Fish Fingers

Hands up who doesn't like fish fingers. I love them. I used to love having them with the children when they were small. I have just matured a little and now make them myself. So simple and so tasty. With apologies to Captain Birds Eye although you will always have a place in my heart, I think these may be just a tad better.

Fish Fingers

Firm white fish. I use cod loin
A few ounces of breadcrumbs
A little seasoned flour
1 or 2 beaten eggs depending on how many fish fingers you are making.
Oil to fry

Dry the fish and cut  into fingers.
Lightly cover them in the seasoned flour and shake off the excess.
Dip them in the beaten egg and then the bread crumbs.
Dip them in the egg again and then the breadcrumbs again.
Fry in hot oil until golden, a few minutes.
See, simple.
Now wonder why you bother buying the frozen ones.
Serve with chips mushy peas and grilled/fried tomatoes
Enjoy

Parsleyed Fish Gratin

Sarah at Maison Cupcake has started a new Blog event called 'Forever Nigella'. The idea is we cook a dish from one of Nigella Lawson's books every month. This is not difficult as I have all of her books. A great idea Sarah and thank you for organising.

I chose Parsleyed Fish Gratin from Nigella Christmas. It is a regular in my house. A very easy fish pie which saves all the mashing of potatoes and can be made in advance. It is a tasty everyday dish but would also grace  a table for guests as it is just so pretty

I have made a few changes to the recipe. Nothing new in that as I am always fiddling. There is not one thing wrong with the original but I have just added a couple of things which I prefer or are just more convenient. I added salmon to the fish mix as I like the flavour. It also adds an attractive colour and makes it more pleasing to the eye.
I use semi skimmed milk for the sauce rather than full fat for the simple reason it's what I have in the house.
I add onions pepper corns and bay leaves to the milk the night before making (if I am organised enough) as it does give the sauce a lovely flavour. I always do this with any roux sauce. Well worth it.
 I also use pale sherry rather than vermouth as I have a couple of huge bottles to use up and I do like the flavour in cooking. It works very well. So because of these changes I get to print the recipe.

Serves 6

Parsleyed Fish Gratin



For the Milk Infusion

One raw onion peeled and quartered
About twelve black pepercorns
Two bay leaves ripped




 For the Sauce

50gms/2oz butter
50gms/20z flour
1x15ml tablespoon pale sherry vermouth or white wine
1/4 teaspoon ground mace or nutmeg
1/2 teasp maldon salt or 1/4 teasp table salt
1/4 teasp Dijon mustard
350 mls/12 fluid oz  milk
1 1/2 15 ml tablespoons finely chopped chives or 1 spring onion finely chopped
75 gms/3 oz chopped parsley


For the Fish Mix and Potato Topping

2 medium sized (400gms/14oz total) baking potatoes, unpeeled
One Kilo/2.2 lbs of fish to include salmon, white fish fillet and smoked cod or haddock


For the Glaze
1 teasp garlic oil
25gms/1oz butter
Good grinding of black pepper
A little dried parsley

Method


Add the onion, black peppercorns and bay leaves to the milk and leave to soak overnight or for a few hours.then strain to use with the sauce.


Make a white sauce by first melting the butter in a large saucepan and then addi the flour and stir for a minute or so.
Then off the heat whisk in the sherry/vermouth/wine, mace/nutmeg, salt and mustard.

Next whisk in the milk and put the pan back on the heat continuing to whisk the sauce as it thickens. Once the sauce appears to be getting thicker, keep cooking it for a further 3 minutes until it becomes very thick.

Take it off the heat and stir in the chives and parsley then decant into your gratin dish (mine is a round shallow casserole about 26cm x5cm/10 inches x inches)

Once cool you can leave this dish covered in the fridge overnight or up to three days.

When ready to cook preheat your oven 200.C/400.F/Gas 6. and place a baking sheet in . Take your gratin dish out of the fridge and uncover it.

Slice the unpeeled potatoes as thin as you possibly can.

Scissor or cut all the  fish into large bite-sized pieces and mix into the parsley sauce

Layer the potatoes in concentric circles over the fish and parsley sauce overlapping half way across each potato slice as you go around the dish.

Melt the garlic oil and butter in a small pan or in a dish in the microwave, stir in a little dried parsley then paint the circles of potato with this mixture

Grind some fresh black pepper over the top and place in the oven to cook for 50-60 minutes. The top should be golden and the underneath of the gratin bubbling

Cullen Skink

Isn't this the most wonderful title?One of Scotland's national treasures. It is somewhere between a fish soup and a stew. Called 'Skink' locally. Whatever, it is a meal in a bowl and a very good one too. I could push the boat out and tell you you need Finnan Haddies to make it but I wouldn't be so cruel. Any smoked white fish will do. I used a mix of white and smoked cod. You do need the smoked fish to give the special flavour though. It is a perfect winter warmer or a good dish on a wet summer day here. Keep left over mashed potato to make this. It's a good use up.



Serves 4

Ingredients.

