Category: Seafood

Moroccan fish tagine with almond couscous

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4 – 6

As much as anyone loves a three hour slow-braise tagine, there isn’t time on Tuesday night for such extravagance.

Which is why we have some fabulous tagines like this one.

To reduce the calories even further, skip the butter and add a little chicken stock to your cous cous.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground coriander
250gm cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
2/3 cup fish stock
½ preserved lemon, flesh discarded and rind sliced finely
16 pitted Kalamata olives
4 x 180gm skinless, deboned gemfish (or blue eye cod) fillets
Sea salt
Black pepper

Cous cous and to serve

2 cups couscous
30gm butter
1/3 cup flaked almonds, toasted

Handful coriander leaves

Method

  1. Heat oil in tagine (or saucepan) over medium heat. Gently fry onions for 5 minutes until beginning to soften. Add garlic and spices and cook for a further 2 minutes.
  2. Stir through tomatoes, stock, lemon rind and olives. Remove half of mixture and place in a bowl.
  3. Season fish with salt and pepper and lay it over the mixture still in the tagine. Top with remaining mixture from bowl. Cover with lid and reduce mixture to medium-low and cook for 12 minutes until fish is just translucent. Scatter coriander leaves on top.
  4. Meanwhile, boil kettle. Pour couscous into large mixing bowl and top with knob of butter. Seasons with salt and pepper. Pour two cups of boiling water over couscous and cover bowl tightly with cling wrap. Allow to stand for 3 minutes.
  5. Fold almonds through couscous and serve the tagine on the couscous with the coriander.

Zuppa Di Pesce (Italian Seafood Stew)

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

Mama mia! Every time I have cooked this, it gets better and better. The flavours, the experience, the fun of eating anything that you get to mop up with crusty bread.

The recipe is from Armando Percuoco of Buon Ricordo Restaurant in Paddington, famous for his truffle egg pasta and long lunches.

I swear that if you cook this once, you will cook it again the next weekend, inviting friends around for it.

It looks the part, it tastes so goddam good and it’s fun to share with some salads, maybe some potatoes, some chargrilled asparagus with chilli and garlic and plenty of bread.

No excuses, cook it!

Ingredients

3 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
½ cup of olive oil
1 rock cod (250gm) (substitute with leatherjacket)
Blue eye (150gm piece)
Kingfish (150gm piece)
6 mussels (I used 10)
2 baby octopus
8 rings of calamari (obviously, more can be used and I would)
½ Blue Swimmer Crab
8 clams
1 cup of white wine (I used 1 ½ cups)
½ punnet cherry tomatoes (halved)
4 tablespoons chopped Roma tomatoes
1 bunch of Italian parsley, chopped
Sea salt and pepper
Grilled crusty bread to serve

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180.
  2. In a heavy saucepan or casserole, sauté the garlic in the olive oil until it is just about to go golden.
  3. Add the calamari (and octopus) and toss.
  4. Add the balance of the seafood, and the white wine.
  5. Cook until the white wine has effectively evaporated.
  6. Remove all the seafood except for the calamari (octopus) and add the tomatoes.
  7. Place in the oven for 10 minutes, stirring once.
  8. Add the rest of the seafood, and place in the oven for a further 10 minutes, again stirring once.
  9. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Vietnamese Fish with aromatic sauce and noodles

.Reading time 4 minutes.

Serves 4

Let’s cut to the chase about this dish:

  1. It was titled ‘Cha Ca’ which means ‘Vietnamese Grilled Fish’. Which it isn’t. There is no grilling. Not sure how it gained that title. (The recipe is from Damien Beaumont; I found it in Delicious magazine).
  2. I cooked this after a long day out in the sun with the boys. It isn’t a quick Tuesday night number (unless you prepare it in advance) though it certainly works if you have two hours… and your boys can be trusted to get the sand out of their towels, run themselves a bath and pour you a glass of wine. Trust me; you really will deserve a wine it if you’re in the kitchen for two hours after a long day of bike riding, swimming and bush-walking!
  3. It is a wonderful dish. It isn’t light, though it isn’t heavy. It isn’t spicy though it is not without its quirks. It is very satisfying and given that you should be on your third glass of white by the time you serve, it is just what you need to nurse slight sunburn and exhaustion.
  4. The dill really surprised me in this dish. It is an excellent accompaniment and should not be skipped.
  5. As usual, I have slightly adapted the dish.


