Fish & Chips, Guacamole, Stuffed Finocchiona Salami With Celeriac Puree, Anchovies With Carrot And Celeriac Salsa

Someone that does not exist, asked me once, during a conversation that never really happened, if I were a puree, what puree would I be and why? Pea puree, I replied, because my name is P obviously, and also that I would have the joy of spending the rest of my days on a plate with a nice battered fish, some chips and if I was extra lucky, a nice tartar sauce or aioli.

So it was, with this mythical conversation in one hand and an almost empty bottle of wine in the other that I decided on Fridays tapas.

Fish & Chips Tapas

A single fillet of cod cut into some bite-size portions, some homemade mayo already hanging out in the fridge and a pack of frozen peas eased the strain on this weeks €15 budget.
I mashed up a small clove of garlic and added that and a some chopped fresh parsley to the mayo to make a nice silky aioli. Peas, roughly blitzed to a lazy man's puree with some thyme and milk made for a nice pea puree that was even easier than the already easy pea puree, which we here at Salty Squid have christened P's easy-peasy-pea-puree. Say that with a mouth full of calamari!

For the chips, I took one large rooster potato, cut it into, eh... chips and seasoned, lemoned and flung it into an insanely hot oven until I almost forgot about and burned them (about 15 mins).

To plate, I used one of Patrycja's pointlessly colourful trays. Pea puree, topped with a single chip off centre and a nice cod piece cuddling up beside the solitary chip before being smothered with a thick blanket of aioli.

Guacamole with Carrot and Celery Sticks

A lovely ripe avocado, chopped and mixed with some natural yogurt, chopped garlic, lemon juice to stop from going brown, hot paprika and some parsley, all thrown together in a bowl, like some hooligans arrested after a football match, locked in a cell together and beaten (or mashed) with a fork. Simply cut your chosen veg into sticks and devour this creamy bowl of goodness.

Stuffed Finocchiona with Celeriac Puree Canapés

I used six thin slices of Finocchiona - which is a delicious fennel salami from Tuscany. I cooked some left over celeriac w/ half a shallot and some seasoning before adding some left over (from last weeks tapas!) soft cheese. Pureed and smeared generously onto the salami, before rolling and stabbing it mercilessly with a toothpick. Arrange on some lovely fresh sliced baguette. Dive in face first - just remove the toothpick before hand!

Anchovy Canapés with Carrot-Celeriac Salsa

Early in the week, I was treated to a beautiful baked dish of red snapper baked in a gorgeous carrot and celeriac sweet/savoury salsa. It is so nice and thankfully, P always makes stockpiles of anything so there was (and even today still is!) heaps of this excellent salsa in the fridge.
Because of this, I was able to buy a pinch of anchovies and arrange them on sliced baguette with lashings of this salivating salsa. There is a really nice sweet, salty balance to it. I don't know the recipe but if more than 16million people request it, I am sure P would love to post it up.

Drinks

Brumonth Gros Manseng-Sauvignon, 2008, 12% (€11-12)

I have the palate of a Walrus and the tongue to go with it but this white tasted to me of honey-ed grapefruit. It was nice a dry and I think it was all gone in about 4 seconds. Which is a good sign I suppose.

Alamos, Malbec 2008, Argentina, 13.5% (€10-11)

We went new world for a change. This was a juicy, full bodied wine, really yummy and drinkable, but not so soft you could spread it on cold toast. It had a nice attitude.

On the radio was the new Spoon album and some Billie Holiday.

Shopping List

Cod (local fish monger) €6.20

Avocado, 1 carrot and 2 celery sticks (local fruit&veg shop) €1.09

Salami (deli shop) €0.97

Anchovies (deli shop) €2.10

Baguette bread (bakery) €1.90
.........................................................................
Total €12.26