Smoked Mackerel Pate – Quick and Delicious

I have been making this recipe for smoked mackerel pate anytime I need to get a quick, easy, tasty and healthy appetiser or starter prepared a.s.a.p. All in it shouldn’t take more than 5 mins to throw together if you have the ingredients on hand when unexpected guest arrive. This mackerel pate is delicious on toast as snack, as a dip, or as a starter.

Smoked Mackerel Pate

Smoked Mackerel Pate

Smoked mackerel should be a fairly common fish to find, certainly in Northern Europe at the supermarket or fish-monger, but I did find that I could only find fresh mackerel when I lived in Houston, so I got my husband to smoke some mackerel for me in the smoker. The easiest type of smoked mackerel to use are pre-filleted mackerel, though you will probably still have to remove the skin yourself, and maybe a few bones. Just note that sometimes the fillets are covered in crushed black peppercorns, which means that you don’t have to add any ground pepper to the recipe. The cheapest method is to buy the whole smoked mackerel and fillet it yourself. Doing it this way, means you can get slightly more meat off the fish.

If you can’t find smoked mackerel, then smoked haddock or smoked salmon can be used instead. Though equally tasty fish they will have a different flavour.

Smoked Mackerel

Smoked Mackerel

Smoked Mackerel Pate Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 fillets of smoked mackerel
  • 1 tsp of horseradish sauce
  • The zest of half a lemon
  • 1 tsp of lemon juice
  • 150ml of creme fraiche or thick sour cream
  • Lots of freshly ground black pepper
  • 0.5 tsp of mild chilli powder
Flaked Smoked Mackerel

Flaked Smoked Mackerel

Method

  1. Flake the smoked mackerel fillets into a food processor bowl, discarding the skin and making sure that there are no bones. Don’t worry as mackerel bones are quite big and easy to spot.
  2. Add the horseradish, lemon zest, lemon juice, creme fraiche, black pepper & chilli powder to the bowl.
  3. Pulse the mixture until the desired smoothness.
  4. Turn out into a suitable serving dish and serve immediately with melba toast, crackers or bread. If not serving straight away, putting it in the refrigerator overnight will help improve the flavour.
Smoked Mackerel Pate Ingredients

Smoked Mackerel Pate Ingredients

Culinary Misnomers or why Danish Pastries are not Danish

One of the many interesting things about living in another country is that you get to have your preconceived notions about things challenged fairly regularly. For example outside of Denmark the things in the photograph below are called ‘Danishes’ or ‘Danish Pastries‘. Neither will you find pastries like these in Denmark nor do they originate from Denmark. Though the Danes know about this misnomer, they actually call their pastries ‘wienerbrød’ (Viennese bread). The reason for this was that bakery workers in Denmark went on strike in 1850, which caused the bakery owners to hire in bakers from abroad. Several of these were from Austria and brought with them their viennoiserie pastry skills, especially Plundergebäck which then became popular in Denmark. Today’s wienerbrød in Denmark tend to be flavoured heavily with cinnamon and sugar, but very rarely with them ever will they contain creme patissiere.

Danish Pastries are not Danish

Danish Pastries are not Danish

There are many misnomers in the food world that can be confusing for visitors to other places when trying things for the first time ordering from a new menu. For example see ‘Rocky Mountain Oysters‘ below, which would certainly shock someone who didn’t know that it wasn’t oysters at all. From the Wikipedia article on misnomers, there are many reasons for why these misnomers occur including an older name for something continuing to be used, similarity of appearance, a foreign word being used for something, marketing terms, protected names, food name fails, difference between the popular and technical definitions, anachronisms, ambiguities, tautologies, contradictions, euphemisms and mis-association with a place as in the aforementioned Danish pastries.

Just like a previous list of culinary differences between UK & US English, I am sure this list will create plenty of discussion, and controversy as well as growing over time. Please let me know if I’ve missed anything.

