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Fishy February

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Fishy February

Postby karadekoolaid » Tue Feb 02, 2021 2:30 am

Since Veganuary is out of the way, I thought it might be fun to focus on fishy February. Why? Because it´s a nice alliteration, and I like fish :woohoo:
No 3 Michelin Star stuff here - I have to admit that I like fish with very little else on it - but here´s what I made last week.
Salmon steaks with Beurre Blanc

2 salmon steaks - about 160-200 gms each
salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 tsps capers
1 tbsp fresh dill
olive oil
Heat a pan with the olive oil until hot. Put the salmon steaks in and sear on each side,about a minute or two each, until browned. Add the beurre blanc, the capers and the fresh dill and baste the salmon with the sauce for a minute or so.

For the Beurre Blanc:
60 mls white wine
60 mls white wine vinegar
2 tbsps shallots, finely diced
100 mls cream
salt and pepper
200 gms unsalted butter

Put the wine, vinegar and shallots in a saucepan and reduce to a 1/3, until syrupy. Now whisk in the cream, s & p and cook hard for about 1 minute. Cut the butter into dice and start adding to the sauce, bit by bit, whisking until it melts. add all the butter like that. when the sauce is thickened, it´s ready. Michelin starred chefs pass this sauce through a sieve before serving - I ain´t got no stars, so I just served it as it was :shock: :lol:
(PS - served with mashed potatoes and fennel fans - slices of fennel gently fried in olive oil)

So what little fishy did you make this week? What´s your favourite way to cook fish?

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Re: Fishy February

Postby liketocook » Tue Feb 02, 2021 12:51 pm

Lovely sounding dishes KK
I'm not sure I have a favourite way to cook fish, depends on the fish I supposed. Though whole fish slapped on a BBQ takes some beating IMHO.
Last week I made a smoked haddock fishcake served with a chive and parsley sauce made from the poaching milk.
On Friday it was cod and clams cooked with shallot, vermouth, chilli, spinach and baby tomatoes.
I'm not sure which one I enjoyed more. :yum

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Re: Fishy February

Postby Stokey Sue » Tue Feb 02, 2021 1:04 pm

No, I couldn’t have a favourite fish dish

Some favourites
Salmon teriyaki
Catalan fish stew
Trout cooked with bacon and white wine
Monkfish wrapped in prosciutto and roast
Smoked haddock anyway
Thai or Burmese fish curry
Almost anything with shellfish

And a question - I have a load of nice haddock fillets in the freezer, suggestions? They are quite thin as mostly tail pieces, but really nice. So far I’ve thought of crumbing and frying and the curry

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Re: Fishy February

Postby liketocook » Tue Feb 02, 2021 1:37 pm

Sue we made this quick tagine style dish a couple of weeks ago with thin haddock pieces and it was really tasty.https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fis ... sh-tagine/
Tail pieces I often use to make fish fingers or bake sat on a bed of spinach topped with herb and parmesan breadcrumbs

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Re: Fishy February

Postby herbidacious » Tue Feb 02, 2021 1:41 pm

The last fish I ate was probably slightly bony white fish served in a white sauce with parsely c. 1985 ;)

Unless you count the occasional accidental consumption.

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Re: Fishy February

Postby karadekoolaid » Tue Feb 02, 2021 2:13 pm

Hahaha, Herbi - that´s probably when I STARTED eating fish. Before that it was mostly prawns and fishfingers :shock:

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Re: Fishy February

Postby Earthmaiden » Tue Feb 02, 2021 3:58 pm

I too like a good many fish dishes and most mentioned already, simple is often best. I am fond of nutty crumb crusts and ordinary stews with a tomato base with whatever non-oily fish is available added towards the end instead of meat - dumplings work with it IMO!

I think that sometimes we get carried away with fairly high class cookery and forget things we might have enjoyed once. When turning out the cupboard the other day I found 5 small tins of pilchards in tomato sauce, something I rarely eat. As a child I quite liked them but we opened them mainly as a treat for the cat - who liked them, in tomato sauce. They really are quite nice and I am enjoying becoming reaquainted with them for lunch or supper, I particularly like them with rice.

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Re: Fishy February

Postby Badger's Mate » Tue Feb 02, 2021 4:03 pm

I quite like tinned oily fish (in tomato sauce) with pasta, sort of in the puttanesca style, with capers, olives and a bit of chilli.

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Re: Fishy February

Postby Stokey Sue » Tue Feb 02, 2021 4:41 pm

Thanks LTC, those both look good

I normally love oily fish - tuna, herring, sprats, mackerel, sardines, pilchards but they are on the xx list at the moment, fresh, smocked or canned :(

Simple grilled mackerel is delicious (normally)

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Re: Fishy February

Postby jeral » Tue Feb 02, 2021 5:52 pm

I suppose my favourite is baked whole gilthead bream with EVOO, lemon & thyme, either open or in a packet with cherry toms and parcooked new spud slices (or separate broc, spinach or fine green beans - all usual suspects for most fish).

Anything goes really. Often panfried if skin-on white fillet.

Marinated salmon or tuna, typically ginger/tamari/rice vinegar based, occasionally a Chinese 5-spice rub instead, with pak choi or a veg stir fry medley.

Smoked haddock with raw green bell pepper and onion in a rice pilaff with other flavourings.

Haddock or cod added last thing to a simmered rich tom sauce. Or poached to plate up or flaked into chickpea or green pea soup, or made as big bites battered and deep fried.

Large prawns sizzled with an odd fresh red chilli slice or two with a dip, or made coconutty. I find shellfish expensive or I'd eat more of it.

Tinned tuna & spring onion put in a hot pan and agitated for a minute or three, then beaten egg on top, so pancake rather than omelette, with lots of black pepper.

