Circulation: 27102 Sunday, 1 February 2015 Area of … Lamont...2015/02/11 · Easyfood* Sunday, 1 February 2015 Page: 16,17,18 Circulation: 27102 Area of Clip: 420700mm² Page 2

Easyfood*Sunday, 1 February 2015Page: 16,17,18

Circulation: 27102Area of Clip: 420700mm²Page 1 of 8

lias Get to know our celebrity guest editor Simon Lamont, both in the kitchen and out!

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Simon Lamont is the host of Tv3's The Lazy Chef,

where he travels all over the country to sample

the spoils of Irish cuisine and rustle up delicious

quick-fix dishes.

In The Lazy Chef, Simon shows how to cut any

corner to make effortless food and shares his

secrets to fast-tracking meals by offering tips,

tricks and shortcuts to make impressive food in

a simple way.

Born and bred in Dublin, Simon studied Culinary

Arts in DIT's Cathal Brugha Street, where he

majored in pastry work and graduated with

honours. He had a dozen chef and waiter jobs

during his college days and has worked in

some of the best restaurants in the world. He is

currently the general manager at the celebrated

Wright Brothers Oyster House in London.

Keep up with Simon on Instagram and Twitter

@simonmlamont!

Season One of The Lazy Chef is available to

watch now on 3player. For more information,

visit www.tv3.ie.

What does it mean to be the Lazy Chef?

I guess the title "lazy" can be a bit confusing;

notions of microwave meals and instant

noodles spring to some peoples' minds! Lazy

Chef for me is a frame of mind: it's the least

amount of effort to make great ingredients

taste delicious.

How did you get into cooking?

My mum and granny, obviously. My mum

was (and still is!) a busy lady and she had me

helping her in the kitchen from a young age.

What are your favourite things to cook at

home for yourself?

I don’t normally eat breakfast, but when I

have a rare morning off I cook some spicy

baked eggs. They're a real treat served with a

big pot of coffee and lots of buttery, toasted

sourdough bread from the restaurant. A pig

in muck springs to mind! At the moment, my

staples are stews and curry. If you can master

those techniques, you'll never go hungry.

What do you like to cook for friends, or for

someone special on Valentine's Day?

Beef and red wine evoke romance! That's

what I’m cooking for my love on Valentine's

Day. I might flick through Pat Whelan's Irish

Beef Book to get a little inspiration; it's

definitely my favourite Irish cookbook in recent

years. Add a couple of glasses of Malbec to

the mix and...need we say more?!

What ingredients do you always have on

hand in your kitchen?

I spend most of my week in the restaurant,

so my fridge is frequently bare, bar a few

essentials. I'll always have Kerrygold butter,

Greek yoghurt, tins of tomatoes, anchovies,

fresh chillies and potatoes. These are a few of

my favourite things!

What are some of the best shortcuts you've

learned from your time in the kitchen?

My box grater is not just for cheese; I use it to

cut corners everywhere from salsa to stir-fries.

I almost don't need a knife sometimes. Just

watch your fingers!

Are there any kitchen skills that can't be

skipped or shortened?

Baking bread, especially sourdough bread, can

be labour-intensive but really worth it. I haven't

come up with a shortcut yet, but I'll rise to the

challenge (wink, wink).

Each plate has to be perfect, or beyond

perfect. Easy, right?

What projects are you working on at the

moment?

It’s been an exciting start to 2015 for me. I'm

Brand Ambassador to a couple of very cool

Irish brands; I love working with passionate

Irish producers! Also, keep an eye out for a

foodie app I'm developing. I hope to launch a

podcast in the summer, which will keep me

out of trouble. And if I'm lucky we'll squeeze

in some new adventures with The Lazy Chef]

I'm wrecked just thinking about all of that!

What inspires you to cook?

Travel inspires me to cook; cities like San

Sebastian, New York, Copenhagen, Istanbul

and my home away from home, London.

