Herring salad in soured cream sauce

1x300g jar of pickled herrings
1 shallot or small onion, finely chopped
1 red apple, cored and coarsely chopped
2 dill pickles, rinsed and roughly chopped
150ml soured cream
1 tsp sugar or to taste
sprigs of fresh dill or fresh parsley, to garnish
pumpernickel or rye bread to serve

Drain and rinse the herrings, scrape off any skin or membrane, and cut into small pieces
In a medium bowl, combine the herrings, shallot or onion, apple, dill pickles, soured cream and sugar.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours
Garnish with dill or parsley and serve with pumpernickel or rye bread

From New Flavours of the Jewish Table.

I was really excited when I found this recipe. Back in the States it’s really easy to find jars of this herring salad at most supermarkets. My grandfather used to eat it all the time. Whenever I saw it in the store I would think of him, and although I didn’t buy it regularly, I liked to have some once in a while.

I’ve not ever seen it out here (except there is a version of it at IKEA), so it had been a really long time since I had come across it. This recipe for it was wonderful. It was easy to make, and it was delicious. My husband was pretty unsure about it, but agreed to try it. Although he found the mixture of fish, apples and pickles a little hard to get his head around, he actually liked it quite a bit, and had more then one serving.

I love this dish, and I love this recipe for it. It’s still not something I would keep in the house regularly, but when I do have the urge, I know how to make it myself now.

Prawn and Ginger Noodle Salad

Fine rice noodles 250g pack
Large prawns 250g peeled and cooked
1 small mango peeled and sliced
Light soy sauce 4 tbsp
Root Ginger 2 inch piece, finely grated
1 lime, juiced
coriander leaves, a large bunch, roughly chopped

Soak the noodles in boiling water for 6-7 minutes, until tender. Rinse under cold running water then drain and put into a bowl with the prawns and mango.
Whisk the soy sauce with the ginger, lime juice, and some black pepper and pour over the noodles. Scatter the coriander over and toss together.


So over the weekend I found myself looking for something that could be made in no time at all, and mostly out of things that I already had in the house, as I was really short on both time and money.

I found this in 101 Quick Fix Dishes.

It was perfect. Shrimp (prawns) have been on sale recently, which led to the discovery that both of the boys totally love them. My little one refers to them as “those pink-y, white-y things” and asks for them every time we go shopping.

This was everything I was looking for. It was tasty, it was one of the fastest dishes I’ve ever put together, we had most of the stuff in the house already, and as a bonus, everybody loved it.

Good stuff.

Coconut & Lemongrass Shrimp Cakes with a Spicy Mango & Cucumber Salsa

my crappy camera phone pictures strike again.

By Cookbad

Hooray! Royal Food Joust -- My first .

The challenge was to use seafood, lime and coconut. It got me thinking about a recipe I made last year for shrimp cakes, so I thought I would reprise, without peaking at the original version

I made coconut & lemon grass shrimp cakes with a spicy mango & cucumber salsa.

This recipe made me want to write about the easiest way to prepare a coconut. You don't have to smash it on the ground (most fun method!) of take the back of a cleaver to it (grrrr).

Find a coconut that you can hear a lot of milk sloshing around in. Poke out the eyes & drain it. Put in the the oven at 350 for 30 minutes. The heat causes it to split apart --for easy opening and also causes the meat to release from the shell.

Another way way to shred up fresh coconut it to get yourself a kudkuran, which is a bench coconut grater. Here is a picture of one in use:

Dude grating coconut using a bench grater.

And just an apology about photo quality. . . .
Also, damn the fact I keep coming up with new and interesting places to hide my camera from children that prevents me from finding it too. Anyone who can tell me where my camera is-- I promise to paypal you 50 bucks. No Joke. Camera phone does not cut taking pictures of food.

Bear with my recipes. They are just architecture- Flavor adjustment in expected.
And let me know if there is anything that's unclear. I love feedback.

Coconut & Lemongrass Shrimp Cakes with a Spicy Mango & Cucumber Salsa
Serves 2-4

SALSA:
2 mangos chopped. Over ripe works wonderfully
1/2 cucumber diced. Seed and peel if you feel like it
chile paste-- again to taste
handful of unsweetened shredded coconut
handful fresh mint
1 diced shallot
juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons of sugar
1-2 tablespoons fish sauce

But everything BUT half the cucumber into a food processor. Pulse. Just to get it to mix, but not to a pulp. Combine with remaining cucumber.

Let this sit in the fridge for the flavors to marry while you make the shrimp cakes.

SHRIMP CAKES:
1 lb. raw shrimp
lemon grass. . I'd say 1/2 a stalk but I use this extremely convenient shredded frozen stuff I bough in Little Saigon.
1/2 chopped fresh coconut
a hand full of green beans
just a bit of lime zest
chile paste to taste
tablespoon fish sauce
1/4 - 1/2 can of coconut milk
handful fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
panko, optional

Put everything but the panko into a food processor, and blend. Don't expect the coconut to fully blend, it adds a nice texture in the end. If they mixture looks thin, add some panko and stir.

oil to fry, plenty

Heat a heavy bottomed pan to med-high, add oil. Form shrimp mixture into cakes. Big ones for dinner, small ones make a snazzy appetizer.