750 mls / 1.6 pints full fat milk or a mix of milk and cream if you are feeling decadent
A small handful of chopped parsley (reserving the stalks)
1 bay leaf
12 black peppercorns
450 gms /1lb Smoked haddock fillets or any firm white smoked fish or a mix of smoked and plain fish. Whatever you have or whatever you fancy.
5ogms/ 2oz butter
1 medium onion chopped
2 scallions finely chopped
200gms/8 oz buttered mashed potato
Salt and Pepper

Garnish

Chopped parsley and four poached eggs.

Method

Pour the milk into a saucepan large enough to accommodate the fish.
Add in the bay leaf, peppercorns, parsley stalks and fish.
Bring to the boil and simmer for five minutes.
Remove from the heat and allow to infuse for five minutes or more.

Remove the fish, strain the poaching liquid and reserve.
Flake the poached fish removing any skin and bones.

While the fish is poaching heat the butter in another saucepan and fry the onion until soft but not brown.

Then stir in the strained poaching liquid, then the mashed potatoes until you have a thick creamy consistency.

Add the chopped parsley leaves, chopped scallions and the flaked fish and simmer for another 4-5 minutes
Season well with black pepper and salt if needed.
Pour into serving bowls and garnish with chopped parsley and a poached egg.

Poached Eggs

You can of course poach the eggs in a saucepan of boiling water. A short cut is to put boiling water and a little vinegar into a microwavable dish. Make sure the water is enough to cover the eggs well. Microwave for a minute to make sure the water is good and hot. Swirl the water and drop in the egg and microwave for 30-40 seconds per egg. They will not cook a great deal after removal but will keep hot.

Louisiana Crab Cakes

I have had Delia Smith's book 'How to Cheat at Cooking' for some time. Some very good recipes but I haven't really used it much. Why you may ask. Well the thing is the shopping list for the 'cheat's' ingredients is quite lengthy and I never seem to have the right things in the larder. It seems it is quite expensive to be a cheat. I noticed these crab cakes sometime ago and bought the tins of crab but as usual they got pushed to the back of the cupboard. I was however inspired by a photograph of them in Vi' pantry and decided to make them. I didn't have the jarred peppers for the required red pepper mayo but I made my own. They are really delicious and so easy to throw together. I will definitely be keeping the tinned crab meat to make these again. We had them as a main served with chips and salad but one would make a lovely starter I think.

Ingredients

• 43g tin John West dressed crab, plus 170g jumbo crab meat (Asda Extra Special) or other white crab meat, drained
• 2 spring onions
• 1 pack (about 25g) fresh coriander
• 1 piece jalapeño pepper, from a jar
• grated zest of ½ lemon
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 3 rounded tablespoons dried breadcrumbs (Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients) or dried ciabatta breadcrumbs (Tesco Ingredients)
• a good pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 heaped tablespoon semolina
• 1 tablespoon groundnut or other flavourless oil

For the red pepper mayonnaise

• the equivalent of ½ fresh red pepper (from a jar of roasted peppers)
• 1 fat clove garlic, peeled
• 2 rounded tablespoons Delouis Fils fresh mayonnaise
• a good pinch of cayenne pepper

First of all, chop the spring onions, half the coriander (minus any very thick stalks) and the jalapeño in a mini-chopper. Combine these with the rest of the ingredients (except the semolina and oil), season and mix well. After that, divide the mixture into 6 and form it into round patties, squeezing the mixture together firmly. Spoon the semolina on to a plate and coat the crab cakes on all sides.

For the mayonnaise, whiz the ingredients together in a mini-chopper and empty it into a dish.

To cook the crab cakes, heat the oil in a medium frying-pan till very hot and shimmering, then cook them for about 2 minutes on each side. Serve with the remaining coriander to garnish and a good helping of the mayonnaise.

Serves two as a main course. (Three cakes each)

What I did

I didn't have fresh coriander so I used some parsley and dried coriander.

I moulded the cakes in a cookie cutter to give them a good shape

I popped them in the freezer for ten minutes in case they fell apart when frying

I made a sweet chilli and garlic mayo by putting some chilli jam and a little garlic paste into some Hellman's. I used about 4-5 tablespoons of mayo as Delia's didn't give a very large amount. Well I needed something to dunk those chips into now I am no longer dieting.

Fish and Chips

What could be nicer for the evening meal but a plate of good old fish and chips. I just love this. I have never owned a deep fat fryer for the simple reason I dislike the smell which seems to cling to everything. It uses so much oil and the straining after each use is just too much hard work. I do however love chips. I purchased a Tefal Actifry which is a wonderful machine. It is pricey but only uses a tablespoon of oil. This makes my chips a fairly healthy affair. They really do taste like deep fat fried chips. Just wonderful . I have never done fish in batter as I get in a mess. I just use crumbs and shallow fry. This was cod loin I used, soaked in buttermilk then tossed in breadcrumbs and fried for a few minutes. So tasty. A really quick and satisfying dinner for those days when you can't be bothered thinking and a comforting meal is what's needed.

