Category Archives: Seafood

Oct3

“viskoekies en tamatiesmoor” – dressed up for a night at the opera

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Open fish cake lasagna + tomato and gherkin relish – I grew up with fish pasta made with tinned pilchards for Saturday lunch so when Babs invited me for lunch this Saturday past – I knew what was on the menu. I asked my mom to wait for me to get to her place – I grabbed my copy of You can with Fish by Tamsin Snyman and rushed over to her house all inspired. I wanted to show her something different …for all too often we get caught up in the routine, making the recipes we know in the same way we have always made them.

We decided to try Tamsin’s fish cakes (love her use of potatoes in the dish) but replaced the tuna with pilchards – and as I am always prone to do… I added lots of fresh herbs, extra lemon and a Dhanya and Chillie sauce I discovered. We served it with a lasagna sheet and a tomato and gherkin relish. The gherkin gives it that beautiful tanginess and just complements the dish in an extraordinary way. It is kind of like “Viskoekies en tamatie-smoor” just dressed up and off to see the opening night of Verdi’s famous opera, La Traviata… and so, so simple.

Try it. I promise you it will make your heart sing!

10 Famous Italian Operas

1. Aida, by GiuseppeVerdi
2. Cavalleria Rusticana, by Pietro Mascagni
3. Il Barbiere de Siviglia, by Gioachino Rossini
4. La Gioconda, by Amilcare Ponchielli
5. La traviata, by Giuseppe Verdi
6. L’elisir d’amore, by Gaetano Donizetti
7. Madama Butterfly, by Giacomo Puccini
8. Nabucco, by Giuseppe Verdi
9. Norma, by Vincenzo Bellini
10. Pagliacci, by Ruggero Leoncavallo

Opera info from yusypovych.com

Serves: 4 starter portions
Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time: 30 min

Ingredients

For fish cakes
1 ½ Medium potatoes
½ Tin sardines + tomato sauce [210g]
1 Egg
1T Bread crumbs [my mom uses all the crumbs from the bottom of her rusks packets – very good idea mom!]
2T Fresh parsley – chopped
1T Fresh coriander – chopped
½ t Chillie flakes – optional
1/2 T Dhanya and chillie sauce (i discovered this last week in the shop – it adds a lovely zing to this particular dish)
1 Spring onions – chopped
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Sunflower oil for frying

For lasagna sheets
4 Lasagna sheets – one sheet per person

For tomato and gherkin relish
½ Onion – chopped
1T Olive oil
250g Small rosa tomatoes
200g Dill gherkins – chopped finely
1T Dhanya and chillie sauce
2ml Salt (or to taste)

Method
1. For potatoes – peel potatoes and boil till soft. Drain well and mash. Set aside.
2. For fish cakes – mix all the ingredients for the fish cakes and the mashed potatoes together. In a non-stick pan add some oil and fry the little patties until golden brown on both sides.
3. For relish – fry the onion in pan till the onion is soft and translucent. Add the tomatoes and close the lid for about 8-10 minutes. The tomatoes will burst open, bringing a splash of flavour. Add the gherkins and the salt and mix together. Cook for another minute or two.
4. For the lasagna sheets – boil with salt as per the instructions on the packet.
5. To assemble – Put some of the Dhanya and chillie sauce at the bottom of the plate, place or arrange the lasagna pasta sheet on top of the sauce then place the fish cakes on top of your lasagna pasta sheet adding the relish to top off this awesome, but so easy little dish.

Jul16

whole baked fish + origanum + lemon + olives + tomatoes = mediterranean feast

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Fish – I just love fresh fish. But… I am a “no fuss fish” person – I am not one for these complicated fish recipes…the simpler, the better. Just baked or grilled or with the some subtle flavourings of lemon and herbs or just cooked whole over the coals – that’s my preference.

My most memorable meal consisted of fish. I recall so vividly the time I spent in Istanbul, Turkey…I had the most dreadful case of bronchitis and was feeling significantly sorry for myself. I was ambling along the Bosphorus River when I smelt this amazing aroma…. A local fishing boat was tied up alongside the pier and the fishermen were selling freshly grilled fish on ciabatta bread, with just a squeeze of lemon juice. A bite … and at that moment I felt so much better and I knew someone loved me.

I buy my fish from Julie Carter from Ocean Jewels in Cape Town (http://www.oceanjewels.co.za/ 083 582 0829) – if you don’t know Julie – go to her website and subscribe to her mailer. She is such a wonderful woman with the most beautiful smile and is always there to deliver ONLY the freshest of fresh fish to you! You simply cannot get better than that.

This past Saturday, down at the market, Julie recommended that I sample two little Pangas (Pterogymnus Laniarius its Latin name and it’s also on the sustainable green list). I decided to combine the fish with real Mediterranean flavours of olives, origanum, tomatoes and lemon. This dish reminds me of Turkey – and all the wondrous colours, sights, sounds and smell of the Mediterranean. It makes me feel loved and happy.
Enjoy its delicious!


