Salmon, cooked quickly with cumin, chilli, coriander and lemon (much like this recipe actually) and served with roasted cauliflower. The cauliflower just wouldn’t cook though, we ate it anyway but it was far too crunchy.

This was supposed to be mussels but when we came to clean said mussels, most of them were open. It was 7pm by this point so we quickly returned the mussels and exchanged them for some prawns. One of the major benefits of stir-frying is the speed at which the meal comes together so the fact that it was getting late wasn’t too much of a problem.

Our recent stir-fries have been a bit haphazard, basically throwing a bunch of ingredients into a pan and hoping for the best. They turn out fine, good even, but there’s nothing authentic about them so this time we tried to stick to a more Thai-style dish. This was also good and probably no better than our throw-it-all-in-and-hope-for-the-best efforts but at least we felt a little more authentic.

Thai Prawn Stir-Fry
Serves Two

2 spring onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, finely chopped
200g prawns, shelled
Generous splash light soy sauce
Generous splash Thai fish sauce
Handful baby corn, sliced lengthwise
Handful pak choi, prepared and separated

Heat the oil in a wok over high heat. Add the spring onion, garlic, chilli and lemongrass. Stir fry for 1 minute. Add the prawns. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Add some soy sauce and fish sauce. Add the baby corn. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Add the pak choi. Stir fry for 1 minute. Add a dash of water and white wine and a little more soy sauce and fish sauce. Turn down the heat and cover, cooking for another 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in chopped coriander leaf and serve with rice or noodles.

So, having waffled on yesterday about meal planning, I’ve broken the first rule and gone off-menu. I had planned on stuffing the leftover lamb into pitta bread or transforming it into moussaka but, in the end, neither appealed so it’s gone into the freezer (actually that should be the first rule of menu planning: make sure you have adequate space in your freezer for when you inevitably change your mind).

I’m not sure if it’s the change in weather (although I admit it’s only a small change) or just a normal response to a weekend of heavy eating but I was craving salad. Obviously, salad has it’s place but it’s rarely my first choice when it comes to organising dinner. Despite the craving, I knew I would ultimately be unsatisfied with just a few leaves and a little celery so I opted for the Dinner Diary favourite: Things on Toast.

These little crayfish are handy to keep in the fridge as they have a long shelf-life and can be transfomed into something interesting without much effort. We always have avocadoes around so one of those got squashed up and spread on the toast with some lentils to bulk everything else out. There was indeed salad and very welcome it was too but this was really all about the toast.

This doesn’t look as attractive on the plate as I was hoping for. We had some trouble getting the skin on the mackerel to crisp up for some reason, perhaps we over-crowded the pan. While we presented it on a plate, we actually ended up flaking the fish onto some jasmine rice and mixing in the sauce. That would have looked even less pretty though so I suppose I should be grateful that we have this picture.

I’ve been craving mackerel this week, most likely because there’s been so much focus on sustainable fish in the media lately (you can read more about it here). We had a surfeit of Thai-style vegetables left over from earlier in the week and this recipe from “Thai Traditional Cooking – The Mother’s Recipes” seemed perfect. It specified whole, white fish but there was definitely enough punch in the chilli sauce for a stronger tasting fish like mackerel.

It wasn’t as quick as the prawn dish we cooked on Tuesday but it didn’t take a lot longer. It had that perfect balance of hot, sour, salty, sweetness that Thai food is known for and kept us full all evening. £2.75 for those four mackerel fillets so easy on the wallet too. A good January dish.

Pla Rad Prig (Fried Fish with Chilli Sauce)
Serves Two

4 mackerel fillets
2 shallots, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
5 small, red chillies, chopped
1/2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp tamarind juice
2 tbsp water
Oil, for frying
2 spring onions, sliced

Start by cooking the mackerel fillets in some oil. We used a Jamie Oliver method that we saw on TV recently: fry the fish skin side down until the flesh on top has almost cooked through. Turn, cook briefly and then remove from the heat.

While the fish is cooking, pound the chillies, garlic and shallots together in a mortar and pestle until you have a rough paste.

Heat the tamarind juice, sugar and water together until boiling. Add the pounded ingedients and cook for two minutes. Add the fish sauce and then pour over the cooked fish.

Dress with the spring onion and serve with jasmine rice and some vegetables.

Adapted from “Thai Traditional Cooking – The Mother’s Recipes” by Maria Kanignan Saunders. Neither of us know where this book came from and the only online reference I can find for it is on Amazon, listed at £35. It’s a good book but it’s very small and probably not worth that much.

The orginial recipe called for 10 small, red chillies which I thought sounded too much so I halved it. This was about the right kind of heat for us but it could have taken a little more so increase if you like extreme heat. There was no water in the original recipe either but there didn’t seem to be enough liquid from just the tamarind so we added that in too.

Not a particularly imaginative title I know but I was at a bit of a loss to describe this dish. It wasn’t true to any particular cuisine since there were so many flavourings going on but it tasted good which was enough for me. And it only took 10 minutes to cook! The kitchen looked like a bomb had gone off when we sat down to eat and took a fair while to clean up but, 10 minutes! From start to finish!

