Speedy Indian Salmon Curry

5 Comments February 25, 2019 chilliandmint

Exhausted after a long day, with little energy or inclination to cook a complex dish that involves lots of marinating and blending? We’ve all been there right? Well this curry works a treat and literally takes 15 minutes to prepare and cook. It’s a staple dish in my household and is always guaranteed to raise spirits and a smile. I’ve been cooking it for 20 years so felt it would be a good one to share with you all. I have used salmon but you can equally use trout or any firm fish in fact.

I find I use all the spices quite regularly so am guaranteed to have them in the house. My fridge also always has fresh ginger and curry leaves, which are either kept in my fridge of freezer (so I don’t get caught out). Same goes for fresh chillies.

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how quick and easy this dish is and yet tastes really moreish. I often get asked do I eat the curry leaves and the answer is ‘yes’. I love the taste of them, but you can leave them to one side if you don’t fancy it. They will have already worked their magic flavouring the dish.

I often accompany it with some of my Bengali dal, which is my ultimate comfort food. A plain white or brown rice works well with this dish.

I would love to see how you get on so don’t forget to tag and link me on instagram if you make it @chilliandmint #chilliandmint.

Speedy Indian Salmon Curry

Serves 4

700g filleted salmon, cut into manageable portions (skin on or off as you prefer)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tsp nigella seeds

1 small tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

2 fresh chilli, chopped in half (more if you like it hot)

half tsp chilli powder (optional)

2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and grated

approx 10 fresh curry leaves

2 large tomatoes, finely diced

150ml water

1 tsp salt

handful of fresh coriander

1. Cut the salmon pieces into manageable sized portions and put to one side.

2. Warm the oil and when it is hot add the onions and fry on a medium heat for 6 minutes or until they begin to brown. At this point add the nigella seeds, fresh chilli, turmeric, chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, grated ginger, curry leaves and salt and stir for 20 seconds.

3. Add the tomatoes and 100ml of water and mix all the ingredients together.

4. Gently place the salmon pieces, with the skin facing upwards (if skin is still on), into the sauce and let it simmer on a medium/low heat for 5 minutes. Place a lid on the pan.

5. Then using a spoon turn the salmon pieces over and add a further 50ml of water if necessary. It will only need a couple of minutes. If you prefer a thicker sauce add less water and vice versa. Its really not an exact science and more down to personal taste.

Serve with roughly chopped fresh coriander.

Homemade Gravlax with a Dill, Mustard and Lemon Dressing and Pickled Cucumbers

5 Comments November 21, 2018 chilliandmint

With Christmas fast approaching I thought a homemade gravlax recipe might come in rather useful. Smoked salmon always makes an appearance on Christmas day, but I think a homemade gravlax might make a welcome change. This Nordic dish is very simple to prepare as ultimately you are simply curing the salmon in salt, sugar, fresh dill and gin (or vodka/schnapps).

I tend to use the container that the salmon comes in to cure it, which makes it all very straight forward and fuss free. If you want to add a pink hue to the gravlax, simply add a small grated beetroot when you add the fresh dill to begin with. Sometimes I also like to add juniper berries, which I crush and add to the curing ingredients (no more than 2 tsp). I like to cure the salmon for 48 hours, by which time it has hardened and taken on the wonderful flavours it has been curing in.

The end result can be made into canapés, of presented as a starter in the middle of the table. I like to make a lemony, mustard and dill dressing and for some crunch pickled cucumbers works a treat.

Above gives you an idea on how it would look as a table centre piece for a starter and below as a canapé, or in my case, lunch with a mug of miso soup.

Homemade Gravlax

Serves 4-6 as canapés or starter

500g salmon fillet, skin on (bones removed) this one is perfect

100g fresh dill, finely chopped, leaves and stalks

2 tsp freshly ground white pepper

2 tbsp gin (or vodka or schnapps)

70g flakey sea salt

80g caster sugar

2 tsp freshly ground juniper berries, optional

1 small beetroot, peeled and grated, optional

Using a hand blender (or by hand) other than the salmon, mix all the ingredients together to form a green sugary salty rub.
Using the container that the salmon has come in, or a container that the salmon comfortably fits, add half the rub. Place the salmon on top – flesh side down – and then cover with the remaining rub. Make sure the salmon is completely covered. Cover with a lid or cling film and place back in the fridge for 48 hours, turning a couple of times throughout this period.
Before serving, remove most of the rub by gently running it under some cold water. Pat dry with kitchen paper. You want some of the dill to remain on the salmon.