The List of Culinary Misnomers,
Euphemisms, Misconceptions, Tautologies, Contradictions & Anachronisms

Albany Beef
A humorous name for the large amounts of Atlantic Sturgeon caught in the Hudson river near the town of Albany in the 18th & 19th centuries.
Alewives
Alewives have nothing to do with Ale, but are a type of North American herring. The origin of the name seems to be lost in time, but it has been suggested that it may come from the French alose, used for river herrings or shad.
Apple Butter
Apple butter contains no butter or even resembles it. Instead it is very concentrated, dark brown, apple sauce made by slowly caramelising the apples with sugar and cider.
Banana
Bananas are botanically berries
Baby Back Ribs
Baby back ribs do not come from baby pigs, but are named because they are shorter compared to spareribs.
Baked Alaska
Baked Alaska is a dessert made of ice-cream covered in cooked meringue. It doesn’t come from Alaska, but it is claimed that it is was invented to celebrate the purchase of Alaska by the US from Russia, but no records exist to support the claim.
Black Pudding
Not a dessert but a type of blood sausage made from grains, spices and blood.  ‘Pudding’ is commonly used term in the parts of the UK for similar types of sausage including white, red & mealy. The name is believed to come from a Anglicised pronunciation of the French word boudin, for sausage.
Pudding is an Anglicised pronunciation of the French word boudin

Why is a blood sausage called a pudding?

Biscuit
The word biscuit comes from the French ‘bescuit’ meaning twice cooked, but in the US it is used for a savoury scone like bread, and in other parts of the world it is used to describe hard, crisp dry baked goods similar to cookies.
Biscuit in the USA, Biscuit is the rest of the world

Biscuit USA v Rest of the World

Boiled Eggs
To ‘boil an egg’ you don’t have to use boiling water, in fact you should in preference use simmering water, otherwise you can cause the egg whites to become tough and rubbery. Oven cooked eggs, i.e. cooked in their shells in the oven will be indistinguishable from boiled eggs, or should we say simmered eggs.
Bombay Duck
It is from India, but it isn’t a duck. Instead it is a fish. Again the origin of the name is lost in time.
Boston Butt
This meat cut doesn’t come from the rear of the pig, but instead it is a shoulder cut, but New England butchers packed cheaper cuts of meat into barrels for transportation, which where called butts.
Buffalo Wings
Nothing to do with bison, but a fried breaded chicken wing covered in sauce, invented in the town of Buffalo, New York.
Canadian Bacon
The name Canadian Bacon only exists in the US. In Canada bacon traditionally refers to un-smoked back bacon. Whereas Canadian Bacon in the US is made from pork loin and may have originated from peameal bacon (or cornmeal bacon) developed in Ontario Canada, which is un-smoked, cured pork loin, rolled in ground yellow peas.
Chicken Fingers
Obviously chickens don’t have fingers, just like fish.
Chicken of the woods
An edible shelf mushroom, that grows on the side of trees, that can be used as a chicken substitute.
Chilean Sea Bass
It isn’t a bass at all. It is related to cod. The name is purely a marketing invention, because the real name is the Patagonian toothfish, which doesn’t sound as appetising.
Cinnamon
The majority of cinnamon used in the world isn’t cinnamon at all, but cassia instead.
Coconut
An example of the difference between popular and technical definitions. A coconut is not a nut, but a fruit.
Colonial Goose
Not a goose, but roasted leg of lamb stuffed with onions, sage, parsley, thyme, & breadcrumbs. Early settlers to New Zealand wanted to recreate a dish from back home, but only had access to lamb and not goose.
Coney Island Whitefish
Certainly not something you would want to eat. Let’s just say you should read this on what a Coney Island Whitefish is.
Corned Beef
Corned beef refers to the curing process of the meat, i.e. ‘corns’ of salt and nothing to do with maize. There is also a difference between corned beef in the US and the rest of the world,
Crab Sticks
Crab Sticks have never seen a real crab. They are made from various types of white fish with crab flavouring, red food colouring and shaped to look like snowcrab leg meat.
Cream Crackers
Cream crackers are a savoury cracker usually spread with cheese, however they contain no cream. The name comes from the method of mixing the ingredients during their manufacture called ‘creaming’.
Cullen Skink
Cullen Skink is a creamy soup made from smoked haddock and potatoes from the town of Cullen in the North East of Scotland. The name is though to derive from the Dutch word for ‘shank’ being ‘schenke’. As far as I know, I don’t think haddock have shanks.
Danish Pastries
As above, Danish Pastries are not Danish, but Austrian in origin and are called wienerbrød in Denmark, literally ‘Viennese bread’.
Digby Chicken
Not poultry, but a smoked herring first coined after the town of Digby, Nova Scotia.
Dunbar Wether
In Scotland a Wether is a male castrated sheep, however a Dunbar Wether, is a salted herring from the fishing town of Dunbar.
Dutch Baby
A sweet popover style of breakfast pancake, very similar to Yorkshire pudding batter, sweetened and larger. The name implies that they are from the Netherlands, but they are an American invention, possibly derived from a German recipe and the name is a corruption of ‘deutsch’.
English Muffins
English muffins are one of the main components of Eggs Benedict and are American in origin, not English. Though to be fair it was an Englishman, Samuel Bath Thomas, that invented them after emigrating to New York.
English Muffins were invented in America