These days I also get tons of recipe inspiration

from Instagram. It's such a great forum for

swapping ideas.

What's the best kitchen advice you've ever

received?

Rest your meat - rest it as long as you cook

it. And wrap it in clingfilm while it rests, which

extends the cooking process and helps the

meat retain moisture.

What's the worst kitchen disaster you've

ever had?

Pour steaming hot soup into a blender. Set to

full speed and pulse. Enjoy the molten magma

display! (No seriously, don't do this!)

What's the biggest difference about

cooking in a restaurant kitchen compared

to cooking for friends or family?

Family and friends are very forgiving! If

your souffle doesn't souffle, or if your tart is

too tart, you'll live to see another day. The

restaurant guest is a different kettle of fish.

What's the one bit of advice you'd give to

someone who is just learning to cook?

Follow your taste buds, not the recipe book.

Listen m





Salmon pho Serves 2

Simon says: "Teapot! Teapot! Teapot! Yes, my

little teapot has undergone a revolutionary

transformation. It is now my own compact,

flavour-infusing stockpot. I can hardly contain

myself. I'm making quick tasty broths, dear

soups and consommds religiously, almost

daily! This recipe is not only light and zesty but

the pronounced Vietnamese flavours are really

sultry and sexy; perfect for a Valentine's love-in!

There is almost zero cooking involved in this

dish... so lazy it's a sin!"

For the pho broth:

1 fish or chicken stock cube

'h a large onion, sliced

2 mushrooms, finely sliced

2 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp sugar

2 dashes of soy sauce, plus extra to serve

1 bunch of fresh coriander stems

2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder

For the soup bowl:

2 x 175g salmon fillets, skinned

300g rice noodles, cooked

1 bag of stir-fry mixed vegetables

2 button mushrooms, sliced thinly

Fresh mint leaves

Fresh basil leaves

Fresh coriander leaves

1 red chilli, sliced

Lime wedges

To serve:

Sriracha hot sauce

1 Dissolve the stock cube in hot water in a

teapot. Add the rest of the broth ingredients and

bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for

about 5-7 minutes.

2 Slice the salmon fillets to a 3mm thickness.

3 Prepare your soup bowl. At the bottom, put a

nest of rice noodles, topped with some raw stirfry

vegetables and mushrooms. Top with slices

of raw salmon fillet. Decorate this bowl with the

herbs, sliced red chilli and lime wedges.

4 Bring your soup bowl and the hot stock pot to

the table and pour the aromatic stock slowly over

the fish. Savour the aromas! It will be ready to

eat straight away as the fish cooks instantly in

the hot broth.

5 Have some spicy Sriracha, soy sauce and a

squeeze of lime on hand to jazz it up further.

Cook and chow

to music! Follow my Spotify

playlist: “Easy Food

Galician Fish"

Per Serving 503kcals, 12.2g fat (1.8g saturated), 56.6g earbs,

6.1g sugars, 41.4g protein, 4.2g fibre, 3.102g sodium

O©

Galician Hake Serves 2

Simon says: "I was inspired by this little dish

when on a short break in the port city of

Pontevedra, in Northern Spain. It's a passionate

little dish that is simple to cook for the family.

I've adapted this versatile recipe so it's perfect

fora Friday fish supper, a dinner party showstopper

or romantic meal. I use a terracotta

cazuela cooking dish, a must for Spanish and

Portuguese cooking, but you can use a shallow

casserole. Pair with a chilled glass ofAlbarino

wine, which also hails from Galicia."

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, sliced

3 garlic cloves, sliced

1 tbsp paprika

1 x 400g tin of whole tomatoes, drained and

juice reserved

1 green pepper, deseeded and sliced

1 large unpeeled potato, thinly sliced

20ml sherry vinegar (or use red wine vinegar)

Salt and black pepper

2 fillets of white fish (hake is best)

Parsley, to garnish

1 Heat the olive oil in a terracotta cazuela or a

shallow flameproof casserole dish.