Fry them until the are browned, flip, repeat. They don't take much time to cook thru, but it's nice to get them brown.

Serve with salsa on the side and a garnish of chopped mint, cilantro and maybe crushed pistachios, but I skipped that part.

These were good. I ate mine standing up in the kitchen while frying up the next batch I was so all over them.

Just one last little coconut nugget of information:

The milk from green coconuts is supposed to be great for a hangover, among other things. I bought some slightly fermented green coconut juice, called kefir at Whole Foods last week & it was really interesting.

WTF?

suddenly a thing of the past.

By Cookbad

First the bees and now this.

Remember all those clips on public television you'd see with streams so thick with salmon heading to spawn it looked like rush hour in L.A.?

No more.

Yesterday the New York Times reported that Chinook aka King Salmon have all but vanished.

The Pacific Fisheries Management Council is calling this unexplained event unprecedented.

Monkfish Liver aka fish offal

salted and posed in the early evening light

by Cookbad

I can already see from the look on your face that the idea of fish and liver don't make you think "me eat now!", like bacon does. I suppose for the most part, I would have skipped it too, but coming across this morsel was a 'perfect storm' kind of event.

1. I was in my local Japanese grocery store looking for something new. (I had bought insanely delicious pork belly there the week before).
2. My sister was in town and she knows how to cook anything very well.
3. I had just read that monkfish liver was in season.
4. At 4.50 USD it was cheap.

It looked very much like Foie gras, fatty, plump and light. I was also draw to the fact that some fish liver can kill you. Fugu - that fish that is reputed to kill those who have eaten it if prepared improperly - isn't the flesh that will do you ill, but the liver, ovaries and skin.

I also read The Serpent and the Rainbow by wonderful writer and ethnobotanist Wade Davis, who wrote in detail about the terrible things fish liver will do to you. One if which, is if not kill you, is turn you into a Zombie.

Anyway. . .
Ideally we should have cooked it the day we bought it, but. . . my sister and I had shared some questionable shrimp tempura for lunch and paid the price. We were off the fish, at least for the night.

My sister made it the next night as a little pre-dinner canape.
This is what she did:

1. Salted it.
2. Heated a cast iron pan and added a butter olive oil mixture (good for cooking pretty much anything) to almost a smoking point.
3. Seared the sucker on both sides.
4. Popped the pan and all in the oven at 350 to finish it up.

You finish it in the oven for a more even finish.
The hard part is telling when it is finished. My sister can tell by pressing on it. This is a trick that works with red meat as well. Basically, after it is seared (something you do to keep in all the natural juices), but before it has come to rare if you press on it it will be very springy, like pressing on a tight trampoline. When it is very rare, it will feel quite soft. Press all around the meat to feel that different spots have a different spring. This will be inevitable, as meats vary in thickness and density. If you were finishing your meat on a grill, you'd move it around more or less constantly for an even doneness.

As it cooks, it will become less soft signaling rare and so on, until it returns to it's original state of trampoline texture, signaling that it is well done. Depending on what you want for a finish, take it off the heat at any point in between.

beautifully and perfectly cooked.

My sister paid good money at a serious cooking school to get this skill down and refined it at more than one nice restaurant. Nonetheless, it is a great skill to practice and get down pat. And skillz (especially those related to meat + flame) make you look cool, so try it, a few times before just cutting into whatever you are cooking to check.

Back to the liver.

So it is done, rare, save for a couple of thin spots. We slice it up, slightly too thick and try it out.

cross section

Tasty, fishy, rich. A bit lobstery. Monkfish is sometimes called the poor man's lobster so this follows suit. My sister's 10 month old ate it. My Mother in law wasn't into it, my daughter wouldn't even look in it's direction.

The rest of us thought it was nice. We ate it standing up in the kitchen discussing it's pros and cons. Sadly, we had a crap baguette to eat it on, which was really the only bad part. I found my hunk of liver delicious on the so-so bread with a chunk of cold salted butter.

All around, something I would do again, but next time with better bread.

Ignore my slightly dirty thumbnail. I'm too lazy to photoshop it out.

Thai Grilled Salmon

4 salmon fillets
1 red chili, seeded and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1tbsp fish sauce
1tbsp sesame oil
2tbsp runny honey
¼ cucumber, diced
½ red onion, diced
4tbsp Sweet chili sauce, mixed with a squeeze of lime juice

Put the salmon in a bowl with the chili, garlic, coriander, fish sauce, sesame oil, and honey. Season with pepper and refrigerate for at least 20 min, or overnight.
Grill the salmon until it is crisp at the edges. If you like it cooked all the way through rather then rare in the idle, then keep cooking till the fish feels firm to the touch. Serve with the cucumber and onion sprinkled over and the sweet chili dipping sauce.