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Thirty minutes before serving you need to make the pickled cucumbers.

Pickled Cucumbers

1 whole cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced (a mandolin is great for this)

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp flakey sea salt

1 tbsp caster sugar

1/2 tsp coriander seeds, optional

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Squeeze out the excess moisture (there will be quite a lot), and then place in a serving bowl or on the serving platter.

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Whilst the cucumber is pickling, clean out an old jam jar with a lid.

Mustard and Lemon Dressing

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 small lemon, juice only (I like it quite lemony, so perhaps add 1/2 juice of a lemon first and add more once it is all mixed together)

1 tbsp caster sugar

pinch of flakey sea salt

50g finely freshly chopped dill

2 tbsp sunflower/olive oil

Place all the ingredients in your jar, secure the lid and mix thoroughly. Taste test and add more salt/sugar/lemon to taste.
Place in a bowl ready to accompany the gravlax and pickled cucumber.
Store in the fridge if made ahead of time. It will last for well over a week in the fridge.

Marinated Gravadlax, Pickled Cucumber and a Honey Mustard Dressing

5 Comments March 13, 2017 chilliandmint

Growing up smoked salmon, or gravadlax, used to be a real treat, something that you would have very occasionally – at Christmas perhaps on Christmas morning or over Easter. Somehow though over the years its become rather ubiquitous and in some cases rather bland. Go to any sandwich store or deli and you’ll find it sitting there next to the cheese and pickle sarnies. The glamour and decadence seems to have gone.

I can help you change all that with a few simple steps. Marinated gravadlax is not only super easy (I know I tend to say that rather a lot but I sincerely mean it!) but it also tastes ridiculously good. You’ll also get tons of brownie points if you bring it out when guests are over.

I loosely followed Simon Hopkinson’s recipe – you can see it here and the video here. Rather confusingly it says that it only takes overnight to prepare and then in the body of the method it says 48 hours. Confusing. I researched other recipes and all the others were for 24 hours so I followed suit. As I did not finish it all in one sitting I returned the remaining portion of salmon back into the fridge with the marinade to see if the taste changed with another night in the fridge. I did not find any difference so I think I will continue with 24 hours.

So here is my step-by-step method.

Home Cured Gravadlax

500g of fresh salmon fillet, skin on, bones removed (I bought this one)

85g caster sugar

70g sea salt

2 tbsp gin

2 tsp of fresh ground white pepper (next time I will try it with black or pink to see how it turns out)

80g fresh dill

First make up the paste. Mix the sugar, salt, gin, pepper and dill in a blender or pestle and mortar.
Take the salmon out of it’s packaging – do not throw this away as it is perfect size to marinate the gravadlax in over night.
Distribute the paste evenly on the bottom of the packaging tray and then once you have laid the salmon in – flesh side down – place the rest of the paste on top. Press down firmly.
Cover with cling film and leave for 24 hours – turning a couple of times if you can.

Pickled Cucumber

1 whole cucumber, thinly sliced on a mandolin (I have this one)

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

2 caster sugar

1 sea salt

a little freshly ground white pepper (again pink or black could be good here)

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and leave to macerate in the fridge for an hour.
A fair amount of liquid will have formed so discard this and place the cucumber back in the fridge until ready to use.

Honey Mustard Dill Dressing

2 tbsp of yellow Dijon mustard

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tbsp of runny honey

squeeze of lemon juice, to taste

20g fresh dill, finely chopped

salt, to taste

pepper, taste

extra virgin olive oil

Mix all the ingredients together, aside for the extra virgin olive oil. Gradually pour this into the dressing stirring as you do so. It will thicken, much like hollandaise. Taste and add more salt/honey/lemon juice as your taste buds require.

