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Posts Tagged ‘White fish’

We don’t think we’ve ever cooked halibut at home before; it’s such a luxurious and meaty fish. It’s pricey but worth it we think for this Korean dish. You can of course substitute with cod or another white fish.

Braised halibut in seasoned soy – sengson jjim – serves 2

  • 50ml soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp soju (or sake or 1½ tbsp vodka mixed with 1½ tbsp water)
  • 1 tbsp mirin
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp gochugaru red pepper powder
  • 250g baby new potatoes, halved
  • 400g halibut, cut into large bite-sized chunks
  • 100g shitake mushrooms
  • 1 red chilli, sliced
  • cooked sticky rice, to serve

Mix the soy sauce, soju, mirin, honey, garlic and gochugaru red pepper powder, together in a bowl with 220ml of water.

Put the potatoes into a medium saucepan, then pour over the sauce. Cover and bring to the boil over a high heat, then turn down and simmer for 10 minutes or until almost cooked through. Stir in the mushrooms, then gently add the fish, taking care not to break it up. Simmer for 5-7 minutes or until the potatoes and mushrooms are just cooked.

Spoon into a large serving bowl and sprinkle over chilli. Serve with some sticky rice.

(Original recipe from My Korean Kitchen by Jordan Bourke & Rejina Pyo, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2015.)

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Thai Minced Fish & Courgette Curry

This is from an old but very reliable Thai cookbook from Australia. We chose the recipe to use up some courgettes and curry paste and it was delicious with just a handful of ingredients.

Wine Suggestion: this goes excellently with a dry Riesling with a little age and good fruit which rounds off the edges; some in youth are a little crisp and edgy and will fight with these flavours. Tonight a Vickery Eden Valley Riesling from 2017, the couple of years age have brought this together brilliantly.

Thai minced fish & courgette curry – serves 4

  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • 2 tbsp red or green curry paste
  • 1 tbsp fresh kaffir lime leaves (or if you are using dried, soak them for 10 minutes in hot water), sliced
  • 500ml coconut milk
  • 500g white fish fillets, we used hake, minced
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 courgettes, diced (or you can use an aubergine instead)
  • 1 tbsp basil leaves

Heat the oil in a wok , then stir-fry the curry paste and lime leaves. Add about 125ml of coconut milk and simmer until the oil rises.

Add the minced fish and stir slowly until well separated. Add the rest of the coconut milk, the fish sauce and the courgettes. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes or until the sauce has reduced to a nice consistency.

Turn off the heat, stir through the basil and serve with steamed rice.

(Original recipe from Thai Cooking Class by Sami Anuntra Miller & Patricia Lake, BayBooks, 1994.)

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Roasted Cod with Wild Thyme & Pul Biber

Thick pieces of cod look so pretty when scattered with dried herbs and chilli flakes. Also an opportunity to use our new fish bone tweezers – interesting what excites us as we get older! This is a simple but very tasty idea from Sabrina Ghayour’s book ‘Feasts’.

We served this with some rice, greens and lemon wedges for squeezing over.

Wine Suggestion: this dish begs for a Greek Assyrtiko from the island of Santorini. A white that should always have a savoury profile, stony minerality and citrus freshness and a complimentary nature with the thyme and Aleppo pepper. If you’re fortunate to find one with “Nykteri” mentioned on it then this should be just as fresh as it is picked at night, and yet with a few months in oak fuller and deeper in flavour.

Roasted Cod Loins with Wild Thyme & Pul Biber – serves 4

  • 4 cod loins (about 200g each)
  • garlic oil
  • 4 tsp dried wild thyme
  • 2 tsp pul biber chilli flakes (Aleppo pepper)
  • finely grated zest of 2 unwaxed lemons

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.

Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Put the fish fillets onto the paper and coat each piece generously with garlic oil. Sprinkle over the wild thyme, pul biber, lemon zest and plenty of sea salt flakes and black pepper.

Roast for 8-12 minutes depending on how thick your fish is, or until cooked through. Serve immediately.