This was part of the Thai kick that I was on last week, but it was from 101 Global Dishes.

These books are really fun, and though once in a while you get a stinker, many of the recipes are really, really good.

This was one of the really, really good ones. Simple to make, super quick. I set mine marinating at lunch time, and then cooked it for dinner, but you could do it the night before too, if you are out all day. The cooking it’s self took about 10 min.

I have to say that this recipe was so good, that even thought I totally forgot to serve it with the garnishes or the dipping sauce, it was still loved by all (even my more fussy older son).

This is sweet and flavorful, and an all around great thing to do with salmon.

Spicy Thai Tuna Salad

450g tuna fillet
3tbsp fish sauce, or light soy sauce
3tbsp lime juice
1 ½ tbsp sugar
2tbsp groundnut oil
225g fresh tomatoes
6 spring onions
3 tbsp finely sliced shallots
2 small fresh red thai chillies, seeded if desired, Coarsely chopped
Handful fresh coriander leaves
Handful fresh thai or ordinary basil leaves

Cut the tuna into 1 inch pieces. Combine it with the fish sauce, lime juice and sugar and marinate for 1 hour. Drain the tuna from the marinade, and set the marinade aside.
Heat a wok or large frying pan, preferably non-stick, over high heat and when it is hot, add the oil. When the oil is slightly smoking, add the tuna and stir fry for about 1 min. The tuna should remain rare. Remove tuna to a warm platter.
Quickly pour off the excess oil from the wok, add the reserved marinade, and deglaze for 30 seconds over moderate heat. Pour this over the tuna and set aside.
Cut the tomatoes into slices. Cut the spring onions into thin diagonal slices. Add the tomatoes , spring onions, shallots, chilles, coriander and basil to the warm tuna, toss well and serve at once.

This is another from Ken Hom. He is a genius. I have made several of his recipes, and I have never been disappointed. This one is one of the best fish dishes I’ve ever made. I don’t buy tuna that often, because it is usually very expensive, but I found some that looked good, and was affordable so I couldn’t resist. It’s such a beautiful piece of fish.

Making this was a breeze. It has to marinate for an hour, but other then that it is so quick to make. The cooking literally takes a minute and a half.
This was so good my husband asked if we could just have it every day from now on. The combination of the fresh basil, and the fresh coriander with the lime juice and shallots is completely out of this world. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. The flavor combination is very authentic, and so clean and refreshing. I loved this dish! If you ever come across some really nice fresh lovely tuna, try this, it’s the nicest thing that you could do for it.

Tagliatelle with smoked salmon

1tbsp vegetable oil
250g chestnut mushrooms, quartered
375g dried or fresh tagliatelle
125g pack smoked salmon (trimmings are fine), chopped
3tbsp chopped fresh parsley
200ml carton half-fat crème fraiche
juice of ½ lemon

heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the mushrooms and cook for 8 min until beginning to brown.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the pasta and cook according to package directions.
Stir the salmon, parsley, crème fraiche, and lemon juice into the mushrooms and season. Drain the pasta and quickly toss with the creamy sauce.

This is another fast easy wonderful thing to do with pasta. I got it from 101 Cheap Eats. I’m not sure on what planet Smoked salmon could be considered a cheap eat, but it does make a point of saying that you can use trimmings, which are usually a lot less expensive.

There’s not much to say about how to cook this, because it’s just so easy. It takes no time at all, and it’s really very good. It tastes a little alfredo-ish.

I’m making it again right away (I’ll make a cake as my new thing). My older son loved it so much he’s been begging me to cook it again. For a fussy four year old, that is better then the best review.

Give it a shot.

Potato and Salmon salad

600g new potatoes, washed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
A splash of red wine vinegar
Extra Virgin Olive oil
2Tbsp capers, soaked and drained
1X3cm piece of fresh horseradish, peeled, or grated horseradish from a jar, to taste
150ml crème fraiche
a small dish of fresh dill or fennel tops, roughly chopped
400g sliced smoked salmon

Pick out the larger potatoes and halve them, making them roughly the same size as the small ones. Put all of the potatoes into a pan of salted boiling water. Boil for 15-20 min until the potatoes are just cooked, and drain in a colander.

Put the lemon zest and half the lemon juice into a bowl and add the vinegar. Pour in three times as much extra virgin olive oil as vinegar, and add the capers. Season the dressing with salt and pepper. Mix everything well, then add the warm potatoes and toss around till they are well coated

Finely grate the horseradish into a bowl – be confident with the amount you use as you need the heat to go with the salmon and potatoes – and mix it into the crème fraiche with the remaining lemon juice and some salt and pepper. Sprinkle most of the dill or fennel over the cooled potatoes and toss again.

