GREAT WAYS WITH LLAMPUGA

On yesterday's show, our resident foodie, Jane Hagan (from Associated Marine Services in Santanyí)came up with two great recipes for this season's tastiest fish: llampuga.


"This is a great dish for this time of year and can be prepped well in advance and cooked
in front of your guests. I learned this from a Cuban girl and I love the simple way that fish can be cooked and yet taste quite sensational! There are a lot of instructions here and it needs to be served immediately after cooking but do it once and you'll see just how easy cooking good-tasting fish can be.

Cuban-style Barbequed Llampuga(You'll need to fillet the fish or ask your fishmonger nicely and they're happy to do it for you)

Ingredients:
Fillets of llampuga
Sweet white onions – finely sliced and separated into rings
English mustard power
Lime juice
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Take some large sheets of tin foil, large enough to hold the fish fillet easily and enable you to fold it into an 'envelope' with lots of room for air; in other words you want a loose wrapping so that the fish steams in its own juices. Use a double layer of tin foil so it doesn't break during cooking.

Place some onion slices in the middle of the sheet, covering an area roughly the size of the fish fillet.

Drizzle a good amount of olive oil over the onions and season with a little salt and pepper. Take care not to overdo the salt as it will spoil the lovely fish. Salt can always be added by the person eating it at the end!

Mix the mustard power with lime juice to make a paste that's quite runny, and spread over the fish evenly but not too thickly.

Place the fish on the onions and squeeze a little more lime over it, with another squirt of olive oil. Seal the foil packet really well.

Make sure the BBQ is good and hot (but not blistering) before placing the packages on it and cook for 7 minutes or so. Remember that the onions should be on the fire side, with fish on top. You'll know it's cooked because there'll be a little bubbling sound from the parcels.

Give each person a parcel and let them open it themselves, but don't leave for long as the fish keeps cooking – so it's best to have everybody ready. Believe me, they'll take one sniff of that lovely aroma and be ready with knives and forks primed! Serve with a green salad - and a nice spicy rice dish really complements the fish.

Caribbean Blackened Dolphin Fish

Dolphin fish, or llampuga as we know it here, is to be found year-round in the Caribbean and the locals cook it with spices that blacken and burn a little as they are fried. Surprisingly, the burnt spices give the fish a delicious flavour. You'll need to make up an Adobo if you can't find one in the tores (quite difficult in Mallorca).

Ingredients:

For the adobo, make a mix of the following:

1 tablespn garlic granules or powder
1 tablespn dried oregano
1 tablespn onion power or granules
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Good pinch salt

Llampuga cut into cutlets of about 20mm thick (without head and tail)
Cornflour mixed with equal quantities of adobo mix.
Sunflower oil for frying

Take the llampuga cutlets and dip them into the cornflour/adobo mixture, giving them a good coating. I simply take the fish out of the bag from the fishmonger and there's enough moisture on the fish to get the dry mix to stick.

In a frying pan put lots of oil – I don't skimp on the oil but it's not a deep fry. Heat up to a fairly high temperature and put in the fish.

Fry on both sides to seal nicely – a minute each side – and then turn down to a medium heat
and cook thoroughly. The adobo spices will turn black but don't worry, it tastes delicious – but if it does get very smoky the heat's probably too high.

Last week I served this with Tumbet and it was a great combination. But it goes well with a nice coleslaw or a mixed salad with papaya or pineapple.

For next time (Sunday show, with Jan Edwards, on October 5), I'm going to give you
two more BBQ recipes to cook before we pack up the BBQs for the season. Luckily we
still have quite a few weekends left to enjoy eating outside – yippee!

Happy eating!"

Posted by Jan Edwards

WIN PETER KERR'S LATEST NOVEL ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21st

This Sunday, as well as talking about events happening in her part of Mallorca, our south-east correspondent Jane Hagan shares a recipe and some tips for cooking llampuga – the fish now on the ice-strewn counters of fish markets all around the island. It's delicious and a real seasonal treat!

