4 – 6 soft-shelled clams per person, depending on size

1.      Clean the clams thoroughly with a brush under cold running water.

2.      Place the clams on a flat heatproof dish.

3.      Put the dish in a steamer and allow to steam for 7 – 8 minutes or until the shells open.

wine: DRY WHITE

Serves: 4

• 170 g | 6 oz fresh green and white tagliatelle
• 170 g | 6 oz good-quality smoked salmon, cut into thin strips
• French dessing

To garnish

• 4 springs of fresh dill
• Cook the pasta in plenty of rapidly boiling water. When cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. Leave to cool.
• Mix the pasta and smoked salmon with the dressing. Arrange on a 4 individual serving plates and garnish each with a sprig of fresh dill.

Any firm white fish such as halibut, haddock, monkfish or turbot can be used for this recipe – the firmer the fish, the easier it is to cook.

SERVES 3-4

450 g | 1 lb turbot fillet
sesame oil for frying
2 cloves of garlic, bruised
1 cm | ½ in piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and sliced
8-10 spring onions, shredded

For the sauce
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry

For the marinade
1 tablespoon soy sauce mixed with 1 tablespoon dry sherry

1. Cut the fish fillets into strips 5 cm x 1 cm | 2 in x ½ in.
2. Add the fish to the marinade and leave it to stand for 30 minutes.
3. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce together and set aside.
4. Heat a sauté pan (preferably non-stick), add a little oil, and when hot add the garlic and ginger. Cook quickly until the garlic is lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon. Lower the heat and add the fish, in its marinade, and fry briefly. Pour in the sauce, stir and add the spring onions. Serve immediately.

Wine: SPICY DRY WHITE

________________________________________

Excerpt from Leiths Cookery Bible

[Leith, P., and Waldegrave, C., (2003), Leiths Cookery Bible, 3rd edition, Bloomburys, UK]

SERVES 6

340 g | 12 oz flour quantity puff pastry
900 g | 2 lb fresh spinach, cooked and chopped
Freshly grated nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
900 g | 2 lb smoked eel, skinned and boned

For the sauce
55g | 2 oz unsalted butter
15 g | ½ oz plain flour
150 ml | ¼ pint milk
2 egg yolks
Beaten egg to glaze

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C | 400 °F | gas mark 6.
2. Take one-third of the pastry and roll it out to a 15 x 20 cm | 6 x 8 in rectangle. Place on a wet baking sheet and prick all over with a fork. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden-brown. Transfer the pastry to a wire rack to cool but do not turn oven off.
3. Season the spinach with nutmeg and pepper.
4. Make the sauce: melt 15 g | ½ oz of the butter, remove from the heat and add the flour. Return to the heat and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and stir in the milk gradually. Return to the heat and stir until boiling. Boil for two minutes.
5. Cool slightly, then beat in the remaining butter and the egg yolks. Season with pepper sauce over the eel and cover with the remaining spinach.
6. Arrange half the spinach on the cooked pastry base and cover with the eel. Spread the sauce over the eel and cover with the remaining spinach.
7. Roll the remaining pastry on a floured board into a ‘blanket’ large enough to overlap the edges of the pie. Lay it gently over the spinach. Using a sharp knife, cut off the corners to the size of the pie. Reserve the pastry trimmings.
8. Lift one side of the overlapping pastry and brush the underside with a little beaten egg. Tuck the ‘blanket’ neatly underneath the cooked base. Repeat with the other three sides.
9. Shape the trimmings into leaves. Brush the whole pie with beaten egg. Arrange the pastry leaves on top and brush again. Chill until the pastry is firm.
10. Bake in the oven for 30 – 40 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

NOTE: To counteract the saltiness of the smoked eel, salt is not added to the sauce or to the spinach.

Wine: DRY WHITE

________________________________________

Excerpt from Leiths Cookery Bible

[Leith, P., and Waldegrave, C., (2003), Leiths Cookery Bible, 3rd edition, Bloomburys, UK]

SERVES 6
900 g | 2 lb haddock, whiting or cod fillet or a
Mixture of any of them
425 ml | ¾ pint milk
½ onion, sliced
6 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 hardboiled eggs, quartered
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
30 g | 1 oz butter
2 tablespoons double cream
675 g | 1 ½ lb mashed potatoes

1. Preheat the over to 180 °C | 350 ° | gas mark 4.
2. Lay the fish fillets in a roasting pan, skin side up.
3. Heat the milk with the onion, peppercorns, bay leaf and a pinch of salt.
4. Pour over the fish. Cover the fish with greaseproof paper and cook in the over for about 15 minutes, until the fish is firm and creamy-looking.
5. Strain off milk and deserve it for the sauce. Remove the skin and bones from the fish. Flake the into a pie dish and add the eggs. Sprinkle over the parsley.
6. Melt the butter in a saucepan, remove from the heat stir in the flour. Return to the heat and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and gradually add the reserve milk.
7. Return to the heat and stir, bringing slowly to boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the cream and pour over the fish, mixing the sauce in carefully with a palette knife or spoon.
8. Spread a layer of mashed potatoes on the top and mark with a fork in a criss-cross patern. Or pipe the potatoes on top of the pie. Place on a baking sheet and brown in the oven for about 10 minutes or brown under a hot grill. If the pie has been made in advance reheat in the oven for 20-30 minutes.

________________________________________

Excerpt from Leiths Cookery Bible

[Leith, P., and Waldegrave, C., (2003), Leiths Cookery Bible, 3rd edition, Bloomburys, UK]