Lay your smoked salmon out on a large platter, and pile the dressed potatoes on top. Dollop over the horseradish crème fraiche, drizzle over some olive oil and sprinkle over the rest of the dill or fennel.

This is from Jamie at Home.

Easy to make, so beautiful!

I used horseradish from a jar, because I can’t get it fresh out here. I would say you’ll probably want a little more if it’s jarred, but just taste it as you go. The flavor combination was amazing. I love all the separate parts of this salad, I love potatoes, smoked salmon, dill, and horseradish, so it was a pretty safe bet that I was going to like this.

I served it with some salad greens as well to make a full dinner out if it. It was really lovely.

For the record, the boys liked the salmon, but they just weren’t ready for the horseradish experience. We’ll try it again someday.

Seared Sea Bass Fillet with Plum and Star Anise Compote

Alternatives: Cod, Halibut, Salmon




4 portions of fish fillet, weighing about 110g-175g (4-6oz), with skin on, scaled
Sunflower oil
Salt and pepper
Roughly chopped fresh chives, to garnish

For the compote
2.5cm (1 inch) piece of fresh root ginger, grated
1 small red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
30g/1oz butter
500g/1lb2oz red plums, halved and stoned
60g/2oz caster sugar
2 whole star anise
1/2 – 1 Tbsp balsamic Vinegar
Salt and pepper

Preheat to 240c/450f. Season the fish on both sides with salt and pepper. Set aside.

To make the compote, cook the ginger, onion and garlic gently in butter, without browning, until tender. Add all the remaining ingredients except the vinegar salt and pepper. Cook gently over a low heat, uncovered for 5 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the plums are tender but still holding their shape more or less. Stir in the vinegar, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Re-heat gently, until warm rather then hot, just before serving.

Put a heavy ovenproof pan or griddle over a high heat to heat through. Pat the fish dry on kitchen paper and then brush the skin side with oil. Place, skin side down, on the pan or griddle and leave for 2 min. While it cooks, brush the upper side with oil. Turn over, immediately pop in the oven and roast for a further 3 min.

Warm up the compote. Serve skin side up, sprinkled with chives, with the compote on the side.


This one was good. We gave it an 8 out of 10. I decided to use Salmon, and the flavors worked really well together. One of the things I like about this dish is that it is incredibly quick to make, even though it tastes extravagant. The part that takes the longest is preheating the oven (it requires a really hot oven). This is a dish that could easily be made after you come home from work. You could even stone and halve the plums the night before, but you wouldn’t have to.

Fish cakes with crème fraiche tartare sauce

300ml/10oz milk
250g/8oz smoked or fresh or a mixture of haddock fillets
250g/8oz potatoes, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
a handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp capers, rinsed and chopped
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
salt, black pepper, grated nutmeg, cayenne
2tbsp flour
1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp milk
125g fine breadcrumbs
2tbsp sunflower oil

For the sauce
1tbsp capers, drained and finely chopped
1tbsp cornichons, drained and finely chopped
a few sprigs of fresh tarragon, leaves stripped and finely chopped
1 tsp creamy Dijon mustard
150ml/5oz crème fraiche
salt, black pepper
lemon wedges and watercress to serve

Put the milk in a shallow pan, bring just to the boil, add the fish and simmer very gently about 5 minutes. Take out the fish and flake the flesh. Add the potatoes and onions to the milk and boil until the potatoes are soft. Then drain the cooked potatoes and onion and put back into the pan over a low heat to dry out before mashing. Mix the mashed potatoes, onion and garlic, with the flaked fish, chopped parsley, capers, chopped egg, and season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne.

Make the tartare sauce by stirring the capers, cornichons, tarragon and mustard into the crème fraiche and adding salt and pepper to taste.

Divide the fish potato mixture into four, roll into balls with floured hands and then flatten into cakes. Dip in flour, then beaten egg milk, then breadcrumbs. Heat the sunflower oil in a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Fry the cakes until golden crusted underneath, about 5 minutes, then turn and fry on the other side until nicely colored too. Serve at once with a large spoonful of the crème fraiche tartare sauce, lemon wedges and a cluster of watercress.

Note: It’s actually a good idea to prepare the fish cakes in advance, in fact up to a day before. Chill the fish cake mixture before forming into cakes or the cakes themselves before breadcrumbing.

I’ve been wanting to try a fishcake recipe for awhile. It just seems like such a fun thing to do with fish. I eventually settled on this one from Favourite Recipes Books For Cooks, mostly because the crème fraiche tartare sauce looked so good. Also, fish cakes can be an expensive dish to make, but these were not so bad because they are stretched a little further then usual with the addition of the boiled egg.

This worked out great. I made the fish cakes the day before, which was handy because that meant that there was really minimal work on the day of. The flavor of the cakes was really complex because of the use of smoked fish, and the capers and eggs. Cooking the fish in milk was new for me. You have to be really careful and watch the pan because the milk can start to foam up out of control if it gets too hot. Other then that it was super easy and worked really well. Also I thought the idea of cooking the potato and onion in the fish-milk was genius. It saves you an extra pan, and it gives a really nice flavor to the potatoes.