I served all of the above on a bilini – mustard dressing then a little cucumber and then a thin slice of gravadlax. Equally you could present the gravadlax as a starter and slice it into strips at the table (or before) and keep the cucumber as a salad and the dressing for guests to serve themselves. A slice of rye on the side would be perfect.

I’m planning to do beetroot next and then start experimenting with flavours – juniper, orange zest, mint.

It will change the way you look at gravadlax going forward.

Fragrant Lemongrass and Ginger Salmon Broth – full of goodness

14 Comments March 2, 2015 chilliandmint

I have a weakness for broths, pho and laksa. Seriously I dream about eating hot, steaming broths in road side cafes in some Asian country that has been lovingly created by the mama or papa of the household. My favourite eating experiences have been these low key affairs that are often quite unexpected. It’s the balance of sweet, sour, spicy and saltiness that gets me every time.

I regularly try to replicate them here at home in London. The flavours, smells and textures take me to those foreign lands without the need for stepping foot on a plane. I guess that generally is the way I like to cook – foods from foreign lands that excite the taste buds and give you a warm inner happy glow. It sounds cheesy but it is so true. One of my mini me’s is a bit under the weather but has not lost her appetite so I said I would cook her a feast for lunch that would perk her up. Ok, it was kind of an excuse for me to have another broth pick-me-up too in all honesty.

I decided to work with some big bold flavours such as the lemongrass, garlic and ginger and give them the centre stage in this dish. The sour came from the lime and kaffir lime leaves, the saltiness from the fish sauce and salmon, the sweetness from the tomatoes and a sprinkling of caster sugar and the spiciness (for me only) with the red chilli. I then added layers of crunch and flavour with the spring onions, fresh coriander and fried shallots. Instead of adding fish stock I added chicken stock which I think works far better for this type of dish.

Crispy shallots are seriously addictive and add a wonderful crunch and flavour to the meal. I chose to add rice noodles that partly filled the bottom of my bowl and then added the broth on top. It wants to be 3/4 broth 1/4 noodles.

Take a look at that close up. It’s making me hungry again just looking at. I adore fresh coriander and mouthfuls of that with the broth, sweet tomatoes, chilli, shallots and spring onions is absolutely sublime. Seriously you have to try it. You heard it hear first. Give it a go and let me know. My kids LOVE it so don’t presume that because it’s a little ‘exotic’ they won’t. I just leave out the chillies of course!

Fragrant Lemongrass and Ginger Salmon Broth

serves 4

1 banana shallot, finely sliced

vegetable oil to fry the shallot

2 lemongrass, roughly sliced

4cm fresh ginger, peeled and roughly sliced

5 garlic cloves

1 tbsp groundnut/olive oil

2 kaffir lime leaves

1 litre boiling water (or 500ml if using fresh chicken stock)

1 chicken stock cube/500ml of fresh chicken stock

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tsp caster sugar

10 small tomatoes, halved

60g sugar snaps

4 handfuls of fresh spinach

juice of 1/2 a lime

200g fresh salmon, thinly sliced

150g rice noodles

To Serve

fried shallot (from above)

handful of fresh coriander

2 spring onions, sliced at an angle

2 red chillies, finely sliced (optional)

1. First warm a small pan with vegetable oil and heat. Add a small slither of shallot and if it fizzles it is ready to add the whole sliced shallot. Keep it at a high heat, but not so hot that they burn, and stir at intervals. After around 6 minutes the shallots will bronze and crisp up. At this stage remove them with a slotted spoon and place on a plate with kitchen paper to soak up the oil.

2. Place the ginger, garlic and lemongrass in a small blender and blend. Add 1 tablespoon of water and 1 tsp of oil and blend into a smooth (as possible) paste.

3. In a large, deep pan add some oil on a medium heat and then add the lemongrass paste and kaffir lime leaves and move around the pan for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock, boiling water, fish sauce, lime juice and caster sugar and simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Cook the rice noodles according to the packet and place to one side.