Prawn Noodles
Serves Two

Oil, for frying
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic
1 red chilli
1 green chilli
Pinch of dried ginger (fresh would be good but we didn’t have any)
Prawns (we used shell-on prawns but the shelled type would be less of a faff)
Thai-style ribbon noodles (we used the Sharwood’s “Ready to Wok” type)
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
Handful coriander, chopped

In a wok, start by frying the onion, garlic, chilli and ginger for a couple of minutes and then add the prawns. As the prawns start to colour, add the noodles and stir to incorporate.

Add all the liquids, stir again and then put the lid onto the wok. Cook for about 3-4 minutes with the lid on, sprinkle with coriander and then serve.

Marvel at how quick and easy this was to cook. Then eat.

Our first braai of the holiday, this one to celebrate New Year’s Day and made with fish that we picked up on the way back from a visit to the Waterfront. We’d actually already eaten two big plates of fish for lunch at Quay Four but there’s something about the warm weather that makes fish so appealing. It helps that fish is so fresh and plentiful in SA too. And much cheaper than here in the UK too.

The shrimp were cooked simply and then drowned in garlic butter and the angelfish was grilled with lemon, garlic and thyme. Angelfish has a meaty texture, a little like swordfish and works brilliantly on the barbecue since it remains firm and doesn’t fall apart. While it doesn’t have a hugely strong flavour, it certainly stood up to the marinade and the smoke.

This is an old one which we ate this when we arrived back in London after Christmas. Spicy prawn soup is a great dish when you’re looking for something light and interesting after days of eating too much heavy food. We cooked the same thing last year and often do a variation of it when we’re feeling like we’ve over-indulged.

The noodles were particularly good, we fried some onion and garlic before adding the noodles to the pan and then seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil. I remember thinking at the time they deserved to be more than a side dish and am planning something similar for tomorrow night.

This is a variation on this recipe, but with yoghurt and fresh ginger added to make a wet marinade. It worked really well and I think I might have preferred it to the dry version. I suppose I would say that though, since Stephen came up with the dry version and this was my idea. The spices were slightly diluted by the addition of the yoghurt but they seemed to blend together better.

Served with puy lentils (I really wanted dal and I think it would have been better but I didn’t have enough time to make any) and more garlicky greens. We ate almost a whole bag of spring greens tonight, I fear we may have to go cold turkey before the addiction kicks in for real, this was the seventh meal in a row to include them.

Indian Style Baked Salmon
Serves Two

2 salmon fillets
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
3 cardomom pods
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 – 1 tsp fresh ginger
Pinch of salt
Squeeze of lemon juice
2 tablespoons natural yoghurt

Combine all the dried spices with the salt and pound in a pestle and mortar. Add the spices to the yoghurt and lemon juice and coat the fish. Leave to marinate for two hours.

Bake the fish at 250 degrees for 12 minutes.

The last thing Stephen and I said to each other last night before we went to sleep wasn’t “sleep well” or “see you in the morning” but “mmm, salmon”. Not the most romantic end to the evening but fairly typical. We swing from being incredibly organised about what we’re going to eat during the week to not having anything planned at all and, when there isn’t a plan, we often end up talking about what we’re going to eat for dinner before we go to sleep. This was one of those nights and somehow, we decided on salmon (which, coincidentally, is exactly what we ate this time last year, albeit in a different style).

Although I can’t remember how we decided upon salmon, I do remember that it had to be Indian style since we made a vat of dal at the weekend that doesn’t fit in the freezer. It was good dal but needed something spicy and rich to accompany it, which is exactly what this fish provided. We had some plain rice and some greens sauteed in garlic and lemon alongside the salmon and dal which rounded the whole dish out well.

Indian style fish isn’t something I’ve eaten a lot of and, when I have, it’s tended to have a curry-like sauce with it. This was a dry rub which I found slightly unusual to begin with but really enjoyed once I’d got used to the texture. It definitely needed a stronger fish like salmon to carry all that spicing but something like mackerel would work too.

Indian Style Baked Salmon
Serves Two

2 salmon fillets
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
3 cardomom pods
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp dried ginger
Pinch of salt
Squeeze of lemon juice

Combine all the dried spices with the salt and pound in a pestle and mortar.

Squeeze the lemon juice over the fish before coating with the spices.

Bake at 250 degrees for 12 minutes.

Stephen cooked this last night and I’m sure he won’t mind me saying that it didn’t turn out quite as planned. He had intended to use prawns but couldn’t find any and used scallops instead. The delicate flavour of the scallops didn’t really stand up to the tomato sauce and they became a bit lost, which we should have realised really. It would have worked well with prawns though so perhaps we’ll give this another go next week.

While this was far from a disaster, one thing we did learn was that blitzing the tomatoes before cooking them results in a really creamy sauce. Possibly too creamy when paired with fish but brilliant with the bacon. In a different dish, the addition of some cheese with that sauce and that bacon would have been great.