English Muffins were invented in America

Entree
In American English, entrée on a menu implies the main course, where as elsewhere in the world it means the starter. The term originates in France with the first course of a banquet called ‘entrée de table’ literally ‘entering the table’.
Faggots
Not the pejorative term for a gay man in American English, but a meatball dish from the North of England made from pork offcuts and offal. To make things more confusing, in certain areas such as Yorkshire they are also know as ‘savoury ducks’
A Fitless Cock
A traditional Scottish oatmeal ‘pancake’ and nothing to do with chickens.
Florentine Dishes
Dishes that have Florentine in them such as Eggs Florentine or Quiche Florentine do not come from the Italian city of Florence, but contain spinach. The name is due to the to spinach being the favourite vegetable of Catherine de’ Medici and when she moved to France from Florence she took her own chefs and the French term ‘al la Florentine’ came about.
French Dressing
Everywhere in the world except the US, French Dressing usually implies a simple vinaigrette made from oil, vinegar, salt and mustard used for salad. However in the US, French dressing is a oil and vinegar vinaigrette with the addition of tomato paste, ketchup and sugar. Many French people when visiting the US are shocked when presented something that doesn’t exist in France. The name in the US, probably arose from commercial product in the early 1900s, in the same way that French’s Mustard is not French.
French Fries
American soldiers stationed in Belgium during World War I and coined the name ‘French Fries’. However both Belgium and France argue over who first invented the process of deep frying sticks of potato the name is American in origin. In France they are called pommes frites.
French Fries are Belgian

These fries were invented in Belgium

French Toast
Though the dish of left over bread soaked in eggs & milk, then fried has existed long before the name came about. The name ‘French Toast‘ was first recorded 1660, though a slightly different recipe, but it wasn’t until the 1870s when the modern recipe and name became popular. Note in France it is called pain perdu, literally ‘lost bread’
French Toast is not French