(Original recipe from Feasts by Sabrina Ghayour, Mitchell Beazley, 2017.)

 

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Spicy Merguez & Cod tray-bake

We really loved this dish and it works really well with Golden Couscous. Simple and super tasty.

Wine Suggestion: We opened a delightful Grenache from the south of France, the Les Paiens Paria made by Domaine Ventenac. As it wasn’t too tannic it didn’t fight with the spicy sausages and harissa.

Spicy merguez and cod tray roast – serves 6

  • 8 merguez sausages, cut into chunks
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 2-3 tbsp harissa, depending on how spicy you like
  • 2 x 400g tins cherry tomatoes
  • 100g Nocerella green olives
  • 800g cod loin, cut into 6 pieces
  • a bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 2 lemons, cut into wedges

Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/Gas 6.

Put the sausages in the bottom of a roasting tin and bake for 10 minutes, then stir in the onions and bake for another 10 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and harissa and put back in the oven for another 20 minutes.

Stir in the olives and sit the cod pieces in the sauce, drizzle them with a little olive oil and season. Put back into the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Scatter with parsley and serve with lemon wedges.

(Original recipe by Janine Ratcliffe IN: BBC Olive Magazine, April 2017.)

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Fish pie with leek mash

No sooner had we given up all hope and planned a hearty fish pie for dinner, than the sun finally came out. The leek mash brightens it up a bit and if served with some green peas it works not too bad for a fine weather dish – just pity the poor cook stuck in the kitchen! We fear you might be horrified when you read the list of ingredients but if the rogue ingredient turns you right off you can always leave it out. It’s also our secret weapon for a prawn cocktail so there’s usually some in our fridge, and it turns out that it tastes surprisingly good in a fish pie too.

Wine Suggestion: this works with a crisp version of Chardonnay; we chose an organic Chablis made by the Gueguen family.

Fish pie with leek mash – serves 6

  • 900g white fish fillets, in large chunks (we used cod)
  • 425ml full-fat milk
  • 100g butter
  • 50g plain flour
  • juice of ½ a small lemon
  • 3 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1½ tbsp Heinz salad cream (optional)
  • 125ml double cream
  • 3 tbsp finely chopped dill or parsley
  • 200g cooked, peeled prawns
  • 500g leeks, sliced
  • 800g floury potatoes, in chunks

Put the fish and milk into a sauté pan. Bring to a simmer and poach for about 3 minutes. Remove the fish with a slotted spoon and set aside. Reserve the milk.

Melt 50g of the butter in a saucepan, then stir in the flour. Remove the pan from the heat and gradually add the milk, a ladleful at a time, beating with a wooden spoon after each addition. When the milk has all been added, return the pan to the heat and keep stirring as you bring it the boil. It should be very thick. Season, then add the lemon juice, mustard and salad cream. Reduce the heat and cook for 2 minutes. Add the cream and herbs and continue to simmer for another minute. Taste and adjust the seasoning – you want this well-flavoured.

Put the fish and prawns into a 2.4 litre pie dish. Stir any liquid under the fish into the sauce. Pour the sauce over the fish and mix gently, then leave to cool before refrigerating to make it easier to spoon on the mash.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

Melt the remaining 50g of butter in a heavy saucepan and add the leeks. Turn to coat in the butter and season, then add 2 tbsp of water, cover and sweat over a low heat for about 15 minutes or until very soft. Check occasionally and add another spoon of water if needed.

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until tender, then drain. Return to the warm pan, cover with a clean tea towel and a lid, then place over a very low heat for a couple of minutes to dry.

Mash the potatoes until smooth, then add the leeks and their juices and season well. Spread the mash over the fish and bake for 30 minutes or until golden and bubbling.

Serve with peas – as with all pies.

(Original recipe from Food from Plenty by Diana Henry, Mitchel Beazley, 2010.)

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Goan fish curry

This is a light curry but not without a good bit of chilli heat in the background. Serve with some steamed basmati. A perfect dinner for two – when’s Valentine’s day?

