This is a pretty classic combo, it's slightly less striking in appearance than usual because I've used chioggia beetroot rather than the normal purple kind, but chioggia is lovely and sweet so it tasted great.
You just need one nice fillet of monkfish to feed two people, plus 2 or 3 beetroots and one pot of soft goat's cheese.
Any leaves will do for the salad base, I had baby gem.
First, boil the beetroot whole for 20 minutes or so, then let it sit on the side to cool slightly before you rub the skin off and cut it into small wedges. Arrange the wedges in a small baking tray and mix with a large drizzle of balsamic vinegar, some olive oil, salt and lots of pepper. Pop into the oven at 180 for a further 15 to 20 minutes.
While the beetroot are in the oven, boil some new potatoes in salted water until cooked through and take the fish fillet out of the fridge to warm up slightly. Arrange the salad leaves on your plates.
Season the fish with salt and pepper. Heat up a frying pan with a little olive oil and butter and, when very hot, place the fish in the pan. Don't move it, just let it cook for a few minutes, until the sides start to turn slightly opaque. Flip the fillet over and cook for another one or two minutes, then take off the heat and allow to rest for a second while you plate up the rest.
Lay the slices of beetroot over the lettuce, then arrange peices of buttered potato around the top. Then top with chunks of the monkfish and teaspoons of the goat's cheese. Sprinkle a few extra drops of balsamic vinegar over the top and give the whole thing a nice grinding of pepper.
This is the perfect breakfast to scoff while watching Saturday Kitchen on the sofa with a cup of coffee.
The BLT you already know: bacon, lettuce and tomato - usually served with mayonnaise and ketchup. The EM is egg and mushroom, which elevates this breakfast into a brunch that will keep you going until dinnertime.
I prefer unsmoked bacon for this, because the smoked stuff would completely overpower all the rest of it. Smoked is great for cooking with lentils or in casseroles. My bacon originally comes from Ensors, who work with a co-operative of organic farmers in Herefordshire.
First of all, get the frying pan so hot that the oil is pretty much smoking, then lay the bacon down with the mushrooms tucked around it. Try not to move it about, it takes on that lovely sticky coating if you just leave it be until fully cooked on one side. Repeat for the other and then put on some kitchen roll to absorb the grease.
Put the eggs in the pan to cook alongside the mushrooms and get your bread on to toast.
Once the toast is done, lay the slices side by side and top one with butter or ketchup, and the other with mayonnaise. Add the lettuce and sliced tomato to the butter/ketchup half and the bacon to the mayo side.
When the egg and mushrooms are ready, pop the egg on top of the bacon and the mushrooms on top of the salad. Mmm, wonderful. Demolish in the messiest way possible (see below).