In France this is called Pain Perdu

Fricot a la belett
Fricot a la belett is a French Acadian dish. The name translates as ‘weasel stew’, but contains no meat,. The weasel part is that the chef is as sly as a weasel for leaving out the meat.
Geoduck
Not related to a duck at all, but an anglicised version of the Lushootseed (the language of a Native North American tribe) word gʷídəq which means genitals for an edible saltwater clam.
German Chocolate Cake
This chocolate cake doesn’t come from Germany, but was invented by an American baker called Samuel German.
Gourock Ham
Gourock is a small fishing town in Scotland, but a Gourouk ham is a salted herring and nothing to do with pigs.
Grape Nuts
A breakfast cereal that contains neither grapes nor nuts. The name is probably because the finished product resembles grape seeds and are very crunchy like nuts.
Ground Cherries
Ground cherries are not cherries nor do they even resemble cherries. It is another name for Physalis or cape gooseberry. Note, they are not gooseberries either.
Häagen-Dazs
The owner of this well know ice cream brand claimed the name was Danish, however the umlaut above the first ‘a’ does not appear in Danish, nor do the combination of the letter ‘zs’
Hamburger
Contains no ham, but ground beef instead. The name possibly comes from a 1847 when a Hamburg steak was served between 2 pieces of bread. A Hamburg steak was a German frikadellen.
Hawaiian Pizza
Hawaiian Pizza originated in Canada and not Hawaii. The pizzeria owner, Panopoulos who invented it, claimed the name came from the brand of tinned pineapple he used . Other such dishes that have ‘Hawaiian’ in their name imply that they contain ham & pineapple, not that they come from Hawaii.
Head Cheese
Does not contain cheese, but is a terrine made from the jelly and meat from either a calf or pigs head, though the appearance does look similar to cheese.
Horseradish
Horseradish isn’t called such because it is a favourite vegetable of horses, but either because the German name is ‘Meerrettich’ (Sea Radish) and it became corrupted into English as Mare (a female horse), or it refers to its coarse nature which can be seen in other words such as horsechesnut & horsemint.
Hot Dog
Hopefully hot dogs today don’t contain dog meat, though in the past it was a common belief that sausage makers used dog meat in their products and the name stuck.
Jerusalem Artichoke
These strange shaped tubers are neither from Jerusalem or artichokes. One possible etymology for the name is that Italian settlers to the US called the plant girasole artichoke which means sunflower artichoke because of the plants yellow flowers. This was possibly corrupted by English speakers to Jerusalem artichoke. The artichoke part of the name is possibly to do with a French explorer who noted that the taste was similar to artichokes.
King Crab
King carbs are not crabs but a descended from crab like ancestors.
Kosher Salt
Kosher Salt itself isn’t kosher, i.e. blessed by a Rabbi, it’s that the coarse salt is used in the dry brining of meats in Jewish communities, i.e. ‘koshering’.
Laverbread
Not bread at all, but a Welsh delicacy made from boiled laver (seaweed), coated in oats and then fried. Called Bara Lafwr in Welsh
Lemon Sole
Lemon Sole is neither a sole or tastes of lemon. It is a flounder. The lemon component of the name is probably comes from the French word ‘limande’.
Liver Cheese
Leberkäse (literally liver cheese )is a German liver pate that like head cheese has an appearance that looks similar to cheese.
London Broil
London broil is an American method of broiling (grilling) marinated beef and has nothing to do with London. The name only refers to the method of cooking and not any specific cut of beef.
Long Island Iced Tea
An alcoholic cocktail made with cola, gin, light rum, tequila, triple sec and vodka, but no tea. However it does originate from Long Island, New York and it has a colour that is similar to tea.
Mincemeat
Modern mincemeat contains no meat, but is a mixture of minced dried fruit, spices and alcohol usually as a stuffing for Mince Pies at Christmas time. In the past mincemeat would have contained meat such as mutton, beef or venison.
Monte Cristo
A Monte Cristo is an American fried cheese & ham sandwich similar to the French croque monsieur, but doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the Italian island of the same name.
Open Faced Sandwich
Surely the word ‘sandwich’ implies that something is ‘sandwiched’ between two other things, therefore an opens faced sandwich can’t really be called a sandwich. Though I don’t really want to get into the debate again of what is a sandwich. Open faced sandwich are popular in many countries with smørrebrød in Denmark being the most well known.
Peanut
The peanut (groundnut) is not a nut. Botanically it is a legume which peas are also.
Persian (roll)
A Persian roll is a sweet cinnamon roll with pink fruit icing that originates from Thunder Bay, Canada. They do not come from Persia, but it is probably named after the US general John Pershing.
Pfeffernüsse
Pfeffernüsse (Pepper Nuts) are small spiced cookies popular at Christmas in Germany, Denmark & the Netherlands. They do not contain either black pepper or nuts. The name comes about from their ‘spicy’ taste and that they are the size and have the crunch of nuts. Common spices include ginger, nutmeg, anise, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon & mace, but no pepper.
Poor Man’s Goose
Actual there are many different recipes, called ‘Poor Man’s Goose’, which are usually pork liver and vegetables cooked together, but none of them contain goose.
Pudding
Generally used to describe a dessert, but certain parts of the world it is used for a savoury sausage. See Black Pudding
Raspberries
Botanically a raspberry is not a berry, but is an aggregate fruit instead. Similarly mulberries are not berries either.
Refried Beans
Refried beans are usually never fried once, let alone twice. The confusing name comes from the Spanish name for them ‘frijoles refritos’ which mean ‘well fried’, but the majority of the time they are just boiled and then mashed.
Road Apple
We suggest that you should never eat a road apple. They are not fruit, but a euphemistic name for horse droppings.
Rock Salmon
Rock salmon is a type of small shark and not a salmon. It is eaten in various European countries.
Rocky Mountain Oysters
Rocky Mountain Oysters, prairie oysters, bull fries, dusted nuts, swinging beef or calf fries are euphemistic names for battered, deep fried calf testicles. Similar dishes such as lamb fries, pig fries and even turkey fries are made in the same way.
Rocky Mountain Oysters are deep fried calf testicles