The Thomas Cook Group is working alongside the UK's Royal Variety Club to raise ₤2m for the redevelopment of a critical care centre at King's College Hospital in London. Fundraising on Mallorca continues with a special event called Sunday Scream, on September 28th. Thomas Cook resort staff Helen Farr and Chris Greenfield from the north of the island drop in to tell us more . . .

. . . and you could win one of three signed copies of award-winning author Peter Kerr's latest novel The Gannet Has Landed (published by Accent Press)and set on the beautiful island of Mallorca.

Join me, Jan Edwards, on Sunday from 10am-1pm.

GUESTS LINED UP FOR SUNDAY 14 SEPTEMBER

A fashion show at a cool hotel, and a get-away-from-it-all yoga retreat, are just two events coming up for members of the Mallorca Ladies Club. Sandra from the Club has details of these and other events for women on the island who want to boost their social lives and make new friends.

Ann MacDonald, editor of Talk of the North – the fortnightly publication for the north of Mallorca – tells us what's happening in her part of the island.

And if you've never been to the Nit de l'Art in Palma find out what it's all about and what's happening this year (Thursday, September 18), when Eva Shakouri from Palma's Caja Blanca gallery joins us.

Join me Sunday from 10am.

Have a great weekend! Jan

TASTY WAYS WITH AUBERGINES

Give me an aubergine and I'll probably either BBQ it or make the Mallorcan vegetable dish tumbet (which is delicious), but Jane Hagan had some more creative ideas when she joined us on the programme on Sunday, September 7.


“These are my favourite vegetable! I could eat them just about every day,” says Jane.

Arabic Stuffed Aubergines

(“I learned this from the cooks on an Arab-owned boat and it's divine!)

Ingredients:

6 aubergines
Virgin olive oil
3 cloves of chopped garlic
¼ teaspoon of ground cumin
500 grams of lamb mince
2 small or 1 large can of sweetcorn
2 large cans of tomatoes, blended with electric blender
1 cup tahina
1 cup plain yogurt
1 chicken stock cube
3 tomatoes sliced

Cut the tops off good firm aubergines. With a peeler, peel off half the skin in a striped pattern.

Halve aubergines and fry in plenty of olive oil. Cook at a medium heat until they are softening but not cooked through. Place in an ovenproof dish skin side down and set aside.

Drain excess oil from pan and add the garlic and fry until softened. Add good pinch of ground cumin and then add minced lamb. Cook through and add the sweetcorn.

Spoon mince onto the aubergines, keeping mince on the aubergines and press it on a little to form
individual units.

In the same pan in which you cooked the mince, put the canned tomato purée and stock cube and bring to the boil, then reduce by about 25 per cent until it thickens. Then add the tahini and yogurt and pour into the dish with the aubergine mince. Try not to pour it over the aubergines but rather around them, so they are “floating” in the sauce. *

Cover the mince with the sliced tomatoes and put into the oven. Cook at 180 degrees for about 20 mins until the aubergines are cooked through. Make sure there are no hard parts in the aubergines as al dente aubergine is not nice!

* This is great for dinner parties as it can all be made even a day before and popped into the oven to finish cooking, or even re-heated just before serving. Do take care not to overcook though as the aubergines seem to shrink and disappear somehow!



Roast aubergine hummusIngredients:

2 aubergines – cut into large chunks
4 cloves of garlic in their skins
2 tomatoes – cut in half
Good splash of olive oil +
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 jar chick peas
½ cup tahini
Juice of a lemon
Salt and pepper
Pinch of cumin
Fresh coriander – a good handful

In an oven roast the vegetables with a good splash of olive oil until nicely cooked through. Allow to cool a little.

In a blender or in a bowl and using a hand blender, add all the ingredients and blend thoroughly. If too thick to blend properly then add a little bottled water. At this point check for flavour as this is not an exact recipe. I always end up adding bits of this and that! I can get carried away with the oil as I love good oil in this, but add according to your taste.

