g pack of shop-bought stuffed pasta
  • 50g butter
  • 1 tsp pul biber chilli flakes
  • 150g natural yoghurt
  • 1 scant tsp dried mint

Cook the pasta in lots of salty boiling water according to the timings on the pack, then drain into a sieve.

Return the pasta pan to the heat and add the butter. When the butter has melted, stir in the pul biber, then remove from the heat.

Season the yoghurt with salt and pepper and loosen with a little water – you’re looking for double cream consistency.

Divide the pasta between warm bowls and pour over the yoghurt, then drizzle over the pul biber butter, sprinkle with dried mint and season generously with black pepper.

(Original recipe from Persiana Everyday by Sabrina Ghayour, Aster, 2022.)

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We are cooking our way through Persian Everyday by Sabrina Ghayour. We struggle like everyone to eat well on busy days but this book is perfect for just that.

Wine Suggestion: White, lemony and medium bodied. Maybe a youthful Verdicchio, or our current fave, Zuani’s Ribolla Gialla Sodevo, from Collio in North East Italy. A grape that was so higly regarded by the Romans they implemented laws to protect it from adulteration … possibly the world’s first appellation laws …we’ll need to investigate further.

Pasta with sage butter, feta & pine nuts – serves 2

  • 200g pasta shells
  • 75g butter
  • 20 sage leaves
  • 25g pine nuts
  • 100g feta cheese
  • 2 pinches of pul biber chilli flakes

Cook the pasta in lots of very salty water according to the timings on the packet.

When the pasta is almost cooked, put a large frying pan over a gentle heat. Add the butter and sage and allow the butter to melt gently but don’t let it sizzle much. Keep stirring so the sage flavours the butter.

Roughly drain the pasta (you want a little bit of water still on the pasta) and add to the pan with the butter and sage. Turn up the heat and season very generousy with black pepper and a little sea salt. Add the pine nuts and toss everything together, then add the feta and stir until melting and starting to coat the pasta.

Serve spinkled with extra black pepper and a pinch of pul biber.

(Original recipe from Persiana Everyday by Sabrina Ghayour, Aster, 2022.)

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Barbecued Prawns with Chilli, Lime & Coriander Butter

Messy but oh so good! Treat your friends to a pile of these at your next barbecue and you will be very popular. Napkins, finger bowls, baby wipes etc., essential!

Wine Suggestion:  we think this needs an uncomplicated and fun white like a Picpoul de Pinet, Muscadet or Albariño, or going up a gear we chose the Bodegas Katxina Txakoli from near San Sebastien in Spain … tapas, sun, seafood and socialising. Happy days.

Barbecued prawns with chilli, lime & coriander butter – serves 4

  • 1kg large raw tiger prawns with the shell on, remove the heads before cooking

FOR THE BUTTER:

  • 1 large clove of garlic
  • a small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
  • juice of 1 lime, plus wedges to serve
  • 200g butter, softened

Make the butter by putting the garlic, coriander, chilli and lime juice into a food processor and pulse until chopped.

Toss 1 tbsp of the flavoured butter with prawns and leave in the fridge until ready to cook.

Put the rest onto a piece of tin foil and roll into a sausage shape. Put into the freezer to harden.

Preheat the barbecue, then cook the prawns for a few minutes on each side until pink. Serve on a platter and melt thin slices of the butter over the top. You can also melt some extra butter and serve on the side if you want. Serve with lime wedges to squeeze over.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Roast Chicken with a green peppercorn and cinnamon butter

With Julie not being a massive fan of cinnamon, we were a bit hesitant about trying this recipe, but fear not –  the green pepper and cinnamon butter is fabulous and a great way to jazz up roast chicken. The spice and pepper adds depth and personality but does not dominate in the slightest, rather allowing the succulent chicken to shine. If you’re really not convinced by cinnamon you can replace it with ground coriander, cumin or ginger.

Wine Suggestion: We drank an highly unusual white, Foradori’s Manzoni Bianco, and were blown away by both the delicious taste of the wine and the good match with the chicken. The Manzoni grape is a rare and unusual hybrid of Riesling and Pinot Bianco grown in the North East of Italy. There has been an obvious attention to detail in the vineyards and winery with a very complex yellow fruit flavour with layers of spice, flowers, smoke and an exotic hint of incense. This may sound heavy and cloying but the wine is fresh as a daisy and refreshing.

Chicken Baked with Green Pepper & Cinnamon Butter – to serve 4

  • 1 chicken
  • a few bay leaves
  • 2 tsp green peppercorns
  • a small sliver of garlic
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 45g soft butter
  • salt
  • lemon quarters and watercress, to serve

To make the butter:

Crush the green peppercorns with the garlic and cinnamon in a pestle and mortar. Thoroughly combine the spice paste with the butter, then add 1 tsp of salt.

Lift the skin of the chicken and rub with salt and then some spiced butter. Slash the drumsticks and thick part of the legs before spreading with the butter. Save a little bit of butter and put it inside the chicken. If you have time you can leave the chicken for a couple of hours before cooking.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.

Put the chicken and bay leaves into a shallow baking dish into which it fits neatly. Cook, uncovered, on the middle shelf, allowing 20 minutes on each side. Continue to cook breast upwards until the juices run clear and the skin is golden and crisp.

Serve with the lemon quarters, watercress and the buttery juices.

(Original recipe from At Elizabeth David’s Table: Her very best everyday recipes, Penguin, 2010.)

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