Fill me up a plate of those Prairie Oysters

Russian Dressing
A purely American invention commonly used in Rueben sandwiches, but not known in Russia. Russian salad dressing originally contained caviar hence the name. Nowadays it has been usually be replace by Thousand Island dressing, which is very similar, but a little sweeter.
Russian Salad
Russian Salad as it is commonly known in many countries and French salad in others, was invented by French/Belgian Chef Lucien Olivier while working in Moscow. However the real name of the salad in Russian is ‘Salat Olivye’ (‘Oliver Salad’)
Scampi
Scampi (Nephrops norvegicus) are a type of small lobster sometimes called Norway Lobster or Dublin Bay Prawns, but has Shrimp Scampi is a food that includes various types of different shrimps and prawns and not true scampi. During times when scampi has been scare, monk-fish tails have been breaded and sold as scampi.
Scotch Egg
Scotch eggs are not Scottish, but were claimed to be invented by the English Fortnum & Mason department store in 1738. Originally they were called ‘scotched eggs’ which was possibly a term for hacking as in the minced meat wrapped around the egg and over time the name has become shortened. Though Fortnum & Mason gave rise to the name there are many varieties of this dish around the world, including Nargisi Kofta from India and Eierbal from the Netherlands.
Scotch Eggs are not Scottish