Ingredients

3 garlic cloves, chopped
5cm piece of fresh garlic, peeled and chopped
3 long chillies, chopped plus 1 thinly sliced chilli to serve
2 tbs fish sauce
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 tbs sunflower oil
½ cup chopped dill. Plus sprigs to serve.
400ml coconut cream
500gm skinless firm white fish fillets cut into 3cm cubes. (I used Barramundi which was great)
Juice of 2 limes (I used about 1 ½ of lime juice, though it is not overpowering)
250g rice vermicelli noodles
Cup each of coriander and mint sprigs to serve
6 x sliced spring onions to serve
Half cup chopped peanuts to serve (I used cashews which were fine)

Method

  1. Combine the garlic, ginger, chilli, fish sauce, turmeric and half the onion in a small food processor. Add 2tbs of water and process to form a smooth paste. Set aside.
  2. Heat oil in a pan over medium-low heat.
  3. Cook remaining onion for 5 minutes, stirring, until soft a slightly golden.
  4. Add chopped dill and past, then simmer, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.
  5. Add coconut cream and simmer for 20/25 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened and reduced by a third.
  6. Stand at room temperature for 1 hour to allow the flavour to develop. (Leave overnight if doing the day before.)
  7. Return the paste to a frying pan over low heat and cook, for 3 – 5 minutes, stirring until heated through.
  8. Add the fish, stir gently to coat, then cook for 5 – 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fish is cooked through.
  9. Add the lime juice, combine and test for seasoning. (I added a pinch of salt.)
  10. Meanwhile, prepare the noodles.
  11. Serve the fish and sauce on the noodles (4 bowls). Garnish with the herbs (including the extra dill), extra chilli, peanuts and spring onion.
  12. Have that third glass of wine. You survived a whole day in the sun and you cooked this. Leave the washing up till later.

Neil Perry’s Warm Squid Salad

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4 as a share plate

It is after numbers like this one that you wonder why you don’t cook more squid! And if you don’t trust me, you have to trust that pretty much anything Neil Perry cooks is going to be wonderful.

It is an incredibly easy dish to do, it takes no time to prep and cook and it’s healthy sans the loaf of bread which unfortunately, is not optional!

The key to it all is to cook the different ingredients as fast as possible! And preferably, with the two of you cooking; it’s a fast-faced, hands-on, let’s both be rewarded sort of experience.

Enjoy.

Ingredients

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 medium Spanish Onion roughly sliced
3 garlic, sliced
2 fresh Bay leaves finely sliced
Sweet Sherry
4 medium Squid Tubes sliced 2cm thick
4 Tomatoes blanched, quartered, peeled and de-seeded
½ bunch Parsley picked
Sea salt
Freshly Ground black Pepper to taste
2 Lemons juiced
Rustic loaf of bread to sop up sauce

Method

  1. Heat a little extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan to very hot. Add the onion, garlic and bay leaf and fry quickly.
  2. Add the sweet sherry, toss around and allow the alcohol to burn off as it quickly reduces.
  3. Add the sliced squid. Toss through for about 30 seconds
  4. Add the tomato quarters, parsley, salt and pepper.
  5. Finish with the lemon juice, a dash of extra virgin olive oil and a grind of pepper.

Zarzeula

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 6

This is such a wonderful dish. It is so fresh, letting the seafood and the sauce do the work, and looks just amazing when dished and then plated in front of everyone. I served this with Andalusian Pork, a Moroccan salad and an enormous bowl of crusty bread.

I substituted bass for monkfish (I briefly thought about crayfish meat) and flounder for the halibut, though halibut can be found at the markets and I have had monkfish in Australia, albeit in a restaurant and imported from NZ.

Ingredients

7 tbsp olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, finely chopped
2 large, ripe tomatoes, skinned, de-seeded and finely chopped
½tsp paprika
2 thin slices of bread, crusts removed
4 almonds, toasted and skinned
3 garlic cloves, peeled
100g thick cod fillet, skinned
100g monkfish fillet, skinned
100g halibut fillet, skinned
1½ tbsp plain flour
100g prepared squid, sliced
8 raw tiger prawns
16 mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded
8 large clams, scrubbed
100ml Spanish brandy or other inexpensive brandy
150ml dry white wine
2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper
crusty bread, to serve