The tartare sauce was basically just chop and mix. Couldn’t be easier really. The real magic of this recipe though, is the fact that both the sauce and the fish cakes themselves have such amazingly strong and intricate flavors, and yet they still manage to compliment each other so well.

Even my older son, going through his picky eater phase finished his whole plate without any prompting.

Fish cakes with crème fraiche tartare sauce

300ml/10oz milk
250g/8oz smoked or fresh or a mixture of haddock fillets
250g/8oz potatoes, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
a handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp capers, rinsed and chopped
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
salt, black pepper, grated nutmeg, cayenne
2tbsp flour
1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp milk
125g fine breadcrumbs
2tbsp sunflower oil

For the sauce
1tbsp capers, drained and finely chopped
1tbsp cornichons, drained and finely chopped
a few sprigs of fresh tarragon, leaves stripped and finely chopped
1 tsp creamy Dijon mustard
150ml/5oz crème fraiche
salt, black pepper
lemon wedges and watercress to serve

Put the milk in a shallow pan, bring just to the boil, add the fish and simmer very gently about 5 minutes. Take out the fish and flake the flesh. Add the potatoes and onions to the milk and boil until the potatoes are soft. Then drain the cooked potatoes and onion and put back into the pan over a low heat to dry out before mashing. Mix the mashed potatoes, onion and garlic, with the flaked fish, chopped parsley, capers, chopped egg, and season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne.

Make the tartare sauce by stirring the capers, cornichons, tarragon and mustard into the crème fraiche and adding salt and pepper to taste.

Divide the fish potato mixture into four, roll into balls with floured hands and then flatten into cakes. Dip in flour, then beaten egg milk, then breadcrumbs. Heat the sunflower oil in a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Fry the cakes until golden crusted underneath, about 5 minutes, then turn and fry on the other side until nicely colored too. Serve at once with a large spoonful of the crème fraiche tartare sauce, lemon wedges and a cluster of watercress.

Note: It’s actually a good idea to prepare the fish cakes in advance, in fact up to a day before. Chill the fish cake mixture before forming into cakes or the cakes themselves before breadcrumbing.

I’ve been wanting to try a fishcake recipe for awhile. It just seems like such a fun thing to do with fish. I eventually settled on this one from Favourite Recipes Books For Cooks, mostly because the crème fraiche tartare sauce looked so good. Also, fish cakes can be an expensive dish to make, but these were not so bad because they are stretched a little further then usual with the addition of the boiled egg.

This worked out great. I made the fish cakes the day before, which was handy because that meant that there was really minimal work on the day of. The flavor of the cakes was really complex because of the use of smoked fish, and the capers and eggs. Cooking the fish in milk was new for me. You have to be really careful and watch the pan because the milk can start to foam up out of control if it gets too hot. Other then that it was super easy and worked really well. Also I thought the idea of cooking the potato and onion in the fish-milk was genius. It saves you an extra pan, and it gives a really nice flavor to the potatoes.

The tartare sauce was basically just chop and mix. Couldn’t be easier really. The real magic of this recipe though, is the fact that both the sauce and the fish cakes themselves have such amazingly strong and intricate flavors, and yet they still manage to compliment each other so well.

Even my older son, going through his picky eater phase finished his whole plate without any prompting.

Salmon with ginger and orange

4x170g/6oz salmon steaks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 pieces of stem ginger
grated zest and juice of 1 orange
2tbsp syrup from the stem ginger

Skin the salmon steaks. Place in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Cut the stem ginger into fine julienne sticks and put into a bowl with the salmon. Add the orange zest.
Mix the orange juice with the ginger syrup and pour over the salmon. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Heat the grill to it’s highest setting.
Grill the salmon on one side until crisp. Turn over and baste with the orange and ginger mixture. Grill the second side for about 5 min, or until golden brown. Serve.

This is from Leith’s Healthy Eating.

I had a jar of stem ginger lying around long enough that it had gotten to the use it or lose it stage, so I went looking for something to do with it. Stem ginger is chunks of ginger that are preserved in a sweet syrup. Originally I bought it for a cake recipe. This seemed like a fun way to use it.

Normally I am all about substituting different kinds of fish, but for this recipe, I think it’s pretty important that it be salmon. The taste of it just combines so well with the orange-y and ginger-y sauce.

I only marinated for the hour, but in the future I would try for longer. I’m getting better at skinning fish, and managed to only mangle one small part. Improvement.

I learned some interesting stuff about fish from the fish guy a while ago, I don’t know if I mentioned it. The most important tip that I got was that the reason that fish goes off so quickly is the way we keep it. It usually comes covered in cling film, or in a plastic bag. Apparently, plastic is the worst thing for fish. From now on, as soon as you get your fish home, take it out and put it in a deep plate, with another plate upside down over it. The top plate keeps the smell from permeating your whole refrigerator, and the lack of wrap lets it breathe. It makes such an amazingly big difference you have no idea. It is the single best piece of fish advice I have ever received. Your fish will be perfect smelling and so fresh tasting, and it will keep for much longer too.