These are Scotch Eggs

Scotch Woodcock
Scotch Woodcock is neither Scottish nor contains woodcock, a small bird. The dish is basically scrambled eggs on toast spead with anchovy paste. The dish was probably given it humorous in the same way as Welsh Rarebit.
Singapore Noodles
Singapore Noodles don’t exist in Singapore are most likely a Hong Kong invention.
Smoked Kipper
A kipper is a herring that has been gutted, salted and then smoked, so therefore a ‘smoked kipper‘ is a tautological misnomer.
Spotted Dick
Though the name sounds like a double entendre, it is not what you think it is. It is a British desert pudding made with suet and dried fruit such as raisins. The spotted part of the name obviously comes form the dried fruit, but the dick part is most likely a just a term used in Huddersfield, where is comes from, for a pudding. It is possible that it comes from the Dutch word ‘deef’ meaning dough.
Squab pie
A squab is a young pigeon, but this savoury pie from the South West of England contains mutton instead.
Strawberry
Botanically a strawberry is not a berry, but an aggregate accessory fruit.
Sweet Potato
Sweet Potatoes are not potatoes, but are part of the nightshade family that contains potatoes.
Sweetbread
They are not bread. Sweetbreads are offal such as pancreas and the thymus gland. The name possibly comes from the fact that the thymus is rich & sweet, while the Old English word for meat was brǣd.
Swiss Cheese
Swiss Cheese in the US is the name given to American made cheese that has holes, not cheese that just comes from Switzerland.
Swiss Roll
A Swiss roll is a flat sponge cake, spread with jam, cream or some other filling and then rolled into a cylinder. It is most likely not from Switzerland, but Austria instead.
Swiss Steak
A braised meat dish with sauce, usually tomatoes or mushrooms sometimes called smothered steak. It does not come from Switzerland, but it is the method that by which the meat is tenderised by pounding it flat called ‘swissing’.
Tian Ji (Field Chicken)
A Chinese dish of frog legs, not chicken.
Toad in the Hole
Toad in the hole is a traditional British dish consisting of sausages and Yorkshire pudding batter (see below). It does not contain any toads.
Tuna
The majority of white tuna sold in the US is not Albacore as many people believe, but a completely different fish all together. The fish that is usual marketed as white tuna is escolar, which is not related to tuna. Though escolar tastes great because of its high fat content, eating any more than 6oz can cause severe stomach cramps and rapid diarrhoea.
Turkey
The turkey is a native from America and not from the country formally part of the Ottoman Empire. The name is most likely to have come about as the birds shipped to England didn’t go directly, but via merchant ships from the eastern Mediterranean and the name Turkey birds became common. In other countries there are similar confusion of the name of the bird. For example in France, Poland, Russia, and other countries including Turkey it is Indian bird, because of Christopher Columbus reaching the West Indies instead of finding India. In Danish, Netherlands, Indonesia, and many more it is named after Calcutta, the city in India. In the Khmer & Gaelic languages is is called the French bird and in Portuguese and countries that they influenced it is called peru and thought to come from the country of Peru. The are other places for the names of turkey that include the place names for Ethiopia, Spain, Dutch & Rome.
Vindaloo
Vindaloo is an Indian curry dish with Portuguese origins. The original Portuguese dish, ‘Carne de vinho d alhos’ (meat with wine and garlic) after being introduced to India changed over time, with spices, different meats, chillies being added and the wine replaced with vinegar. The misconception over time, especially in the UK where a lot of Indian immigrants now make their home is that ‘alhos’ was the Hindi word for potato (aloo) and hence why potatoes are a common ingredient in restaurant Vindaloos nowadays.
Walnut
A walnut is not a nut, but a seed of a drupe (stone fruit)
Welsh Rarebit
Originally this would have been spelt Welsh Rabbit, but instead of containing rabbit, it is basically cheese on toast. The origin of the name may have nothing to do with Wales either. Welsh was an old English word meaning foreigner. Rarebit is a corruption of the word rabbit and does not appear anywhere else in English. However why the dish was originally called rabbit has been lost in time.
White Chocolate
White Chocolate shouldn’t be called chocolate because it contains no cocoa solids. Though it contains cocoa butter, this is just essentially fat and contributes nothing to the taste. Also cheaper brands will even reduce the percentage of cocoa butter to 20%.
Wild Rice
Though it resembles rice, there are four different species of ‘wild’ rice and they are not related to rice at all. Also since ‘wild’ rice is commercially produced, it isn’t even wild anymore.
Yorkshire Pudding
Not a dessert but a type of savoury dish made from a batter of eggs, flour and milk. It is a common accompaniment to a roast dinner in the UK.

Homemade Tartar Sauce Recipe – The Perfect Accompaniment to Fish

Tartar sauce, or as the French call it, ‘Sauce Tartare’ is a simple, but an incredibly tasty accompaniment to fish dishes and though it is fairly ubiquitous, it is really easy and worth the effort to make your own homemade tartar sauce. Tartare sauce is commonly is made with a mayonnaise base or sometimes with aioli, with the addition of dill pickles and capers and can be prepared very quickly as a last minute sauce for fish or seafood dishes.

Homemade Tartar Sauce Recipe

Homemade Tartar Sauce Recipe

In the UK, tartar sauce is commonly served with fish and chips, but usually at restaurants and not fish and chip shops. However most of the time it will be a commercial sauce which is a poor facsimile to the real thing. The origin of the name of tartar sauce is not know, but it is a fairly recent sauce, first appearing in French cookbooks in the 19th century. It certainly doesn’t have anything to do with, or contain ‘Cream of Tartar’. It is however very close to another French sauce called Remoulade, but instead of anchovies, or Worcester Sauce, Dijon mustard is used instead. Note: Danish remoulade and especially Louisiana remoulade are derived from the French one, but are quite different in style and cannot really be compared the French Sauce Rémoulade or Sauce Tartare.