Monkfish

  1. Heat three tablespoons of the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and sauté slowly until light golden. Add the tomatoes and paprika and cook over a low heat until the oil separates from the vegetables and appears on the surface. Put to one side.
  2. Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a separate frying pan, add the bread and fry on both sides until golden. Place in a mortar with the almonds, two cloves of garlic and one tablespoon of olive oil. Pound together to a fine paste, then set aside.
  3. Season the fish and dust with the flour, shaking off any excess. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large frying pan and brown the fish in it separately – first the cod, then the monkfish, halibut, squid and prawns. As each is cooked, transfer to a large casserole.
  4. Add the mussels and clams to the casserole. Chop the remaining clove of garlic and stir it into the casserole dish. Put over a low heat, pour the brandy over the fish and heat gently, then set it alight, standing well back.
  5. When the flames have died down, stir in the reserved tomato mixture, followed by the white wine and just enough hot water to cover. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about four minutes, until the mussels and clams have opened. Discard any that remain closed.
  6. Mix in the reserved bread paste to thicken the sauce, then add the parsley. Season to taste. Serve in large bowls, accompanied by crusty bread.

Smoky Chipotle Salmon & Coriander Dressing

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 2

This is seriously, so good. Like, so good.

You’ll know it off by heart the first time you cook it. It is incredibly healthy, especially when served with cauliflower rice. It looks great. The fish can be marinated in-advance. It’s hot and filling and the contrast of the cold yogurt with the hot, smoky salmon and the rice is just awesome.

This is why it is seriously so good. So good, I have cooked it twice in two weeks and I won’t feel bad cooking it a third time. There is no shame. This should be a staple.

Thank you to Suskizzled where I sourced the original recipe…)

A quick note on the dry rub.

Unlike in the States, Chipotle Chilli Powder is not a staple of our stores. I sourced it from Herbies though only because I was in the area. There would be reasonable substitutes and as an alternative, I saw a chipotle dry rub in Coles which essentially had the same ingredients and would probably be alright also.

Ingredients

2 salmon fillets (skin off)
1tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chipotle chilli powder
1 tsp garlic powder
pinch of salt and pepper

Coriander Dressing

4 heaped tbsp fat free Greek yoghurt
1 Habanero chilli, finely chopped
Large bunch of coriander, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

  1. Combine the dry-rub ingredients in a small bowl and rub all over the salmon. Set-aside or refrigerate if using later.
  2. Heat a heavy pan and pan cook the fish on both sides until still slightly rare and flaking.
  3. Mix all the dressing ingredients in a bowl.
  4. Serve the salmon with the coriander dressing drizzled on-top; serve with cauliflower rice and a small side salad of greens, sliced shallots, avocado and a squeeze of lemon.

Prawns, peas and epic (prawn) oil

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 2

Sitting with my mate Leo waiting for a haircut (that never actually eventuated because they didn’t notice us for 15 minutes and when they did, told us they had no room for us until 4pm; and Leo doesn’t even have hair!) and flicking through Men’s Health.

And among photos of men with incredible abs, photos of huge watches and photos of men with incredible abs wearing huge watches running through parks, was this recipe.

Except for the oil, it is super healthy and in any event, there isn’t much oil left after you reduce it all and it is olive oil, so it’s goodish anyway.

It can be a little unidirectional in its otherwise excellent flavour – we’re talking prawns and half a kilo of peas here – so go all in with the flavour; the herbs, lemon, good crack of pepper.

Ingredients

500gm of prawns, shelled and deveined (shells/heads retained)
½ cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 long red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
¼ bunch parsley, chopped
250ml fish or vegetable stock
500gm peas (frozen baby peas is what I used)
1 onion sliced
Handful fresh dill roughly chopped
Handful fresh mint roughly chopped
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
Juice of half a lemon

Method

  1. Add oil to a pan over a medium heat. Stir in the prawn shells/heads and cook for 5 or so minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and slightly golden, before storing in the chilli and the parsley for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, allow to cool, then strain the oil, discarding the solids. Do not wash the pan.
  2. In a small saucepan, bring the stock to boil then turn to medium and cook the peas for 3 – 5 minutes until tender. Strain the peas, keep the stock.
  3. In the same pan as used before, on a medium heat, add the onions and allow to caramelise for 8 – 10 minutes. Add the prawns and cook for 2 minutes until tender.
  4. Stir in the peas for a minute before folding in half the dill and mint and half the stock; you want it to be a lose mix but not soupy.
  5. Add 2 tablespoons of the epic oil (prawn oil). Season with salt and pepper, squeeze in the lemon juice and serve, garnished with the remaining herbs.