Serves: 2
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking + Grilling Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 Small whole fish – I used Panga +-500g each
2 Cloves garlic sliced
Olive oil for drizzling over the fish and at the bottom of the baking tin
1/4 t Dried origanum
1 Lemon, sliced
Juice of one lemon
1 Bunch of spring onions
Olive oil
250g Cherry tomatoes
100g Calamata olives
White pepper for seasoning (I love white pepper with fish)
Salt for seasoning

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 °C.
2. Pat fish dry with kitchen towel.
3. Make small incisions into fish, placing the sliced garlic in the slits + fill
the tummy of the fishes with olives, spring onions and sliced lemon.
5. Drizzle with olive oil and season with origanum, salt and pepper.
6. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pan and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
7. Bake for 20 minutes with foil on or closed.
8. Turn the oven onto grill, remove the foil + squeeze the lemon juice over and grill for 5-10 minutes.
9. Serve with a fresh salad and bread.

Enjoy its delicious.

May17

malay infused seafood soup

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This is my all-time favourite winter soup recipe. It lies very close to my heart for two reasons – I was introduced to this recipe by my wonderful chef friend, Louis Verwey (the recipe was very different then and I developed it as I went along into what it is today) and secondly this recipe took me through to the Top 50 of Masterchef SA and earned three overwhelming and resounding yes’s from judges Andrew, Bennie and Pete. My Masterchef journey was an incredible experience, it was an amazing roller coaster ride of emotions, nerves and sheer excitement but the best part was meeting all the fantastic people who all share a common passion – cooking! This adventure re-ignited in me the fire and a burning desire to learn and share in the fun, frivolity and sheer pleasure that comes with cooking and everything culinary. I am very proud to have made it into the Top 35 only to be booted out on the potato challenge. Needless to say I have not cooked or peeled a potato again – but that is a story for another day…enough about me…back to this exquisite soup …

Serves 6
Preparation and cooking time: +- 45 minutes

Ingredients
For the stock:
1 celery stick, chopped (with the leaves)
1 onion, cut in half (I keep the skin on – I only peel the onion if I want to make a clear stock)
1 carrot, chopped (…again keep the skin on – didn’t we learn that all the nutritional value lies in the skin?)
5 black pepper corns
2 cardamom pods
1 clove of garlic cut in half
1 small bunch of parsley
350g white fish – I use small whole hakes which I cut into chunks
800ml water
1 clove garlic, finely grated
Seafood:
24 mussels in ½ shell
400 g kingklip (or any other firm white fish), cut into cubes of +- 2.5cm x 2.5cm
12 de-veined prawns with shells – I love to keep heads on – if you do take the heads off, don’t discard these….add them to your stock
Other ingredients:
30g butter
45 ml flour
10 ml masala (I mix my own from the following ground ingredients: 15 ml turmeric, 15ml cumin, 10 ml coriander, 10 ml fennel, 15 ml hot “curry powder” this you can get from your local spice shop or supermarket)
30 ml tomato paste
1 ½ chicken stock cube, crumbled
2 large tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
Juice of ½ small lemon
For the gremolata:
30 ml chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, finely grated
Zest of one lemon
One big squeeze of lemon juice
30 ml olive oil

Method
1. Prepare your stock by adding the first 9 ingredients in a pot and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Take the mussels and place them in a sieve and then put it in the stock to cook for 2 minutes. I do this to infuse the juices in the stock (and to defrost if still frozen). Take out and leave aside.
3. Repeat the same process with the prawns – leave to simmer for about 3-4 minutes in the stock. Take out and set aside
4. Take the stock and strain through a very fine sieve. Set aside. (You can discard the stock ingredients but it does make for a very nutritious and fishy treat for my two canine children!)
5. Add the finely grated garlic to this stock.
6. Now, melt the butter in a pot. Add the flour to make a roux. Stir for about 2-3 minutes. Then add the tomato paste and masala. Stir well.
7. Add the warm stock – ladle by ladle – whisking briskly to make sure it does not form lumps. Once you have added the stock, bring it up to simmer – you will see that it has now thickened.
8. Add the stock cube and the chopped tomatoes. Cook for about 5 minutes. Stir well.
9. Now add the raw fish and let it simmer for +-3 minutes, then add the prawns and mussels.
10. Add the lemon juice and stir lightly – be careful not to break the fish! Season for taste by adding salt and pepper, lemon juice.
11. Simmer for a 5-10 minutes.
12. Lastly, mix the last 4 ingredients together to make the gremolata and set aside
13. To serve – in the bottom of a soup bowl put a dollop of the gremolata. Take the prawns out of the soup and place 2 prawns on each plate, add 3 or more pieces of fish. Strain the fish soup through a sieve and pour in the bowl around the fish and prawns. Add 3-4 mussels on top.
14. Garnish with a few drops of gremolata on top.
15. Serve immediately.

Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy.