Brazilian fish stew

Adapted from Simply Recipes 
Serves 2

Ingredients
Marinade:
2 garlic cloves crushed
Juice of 1 lemon
salt
1 tbsp of paprika
2 1/2 tsp of dry cumin
1 1/2 tsp of freshly ground black pepper

2 salmon fillets cut into bite sized chunks
2 haddock fillets cut into bite sized chunks
Olive oil
2 small onions, sliced
1 green pepper, seeded, de-stemmed, and sliced
3 plum tomatoes, sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 can of coconut milk
1 large bunch of curly parsley
Freshly cooked rice for serving

Mix together the marinade ingredients. Let the fish marinate in this paste for at least 2 hours. The longer, the better.

In a large pan, add a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Add a layer of  1/2 the sliced onions, and then a layer of  1/2 the peppers, and a layer of 1/2 of  the sliced tomatoes. Place the fish pieces, with the marinade, on top of everything, and start layering again – onions, peppers, and tomatoes. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Add about half of the curly parsley to the top. Pour coconut milk over the top. Drizzle generously with olive oil over the top (several tablespoons).

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, until the vegetables are cooked through.

Serve with rice; garnish with remaining curly parsley

 

First time using coconut milk as the base for the stew; normally it’s tomatoes or cream but this works very well. Not too overpowering and it blends well with the spices. Love the balance. Key modification of the recipe is that I used curly parsley instead of coriander because I couldn’t find coriander at Waitress. But interestingly curly parsley works quite well too, I don’t think it adds much in terms of taste but I like the difference in texture that it gives; crisp.

Crunchy topped haddock

Ingredients
101 Fish & Seafood Dishes
Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra
4 skinless unsmoked or smoked haddock fillets, approx 140g/5oz each
2 handfuls cherry tomatoes
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp garlic paste or 1 garlic clove, crushed
100g white breadcrumbs
zest and juice 1 lemon
2 handfuls flat-leaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped

Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Lightly oil a large baking tray, then lay the haddock and tomatoes alongside each other. In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise with the garlic paste or crushed garlic, then spread evenly over the fish.

In a separate bowl, toss together the breadcrumbs, lemon zest, juice and parsley, and season to taste. Top the fish with the breadcrumb mixture. Drizzle olive oil over the fish and tomatoes, and bake for 15 mins or until the fish flakes slightly when pressed and the crust is golden and crunchy.

Pretty good base for a baked rice recipe. I can see a couple of variations to this recipe

Cataplana seafood stew

From Traditional Portuguese Cookery
Serves 4

Ingredients
200g of monkfish
200g of white grouper
200g of snapper
150g of shrimp
150g of fresh clams, cleaned
100g of chorizo
2 onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 tomatoes
1 pepper
200ml of oil
200ml of white wine
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Season all of the fish with salt. Peel the onions and garlic, chop up the garlic and cut the onions into half moons. Wash the tomatoes and slice it. Cut the peppers into strips without the white skin and seeds. Thinly slice the chorizo.

Place half of the onion, garlic, pepper, tomato and chorizo into the “Cataplana”. Add the bay leaf and season with a little salt and pepper. Sautee at medium heat until softened. Add the fish and cover with the rest of the onion, garlic, tomato, pepper and chorizo, adding the parley. Add the oil and white wine. Close the cataplana and cook the mixutre for 20 minutes at low heat.

After adding the clams and the shrimp. Let it cook gently for another 10 minutes, then the mixture and place the Cataplana on the table. Serve with boiled potatoes.

“A Cataplana is an item of cookware used to prepare Portuguese seafood dishes, popular on the country’s Algarve region. It is traditionally made of copper and shaped like two clamshells hinged at one end and able to be sealed using a clamp on either side of the assembly. The cataplana was invented by Armando Luz (1927-2002), better knowned by its nickname, “Pató”. “Pató” was an artist that work crafting the copper and the stainless steel, and was recognized with an award back were he lived in Portugal, with the key of the town and a silver medal that was offered to him due to his contribution to the Algarve. He was also the inventor of the machine to make cataplanas using stainless steel and was the only one who produced such a product.”

Obviously I don’t have a cataplana and so I used my cast iron pot instead. The stew is effectively a lighter version of a rich tomato based stew (i.e. with a can of tomatoes thrown in) and its the white wine that’s the star of this dish. You can use any combination of fish for this.

Haddock wrapped in banana leaf with coriander, chilli, ginger and coconut milk

Ingredients
4 large banana leaves or vine leaves
A little olive oil
2 fresh red chiles
2 sticks lemon grass, outer leaves removed, centers finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 good handfuls fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
2 limes, juiced and zested
1 (400 milliliter) can coconut milk
2 tablespoons sesame seed oil
A drizzle fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 heaped tablespoons finely sliced fresh ginger
4 (6 to 8 ounce /170 to 225 gram) pieces monkfish (can use other more abundant white-fleshed fish, such as Pacific mahi mahi, farmed striped bass, or farmed catfish)
4 rosemary sprigs or bay leaf sticks, to secure
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C/gas 8).

