Smoked haddock, potato and sweetcorn chowder

Not many posts recently, as there haven't been many new recipes - when I'm snowed under with work tea tends to head towards the family classics.

This one was new though, and inspired by the lovely Nigel's suppers on BBC1.

Makes enough for 4 greedy adults. You'll need:

a large fillet or two of smoked haddock (undyed is probably nicer, but day-glo yellow means it looks pretty...)
a large onion, finely chopped
a large tin of sweetcorn, or a mugful of frozen sweetcorn (defrosted)
lots of potatoes - 4 or 5 large ones, peeled and diced
milk - about a pint

First of all, poach the fish in the milk. Bung both into a large pan, and gently heat the milk until it's almost boiling. Turn down, and simmer for 4-5 minutes until the fish is cooked through. Drain the fish (keep the milk!), and flake into large chunks (removing any bones, and discarding the skin).

Fry the onions in a little olive oil until they're translucent. Add the potatoes, and swish round in the oil. Add a mugful of boiling water to the potato/onion mixture and the rest of the fishy milk. Season with lots of black pepper, and simmer until the potato chunks are cooked.

Add the sweetcorn/fish, and warm through.

Serve with lots of fresh crusty bread, maybe topped with a little cream cheese.

Sweetcorn chowder

This is another one that you picked from looking at the pictures in the Nigella Express book - I think you were suckered in by the tortilla chips.

It made a great, if filling (boy does that semolina expand!) tea after a day of trekking to the library (Tyrannosaurus Drip was a big hit) and a trip out to visit friends.

Makes enough for 3. You'll need:

500g frozen sweetcorn, defrosted
half a clove of garlic
a couple of spring onions, chopped
15g semolina (yes, that little)
750ml hot stock (I used vegetable, but I think proper chicken stock would be nicer)
lots of black pepper
a red chilli, sliced (this bit is definitely not for small children)

100g salted tortilla chips
grated cheese - a couple of handfuls

Stick the oven on - you need it warm enough to melt the cheese onto the tortilla chips, so probably about 180 degrees C should do it.

Shove the sweetcorn, garlic, spring onions and semolina into a blender, and whiz (you may have to add a little water to stop it getting clogged). Tip the mixture into the hot stock, bring to the boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, line an oven tray with foil, place the tortilla chips on top, and scatter the cheese over everything. Bung in the oven for 5 minutes, until the cheese has melted (keep an eye on it as you don't want everything to be burnt to a crisp).

To assemble, pour the chowder into bowls, and scatter the tortilla chips/chilli slices on top.

Pancakes/crepes

A rotten sort of a day - cold, wet, and everyone with hacking coughs. We brought in the little Christmas tree to make up for it, and decorated it with tiny fairy lights, angels and chocolate baubles.

Tea was rather an afterthought, after all that excitement.

To make 15 thin pancakes you'll need:

500ml milk
2 eggs
a pinch of salt
250g plain flour

Bung the flour in a large mixing bowl, and add the salt. Make a well in the middle of the flour, and crack the eggs into it. Add about half the milk, and whisk, so there's not too many lumps in the gunge. Add the rest of the milk, and give the batter another really good whisk so it's nice and smooth.

If you can leave the batter for 10 minutes or so while you sort out the fillings, so much the better. We tend to like our pancakes rolled up with crispy bacon and a little something inside (pick any from sweetcorn, spinach, mushrooms and courgettes, grated cheese) or drizzled with a little maple/golden syrup and lemon juice.

Put your frying pan on a high heat, and add a little sunflower oil. Once it's really hot, add a ladleful of the batter into the pan. Swirl it round really quickly, and then leave for a minute or so, until you can feel it coming away from the pan when you shake it. Flip the pancake (the best bit is obviously when Daddy drops one on the floor - although I have to say he was remarkably restrained tonight), and stick a little bit of your filling in a line on the top.

Cook for another 30 seconds until it's starting to brown on the underside, and then flip one half over, to cover your filling, and slide onto your plate. Eat really quickly while it's still hot...

A beach barbecue

We spent the day up at Low Newton in Northumberland, with a sky that loomed grey and horrible, and a beach full of swirling sand.

It was all redeemed by a barbecue in the car park (in case it poured down, and we could escape into the cars). We lit the portable bbqs, got out some beer, the sky cleared, and the wind dropped. Perfect.

You'll need:

sausages (it isn't a barbecue without these)
a large baguette
salad (yesterday it was tiny tomatoes from Gran's garden, and chunks of cucumber)
some whole sweetcorn (and some butter/salt/pepper)
chorizo/babybels/crisps to keep the kids occupied while you cook the sausages
beer
ketchup/mustard of choice
some pudding (cake, strawberries, flapjack, that kind of thing)

Stick sausages on bbq. Attempt to avoid incinerating.

The sweetcorn's a little more fiddly - chop each sweetcorn into three, and wrap each in a piece of foil with a knob of butter. Stick on the bbq for 10 minutes or so, and then see if it's cooked. If it is, drizzle a bit of salt and pepper on top, and then try to avoid burning your fingers as you eat it.