- Fish Cakes with Lemon and Pine Nuts
- Baked Cheesecake with Blueberries
Fish Cakes with Lemon and Pine Nuts
These are such lovely little fish cakes. The savoury pink sauce looks quite delightful and tastes delicious!
Serves 2
For the tomato, yoghurt and mint sauce
1 large or
2 small ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
2 tsp chopped mint Salt, freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of sugar
For the fish cakes
4 tbsp peanut or sunflower oil
200g (7oz) skinless haddock, hake, salmon or cod, cut into 1cm (½in) dice
2 tsp ground coriander seeds
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander or dill
25g (1oz) Parmesan cheese, finely grated
75g (3oz) white breadcrumbs (can be frozen)
Finely grated zest and juice of ½ lemon
50g (2oz) toasted pine nuts
1 large egg, whisked
For the watercress salad with coriander dressing
2 tbsp olive oil 2-3 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp chopped coriander
A few large handfuls of watercress leaves, thicker stalks removed
Method
1. First make the sauce. Whiz or liquidise the tomatoes and garlic, strain into a small bowl and stir in the yoghurt and mint, season to taste with a pinch of salt, pepper and sugar. Set aside while you make the fish cakes.
2. Place a wide frying or sauté pan on the heat, allow to get slightly hot, then add half the oil, fish and ground coriander. Toss in the pan for 2 minutes until the fish is just opaque. In a bowl, mix the remaining ingredients, except the egg, and add the cooked fish. Add enough beaten egg to bring it together to a softish mixture (if the egg is very large you may not need it all). Season to taste, then shape it into 4 fish cakes in your hands.
3. For the coriander dressing, mix together the olive oil, lemon juice and coriander and season to taste, adding more lemon juice if necessary.
4. To cook the fish cakes, place a frying pan on a medium heat, heat the remaining oil and put in the fish cakes. Turn down the heat slightly and cook gently for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown on both sides. Place the fish cakes on two warmed plates and serve with the tomato, yoghurt and mint sauce and the watercress salad drizzled with just enough dressing to make the leaves glisten.
Rachel's Handy Tip
To toast the pine nuts (or any other kind of nut), toss them in a dry pan for 2-3 minutes until golden over a high heat.
Baked Cheesecake with Blueberries
This wonderfully rich cheesecake is equally good made with other fruit. Use whatever is in season, or whatever you happen to have in the freezer. Raspberries and blackberries are particularly delicious.
Serves 10-12
Ingredients
175g (6oz) digestive biscuits
75g (3oz) butter, melted
175g (6oz) blueberries, plus extra for decorating
450g (1lb) cream cheese
150g (5oz) caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs, lightly beaten
Icing sugar, to dust
24cm (9½in) diameter spring-form/loosebottomed tin
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4. Butter the sides and base of the cake tin.
2. Place the biscuits in a food processor and whiz until quite fine. Alternatively, place them in a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin. Mix the crushed biscuits with the melted butter and press down into the base of the tin so that it is nice and even. Spread the blueberries over the base and allow to chill in the fridge while you make the topping.
3. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract and the eggs together in a large bowl until smooth and creamy. Pour
over the top of the blueberries and then bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until it is pale golden and should only wobble very slightly when you gently shake the tin.
4. Allow to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge to loosen it and carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin. Transfer to a serving plate. Sprinkle over a few blueberries, if you wish, then dust with icing sugar. Cut into slices to serve. This cheesecake is best eaten when it is at room temperature.
5. Cut the dough into rectangles about 8 x 14cm (3¼ x 5½in) in size and place in a single layer on the prepared baking trays. If you want to sprinkle sea salt or seeds on top of the crispbreads, then first brush the top of the raw crispbreads with olive oil so that they stick to the surface.
6. Bake in the oven for 10-14 minutes or until pale golden brown and slightly curled up at the edges. They will feel dry when cooked, but will only really crisp up when they have cooled. Check after 8-10 minutes of cooking and if they are golden brown underneath, but still quite pale on top, then turn them over. Allow to cool on wire racks.
Rachel's Baking Tip
You can experiment with all kinds of (dry) sweet biscuits or cookies for the base; just crush them the way you could the digestives above. Try using a chocolate biscuit base and omitting the blueberries.