I know that I promised a healthy January, and potted shrimps, with their oddles of butter, are not the most healthy start to the New Year.  However I have 3 excuses;

• Firstly anyone starting their New Year’s Resolutions in the cold light of day on the first of January is either a masochist or setting themselves up for failure.  Yesterday I was slightly hungover, tired and in need of comfort; not the best day to start my healthy month, and I do not wish to fall on the first day, which will make me more inclined to give up altogether on my resolutions*.
• Secondly, we were at a party for New Year’s eve and also wanted to celebrate together with a special supper.
• Thirdly, Christmastide continues until twelfth night, the 5th of January, which is followed on the 6th by the Feast of the Epiphany.   The twelve days of Christmas are the 12 days after.   My decorations stay up until the 6th January, I find it quite sad that in today’s more commercially driven world all the focus is on the run up to Christmas, rather than the Christmas period itself.

I added an anchovy fillet and a pinch of cayenne pepper to my shrimps.   Do taste the butter as you season here, cayenne is hot stuff and different brands vary in fieriness.   Some recipes call for the addition of nutmeg; use it if you must, I do not always care for the taste so did not use it.  With the slightly salted butter and the salty anchovy I doubt that you will wish to add more salt.

Potted Shrimps (Serves 2 generously)

50g butter (I use slightly salted)
1 anchovy fillet – tinned or jarred
Pinch of cayenne pepper
100g cooked & peeled brown shrimps
Black pepper – to taste

Place the butter and anchovy in a small saucepan and melt the butter over a low heat.   Gently stir and nudge the anchovy with a spoon, it will eventually disintegrate and “melt” into the butter.     Season with the peppers.    When the butter is melted stir in the shrimps and heat for a few moments.  Spoon the shrimps into two ramekin dishes and press down, pour the melted butter over.

Leave to chill in the fridge for a few hours.

Serve with toast and a wedge of lemon.

* My resolutions are simply to be calmer and happier, simple, but I am hoping effective.

A classic tapenade usually consists of black olives, capers and anchovies mixed in varying proportions.  I added some seeds to this pungent mix, to both lighten taste & colour and to add a dose of healthy omega 3 & 6s.    My seeds were a mixture of flax (linseed), pumpkin, sunflower and sesame.     The seeds diluted the pungent tapenade from a concentrated spread to the perfect base for a dip or sauce.    I stirred a good dollop of seed tapenade and some semi dried cherry tomatoes into hot pasta for a quick end of week supper.  Ground flax seed is really rather gloopy and the paste will need some thinning.

Having just missed the deadline for this week’s Presto Pasta Night I am sending this to fellow Londoner, Abby at Eat The Right Stuff for next week’s round up.

Four Seed Tapenade (Makes pasta sauce for 4)

2oz black olives (stoned)
1oz seeds (I used roughly equal quantities of flax, pumpkin, sunflower & sesame)
About 8 anchovy fillets (I used a 50g tin)
1 oz capers
1 small clove garlic
Juice and zest of one lemon
Olive oil

Blitz all the ingredients either in the small bowl of your food processor or with a stick blender.   I added the oil from my anchovies, but if you prefer drain them and add an extra glug of olive oil.      If necessary thin the paste with a little oil or, if bothered about the fat content, water.

I can think of several variations of this, using either parmesan or miso in place of the anchovies,