Salmon Salad with Vinaigrette

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 2 – 4

Another sub-300 calorie dish that I have adapted.

And so good.

Alternate the number of pieces of salmon you cook (2 – 4) depending on how many meals you wish to prepare. Served the next day from the refrigerator, it is just as good as warm the night before so even if it is just you, I’d do two pieces of salmon: dinner and a fabulous, healthy lunch at work.

(And swap a boiled, sliced egg for the potato if you wish.)

Ingredients

400gm green beans, trimmed and cut into 5cm lengths
¼ c red wine vinegar
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp mince shallots
¼ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp black pepper
2 – 4 salmon fillets, skin off
4 c salad greens
¼ c sliced red onion
1 tbsp capers
2 tbsp black olives, chopped
4 baby potatoes (or 2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced)
Handful of parsley, chopped

Method

  1. Steam the beans until al dente, refresh and drain. Combine the salad greens, capers, olives, beans and red onion and set aside.
  2. Steam the potatoes until cooked and slice. Set aside.
  3. Combine the vinegar, mustard, olive oil, shallots, 1/8 tsp salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk until combined; set aside.
  4. Heat a pan to medium hot, spray both sides of the fish fillets with olive oil, season with the remaining salt and pepper and cook both side until fish flakes easily.
  5. Put a good handful of the salad/bean mixture in each bowl, sprinkle a few slices of potato (or egg) and flake the fish on top. Dress with the dressing and serve with a garnish of chopped parsley.

Tomato and Thyme Cod

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4

Simple. Healthy. Tasty.

172 carbs tasty!

I added a chilli and a good crack of pepper (and coriander) and served with some steamed baby potatoes and steamed green beans, this is such a simple dinner. And nobody would know it was particularly healthy except that you would be remiss not to boast about it after they finished.

You could eat ten servings of this and still be on a contemporary diet! And of course, the recipe is easily halved though stick with it and you have lunch for the two of you the next day.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp heaped light, soft brown sugar
Few sprigs thyme leaves, stripped
1 tbsp soy sauce
4 cod fillets (or similar; I used Ling)
Baby potatoes, steamed (season, some chopped parsley, no need for butter etc.)
Steamed green beans

Method

  1. Heat the oil in the fry pan, add the onion for 5 – 8 minutes until soft and starting to golden. Stir in the tomatoes, sugar, thyme and soy and bring to the boil.
  2. Simmer for 5 minutes and then slip the cod into the sauce. Cover the pan and cook for 8 – 10 minutes until the cod flakes easily. Season with pepper (and salt as necessary).
  3. Serve with potatoes and beans or…

King Prawns sautéed with tomato, fish sauce and black pepper (Tom Rim)

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves 4

I first cooked this dish at a cooking class at the Seafood School with my mother Ellen, around 2003. The teacher was Mark Jensen, the head chef at Red Lantern, and I swear, I became infatuated with this dish and cooked it a dozen times for different friends: Rob and Jill, Giles and Nat… even Aaron and Nilhan.

And of course my Nat one winter’s Sunday night where it hit the right note!

It is rich, hot and striking and with fresh prawns, coriander and spring onion, knocks the socks off of unsuspecting guests. I still have the recipe printout from the Seafood School, though I rediscovered it after buying the Red Lantern cookbook a few years back; this should become a staple for you.

Ingredients

1 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 bird’s eye chillies, chopped
1 teaspoon tomato paste
12 jumbo king prawns, peeled, deveined, with tails intact
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
4 tablespoons fish sauce
3/4 cup (185ml) fish stock
1/2 very ripe tomato, diced
1 spring onion, finely sliced
1 small handful coriander leaves

Method

  1. Add the oil, garlic and chilli to a wok over medium heat and stir until fragrant but not coloured.
  2. Add the tomato paste. Prawns and sugar. Toss to combine.
  3. Add the pepper, fish sauce, fish stock and diced tomato.
  4. Increase the heat, bring to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes or until the prawns are cooked through.
  5. Remove the prawns to a serving planner, reduce the sauce slightly (the sauce starts to take on a slight syrupy texture) and pour over the prawns.
  6. Garnish with the spring onion and coriander.