Jamie's Fish with Leeks and Bacon

I like fish but I hate the bones. Any recipe for cod loins or salmon fillets I will go straight for as there are no problems with bones. This from Jamie Oliver's 'Jamie at Home' is right up my street. It is so quick and easy. I love the smoked bacon with the fish. It was only recently I discovered that it really is a very tasty combination. Any white fish can be used in this.

Roasted White Fish and Leeks

Serves 4


16 baby leeks washed and trimmed
4x200gm fillets of white fish
1 large lemon cut into 8 thin wedges
4 sprigs of rosemary
8 rashers of smoked streaky bacon

for the marinade
a couple of sprigs each of rosemary thyme and bay leaves.
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
juice of 1/2 a lemon

Preheat the oven to 200.c/400.f/gas6 and place a baking tray in the oven to warm up
To make the marinade bash up the thyme rosemary and bay leaves with the salt in a pestle and mortar until the salt has turned green. Pour in two glugs of olive oil, a pinch of pepper and the lemon juice and give it a stir.
Parboil the leeks in salted water for about three minutes. Drain in a colander and let them steam dry.
Put the fish, lemon, rosemary sprigs and leeks into a bowl. Pour in the marinade and toss to cover everything.
Place the fish into the preheated tray.
Scoop the lemon rosemary leeks and marinade out of the bowl and place over and around the fish and roast in the oven for approx. 15 -20mins until the fish is just cooked and the bacon is crisp.
Pile up on a plate and serve.

Sometimes I add a few prawns or scallops. Delicious

Enjoy

Simply Salmon

When you haven't time to slave in the kitchen this has to be one of the quickest yet most elegant of meals. Fillet of salmon fried in butter with a few prawns served on a bed of wilted spinach and topped with lemon and parsley butter. It takes ten minutes. I like to serve this with boiled baby new potatoes. They take about twenty minutes to cook. So put the spuds on to boil, pour yourself a glass of wine and take a leisurely swig. Pop a good heavy pan on the heat and melt some butter and a little oil. In another large pan melt some more butter and oil. Pop the salmon and prawns in the pan and fry for a few minutes when you turn them over pop the spinach in the large pan and stir it down. When it has wilted you should be all ready to serve. Just squeeze some lemon juice over the fish. Drain your potatoes. All done. Carry your plate and your glass of wine to the table and enjoy. Now what could be simpler than that?
The lemon and parsley butter is really just a nob of butter with a couple of sprigs of parsley and the zest of a lemon popped on top.

Fish Pie and Handy Frozen Potato Discs

I love a good old fashioned fish pie. There are no frills with this recipe but it is delicious. What makes this a little different is instead of spreading mashed potato on top I used frozen discs of the mash. There was a good deal of discussion on Vi's pantry, a foodie forum I frequent, about these. Delia Smith used a supermarket bought version in her How to Cheat Book. I did try them but I dislike the mass produced mashed potato products as they have a texture like wallpaper paste and taste pretty much the same. Not that I am in the habit of eating wallpaper paste you understand. I prefer to make my own fast food. In this country I am sure most households have a pile of old potatoes just past their best and I am the same. I hate waste so I boiled up the ones I had, mashed them with butter and left them to get cold. I chopped them up a bit and turned them out onto the work top and kneaded
them a little so they became nice
and soft and easy to handle. I rolled them out to about 1/2 a
centimetre thick and then cut them out with a pastry cutter.
I then placed them on baking trays lined with greaseproof paper. Popped them in the freezer for a couple of hours and once frozen peeled them off and popped them in a bag. Instant pie topping. I love mashed potato but for some reason I have always disliked it as a pie topping. I think it has something to do with the sauce underneath soaking into the topping. Using the frozen potato discs completely stops this happening so that is an added bonus. Either way it is a good way to use up spare mashed potatoes

There is not really a recipe for the fish pie so feel free to add what you like.

500gms/1lb Smoked Cod Loin
500gms/1lb Cod loin
500mls / 1 pint milk
4 tablespoons flour
100gms/4oz mature cheddar cheese grated
2 hard-boiled eggs sliced thinly
1 teaspoon old bay seasoning(optional)
Chopped parsley
Black pepper.
Mashed potatoes or potato discs as above.

Cut each piece of fish in half and place in a large pan with the milk.
Simmer until just cooked
Place each piece of fish in a dish one on top of the other if needs be.
Melt the butter in another pan and stir in the flour.
Allow to cook for a few minutes.
Stir in the milk the fish was cooked in little by little stirring well after each addition.
Keep stirring over a low heat until the sauce has thickened.
Remove from the heat stir in the grated cheese, leaving a little for sprinkling at the end, black pepper chopped parsley and old bay seasoning if required.
Pour 2/3 of the sauce over the fish breaking it up with a fork as you do so.
Place the sliced hard-boiled egg on top.
Add the rest of the sauce.
Place the potato discs or mashed potatoes on top.
Sprinkle with the remaining cheese
Bake at 180.C/350.F/Gas4 until golden brown and bubbling.

I find it convenient to make this in the morning, let it get cold then assemble ready for the oven later. If you do this a little piece of cling film on the surface of the sauce prevents a skin forming