Project Ocean aims to draw awareness to the overfishing of certain endangered fish and shellfish and promote awareness among consumers when it comes to picking the fish that they are putting on their plates. As part of the campaign, Selfridges invited Leiths teachers Helene and Louisa along to demonstrate some fish-based recipes which focus on using fish from sustainable sources.

For session one, Helene demonstrated how to cook ‘en papilotte’, using an envelope of baking parchment to enclose two trout fillets with a fragrant julienne of leeks and carrots and a splash of white wine. The techinique is ideal for cooking delicate fish, sealing in all those tasty juices and maintaining a delicate flaky texture from the fish. The full recipe is here.

The girls then showed Selfridges food hall customers how to make the most of the prawn, shells and all, to make a deliciously rich prawn pilaf. Using a stock made from the shells of the cooked prawns, long grain rice was simmered down with the juices to produce a wonderful one pot dish, speckled with herbs and dotted with sweet pink prawns.

In a second helping Helene talked the crowds through the making of soy-glazed salmon steak, keeping it juicily pink on the inside, and a quick sole meuniere, quickly pan-fried with a nutty brown butter sauce.

There were plenty of tasters going around, so we kept the Sunday shoppers hunger at bay with sample dishes and even found the time to sample some of the other in store delicacies for ourselves.  

Check out the photos from the demonstration here on our Facebook page.

Serves 4

3 medium sole fillets, filleted and skinned
2 tbsps plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
55g butter, clarified
1 tbsp chopped fresh herbs, including parsley
1 tsp lemon juice

lemon wedges, to garnish

1. Wash the 12 lemon sole fillets, dry thoroughly and roll in the seasoned flour.

2. Heat half the butter in a heavy frying pan and when it has ceased to sizzle add the sole fillets, skinned side uppermost. Cook over a medium heat for 30-40 seconds, turn over and brown on the other side.

3. Slide the fish on to a serving plate, with the butter from the pan, and keep warm.

4. Wipe the pan very well, removing any bits of fish. Heat the remaining butter in the frying pan until a delicate brown, cool slightly and add the herbs and lemon juice. Pour over the fish, garnish with lemon wedges and serve immediately.

Serves 2

55g butter
1 tbsp very finely shredded white of leek
1 tbsp very finely shredded carrot
55g button mushroom, thinly sliced
1 tsp chopped fresh tarragon or fennel leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 x 110g unskinned trout fillets, pinboned
lemon juice
2 tbsps dry white wine
oil for brushing

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7.
 
2. Fold a large sheet of greaseproof paper in half and cut out 2 semi-circles, with radius of 20cm.  Open out to form circles.
 
3. Melt half the butter and add the leek and carrot.  Cook slowly without browning for 5  minutes, then add the mushroom.  Cook for 2 more minutes, then add the  tarragon or fennel, and season with salt and pepper.  Allow to cool.

4.  Brush the inside of  the paper circles with a little oil, leaving the edges clear.  Sandwich the trout fillets, skinned side outside, with the vegetables.  Place a sandwich on one side of each circle and sprinkle on the wine.  Dot with the remaining butter and season with salt and pepper.

5.  Fold the free half of the papillote paper over to make a parcel rather like an apple turnover.  Fold the edges of the 2 layers of paper over twice together, twisting and pressing hard to seal.
 
6.  Brush a baking sheet lightly with oil and put it into the oven for 5 minutes to heat.  Then put the papillotes on the baking sheet, taking care that they do not touch each other.  Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes.
 
7.  Serve immediately on warmed dinner plates.  Each diner unwraps his own puffed-up parcel.

NOTES: Halibut, haddock, salmon, indeed almost any fish, can be cooked in this way. Breast of chicken, boned and skinned, is also good en papillote, and takes 20 minutes in a piece, 15 minutes if in slices.

Serves 4

4 salmon steaks

for the marinade:
5 tbsps light soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp clear honey

for the salad hot and sour dressing:
3 tbsps rice wine vinegar
1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp sunflower oil

for the salad:
140g cashew nuts
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black mustard seeds
225g beansprouts
110g mangetout, roughly chopped
1 small can of water chestnuts, drained and sliced
grated zest and juice of 1/2 lime
1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

1. Place the salmon steaks in a dish. Combine the marinade ingredients and pour over the salmon steaks. Refridgerate for up to 1 hour.

2. Make the hot and sour dressing: place the vinegar, chilli and sugar in a small saucepan and heat gently without boiling until the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool, then add the sunflower oil.

3. Gently fry the cashew nuts in a heavy frying pan until lightly browned, then add the sea salt and the mustard seeds and fry for 1 minute or uintil the seeds begin to pop. Set aside.