If I lived nearer to Lidl, I'd stock up on their flat tins "Nixe"? brand . It might be my imagination but brands like Princes and John West seem very poor from how I remember their tinned fish used to be.

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Re: Fishy February

Postby karadekoolaid » Tue Feb 02, 2021 6:33 pm

EM:
I think that sometimes we get carried away with fairly high class cookery and forget things we might have enjoyed once
How right you are. When I was a kid, the only two in the house who ate pilchards and sardines were my dad and Frisky the mog. :shock: :lol:
I was in Lisbon overnight, back in 2018, on my way back to Caracas, and I stayed with a friend of my son´s.He took me along the coast and we stopped in a little bar for a beer or three. First up on the table: bread and a divine sardine paste. Next up - simple, grilled sardine fillets - I don´t think they had anything else than salt, olive oil and a youch of garlic. So, so good.
BM: my wife made a quick pasta last week with a tin of pretty dire-looking tuna, A bit of tomato, a bit of red pepper, garlic, olive oil and a squeeze of lemming. Wow - from rags to riches.
Sue: have you thought of a Fish Molee for your haddock? Pretty simple: a bit of chopped onion, some curry paste, garlic & ginger, coconut milk. Or the same but different with coconut milk and some Thai red curry paste.
Jeral: you´re a big fish eater I believe. Love the smoked haddock idea - although I´d have to find a local fish that´s similar.

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Re: Fishy February

Postby Busybee » Tue Feb 02, 2021 6:40 pm

Jeral, you are absolutely right about John West tinned fish. I have a tin of sardines on toast or with a bowl of salad for lunch about once a week, I have stopped getting John west as there was more and more oil and less sardine.

I’ve gone onto these https://www.costco.co.uk/Grocery-Househ ... 25g/p/5283

From Costco.
:yum

BB

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Re: Fishy February

Postby Stokey Sue » Tue Feb 02, 2021 8:08 pm

karadekoolaid wrote:Sue: have you thought of a Fish Molee for your haddock? Pretty simple: a bit of chopped onion, some curry paste, garlic & ginger, coconut milk. Or the same but different with coconut milk and some Thai red curry paste.

Most classic Indian curries are on the xx list with a few exceptions as as can’t stand cumin or any part or the coriander plant
Red Thai curry is fine as long as I finish it with Thai Basil o scallion or dill not coriander, and I can work around Burmese curry the same way, parsley is a bit dodgy in quantity too, though ok well cooked

Cumin is a b——- for anyone who cooks a lot of Middle Eastern and Asian food, but cardamom, clove, and allspice are good

Might try bowl steaming Chinese/ Vietnamese style with lemongrass and ginger

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Re: Fishy February

Postby karadekoolaid » Thu Feb 04, 2021 5:45 pm

I was browsing through some Indonesian recipes yesterday, and found a fish dish - with no cumin. Just shallots, ginger, garlic, coriander powder, chiles, a tsp of brown sugar, a tbsp tamarind paste. All baked in the oven.

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Re: Fishy February

Postby OneMoreCheekyOne » Thu Feb 04, 2021 10:41 pm

Great thread.

We are cooking a fish stew on Sunday which I don’t think we’ve made before. It’s called Suquet from Catalonia and is thickened with a picada of toasted almonds, bread, garlic and parsley. It’s from a Jill Norman book of winter food. She suggests using hake, monkfish, cod or bream as well as clams or mussels.

A Mediterranean style fish tray bake is a mid week easy staple here. Herbs, wine, seasonal veg etc. Potatoes, bread, salad easy accompaniments. We often grab condiments, herbs, tub of olives, flavoured oils, lemons etc to put in the middle of the table and everyone makes the dish their own. DD 1 is currently adding balsamic and basil to everything, even fish :?

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Re: Fishy February

Postby karadekoolaid » Fri Feb 05, 2021 12:07 am

Love the idea of that fish stew, OMCO! were the almonds just chopped, or reduced to powder?

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Re: Fishy February

Postby scullion » Fri Feb 05, 2021 3:19 am

herbidacious wrote:The last fish I ate was probably slightly bony white fish served in a white sauce with parsely c. 1985 ;)

Unless you count the occasional accidental consumption.


the last time i was forced to eat fish was 1968.
there's been no accidental consumption since.

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Re: Fishy February

Postby OneMoreCheekyOne » Fri Feb 05, 2021 12:53 pm

karadekoolaid wrote:Love the idea of that fish stew, OMCO! were the almonds just chopped, or reduced to powder?


Morning! I’ve just checked and it says to fry day old bread in oil and lightly brown some garlic. Transfer to a food processor to grind to a paste along with almonds, saffron, parsley and a little salt. If necessary add a little stock to moisten. The stew itself is made with onion, garlic, tomatoes, stock, fish and then the picada is added towards the end with any shellfish. I’ll report back when we make it at the weekend.

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Re: Fishy February

Postby Gillthepainter » Fri Feb 05, 2021 1:57 pm

I love a good picada thickening agent.
I sometimes do it with crushed crackers too.

Monkfish. Anyone mention it yet? OMCO, you have.
Hit or miss in my book. My way is stuffed with saffron, jarred lemons, red peppers. Then baked.

But I no longer think of it as a special meal (out). I wonder when that happened to me.
I used to order it if I saw it on the menu as a treat.

My signature fish dish is Thai style mussels.
A Belgian friend of my husbands (unrequited love on her part poor thing) gave me the recipe.

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Re: Fishy February

Postby WWordsworth » Fri Feb 05, 2021 5:08 pm

Just back from the fish shop, one large mackerel and a huge hake fillet.
Hmmmm... What shall I do?

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