Tartar Sauce Ingredients

Tartar Sauce Ingredients

Depending where you are in the world there are many different additions or substitutions that are commonly added diy tartar sauce recipes. For instance in the USA, it is common to add sweet pickle relish and also the onion can be replaced with scallions (spring onions) or chives. Other ingredients I have seen used are shallots instead of the onions, the addition of fresh lemon juice, garlic, hard boiled eggs, olives, sour cream or even horseradish. Also the parsley could be replaced with other herbs such as tarragon or dill Though none of the ingredients are traditional, there is nothing to stop you from experimenting to make your own tartar sauce just the way you like it. One thing I would recommend is not using Miracle Whip instead of mayonnaise. Just no!

Homemade Tartar Sauce Recipe Ingredients

  • 0.5 cups (115g) of mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp of onion
  • 1 tsp of Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp of drained capers
  • 2 tsp of dill pickle (gherkins)
  • 2 tbsp of fresh herbs e.g parsley, dill, tarragon, etc
  • Salt & Pepper

How to make the best tartar sauce recipe

  1. Chop the onion, dill pickle and herbs finely
  2. Add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl
  3. Mix to combine
  4. Taste and then season with salt and pepper.
  5. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight to allow the flavours to develop
  6. Serve a large spoon with fish or seafood
Homemade Tartar Sauce with Oat Crushed Fish

Homemade Tartar Sauce with Oat Crushed Fish

Fish and Chips with Tartar Sauce

Fish and Chips with Tartar Sauce

Pao de Queijo – Brazilian Cheese Balls

The first time I encountered Pao de Queijo was at Pradaria Steaks & Churrascaria, a restaurant in Houston, unfortunately now closed by the looks of it. Like most Churrscarias, the restaurants want to limit how much of the main meal, i.e. the meat you can eat, by putting bowls of these delicious cheese puffs on you table to fill you up while you wait for the main service. They are similar to French Gougères, but with a different texture and are more chewy.

Pao de Queijo - Brazillian Cheese Balls

Pao de Queijo – Brazilian Cheese Balls

Pao de Queijo (literally cheese bread) is a common breakfast or snack food in Brazil and can be found in bakeries and snack bars all over the country. Though people do make their own cheese bread puffs at home from scratch, it is also very easy to buy the frozen or packet mixes at the supermarket.

How to pronounce Pão de Queijo – pow-deh-kay-zho

 

There are a few uncommon ingredients that you will need to make your own Pão de Queijo. First is that they aren’t made from normal wheat flour, but tapioca flour (cassava startch) which if you can’t find it at your local supermarket or online, have a look in a Asian supermarket. The only time I had eaten tapioca before was as a child, being made to eat tapioca pudding, which had the consistency of ‘frogs spawn’. Don’t worry these taste nothing like that. Another thing to note is that tapioca flour is gluten free.

The 2nd uncommon ingredient is ‘queijo de Minas meia cura’, a semi-matured cheese from Minas, Brazil, where Pao de Queijo originates from. Unfortunately you will be very lucky to find this cheese outside of Brazil unless there is a Brazilian community where you live, but you can easily substitute Parmesan or Pecorino cheese instead.

Pão de Queijo – Brazilian Cheese Puffs

Makes roughly 40 small cheese balls

Ingredients

  • 18oz (500g) of tapioca flour
  • 3/4 cup (180ml) of vegetable oil (e.g. canola or rapeseed oil)
  • 6oz (180g) of grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese
  • 1.5 cups (350ml) of whole milk
  • 3 large beaten eggs
  • 1.5 tsp of salt