4. In a hot pan, fry the salmon steaks for 4 minutes on each side – no extra oil should be necessary.

5. Combine the remaining salad ingredients and toss in the dressing. Serve piled on to each plate, sprinkled with the cashew nut mixture and topped with the soy-glazed salmon.

790g cooked shell-on prawns
570 ml water
100ml stock made from the prawn shells
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 slice of lemon
3-4 parsley stalks
55g butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
225g long-grain rice, washed
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper

to garnish:
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1. Peel the prawns. Reserve the prawns and put the shells into a saucepan with the water, wine, salt, pepper, lemon slice and parsley stalks. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and reserve the liquor.

2. Melt half of the butter in a saucepan and cook the onion gently until soft. Add the rice and fry slowly until it looks shiny. Add the reserved liquor. Bring to the boil, stirring with a fork. Cover and simmer gently for 25 minutes, until the rice is tender and the water absorbed. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter, add the peeled prawns and eggs and heat through. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Fork the shelled prawns and eggs into the pilaf rice. Pile into a warmed serving dish and sprinkle with plenty of parsley.

Both Lorraine and Gizzi traded in their former careers as a catwalk model and a body piercer respectively, to study the Diploma at Leiths, launching their new careers in food. You can read the whole article here.

Dear Wendy,

You don’t mention what kind of cake it is, but I’d assume perhaps a classis vanilla sponge or carrot cake, as these tend to be the most popular choices. If so, they both freeze very well.

However, I’m afraid that the icing will go sticky if you freeze the cake fully embellished. The reason for this is that the ice crystals deposited in the various layers during the freezing process, will melt and alter the structure of the sugar crystals in the icing on defrosting. This results in a sticky and shiny finish that remains tacky and doesn’t actually dry off, as you might expect.

 Apart from the shiny appearance of the cake, you may find it hard to stabilize the toppers to that sticky layer.

Depending on the size and type of cake, it may take 2 days to defrost thoroughly; would that give you enough time to marzipan and ice it before the big day? I have done this with a 12 inch diameter carrot cake, and it remained fresh.

Cream cheese and chocolate ganache icings do freeze very well, so might be options for you if time is an issue and you want to try a more contemporary decoration. I find the traditional finish a hard one to beat though.

 I do hope this helps.  

With best wishes,

Max Clark, Senior Teacher and Buyer for Leiths

This information-packed day will deliver extensive knowledge and skills, enabling students to recognize the difference between lamb, hogget and mutton, providing an enlightened look at the butchery of a lamb, and teaching how to cook and carve it with confidence and skill.

With the assistance of the trained Leiths staff, students will create an array of dishes including Spring Roast Leg of Lamb with Oregano, Boned and Rolled Shoulder of Lamb, Fragrant Lamb Kebabs, Rolled & stuffed Breast of Lamb and Lambs Kidneys in Red wine.

By simply raising the best animals in the happiest of circumstances, on the finest stretch of Yorkshire Moors, The Ginger Pig has become renowned for its fantastic cuts of meat. Ensuring that their pigs, cattle and sheep receive the highest level of care, in turn their customers receive the quality they have come to expect. The Ginger Pig shops can be found in Borough Market, Hackney, Marylebone, Waterloo, Yorkshire farm and now Shepherds Bush.

As the butcher everyone is talking about, there was no surprise at the success of the long-awaited The Ginger Pig Meat Book – a meat manual for a new generation of domestic and inquisitive cooks, who want to know everything there is to know about buying, cooking and preparing meat.

Fran Warde is a cook and best-selling food writer. She spent 18 months in the kitchens at The Café Royal before opening her own restaurant in London and then moving into catering and opening a successful cookery school. Fran co-authored with Joanna Harris the award-winning The French Kitchen, followed by The French Market. Her other books include New Bistro and Food for Friends. She has written for numerous publications, including The Saturday Times Magazine, BBC Good Food and Waitrose Food Illustrated and was the food editor of Red magazine.

Tim Wilson, owner of The Ginger Pig group of butchers, is one of the most respected meat producers in Britain. They have received many accolades, including Best Food Producer in the Observer Food Monthly Awards and recently has been awarded a Coq D’or by the French gourmet Les Guide Des Gourmands 2011. The shops stock meat from his three Yorkshire farms and also supply a number of top restaurants around the country including the critically acclaimed Hawksmoor in London’s Covent Garden.

This hands-on class will teach you the essential techniques for recreating your favourite gastro pub dishes at home. Under the guidance of the Leiths chefs you will learn to master a three course menu, including all the necessary tips and techniques to confidently recreate the menu at home.

Beginning with coffee and pastries, the class will include a demonstration and plenty of hands-on cooking. At the end of the morning you will sit down to enjoy the lunch of your own making with a well deserved glass of wine.

Menu:

Beetroot and goat’s cheese tart

Cod with chorizo and lentils

Summer fruit Alaska