Thanks fish guy!

As for the recipe, it was delicious, how could it be anything but.

Steamed Fish with Coconut

2 stalks fresh lemongrass
400ml/14oz tinned coconut milk
2tbsp coarsely chopped fresh galangal or ginger
6 fresh kaffir lime leaves, or 2 tbsp lime zest
450g/1lb firm white fish fillets, such as cod, sole, or turbot
3tbsp finely sliced shallots
3tbsp fish sauce or light soy sauce
2tbsp lime juice
1tbsp sugar
Garnish:
2tsp chilli oil
handful coriander leaves

Peel the lemongrass to the tender whitish center and crush with the flat of a knife. Cut into 3 inch pieces. In a large pot combine the lemongrass, coconut milk, galangal and lime leaves. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Strain and discard the lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves.
Pat the fish or fish fillets dry with kitchen paper.
Next set up a steamer or put a rack into a wok or deep pan, and fill it with 2 inches of water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Put the fish on a deep heatproof plate, and pour the coconut mixture on top. Add the shallots, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. Put the plate of fish into the steamer, or onto the rack. Cover the pan tightly, and gently steam the fish until it is just cooked. Flat fish will take about 5 min to cook. Thicker fish, or fillets will take 8-12 min.
Remove from steamer, garnish and serve at once.


This was another recipe from Ken Hom. One of the reasons I wanted to try it (other then it looked tasty), was because the cooking method seemed interesting to me. It’s not steamed on a steamer, but in a dish with the sauce. This presented a bit of a challenge, as I really didn’t have the appropriate cookware, but in the end I figured out a way. I took my biggest pot, and put in the steamer and the water, then I took a spring form cake pan and lined it with baking paper (so the sauce wouldn’t leek). I put the fish and sauce in the cake tin, then put the cake tin in the steamer. This actually worked just fine, and with no leakage, though it looked very strange.

It says in the recipe that you could substitute light soy sauce for the Thai fish sauce, and I’m sure that would be fine too, but if you can, you should really try to use the fish sauce, because it makes a really authentic Thai flavor sauce.

Just as a warning, the coconut sauce on it’s own, before you add the fish sauce and shallot and such, is really bland. This is not, however, representative of the finished dish. This was so flavorful and lovely. I served it with rice with green peas, and that was a nice accompaniment. You are going to want to serve it with something that soaks up the sauce, it’s so good.

For the fish I used Sea Bream, which has a really nice flavor and texture (and was the cheapest firm white fish that the fish guy had today). I’m sure any white fish would do. Just make sure you de-bone the fish thoroughly. I forgot to, and it made it a bit of a pain.

This was another big winner from Ken Hom. I will make this again.

Linguine with crab

This was bad, but it wasn't really the recipe's fault


400g/14oz linguine
4 tbsp Extra Virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 large red chillies, finely sliced
250g/9oz fresh crab meat
150ml/1/4 pint white wine
Small bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

Bring a pot of water to the boil and cook the linguine until al dente.
Meanwhile, heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a large pan, add the garlic and chillies. Pour in the wine and leave to simmer until reduced by half. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the parsley.
When the pasta is done, drain it and return it to the pan. Add the crab mixture and toss together well.

It’s not really the recipe’s fault, but this came out totally bland and disappointing. The problem is that I used tinned crabmeat that was on sale instead or fresh. The fact is, fresh crabmeat is a whole different food then it’s canned counterpart. I should have known better. I also used dried chili pepper instead of fresh. I’ve found that in most cases, that works fine, but in this recipe, the chili was more then just added heat, it was the base of the recipe, and dried couldn’t cut it.

I think if you made this recipe correctly, it would probably be really good, but the cheap/mild version was not even worth thinking about.

Fish Curry

For the curry:
5tbsp vegetable oil
2tsp mustard seeds
1tsp fenugreek seeds
3 fresh green chilies, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 handful of curry leaves
2 thumb sized pieces of ginger, peeled and coarsely grated
3 onions, peeled and chopped
1tsp chili powder
1tsp turmeric
6 tomatoes, chopped
1X400ml/14oz tin coconut milk
salt
4X8oz/225g fresh haddock fillets, skinned and pin boned
1 knob of tamarind paste, or 1 tsp tamarind syrup
Optional: 1 large handful baby spinach
Optional: 1 good handful fresh coriander, chopped

Heat the oil in a pan, and when hot add the mustard seeds. Wait for them to pop, then add the fenugreek seeds, fresh green chilies, curry leaves and ginger. Stir and fry for a few minutes. Using a food processor, chop the onions and add to the pan. Continue to cook for 5 minutes, till the onion is light brown and soft, then add the chili powder and turmeric. Using the same food processor, pulse the tomatoes and add to the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add one or two wineglasses of water, and the coconut milk. Simmer for about 5 minutes till it has the consistency of double cream, then season carefully with salt.
Add the fish and tamarind and simmer for 6 minutes, adding the spinach and coriander if using at the end of the cooking time.

