A Fishy Farmers' Market Feast

Paid a visit to the almost local farmer's market in Ealing at the weekend, been too long since I went there. Was only planning on picking up a nice loaf of bread and perhaps some bacon but ended up with a bag of assorted vegetables, cheese, bacon, sausages and a nicely filleted grey mullet. Now I've not cooked this fish before but vaguely remembered that it had a good reputation from my various fish cookery books. So the fish became the centrepiece of tasty summer supper. Would definitely get Grey Mullet again - very tasty, nice thick fillets and not too expensive.

Ingredients
2 Fillets of Grey Mullet (or Sea Bass)
1 small Aubergine (diced) - I used a pale stripy lilac one
Large handful of fresh tomatoes (halved) (nice selection from the market red, brown, purple and gold)
1 medium red onion finely chopped
1 red pepper finely chopped
1 courgette diced
Small bunch of fresh basil
1 clove garlic - crushed
salt and pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tblsp seasoned flour
2 tblsp olive oil
4 tblsp vegetable oil

Method
Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the onion and fry until softened. Add the pepper, garlic, aubergine and courgette and fry until softened and starting to colour at the edges. Season and add the tomatoes, stir and cook over a low heat while you cook the fish.

Coat the fish in seasoned flour. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan until hot then fry the fish on both sides, about 2-3 minutes each side. Chop the basil and add to the tomato sauce, serve alongside or under the fish.

An Unauthentic Moussaka

One of my wife's favourite ingredients is aubergine so when two turned up in this week's vegetable box I came up with this recipe to make the best of them. I also still have a glut of beetroot so added a couple of grated beetroot into the sauce to make it go further.

Serves 5-6

Ingredients
2 Large Aubergines sliced length ways about 5mm thick
500g minced lamb
2 medium raw beetroot grated coarsely
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 large onion finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 teaspoon dried thyme or oregano

Olive oil

1 pint milk
1 large knob of butter
1 tablespoon plain flour
100g blue cheese

2 sheets of dried lasagne 

1 ball of mozzarella

Method:
Fry the onion in a little olive oil until soft. Add the garlic and minced lamb and fry until the lamb is no longer pink. Add the beetroot and herbs and fry for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato purée and a splash or red wine or water to loosen the sauce if needed. Season with salt and pepper then simmer the sauce for 20-30 minutes while you prepare the aubergines.

In a bowl coat each slice of aubergine with olive oil ad season with salt and pepper, then fry off in batches. It is easier this way to control the amount of olive oil otherwise the aubergine soaks up a lot of oil. Fry each side until browned (about 2-3 minutes on each side).

Make a cheese sauce with the milk, butter, flour and cheese. The method I use is to put all the milk, flour and butter in a saucepan and heat until all the butter has melted and the sauce has come together - you will need to stir pretty much constantly. Add the blue cheese (or strong cheddar) and stir until the cheese has melted and the sauce has thickened. Season to taste.

In a large rectangular dish put in half of the tomato and mince sauce. Layer over half of the aubergine slices. Pour over half the cheese sauce. Add the sheets of lasagne (I use these to separate the cheese and meat sauces and to give a bit of structure to the dish). Repeat the meat, aubergine and cheese layers then top with the mozzarella torn into shreds.

Cook in a moderate oven for 30 minutes or until t top is golden brown and starting to crisp at the edges. Serve with a green vegetable or salad. Leftovers are even better the second day!

Aubergine Bake

We love aubergines we do. They take up the savoury flavour of anything they are coked with and in particular fit in well with aromatic North African spicing. So after a brisk bit of work in the garden I threw this together.
Serves 2-3

Ingredients
1 medium aubergine cut into 1/2 cm rounds
250g minced beef (or lamb)
1/2 a pepper (diced)
1/2 a courgette (diced)
1/2 a can of chopped tomatoes
1 large onion (finely chopped)
6 button mushrooms (diced)
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon corriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
olive oil
salt and pepper

For the topping:
1 egg
50ml milk
50ml yoghurt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
handful of grated chedder

Fry the meat in a little oil until brown, add the onion, courgette, mushrooms and pepper and fry until softened. Add the spices and tomatoes and simmer gently for about 15 minutes.
Fry the aubergine slices in olive oil until softened and lightly browned.

In an oven proof dish layer the sauce and the aubergines. Beat the topping together and spoon over the top of the meat and aubergine layers. Bake in a moderate oven for 20-30 minutes until browned and bubbling. Serve with a green salad or peas and garden beans.

For a vegetarian option replace the mince with cooked lentils, beans or extra vegetables.