5. A couple of minutes before serving add the fresh tomatoes, sugar snaps and spinach.

6. A minute before serving add the salmon so that it just cooks through completely but still holds together well.

7. To serve place the noodles in a bowl followed by the broth, vegetables and salmon and then place the spring onion, fresh coriander, fried shallots and red chillies (if you need some extra heat) on top. Serve immediately with chopsticks and a spoon.

Slurping encouraged.

Black Sesame Paste Soba Noodles with Salmon and Spring Onions

2 Comments September 12, 2014 chilliandmint

There are some plates of food that when presented in front of you you are a little bit sceptical that the dish will actually taste good. This dish, being predominately grey and black with only a splattering of green and white from the spring onions and the delicate pink from the salmon, is a case in point. You are going to have to trust me on this one when I say that this meal is seriously delicious. It also ridiculously quick (I know I know I say that with most of the dishes I put up on my blog) – it takes the amount of time that you cook your salmon in the oven – 15 minutes.

Black sesame seeds may require a bit of effort to hunt down – I found mine at my local Asian grocers, but other than that you should be able to get hold of the rest of the ingredients pretty easily. If you don’t have tamari, just use soy sauce – they are very similar.

I ate mine with a hot cup of fresh lemon verbena tea, which I have become rather addicted to since I was sweetly given a bag full of the stuff last weekend. Have you tried it before? Does anyone grow it in their gardens? Is it easy to maintain? I’d love to know as lemon verbena has a wonderful aroma and taste.

I hope you get to try this dish very soon. I adore buckwheat soba noodles – I tend to buy the Clearspring variety – they look like this. They’re wheat free noodles, low in fat and a great source of protein and fibre. Go on give this dish a go and leave me a comment below.

Black Sesame Paste Soba Noodles with Salmon and Spring Onions

Adapted from Heidi Swanson’s ‘Super Natural Everyday’ – Black Sesame Otsu

Serves 4

black sesame seed paste

1 tsp sunflower seeds

1 tsp pine nuts

60g black sesame seeds

1 1/2 tbsp demerara sugar

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 1/2 tbsp tamari/soy sauce

2 tbsp brown rice vinegar

pinch of cayenne pepper

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350g buckwheat soba noodles

4 salmon fillets – skin removed (optional)

3 spring onions, finely sliced

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

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1. Preheat your oven (I use a fan oven – if you are not increase the temperature by 10 degrees) to 180 degrees. Equally you can steam the salmon if you prefer. Using a cooking brush gently wipe each salmon fillet with sesame oil. Place in a non stick dish and cook for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a frying pan dry roast, on a low heat, the pine nuts and sunflower seeds for a couple of minutes so they begin to bronze. You will need to keep moving the pan to prevent burning. As the pine nuts begin to bronze add the black sesame seeds and move them around the pan for a minute. Transfer to a spice grinder (or pestle and mortar).

3. After whizzing the ingredients for 10-15 seconds so that they are properly blended, transfer the paste into a mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients to make the black sesame paste. Place to one side.

4. Place the soba noodles in a pan of boiling water and cook according to instructions – should be around 5 minutes on a low heat. Before draining save 100ml of the noodle water and leave in a jug. Drain the soba noodles and run under cold water to prevent further cooking. Before adding the soba noodles to the black sesame paste, remove 1/4 of the paste and place in a separate cup. Add the soba noodles to the large mixing bowl with the remaining black sesame paste, the 100ml of noodle water, extra virgin olive oil and almost all of the spring onions and gently stir into the paste.

5. Serve a generous portion of noodles to each bowl or plate and place the salmon fillet on top along with a dollop of remaining black sesame paste which you have reserved and a scattering of spring onions.

It can be eaten at warm, room temperature or cold. You can replace the salmon with trout or even with tofu gently fried. It would in fact make an original and tasty lunch box alternative.

Mustard, Coconut and Colombo Spices Salmon Curry

14 Comments April 6, 2014 chilliandmint

A couple of weeks ago I was approached on behalf of Maison Maille the purveyor of fine mustards, oils and vinegars, who have been in existence since 1747 and who have recently opened their first London store at 2 Piccadilly Arcadeto be part of the ‘Maille Culinary Challenge‘. It’s open for food blogger and food reviewers and as such I thought I would throw myself into the challenge and create a dish using one of their products in a recipe that I have devised especially for them and which I hope my readers will try and make.