This was the first time I’ve cooked with tamarind. It turns out they have it at my local grocery, and it’s actually really cheap. Now I have to find more recipes for it.

I don’t know if this is true of all tamarind paste, but mine had really big seeds in it that didn’t really seem possible to remove. I just warned everybody before we ate that there were little stones, and it was no problem, but it was still kind of a pain. Other then that, I loved it and I loved cooking with it.

I love fish curry too. This is so nice. You wouldn’t think that it would have a subtle flavor with that list of ingredients, but it did. It was delicate, and none of the flavors overpowered any others. I used peppers that were super mild and the boys were able to eat it too. My little one ate his whole plate by the handful and then begged for some of his brother’s. My older son had to be convinced a little, but in the end he ate his dinner too.

The fish came out moist and flavorfull even though I had to cook it an extra five minutes or so. This whole thing was really easy and beautiful.

This was a Jamie Oliver. I know I’ve been a bit heavy on his recipes lately, but with my dad and Stepmom visiting, I want to continue to make new things, but have some guarantee that they will be good, so it’s all about Mr. Oliver right now.

I actually have gotten a bunch of new cookbooks lately. There was a big book sale in town, and my dad brought out a bunch from yard sales where he is too. I think that some time next week I'm going to start using a different cookbook every day for a few weeks to start getting an idea of how all of them are.

I'll keep you posted.

Roasted Halibut with Mediterranean Green Sauce

I used Cod instead, because that’s what the fish guy said was extra good today.



1/3 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled
3/4 cup chopped scallions, including white and 3 inches of green
1 cup fresh flat leaf parsley leaves
1/4 cup celery leaves (optional)
2 tbsp capers, rinsed
2 anchovy fillets, or 2 tsp anchovy paste
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Fresh grated black pepper
4 skinless halibut fillets
salt
12 very thin seeded lemon slices, from 2 lemons
1/2 cup dry white wine

place olive oil and garlic in a food processor, and pulse till the garlic is coarsely chopped. Add the scallions parsley, celery leaves (if using), capers and anchovies and pulse till finely minced. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl and add the lemon zest and juice and stir to combine. Season the green sauce with pepper to taste.
Rub the fillets with some of the green sauce, and season with salt and pepper. Spread the remaining green sauce on the bottom of a shallow baking dish large enough to hold the fillets in one layer. Place the fillets on top of the sauce and arrange three overlapping lemon slices on top of each fillet. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in the fridge for an hour.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 500f
Remove the pan from the fridge, discard the plastic wrap. Pour the wine over the fish. Bake until they are just opaque and can be flaked with a fork, 8-15 min, depending on the thickness of the fish.
Serve warm with the pan juices drizzled over them.

This was from Food to Live By, and it was another winner for this book. The sauce that this makes is so good! The saltiness of the anchovy and caper work so well with the lemon, and then the parsley makes it feel light and fresh. Also, wine never hurts. I made couscous to go with it so I wouldn’t miss any of the sauce. It’s also really good poured over some wilted spinach. The fish was really tender and moist and lovely too.

My older son required some convincing, but once we got him to taste a bite, he decided that it was actually pretty good after all. We won!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Not fancy I know, but a good comfort food nonetheless.



I kind of made this up as I went along. First make your pasta (about 1lb), I had some whole wheat fusili. I think any of the shape pastas would be fine. I used a béchamel sauce similar to the one in the Roasted Vegetable and Brown Rice Gratin. Once the flour milk and butter had thickened, I added a ton of grated cheese, I used cheddar and a bit of leftover parmesan. Stirred until the cheese melted. I seasoned it with tobasco, Worcestershire, Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper. Sounds weird I know, but the sauce can take on a lot of flavor. It was really just a bit tangy which was nice.

Drain the pasta, put back in the pot and mix with the sauce, and some tuna (I used two cans), and whatever else you have in the house that might be good, or might be about to go bad. I used a tomato, some green olives, and some frozen (thawed) corn. Put it all in a casserole dish, top with some more cheese and pop in the oven 180c/350f for about 15 min, till the cheese is all melted and it looks good.

This was total comfort. It had been a long day and everyone was hungry. This only takes 15min more then making pasta, so it’s super quick, super easy, and it all got eaten up. I like it because it’s quick and easy and still has a protein and some vegetable in it. Not diet friendly, but healthy all the same.

I’d do this again.

Ginger Lime Salmon

Not a great picture, but a great recipe!



