For my birthday, I received three copies of Jamie Oliver’s latest cookbook called Cook With Jamie. Clearly, my friends know that I am a fan! Jamie’s recipes are simple in terms of the required ingredients and cooking methods. I like that. As much as I enjoy cooking all afternoon, most of the time, there just isn’t the time!
In the book’s introduction, Jamie says, “I want to encourage you to try something new, to come to grips with a handful of simple techniques, to make informed choices.”
Jamie succeeds by introducing plenty of new recipes, providing various cooking methods and offering wine suggestions with most dishes. In addition, he explains the basics by informing readers about different cuts of meat, vegetables, fish and herbs.
Over the past few months, I have experimented with several of the recipes (which have all turned out wonderfully) and wanted to share a couple of the dishes with Windsor’s food lovers.
If you are at all busy or anything like me, you frequently rely on chicken breasts to provide a healthy weeknight dinner. After a while, chicken breasts can become a tiresome meal. However, if you turn to page 187 of Cook With Jamie you will find four simple one-dish roasted chicken breast recipes.
My favourite is roasted chicken breast with lemony Bombay potatoes. I love this dish because it is full of flavours like ginger and turmeric. If you want to double or triple the recipe, be sure that all the ingredients are snuggly placed in a baking dish and cook for a little longer.
For a delicious but quick Saturday night meal, try Granddad Ken’s crispy grilled trout with parsley and lemon. The prep and cooking time will take approximately 30 minutes. The recipes calls for two small trout but our local fishmonger only had larger fish. I bought one 20 oz. trout and it was the perfect size for two people to share.
Here is the recipe:
- 2 10 ½ oz. whole trout (scaled, cleaned and gutted: ask your fishmonger to do this)
- olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- a large bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley (leaves picked and chopped)
- 2 lemons (1 zested and sliced, 1 halved)
- a few knobs of butter
What to do:
Preheat your broiler to full whack. Slash each trout with a knife, about 10 times on each side. Each slash should be about ¼ inch deep. Rub the trout with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavities with plenty of chopped parsley and the lemon slices.
Place the fish side by side on a baking rack over a roasting pan. Put the lemon zest on top of the fish and place the lemon halves on the tray too. Dot the trout with the butter and place it six inches from the heat.
Cook for around six minutes on each side until crispy and golden (Because I used a larger fish and we like our fish cooked through, I cooked for about 10 minutes per side). Squeeze the roasted lemon over the top of the fish and serve with a simple crunchy side salad (see page 28 in the cookbook).
Enjoy!
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GUEST BLOGGER Jordana Jordana confesses to being a cookbook junkie who spends the weekend pouring over recipes, planning meals and shopping at Market Square on Ottawa St. When she’s dining out, she enjoys everything from fancy-schmancy tasting menus to hot buffalo wings and a beer. Jordana has a well fed husband and a dog. |