To make the banana leaves more pliable, hold for a few seconds over a gas flame. Leaving aside the fish and herb sticks, pound the rest of the ingredients in a pestle and mortar to make a thick paste and spoon a little onto each banana leaf. Place the fish on top and then spoon the rest of the paste on the top. Bringing the sides in and spiking it with a rosemary sprig or bay leaf stick to secure it. This will look lovely and it is natural, but I have been known to use a clothes peg or string to hold it all together. It won’t be a perfect seal but this allows it to breath and steam, letting the flavors infuse, so gutsy and tasty. Put the parcels on a tray and bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven, and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

I serve the individual parcels on plates at the table and let my friends dissect them. When opened, the fragrant steam wafts up and smells fantastic. Serve with plain boiled rice to mop up the juices, that’s all it has to be. End of story, done, lovely.

Mussel, haddock and salmon stew

From BBC Saturday Kitchen
Serves 4
Ingredients

1litre/2 pints fish stock
1kg/2lb 3¾oz mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded
pinch saffron
¼ tsp curry powder
500ml/1pint double cream
For the stew
250g/9oz smoked haddock, cut into 1.5cm cubes
200g/7oz salmon, cut into 1.5cm cubes
4 carrots, cut into 1cm cubes and blanched
2 potatoes, cut into 1cm cubes and blanched
1 leek, cut into 1cm cubes
2 tbsp flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
4 slices country bread, griddled

Bring the stock to the boil, then add the mussels and cook for 3-4 minutes until the mussels are open. Discard any mussels that do not open.
Strain the stock into a saucepan, reserving the mussels.
Pull the mussel shells in half, discarding the halves without the mussel meat, and keep to one side.
Place the pan with the stock back on the heat and reduce the temperature to a simmer.
Add the saffron, curry powder and cream, then bring it back to a simmer.
Add the fish, carrots, potatoes and leek and simmer for 2-3 minutes until tender.
Add the parsley and cooked mussels and stir through.
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Serve with the griddled bread.

This is now my current favourite cream based fish stew. The addition of saffron and curry powder brings this stew to a completely new level!

Smoked mackerel with kale mash

Gratin of smoked haddock, spinach, emmental and crème fraîche

From Masterchef

Serves 4
Ingredients

2kg/4lb fresh spinach
2 large smoked haddock fillets, skinned and boned
4 large ripe tomatoes
240ml/8fl oz crème fraiche
125g/4oz emmental cheese, grated

Pick off the stems and wash the spinach.

Put on a large pan of salted water to boil. When rapidly boiling cook the spinach for 2 minutes, pour into a colander and refresh under cold water. Squeeze dry with hands.

Slice smoked haddock into bite-sized pieces.

Take a large earthenware baking dish or gratin dish, roughly chop the spinach and sprinkle on the base of the dish.

Next place on the smoked haddock, smear over the crème fraiche, then place sliced tomatoes sparingly onto the cream.

Finish with the grated emmenthal cheese.

Place in an oven at 160-180C/325-350F/Gas3-4 for 30 minutes and finish under a medium grill for 5 minutes.
Serve with crusty bread

Not too sure how far the cook for this dish – Sam Clifford advanced in Masterchef but I like this recipe, wonderful combination of ingredients and easy to cook as well. Being unadventurous when it comes to cheese, I decided to stick with the safer choice of cheddar.

Creamy haddock and tatties

Taken from BBC 101 One-Pot Dishes
Serves 2

Ingredients

400g smoked haddock, skinned and chopped into chunks
1 trimmed leek, finely sliced
handful of parsley chopped
142ml carton double cream
2 medium baking potatoes, unpeeled and sliced as thinly as possible

Scatter the haddock, leek and parsley over the base of a shallow microwave dish and mix together. Drizzle over half the cream and 5 tbsp of water. Season with a little salt and plenty of black pepper and drizzle over the remaining cream.

Cover the fish with cling film and pierce a few times. Microwave on High for 8-10 minutes until everything is bubbling away and the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife. While the dish is in the microwave, preheat the grill to high.

Remove the cling film and put the dish under the grill until the potatoes are golden. Leave to stand for a minute before serving.

Because I don’t have a microwave, I brought the cream mixture to the boil on the stove before adding the potatoes on top. I then popped the dish into an oven at 200 degrees for 30 minutes before switching it to the grill until the potatoes are nice and brown on top. Nice simple fish pie sort of dish and less effort is involved as you don’t need to mash up the potatoes before spreading it on top of the fish.