Method

  1. First heat your oven to 450F (230C) and arrange space for 2 baking sheets
  2. Bring the oil, milk and salt to a gentle boil and immediately remove from the heat.
  3. Add the tapioca flour and mix until you can no longer see any dry flour
  4. We now have to cool the dough. Either transfer the mixture to a stand mixer to beat it for a few minutes to cool it down or beat it by hand with a wooden spoon. It is possible to do it by hand, but it does require a lot of effort.
  5. Once the mixture is cool to the touch, beat in the egg mixture one third at a time with the mixer on medium or again by hand. At this point the mixture will start to resemble a batter and may look like it has split. Don’t worry it’s fine.
  6. Beat in the cheese on medium or again by hand.
  7. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and portion out the dough between them into roughly 20 small balls per sheet roughly 2″ (5cm) apart. To help prevent the balls sticking to your hands or spoon, dip your hands or spoon into water before handling the dough.
  8. Put the baking sheets into the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 350F (180C).
  9. Bake for 15 to 20 mins until golden brown and fully puffed up.
Cheese bread mixture after the tapioca flour has been beaten in

Mixture after the tapioca flour has been beaten in

Brazilian cheese bun mixture after the egg has been beaten in

Mixture after the egg has been beaten in

Pao de Queijo mixture after the cheese has been added

Pao de Queijo mixture after the cheese has been added

Brazilian cheese puffs ready for the oven

Brazilian cheese puffs ready for the oven

If by any miracle you have any left over they can be kept in a air-tight storage container for a few days or put into the freezer and then re-crisped up in the oven later on.

Cauliflower Hummus – Less calories, same great taste

Hummus is one of those dishes that shouldn’t really need any improvements made to it, however it does have a fatal flaw in that it is quite high in calories, but delicious at the same time. I haven’t found anyone yet that can stop eating it after just 2 tablespoons i.e. the recommend serving size. Hummus originates in the middle east and is a common meze dish and the origin of the word comes from the Arabic for chickpeas. However this recipe maybe shouldn’t be called hummus because it doesn’t have any chickpeas in it.

Cauliflower Hummus

Cauliflower Hummus

In recent years, the humble cauliflower has risen to ‘superstar status’ in the low-carb world with it being used to replace high-carb ingredients in recipes such as pizza, mashed potatoes, rice, nachos, etc. This recipe for cauliflower hummus is no different and uses cooked cauliflower florets instead of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) to cut the down the calories.

The humble cauliflower

The humble cauliflower

I’ve made this many times and served it to friends and family without anyone noticing that it isn’t ‘normal’ hummus. After everyone exclaims how good it is and can they have the recipe, they are shocked to find out the main ingredient that everyone expects to find in hummus is missing and has been replaced by something as strange as cauliflower.

The reason why this recipe for cauliflower hummus works so well is that chickpeas don’t really add a lot to the well know flavour of hummus, and that it is the tahini (sesame paste), garlic and lemon juice that do the heavy lifting when it comes to the familiar taste. Another thing to note that a lot of people don’t know about, is that the red powder on top of served hummus isn’t paprika (though you could use it for decoration), it is sumac, a middle-eastern spice made from flowering plants in the Rhus family of plants. Sumac not only adds decoration, but it has a distinct ‘lemony’ flavour that really compliments hummus.

When it comes to cooking the cauliflower you can either microwave or steam it depending on what you have. However if you have a bit more time, try roasting it for a sweeter finished flavour

Steamed Cauliflower

Steamed Cauliflower

Cauliflower Hummus Recipe

Ingredients

  • Half a head of a medium cauliflower
  • 3 tbsp of olive oil
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1.5 tbsp of Tahini
  • 3 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Salt & freshly ground pepper

Method

  1. Break the cauliflower into florets and add 3 whole cloves of garlic and either
  2. Microwave them with a little water for about 12 mins
  3. Steam them in a steamer basket for about 18 mins
  4. Roast them at 400F (200C) for about 25mins
  5. In a food processor or blender, add the cooked cauliflower and garlic, olive oil, tahini paste, lemon juice, 1 clove of raw garlic, and salt and pepper
  6. Blend until smooth. You may need to add a little water if the mixture is too thick.
  7. Check the taste and add salt, pepper and/or lemon juice to taste
  8. To serve place in a suitable bowl and decorate with a selection of pine nuts, parsley, sumac (or paprika if you don’t have any) and olive oil
  9. Enjoy with vegetable crudites, flatbread or pita chips
Cauliflower Hummus Recipe

Cauliflower Hummus Recipe