The recipes entered will be judged on four main criteria: creativity, originality, taste and visual appeal. I hope the curry I have created ticks all the boxes and in addition is easy for others to attempt to make at home. There is nothing more frustrating when you see a fabulous recipe but to create it involves so many steps and ingredients that it actually puts you off. I want my recipes to be user friendly and to actually encourage people to cook and try new flavours and tastes. There is a whole flavour universe out there waiting to be sampled so be courageous and follow the simple steps below to try this recipe.

Using mustards, in fish curries in particular, is very common in Bengal where my husband originates from and so I thought that would be a good starting point when coming up with a recipe. I was immediately attracted to the mustard that had coconut and Colombo spices as I thought that they would work really well in a curry. Unlike some coconut curries, which are very creamy, this curry is far more delicate and light and perfect for spring time. I was also conscious not to suppress the wonderful flavours of the mustard, so chose a range of ingredients that I believe complement the mustard perfectly. I hope you agree. Do leave a comment below and let me know what you think. Let’s see what the judges say. Fingers crossed!

Mustard, Coconut and Colombo Spices Salmon Curry

Serves 4

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp nigella seeds

2 green chillies, halved lengthways

10 fresh curry leaves (or dried if you cannot find fresh)

15g of fresh ginger, cut into wafer thin batons

2 spring onions, sliced at an angle

1 tsp ground turmeric

600g salmon fillets (5 pieces)

200ml boiling water

2 tsp Maille Noix de Coco et Spices Colombo

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp caster sugar

1. Gently heat a wide deep pan or karahi with 3 tbsp of vegetable oil. When it is hot add the nigella seeds and move them around the pan and then immediately add the fresh chilli, curry leaves and turmeric. Stir together and then add the ginger and spring onions. Toss in the pan for a minute.

2. Add the salmon fillets – skin side down – and leave them to gently bronze for a further minute. Do not keep touching them as you do not want them to break up.

3. Mix the Maille Noix de Coco et Spices Colombo with 200ml of boiling water and stir thoroughly. Add to the pan so that the salmon fillets are virtually covered.

4. Add the salt and caster sugar and stir gently into the sauce. Spoon some of the liquid onto the salmon and then place a lid on the pan and leave to simmer for 10 minutes. Continue to spoon the liquid onto the salmon fillets a couple of times during the ten minutes. (Depending on the thickness of your salmon the fillets should be cooked by ten minutes. If, when gently cutting into the fillet, it looks a little pink leave for a further couple more minutes with the lid on the pan).

Serve with basmati rice.

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If you are not going to be in London town anytime soon you can order from Maille online HERE if you are based in the UK or France. A few products are on the US site which you can find HERE with more to be added next year.

Thank you to Maille for kindly providing me with the mustard for this post and also the ‘sweet apricot and curry mustard’, which I hope to use in a new recipe soon.

Vietnamese inspired Salmon, Cucumber, Red Onion and Grapefruit Salad

6 Comments July 6, 2013 chilliandmint

Up in my old neck of the woods there is a fantastic restaurant that I love to visit whilst catching up with friends. It goes by the name of Granger & Co, owned by the Australian chef Bill Granger. Bizarrely I have never purchased or been given any of Bill’s cookbook (sorry Bill – take note friends and family ;o) but if any of the dishes at his restaurant are to go by I really ought to get my hands on some copies. The restaurant is always heaving and it’s important to note that they don’t take reservations, so it is always best to go with plenty of time in hand as there may be a wait – max I have ever waited was 20 mins.

The other day my lunch companion and I were seated to a table immediately – we were in luck – and then cast our eyes over the menu, which quite frankly has all the types of dishes that I would like to eat in a restaurant. Delicate, fresh, exotic, great flavour combinations and healthy, the menu appeals to anyone with a love of food and flavours. I actually found it hard to make a decision as there were so many things that appealed. I opted for a Vietnamese inspired salmon salad – mainly for two reasons: firstly I have a bit of a ‘thing’ going on for Vietnamese cuisine at the moment which you’ve probably noticed and secondly I was curious to see how the dished compared to those I actually ate in Vietnam recently. It was also light and healthy, which was a bonus!