2 Add the onion and garlic and cook gently until

soft and translucent.

3 Add the paprika and fry for 2-3 minutes, then

add the drained tomatoes and green pepper and

cook for another 3-4 minutes. Stir everything

really well.

4 Layer in the potato slices, drizzle with the

vinegar and tomato juice, season generously

with salt and pepper and simmer for about 10

minutes, until the potatoes are just tender and

the liquid has reduced a little.

5 Season the hake fillets well on both sides.

Place and nestle them on top of the potatoes,

cover and pop into a moderate oven for 8-10

minutes, until the hake is cooked through and

the potatoes are tender. Finish the dish with torn

parsley and a drizzle of nice oil.

Per Serving 459kcals, 11.9g fat (2.5g saturated), 56.4g carbs,

13g sugars, 36.7g protein, 11.8g fibre, 0.181g sodium



Mussels, black bean and beer Serves 2

Simon says: "This is fast food at its best. The

holy trinity of garlic, ginger and chilli marries

brilliantly with big black bean flavours and is a

cinch to throw together fora quick midweek

supper. Our waters are teeming with Europe's

most pristine shellfish, and yet we hardly eat

any of it and end up exporting most to far flung

corners of the planet. Let's buy local, eat fresh

and keep it real!"

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp ginger, finely chopped

1 sliced red chilli, seeds and all

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 heaped tbsp black bean sauce

1kg mussels, cleaned and de-bearded

2 spring onions, chopped

200ml lager beer

2-3 tbsp coriander, finely chopped

1 Heat a wok and add the oil.

2 Add the ginger, chilli and garlic and cook for one

minute. Big sizzle!

3 Add the black bean sauce and stir. Add the

mussels, spring onions and beer (discard any

mussels that are open before cooking). Mix

through, turn up the heat and put the lid on.

4 Cook, shaking the pan every now and again

until all the mussels have opened and are cooked.

Remove any mussels that remain closed.

5 Spoon the mussels into serving bowls with all

the juices and sprinkle with coriander. Flesh out a

bigger meal by adding a green salad and steamed

sticky jasmine rice.


3. lg sugars, 61.8g protein, 1.6g fibre, 1.545g sodium

©©©

Eggs, avocado and Ras-elHanout

Serves 2

Simon says: “Valentine's is for the lovers! If

we're going to be honest, the sexiest dish

of the day is breakfast. Ras-el-Hanout is a

perfumed combination of paprika, cloves,

cumin, fenugreek, fennel seeds and dried rose

petals, and is a staple in North African cuisine. I

can't think of a more heady and intense mix of

spices: it elevates this simple dish of eggs and

avocado on toast to something really special."

1 x 400g tin of chickpeas

3 tbsp Ras-el-Hanout (or ground cumin,

paprika or a mixture of the two - explore

your spice cupboard!)

Oil, for cooking

1 ripe avocado

Salt

Squeeze of lemon juice

2 flour tortillas

2 free-range eggs

1 tin of sardines (optional)

1 Preheat the oven to 18CTC/160”C fan/gas mark

4. Dust the chickpeas with one tablespoon of

the Ras-el-Hanout. Toss to coat in a little oil and

roast for 15 minutes until they are sizzling and just

slightly crispy.

2 In the meantime, smash up the avocado with a

pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice.

3 Warm up the tortillas in a dry frying pan, one at a

time, removing them when they are charred and

slightly crispy.

4 In the same pan, fry the eggs. One minute

before they are finished cooking, season the yolks

with a little salt and sprinkle the eggs all over with

the remaining Ras-el-Hanout.

5To assemble, top the crisped tortillas with the

smashed avocado. Pop the eggs on top and

sprinkle generously with the roasted chickpeas.

61 also like to add some sardines to the tortillas to

make this brunch dish into a tasty lunch favourite!


9.8g sugars, 24.3g protein, 22.2g fibre. 1.262g sodium

0© <







Beetroot and courgette tzatziki Serves 2, 3 or 4!