Wine Suggestion: Indian food is notoriously tricky to match with wine. We chose a Muscadet-Sevre et Maine (more because it was cold in the fridge than any particular inspiration) and it surprisingly held it’s own brilliantly with this dish. We often turn to Muscadet when serving light fish dishes or mussels and from now on we’ll be serving it with fish curries too.

Goan Fish Curry – serves 2

  • 2 tsp coriander seeds
  • ½ tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 dried red chilli or 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • 1 onion, halved and sliced
  • a small piece of ginger, finely grated
  • 2 clove of garlic, crushed
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk
  • 1 tsp tamarind paste
  • 1 to 2 green chillies, finely sliced lengthways
  • 300g firm white fish fillets, we used cod, cut into chunks
  • steamed basmati – to serve

Toast the seeds and dried chilli in a dry frying pan, then grind in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder.

Heat a little bit of oil in a deep frying pan and cook the onion with a large pinch of salt until soft and golden. Add the ginger, garlic, turmeric and ground spices and fry for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk, the tamarind and the green chillies and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the fish and cook for 3-4 minutes until just cooked. Serve with the rice.

(Original recipe from BBC Olive Magazine, January, 2010.)

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Moroccan fish tagine

Perhaps not so festive but we find everyone is relieved at this time of year when you serve them some fish. We often turn to fish pie but this tagine is really tasty too and a welcome rest from richer dishes.

Wine Suggestion: A good, youthful Muscadet was our choice; in this case one made by Pétard Bazile that we picked up last time we were in France. There is such quality coming from this region in the Loire and we think the vibrantly fresh Muscadet’s work so well with seafood and fish. This didn’t disappoint.

Chermoula Fish Tagine – serves 4 to 6

  • 1kg white fish fillets with skin removed, cut into bite-sized chunks
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 carrot, finely chopped
  • 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
  • ½ a preserved lemon, finely chopped
  • 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 600g potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm pieces
  • 2 tbsp roughly chopped coriander

FOR THE CHERMOULA MARINADE:

  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
  • 1 tsp salt
  • small handful of coriander (include the stems)
  • pinch of saffron threads
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and finely ground
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • juice of 1 lemon

Start with the marinade by pounding the garlic, chilli, salt, coriander, saffron & cumin seeds together with a pestle and mortar. Add the olive oil and lemon juice and mix to form a smooth paste (you could also use a mini blender if you’ve got one).

Reserve 2 tsp of the chermoula and put the rest into a large bowl or sealable plastic food bag. Add the fish and toss gently to coat, then leave to marinate for 2 hours (or 1 hour if time is short).

Put a large casserole dish or saucepan over a medium heat and add the 3 tbsp of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the onion, carrot and celery. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until softened, then stir in the reserved chermoula and preserved lemon, tomatoes & potatoes. Pour in 300ml of water, season and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until the potatoes are almost cooked.

Add the fish along with its marinade, and simmer very gently for another 4 to 5 minutes or until the fish is opaque. Divide between bowls and top with coriander.

Serve with couscous or crusty bread.

(Original recipe from Rachel’s Everyday Kitchen by Rachel Allen, Harper Collins, 2013).

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Monkfish & saffron pilaf

The traditional fish used for this dish from Central Asia is sturgeon, which we don’t see so often in Dublin, so we substituted monkfish to very good effect. Don’t be shy with the pepper as this really informs the character of the dish providing a warm and distinctive flavour. We were really excited by the flavours here and have made this a few times now as we enjoy it a lot.

Wine Suggestion: Black pepper has it’s own umami-rich tannins which for some people means that it won’t work with wine very well. What you need to do, though, is work with this and use either a red with appropriate tannins or spices, or a white with pepper characteristics too. We chose a rich, dry F.X. Pichler Grüner Veltliner Loibner Loibenberg which we picked up from our friend Gerard Maguire in Glasthule. A stunning wine that stood up magnificently to the bold pepper flavours; a lighter wine would have felt short and inadequate.