It is no exaggeration but every mouthful was an utter delight. Making a mental note of what I was eating I was determind to replicate a similar dish at home and share it with you. I don’t know exactly what Bill used in the dressing but I have made my own twist on the dish. I have cooked it many times since and the response has been really positive. Aside from the red grapefruit, even my seven year old really loves the dish. As alternative you could always replace the red grapefruit with fresh mango.

Vietnamese inspired Salmon, Cucumber, Red Onion and Grapefruit Salad

Serves 4

4 salmon fillets

2 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp runny honey

1 tbsp sesame oil

*****

2 cucumber, sliced at diagonal angles (see photos)

1 red onion, finely sliced

1 red grapefruit, chopped into bite sized pieces

200g trimmed fine green beans

1 large handful of fresh coriander

*****

2 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp caster sugar

2 limes, juice only

1. In a bowl place the salmon fillets and add the soy sauce and runny honey and using your hands coat the salmon pieces and leave to marinade in the fridge for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees.

3. In a frying pan heat the sesame oil and when hot add the salmon skin side down to begin with. Literally allow to bronze slightly for a minute and then turn over gently and leave for another minute. You want to have it so the outside is delicated bronzed but not cooked all the way through. It can begin to turn a lighter pink but you want the remainder of the cooking to take place in an oven gently.

4. Spread out a large piece of tin foil and place the salmon pieces in the centre, making sure not to break them up. Add the remaining marinade from the bowl over the salmon. Now you need to create a Papillote effect. It’s very straightforward – all you need to do is create a salmon parcel making sure all the foil edges are closed up so that no air can escape and there is some space above the salmon so don’t enclose it too tightly.

5. Place the salmon parcel in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, by which stage it will have be cooked through and ready to crumble gently on the salad.

6. Whilst the salmon is cooking steam the green beans for a minute or two. You want to make sure they continue to have a good crunch but that the bite is taken off a little with the steaming. Equally you could boil them for a minute and then drain under cold water.

7. Add the green beens to the cucumber, red onion, red grapefruit, fresh coriander and place a good helping on eat plate.

9. Add the mirin, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, caster sugar and lime juice to create the marinade. Taste to check you have the right balance for you.

8. When the salmon is ready remove from the oven. Gently remove the skin, which will come away easily and place a salmon fillet on the top of each salad, allowing it to crumble slightly. Pour a little of the marinade over the fish and salad and serve immediately. Place the remaining marinade in a small jug for guests to add more should they wish.

Raoul’s Eggs Rock

Leave a comment June 23, 2011 chilliandmint

England is experiencing the ‘great flood’ take 2. Not literally of course, but after the great weather in April and May to say it has declined would be an understatement. Its Wimbledon week, the crowds are here and the grey clouds are looming large over London town. I feel sorry for the individuals responsible for rescheduling the matches so that they are all played in the two week Wimbledon window. Headache or what! But hey lets look on the bright side (us Brits are good at that) our reservoirs must be full again, there won’t be a hose pipe ban and our gardens are lush bright green.

So with all this wet weather I thought it was high tide (sorry I could not resist) to take a little trek across town to buy some of the tastiest eggs on the planet. If the sun refuses to come out in our skies then I will recreate it on the plate. Well that was my thinking.

There is this wonderful restaurant/brunch establishment, and grocery store in Maida Vale, called…..you guessed it, ‘Raoul’s‘. The brunch menu is heavenly and it is there that they serve and sell these wonderful eggs, which they source from Italy. They taste incredible and the yolks are so yellow I really wouldn’t be surprised if they had been injected with turmeric.