Grated zest of 1 lime
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
1tbsp finely minced shallots
1tbsp finely grated peeled fresh ginger
41/2 tsp tamari or soy sauce
2tbsp canola oil
2tbsp toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup fresh minced cilantro (optional)
4 salmon fillets (6-8 oz each) with or without skin, pin bones removed

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 500f.
Combine all ingredients except cilantro and fillets in a shallow baking dish just big enough to hold all the fish in one layer. Add 2tbsp of the cilantro. Add the fillets and turn to coat them all over, then arrange them skin side down (if any).
Bake without turning until just firm to the touch, and the interior is nearly opaque, but still moist 6-12 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish.
Transfer fillets to a plate drizzle some of the sauce from the pan over them and garnish with the remaining 2 tbsp cilantro.


This was from a book called Food to Live By. Anyone reading this should think about getting this book. Seriously. I have tried a bunch of recipes from it and they are all good. Some are over the top out of this world incredible, and the worst of them have been really good.

This one… so easy… so good. It’s everything you want your salmon to be, and I didn’t even have the cilantro, I’m sure it would have been even better. I didn’t have the shallots around, so I used a tiny bit of red onion, which was nice because it added a bit of color.

The sauce was so good, you have to have something with it to soak up the rest of the sauce, otherwise, you might be tempted to drink it. The boys liked it too. It feels good to see them eating fish.

Mallorcan Braised Grouper

Though actually, this is monkfish...



5 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling over the fish
1 medium sized onion, quartered and thinly sliced
5 medium sized garlic cloves, sliced
2tsp sweet (not smoked) paprika
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 roasted red bell peppers (see below), cut into strips
2 roasted Yellow bell peppers, cut into strips
2 large vine ripened tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
2.5 cups Swiss chard, leaves only, chopped
1 medium sized bunch flat leaf parsley, leaves only, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup currants (I used raisins instead)
4 thick Grouper steaks about 2 lbs total (See Note)
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Flour for dusting the fish
4 large Yukon gold potatoes (about 2lbs total), boiled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/4 cup pine nuts

Note: If you can’t get Grouper you can substitute another firm salt water fish like Monkfish, mahimahi, or halibut. If you want to use fillets, they need to be thick, and reduce the baking time by about 15 min. I used Monkfish and baked for 35 min and it was perfect

To roast the peppers:
Preheat the oven to 425f. Line a baking sheet with kitchen foil and brush it with olive oil. Core, cut in half and deseed the peppers. Place them on the sheet skin side up and push down on them gently to flatten. Brush with olive oil and bake for about 35 min. Transfer to a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand for 15 min, then peel.

Heat 4 tbsp oil in a large skillet, preferably non-stick, over medium-low heat. Cook onion and garlic for about 7 min. Add paprika and red pepper flakes, and stir for a few seconds. Add the roasted red and yellow peppers and the tomatoes, increase the heat to medium, and cook till they begin to release their juices, about 5 min. Stir in the chard and parsley and cook stirring till they just wilt. Add the bay leaf, wine and currents and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook until the vegetables are softened and the flavors are blended, 5-7 min. This can be prepared ahead, and refrigerated, covered for 1 day.
Preheat the oven to 300f
Rub the fish steaks generously with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining tbsp of oil in a pan over medium high heat. Dust the fish lightly with flour, add it to the skillet and sear for about 30 seconds on each side, then transfer to a plate.
Take an earthenware casserole or a deep glass baking dish in which the fish would fit snugly all in one layer. Arrange the potato slices on the bottom all in one layer, overlapping them slightly. Sprinkle salt on the potatoes and arrange the fish on top. Remove the bay leaf from the veg mixture, season with salt to taste, and spoon it evenly over the fish, along with it’s pan juices. Drizzle olive oil over the top and sprinkle with the pine nuts. Bake till the fish is very tender, 45-50 min depending on thickness (see note above). Let cool for 10 min.


This recipe is from The New Spanish Table

This dish was so good! It took a bit of prep work because of roasting the peppers, but that can be done way before if you want to save time during the actual cooking. Actually, the whole veg mixture can be made up to a day in advance. Which ever way you do it, it is totally worth it.
The mix of flavors was really interesting. My husband pointed out that it has a bit of an African taste to it. That makes sense as it is from Mallorca, which I believe is not so far from there. It has a good balance of sweet and spicy, and also, since it has greens and potatoes and veg and fish all in it, it can really stand alone as a dinner. No need for side dishes if you don’t feel like it.

I used Monkfish, on the advice of my wonderful and knowledgeable fish guy. I’ve never cooked it before. It is a really good fish, very firm and meaty, and it stayed perfectly moist even though it cooked for a long time (I don’t know if that’s down to the fish or the recipe, but it sure is a good thing). It seemed fairly easy to bone too, which is a big deal for me since I feed it to the boys. They loved it by the way. My picky eater was suckered in by the raisins, he can’t resist raisins, and he discovered that he liked the fish too. I loved it, and also, I was not intimidated by cooking it. Looks like I might just get used to cooking fish after all.