Fish & Saffron Pilaf – serves 4

  • 275g basmati rice
  • 4 onions (1 halved and 3 thinly sliced)
  • 1 tbsp black peppercorns, crushed
  • 1 bay leaf
  • a small bunch of flatleaf parsley
  • 4 sturgeon, monkfish or halibut fillets
  • 4 tbsp sesame oil
  • 3 carrots, sliced into matchsticks
  • a small handful of dill
  • 1 tsp dill seeds (optional)
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • large pinch of saffron strands, soaked in 3 tbsp water
  • 120g sour cream
  • juice of 1 lemon

Put the rice into a large bowl, cover with water and leave to soak.

Bring 1 litre of water to the boil in a large pan and add the halved onion, crushed peppercorns, bay leaf and parsley stalks (keep the leaves aside for now). Season the water well with salt and gently lower in the fish fillets. Cook at a very gentle simmer until just opaque, about 10 minutes depending on how thick your fillets are. Remove the fish with a slotted spoon and set aside. Strain the cooking liquid and reserve. Set the pan aside for using again later.

Heat a second large cooking pot for cooking the rice. Heat the sesame oil until almost smoking, then add the onions and carrots. Stir-fry until starting to soften. Drain the rice and add to the pot, smoothing it down with the back of a spoon. Pour over the fish broth until it covers the rice by about 1cm and add plenty of salt. Bring to the boil and cook on a high heat until the broth has boiled off. Poke a few steam holes in the rice with the end of a spoon to help it along. Cover with a lid or tight-fitting layer of foil and remove from the heat. Leave to steam for 20 minutes by which time the rice will be cooked through.

Chop the parsley and dill and add to the empty fish pan. Add the dill seeds (if using), ground black pepper, saffron and its soaking liquid and season with salt. Stir in the soured cream and set over a low heat to warm through. Carefully return the fish fillets to the pan to warm through before serving.

Turn the rice out onto a large platter and squeeze over the lemon. Spoon the fish and creamy sauce over the top.

(Original recipe from Samarkand by Caroline Eden & Eleanor Ford, Kyle Books, 2016.)

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Believe it or not … this is actually a delicate, white fish (hake) and not a badly burnt chop as the picture might imply. We blame a wonderfully rich and dark soy sauce (yum scrum) but if you use a lighter soy sauce like Kikkoman it may be more pleasing to the eye!

We made this because we haven’t had proper fish (ie. not shellfish) for a while and we’re trying to cook healthily  for a few days before Christmas takes over.

Asian-spiced fish with mushrooms (serves 4 – we halved the fish and mushrooms but not the sauce and served with rice for 2)

  • 25g butter
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce
  • finely grated zest of a lime
  • 1 mild red chilli, thinly sliced in rings
  • 4 x 175g firm white fish fillets, skinned and boned (we used hake)
  • 200g mixed mushrooms, trimmed but left whole or at least chunky
  • coriander leaves to serve
  1. Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Melt the butter in a little pan, then stir in the soy sauce, lime zest and chilli. Tip this into a shallow (non-metallic) dish and add the fish, splashing it well in the marinade. Set aside for about 10 minutes.
  2. Take the fish out of the marinade and put it on a baking tray. Toss the mushrooms in the marinade and scatter them around the fish, drizzling the rest of the marinade over the top. Roast for 6-8 minutes, until the fish is cooked and the mushrooms are sizzling. Scatter with coriander and serve with rice or noodles.

(Original recipe from Ainsley Harriot – not someone we often cook from).

If you are serving rice you could try Jono’s foolproof rice cooking method which he got from Madhur Jaffrey:

For 4 people:

Combine 300ml long-grain/basmati rice with 500ml water. Add 10g butter and bring to the boil. Cover tightly (we use tinfoil and a lid), turn heat to very very low, and leave it be for 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it rest for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve. Perfectly cooked rice!

Jono and Julie

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