fish/cake

A perfect summer meal? Wonderfully light dishes of salmon and tuna followed by a fabulously gooey chocolate confection, says Peter Gordon Two fish dishes followed by a rich chocolate cake may seem an odd meal, but I figure that once you've had two light and healthy courses, you'll want to treat yourself to something rich. The chocolate cake is flour-less, incredibly rich and delicious. Don't worry if it looks too runny when you take it out of the oven - it's really like a lightly baked mousse. Both fish recipes will feed four, the cake will feed more!

Marinated salmon and cucumber salad If you really don't like the thought of raw fish, then leave the salmon to marinate in the lemon juice for four hours, and proceed as below.

300g salmon fillet, boned and skinned, thinly sliced into 8 pieces 200ml lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon wasabi powder 1/2 cucumber, coarsely grated 1 teaspoon caster sugar - spring onions, finely sliced 2 dessert spoons soy sauce Mix the salmon with the wasabi and lemon juice and leave in the fridge for 15 minutes, stirring once. Meanwhile, mix the cucumber and sugar and also put in the fridge. Just before serving, mix the marinated salmon, cucumber and spring onions together and serve in small bowls with some soy drizzled over to taste. Chocolate mousse cake This will make a rich cake, enough for eight people. Serve it with whipped cream, flavoured with some Cointreau, Tia Maria or rum and sugar. 300g dark chocolate 150g unsalted butter 6 eggs 100g caster sugar Oven at 180C. Line the base and sides of an 20cm spring-bottom cake tin with greaseproof paper. Melt the chocolate and butter in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water. Separate the eggs, and beat the egg whites until stiff with the 60g of the sugar. Beat the yolks with the remaining sugar, then mix this thoroughly into the chocolate. Gently beat 1/3 of the whites into the chocolate mix, then gently fold in the remainder and pour the mixture into the cake tin. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25 minutes. Remove the tin from the oven and cover it tightly with aluminium foil - the steam softens the crust and keeps the heat in. Once cold, put it into the fridge and leave for at least four hours before taking it from the tin. Seared tuna with sweet and sour onion relish Whilst tuna works really well for this, thick mackerel fillets would also be great. 4x2cm thick tuna steaks, about 180g each 100ml olive oil - medium red onions, peeled and finely sliced - cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced - limes, finely zested and juiced 2 tablespoons demerara sugar 30ml tamarind paste 2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce a good handful of coriander leaves 8 basil leaves 200g green beans, stems removed Lightly season the fish and brush with a little of the olive oil. Leave it to rest at room temperature while you make the relish. Fry the onions in the remaining oil over a moderate heat until they colour, stirring occasionally. Once coloured, add the garlic and cook for a further minute, then add the lime juice and zest, the sugar and the tamarind. Stir well and cook on high for a minute, then add the fish sauce, coriander and basil and remove from the heat. Heat a heavy pan, or skillet, then place the tuna on and cook for 1 minute. Gently turn over and cook a further 45 seconds. The fish should be rare, and moist. While the fish is cooking, boil the beans in plenty of salted water, but make sure you don't cook the 'crunch' out of them. Drain them, then sit the fish on top, and spoon on the relish. I would also serve either basmati rice or boiled new potatoes with this.

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