Our guest chef this week is Andy Booth-McCabe who is head chef at The Holiday Inn Aberdeen West at Westhill.
The hotel’s Glentanar Lounge is where guests can enjoy tucking into simple, well-cooked and well-presented food, in a classic Scottish bistro style.
Andy brings a unique twist gained from his experience working in locations ranging from Aberdeen to London, and the five-star Sheraton in Melbourne, Australia.
Here he shares two very reader-friendly recipes which are easy to whip up at home, but have the look of a restaurant-quality dish.
Beetroot, goat’s cheese and walnut salad
(Serves 2)
Ingredients
- 250g cooked beetroot cut into wedges
- 145g mixed salad leaves
- 100g goat’s cheese
- 50g crushed walnuts
- ½ a cucumber, sliced into ribbons
- Balsamic syrup
Method
- Toss the beetroot, mixed leaves, walnuts and cucumber together. Place this into the centre of a plate or bowl.
- Crumble the goat’s cheese around the leaves and the walnuts.
- Drizzle some balsamic syrup over the leaves and cheese.
Pan-fried hake with crushed new potatoes, peas, pancetta and dill oil
(Serves 2)
Ingredients
- 2 x 200g hake fillets, de-scaled
- 500g baby new potatoes
- 75g diced pancetta
- 50g peas
- Sun-dried tomatoes to garnish
- Seasoning
- 10ml olive oil
- Knob of butter
For the dill oil:
- 6 springs of dill
- 100ml olive oil
- 1tsp lemon juice
Method
- Start by making the dill oil in advance – it will last up to two days.
- To do this, place the ingredients in a container and use a stick blender to blitz them together.
- If you wish, you can pass the mixture through a coffee filter or fine cloth to remove any bits.
- Pre-heat the oven to 185C/165C Fan/360F/Gas Mark 4.5.
- Place the diced pancetta on a baking tray and cook in the oven until crisp.
- Bring a small pan of salted water to the boil and cook the peas. Wash and cut the potatoes; place in salted water and boil until soft. When ready, crush together with butter then add the pancetta and peas. Season to taste.
- Keep warm in the oven until the hake is cooked.
- Heat a frying pan with a small amount of olive oil. Once hot, add the seasoned hake skin side down and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the skin starts to crisp. Turn and cook for a further four minutes.
- To serve place the crushed potato mix on to the centre of a plate – use a round pastry cutter if you want a circular shape. Place the cooked hake on top.
- Drizzle the dill oil around the plate and garnish with a few sun-dried tomatoes.