I stumbled across this little gem of a place years ago when I was looking for a place to live. I thought Maida Vale looked charming and villagey being nestled by ‘Little Venice’ and not far from Regents Park. When I stopped to gather my thoughts and look through the suggestions the estate agent had given me I refuelled in Raoul’s. It was a defining moment because I fell completely in love with this brunch hangout. With its wonderful eggs benedict royal and fresh fruit smoothies, I was sold. I decided there and then that the property I was going to live in HAD to be in walking distance of Raoul’s. I imagine it never crossed estate agents minds that something as simple as an eatery could convince someone to buy in an area. If I was to pin point it even further I think it was the eggs that won me over.

I think you kind of get my gist on how mind blowing these eggs are.

It wasn’t until I bought a dozen at the weekend that I actually decided to dig a little further and find out more about the eggs in question. All I knew was that they were from Italy. The packaging has changed since I was last there – which was quite a few years ago – and the eggs are imported by a company called ‘Machiavelli Foods‘, which focuses on importing food from Italy to London. On the packaging it says that the ‘hens are fed on a purely vegetarian diet of corn, grain and soy with marigolds and acorns added to help develop the rich and flavourful yolk’. So there you go folks if you want your hens to lay eggs with a deeper, rich, yellower colour, feed your hens marigolds and acorns. For those of you who keep hens let me know how you get on, I am really curious to see if you notice a difference in the colour of your hens’ yolks. I genuinely would be interested to know.

I thought I would recreate eggs benedict royale for you to try at home. My hollandaise sauce recipe is fail proof and super easy (I use a blender) so give it a try.

Hollandaise Sauce

Serves 4

3 egg yolks

150 g unsalted butter

juice from half a lemon

pinch of salt (optional)

1. Separate 3 egg yolks from the whites. This is easy to accomplish by breaking the egg and then placing the yolk back and fourth between the two broken egg shell halves. Save the eggs whites for later on – you could make an egg white omelet.

2. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon onto the egg yolks, less if you prefer it less lemony. Add a pinch of salt at this stage, although I personally find it unnecessary if you are going to be using smoked salmon for the eggs benedict royale. Blend the egg yolk mixture for 20 seconds at a medium speed. It should appear slightly lighter in colour.

3. Slowly, and that is the key, heat up the butter, making sure not to let it boil.

4. When the butter is melted, slowly add it to the egg mixture, continuing to blend (I use the pulse button at this stage)as you do so. The speed of the blender and the heat from the butter will heat the yolks slightly without them scrambling. Blend for a couple of seconds once all the butter has been incorporated into the mixture.

5. Taste the mixture and add more salt or lemon as you see fit. If you like a thinner consistency then add a little warm water and blend briefly.

6. Keep the hollandaise sauce warm until you are ready to use by placing the blender container or small bowl you have transfered it into, in a pan of hot tap water. Use within 1 hour.

As well as eggs benedict royale, hollandaise sauce works really well over asparagus, broccoli, salmon (although that might be a bit 70’s!).

Eggs Benedict Royale

Serves 4

4 white muffins, toasted

4 eggs, poached

few drops of vinegar

cling film (to wrap the poach eggs in)

4 slices of smoked salmon

4 tbsp of hollandaise sauce (see above)

1. Prepare the hollandaise sauce first (see above) and put to one side in a warm place.

2. I have a number of ways to poach eggs but the method I am presently using is the one I saw my brother doing at Christmas when he was preparing brunch for the family. Basically you crack an egg over some cling film – enough so that you can gather the ends up easily and there is some left over (which you can place over the side of a pan). You must make sure that there is no air in the little cling film egg parcels. Place a few drops of vinegar with the egg. It is easy to poach many eggs at once like this by separating them into their own little cling film parcels.

3. Boil a pan of water and place the eggs into the boiling water. Leave for 2/3 minutes.

4. Meanwhile toast the muffins and then separate onto plates placing a slice of smoked salmon onto one half of the muffin. The extra half of muffin I leave to one side so as to mop up the hollandaise sauce and egg at the end.

5. Once the eggs are done, place them directly on top of the smoked salmon and then place a large tablespoon of the hollandaise sauce over the top.

6. Garnish options could be ground pepper, parsley or chives. I personally like to leave it plain as there are so many wonderful flavours coming from the dish already.