Salmon with Thai spiced cashew nut coconut topping

This was a lucky experiment that turned out to be delicious and very easy - not always the case, but this one will definitely join the regular repertoire. I served it with coconut rice and some broccoli and green beans. 

Update: I made this last week, thinking I had cashew nuts in the cupboard. I didn't, s I used a mixture of almonds and pistachios, which was just as good as the original recipe.

For 6 people

6 salmon fillets (about 150g each)

80g cashew nuts (unsalted)

1 thickish slice wholemeal bread 

2 spring onions, trimmed and roughly chopped

1 tsp Thai green curry paste  (I used Mae Ploy brand, which is quite spicy and strong; a little goes a long way and the dish had the perfect level of spice, you may need to use a bit more of other brands).

a good dollop, maybe 1 tbsp,of coconut milk (use a bit from the can you use for the rice)

dash sesame oil

small bunch of fresh coriander, washed

2 tbsp unsweetened desiccated coconut 

Preheat the oven to 190 C (fan).

Blitz all the ingredients apart from the salmon in a food processor until it forms a chunky paste (not too smooth, you still want some texture in the nuts).

Put the salmon fillets in one layer in an ovenproof dish and spread the topping over them evenly.

(As I'd made some summer rolls as a starter, I had a few bits of red and green pepper, carrot and spring onion left over, which I finely chopped and scattered over the salmon before baking it. I'm not sure whether it made much difference, but I didn't want to waste the veggies! Some finely sliced pieces of red pepper laid across the salmon would probably work well, but it would be fine without.)

Bake for about 15 minutes (until you see the juices start to run out of the salmon).

That's it!

Coconut Rice

Serves 6

1 tsp butter
good dash (about 1 tbsp)  sunflower oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
375g basmati rice
1 can coconut milk
1 bay leaf
salt

Soak the rice for 15 minutes in cold water, then rinse and drain in a sieve. Heat the butter and oil and saute the onion gently until softened but not too browned. Stir in the rice and coconut milk. Fill the coconut milk can with water and tip that into the rice too. Add the bayleaf and a little salt. Give it a good stir, cover and bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked. If the liquid absorbs too quickly, before the rice has cooked, add a couple of splashes of boiling water as it cooks.

This went really well with the salmon with Thai spiced cashew and coconut topping.

Cassoulet (kind of)

Not what a purist would call a cassoulet, but this is a rich and tasty one pot casserole perfect for cold winter evenings. Serve with chunks of bread, and maybe some steamed green beans. 

500g chicken thighs
2 large leeks

1 large courgette 
1 large red or yellow pepper
4 cloves garlic
shake of dried mixed herbs
2 or 3 fresh thyme sprigs
2 fresh bay leaves
about 500ml chicken stock
Good dash or two of white wine
3 or 4 sundried tomatoes (in oil) chopped

A few chunks of cooked antipasto peppers (in oil)
250g cooking chorizo
150 g cooking bacon 
500g small potatoes, skin left on, halved if necessary to make chunks a couple of centimetres across
pepper

Optional chunks of sweet potato and carrot, depending on what is lurking in the cupboard.
dash of smoked paprika
2 cans cooked butter beans or other cooked beans drained.

1. Cut most of the skin off the chicken thighs and discard (I tried leaving it on and frying it, but it didn't really work - I had to pour off a lot of fat and the skin was quite unappetizing at the end of the cooking time).
   
2. Wash and slice the leeks into 1cm discs.
3. Peel and chop the garlic finely
4. Wash and chop the red pepper and courgette into chunks.
5. Cut the chorizo into chunks.
6. Brown the chicken thighs in some olive oil (use the oil from the jars of sundried tomatoes or peppers) in a deep oven proof dish/Dutch oven. Transfer to a plate. You can also use boned thighs, chopped into large pieces and browned. In that case you don't need to remove them from the pan, just toss everything together.
7. Toss the bacon, peppers and leeks in the pan used for the chicken, then add the mixed herbs and garlic and fry gently for about 3 minutes.
8. Put back the chicken thighs, then add all the other ingredients except the butter beans. Season with pepper (it will probably be salty enough from the chorizo and bacon).
9. Give it a good stir and bring to the boil, then put the lid on and transfer to the oven on about 160 C for a couple of hours or so, stirring occasionally and stirring in the butter beans about half an hour before serving.