We spread hummus on crusty bread and make salad rolls – brilliant with loads of rocket leaves and roast veggies from last night's dinner!

Recipes courtesy of Jane Hagan of Santanyí


Jan Edwards

ANYONE FOR AUBERGINES?

I'm probably not as adventurous with aubergines as I could be, but that might change after my programme on Sunday, September 7, because Jane Hagan – our foodie and south-west correspondent – will be sharing some of her recipes for her favourite vegetable with us.

Join us from 10am and you could be serving up something different for Sunday lunch!
And if you missed hearing her delicious fig recipes (or couldn't write them down quickly enough!), here they are:

The Most Excellent Fig Salad
Ingredients:
Black figs, halved
Extra virgin olive oil
Garlic, roughly chopped
Zest of an orange, or grated peel
Oregano, fresh or dried
Pine nuts (piñones)
Flake chillies
Balsamic vinegar
Rocket leaves (arugula)
Parmesan cheese, shaved
Black pepper, freshly milled.

Dress rocket leaves in a shallow bowl with a little extra virgin olive oil and a splash of Balsamic.
In a large open pan or wok, sautée the garlic in good hot oil until it colours a little and then add the figs, oregano, chilli flakes, pine nuts and orange zest. Allow the figs to cook a little and soften, moving them a bit but not too much or they can lose their shape.*

At this point, make sure the pan is good and hot and add a little more olive oil and a generous amount of Balsamic vingegar (keep face away from the pan, as the vinegar fumes are most invasive!)

Once the vinegar has lost that sharp smell, turn fig mixture onto the bed of rocket and serve with a topping of shaved Parmesan. Enjoy with crusty bread as a delicious starter or accompanying BBQ'd lamb.

* Note: All this can be done in advance and left at this point to be finished off quickly for a dinner party.

Figs in Syrup
Ingredients:
¾ kilo of fresh whole white figs
1 kilo white sugar
pinch of cinnamon

Place all the ingredients in a large stainless steel pot. Add a couple of tablespoons of water and bring ingredients to the boil. Keep in boiling (to form a syrup) for 25 mins, being careful not to let the sugar burn.

Leave to cool overnight in the pot. Next day, bring to boil again for a further 25 mins.

Bottle in sterilised jars and eat within 3 months. Delicious with the wonder Bellver Hazelnut or Almond ice cream!

Note: To sterilise jars, I wash them in hot soapy water (do not dry with tea towels) and put into a cold oven. Heat it up to 100 degrees and when the jars are cool enough to handle, fill and seal as soon as possible.

Fig Relish (works best with black figs, but white ones can be used as well)

Ingredients:
Fresh figs, quartered
Red onion, chopped
Garlic, roughly chopped
Chilli powder – to taste
Soy sauce – a dash
Balsamic vinegar
Port – in equal measure with Balsamic vinegar
Black pepper, freshly milled

Place all ingredients into stainless steel saucepan or pot and bring to boil. Let mixture
bubble fairly vigorously to reduce the liquid to a thick consistency (this can take up to about half an hour). When it reaches that point as it can burn very quickly and spoil the flavour, so this isn't something to leave on the stove and ignore!

You can enjoy this immediately but I find the flavour improves if left a couple of days in a glass jar in the fridge. Eat within a month or freeze. The relish is delicious eaten with cold cuts and cheeses.

Figs baked with soft goat's cheese

Ingredients:
Black figs halved (white figs would probably work as well)Soft goat's cheese (found in supermarkets in small pyramid-shaped plastic containers)
Extra virgin oil

In a caserola or ovenproof ceramic bowl with lid, place the figs in first and plonk the goat's cheese on top. It doesn't have to be neat – this is easy food! Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil over the top and put lid on. Place in a good hot oven (190 degrees) for about 20 minutes.

Serve with good bread and jamon serrano.

Recipes courtesy of Jane Hagan of Santanyí

Jan Edwards