Simon says: "Classic tzatziki is made with

cool rich Greek yoghurt, loads of garlic and

cucumber. My whole family is a bit iffy on

cucumber and I'm not an avid fan of it myself,

so here's my adaptation. It's a quick and lazy

social dish that I plonk down anytime friends

and family gather in the kitchen. It literally takes

five minutes to prepare and your gang will find

it curiously addictive, even though it's so super

healthy! This makes a great nutritious snack, or

a dip when entertaining and having ‘drinkies’.

Serve with loads of crudites, whatever

takes your fancy: Ryvita, nachos, sliced raw

cauliflower, celery sticks, carrot batons, chicory

leaves or toasted pita!"

1 large cooked beetroot (not pickled)

Vi a raw courgette, unpeeled

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tsp sherry or red wine vinegar

3 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped

3 tbsp fresh mint, tom

A good dash of olive oil

250g Greek yoghurt

Sea salt

1 Coarsely grate the beetroot and courgette and

mix with the garlic, vinegar, dill, mint and oil.

2 Add the yoghurt and mix well, then season.

Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving to

allow the flavours to infuse.

3 Serve with loads of crudites, pile them high

and dip into the cool, ruby tzatziki. Watch out for

"double dippers"!

Per Serving 166kcals, 13.8g fat (4.9g saturated), 7.2g carbs, 4.2g

sugars, 4.6g protein, 1.4g fibre, 0.528g sodium

®®

Thyme and anchovy beef with quinoa salad Serves 2, with leftovers

Simon says: "This is what I'm cooking on

Valentine's Day. There's just something about

beef and red wine: food for the heart and soul.

Damn tasty tool If anyone out there doesn't like

anchovies, I implore them to spend a day with

me. I'll have you converted in hours. The quinoa

is cooked like a wet polenta, the Feta gives it

a great tang and the mint and mushrooms are

an unsung marriage that should star together

more often. This is a protein- and iron-rich meal

that's pretty low in fat, and packs in some big

earthy, robust flavours. Malbec or Shiraz are

great wines with this dish. Valentine's isn't even

my favourite event of the year... but I'm getting

pretty excited about cooking this!"

250g quinoa

11 water

20g thyme

6 anchovy fillets

2 x 200g beef steak (rump or sirioin works)

1 tbsp olive oil

200g button mushrooms

20g butter

50g Feta

100g spinach

20g mint leaves

1 Preheat the oven to 180’C/160‘C fan/gas mark 4.

2 Place the quinoa in a medium saucepan, add

the water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to

medium and cook gently for 25 minutes, stirring

every now and then.

3 In the meantime, finely chop the thyme and

anchovy fillets together to form a paste. Smooth

the paste over one side of your steaks.

4 Heat the oil in an ovenproof frying pan over a

high heat and, when hot, add the mushrooms

and steaks, thyme and anchovy side up. Sear the

steaks on just the one side for about two minutes,

then flip them over.

5 Transfer the pan to the oven for eight minutes

to finish cooking the steaks and mushrooms.

Remove, wrap the steaks in clingfilm and give

them some time to rest.

6 Back to our quinoa. When it has just two

minutes to go, add the butter, Feta, spinach and

roasted mushrooms. Cover the saucepan and let

it all steam together.

7 Plate it up! Slice the steaks; they should be

blushing and slightly rosy. Toss the warm quinoa

salad and add the mint. Serve with some crusty

bread and the aforementioned glass of Malbec!

Per Serving 1060kcals, 35.9g fat (15g saturated), 93.6g carbs,

3.1g sugars, 91.2g protein, 15.2g fibre, 0.969g sodium

Documents

Circulation: 27102 Sunday, 1 February 2015 Area of … Lamont...2015/02/11 · Easyfood* Sunday, 1 February 2015 Page: 16,17,18 Circulation: 27102 Area of Clip: 420700mm² Page 2