SOMETHING FISHY (Fish)

Member Name: GentleGenius

Product:	Fish
Date:	13/02/09 (246 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tasty, mostly cheap, filling, nutritious, easy to cook

Disadvantages: None unless you don't like fish

Fish, fish, fish! With the exception of mackerel which I find disgusting, I could easily live on fish as being the main protein part of my diet. Loaded with protein, minerals, oils and much else that's nutritionally benefical to health and reasonably low in calories (obviously depending on how it's cooked), I personally prefer most fish above all meats.

Over the years, through experimentation and via recommendation, I've managed to secure a bunch of fish recipes and dishes which I regularly eat. It has always amazed me how different types of fish, even those that share the same waters and quite likely eat a similar diet to one another, always taste so very different. OK there's the standard across the board fish taste, but beyond that, each fish has its own unique flavour. For instance, plaice tastes completely different to cod, but as far as I'm aware, they live a similar lifestyle in similar areas of sea and ocean. Correct me if I'm wrong please someone!

I'd like to share my top 5 favourite fish recipes with other DooYoo readers...so here goes...and all the recipes are to serve 2 people with medium-sized appetites.

NB: Though none of these recipes contain mayonnaise - I can't stand the stuff - you could probably incorporate it into the recipes with a bit of imaginative tweaking, if you wished.

1. TUNA, CUCUMBER & SWEETCORN BALLS

This is a recipe passed across to me by a friend some years ago, and I feel certain she'd not mind me including it on DooYoo and claiming it as my own.

INGREDIENTS

1 can of tuna flakes in springwater, drained
3 tablespoons canned sweetcorn, drained
1 x 2" chunk of cucumber, finely diced (leave skin on)
1 teaspoon olive oil
2lbs potatoes, peeled, boiled & mashed
A generous grinding of fresh black pepper
Half a teaspoon of ground paprika

METHOD

In a large-ish bowl, put all the above ingredients and using hands, blend thoroughly. Form the mixture into little ball shapes (about the size of table tennis balls - mixture should make between 15 and 20 balls). Place the balls on a very lightly oiled flat baking tray. Pre-heat the oven to approx. 350F (gas mark 5-ish), and bake the fish balls for about 15-20 minutes. Serve hot with a green salad and garlic bread.

2. COD CHUNKS IN TOMATO SAUCE WITH SPINACH

This is a recipe I adapted from one that someone else gave me. The addition of spinach, sugar and soy sauce are my own little touches - gives the meal more of a kick.

INGREDIENTS

2 frozen cod steaks, thawed and cut into bite-sized chunks
1 small tin chopped tomatoes in juice
1 tablespoon tomato puree
Half a teaspoon soft brown sugar
2 tiny droplets of dark soy sauce
Half a crumbled vegetarian Oxo cube
1 supermarket pack (standard size) of fresh washed spinach leaves

METHOD

Pre-heat the oven to 425F/Gas mark 7. Place the chunks of cod into an oven-proof dish (choose one that has a lid). Using hands, roughly shred the spinach leaves, and arrange around the fish pieces. Mix all the other ingredients together thoroughly, and pour over the fish & spinach. Cover the dish with the lid, and bake for about 40-45 mins, stirring lightly once during the cooking time. Serve with jacket or mashed potato, or crusty hot buttered bread, and a green salad.

3. LAZY FISH PIE

1 tin drained fish of your choice (salmon, tuna, pilchards, mackerel etc.)
2 tablespoons instant mashed potato, made up into mash
1 rounded teaspoon dried parsley
2 shelled and sliced hard-boiled eggs
1 standard-sized pack frozen flaky/puff pastry

METHOD

Flake the fish in a medium-sized bowl and mix in the parsley and made-up instant mash. Roll out the pastry into a rectangle (to about the thickness of a 2p piece) and spread the fish/potato mixture across half of the rectangle, leaving about a half inch space around the edges. Lay the hard-boiled egg slices on top of the fish mixture, and pull up the naked side of the pastry, pressing the edges against the first side, securing with a little water if necessary. This should make a square-shaped pasty. Flute the edges of the pastry and make a few incisions in the top with a knife. Brush the top and edges of the pastry with a little milk, place on a lightly oiled baking tray and cook for approx. 45 mins. Serve hot or cold with a green salad or steamed green vegetables.

4. GIRL GUIDES' PILCHARD BAKE

When aged 11, I was unfortunate enough to attend a week away camping with the Girl Guides. All that lifestyle of knot-tying, jolly songs round the campfire, sisterhood, doing boring chores to earn badges etc. appealed to me NOT! The best thing at Guide camp was the food, cooked by our pack leader, and my favourite was the pilchard bake. It's cheap and filling.....and, if you get your gas or electricity cut off for any reason, can be cooked over a camp fire LOL.

INGREDIENTS

1 large tin of pilchards in tomato sauce, mashed...leave the sauce in
2lbs potatoes, boiled & mashed to a very firm, stiff consistency
1 large peeled & very finely chopped onion
Lots of freshly ground back pepper

METHOD

Pre-heat the oven to medium, as for recipe no.1 above. Oil a metal baking tin (a small-ish meat roasting tin is fine) or an oven-proof pyrex casserole dish. Mix all the ingredients together, and press down firmly into the meat tin or casserole dish.....and, simply put in the oven, bake for 35 mins and serve either with a green salad, or boiled new potatoes in their skins and peas.

5. TROUT WITH PEANUT SAUCE

This is a truly delicious recipe. Some years ago I had trout with peanut sauce in a rather classy London restaurant. Of course I didn't get the recipe, so played around a bit trying to create as close as I could to the real thing at home. This is the result - it's very easy to make, yet quite impressive if you are having a dinner party or similar.

2 trout, gutted, boned and beheaded (you can use frozen but fresh is nicer)
1 tablespoon dry white wine
1oz unsalted peanuts, broken into tiny pieces
4 tablespoons peanut butter (you can use smooth or crunchy)
1 teaspoon orange juice
Finely chopped fresh parsley (about 1 tablespoon)
1 knob of butter (about half an ounce)

METHOD

Pre-heat the oven to medium, as for nos.1 and 4 above. Heat the butter gently (you can do this in the microwave - put the butter in a teacup and whizz on the defrost mode for about 2 mins), and brush two sheets of tin foil with the melted butter (make sure the sheets of tin foil are large enough to completely enclose the fish). In a bowl, mix the peanuts with the peanut butter, wine and orange juice. Lay each trout on a separate piece of buttered foil and open the fish right out. Spread the peanut/wine/orange juice mixture over the inner flesh of each trout, dividing the mixture evenly between the two. Close the fish up, wrap the foil securely, but fairly loosely around each fish. Place on a flat baking tray and cook for about 35 mins. When cooked, carefully undo the foil, serve the fish onto 2 plates, and spoon over any stray sauce (most of it should stay inside the fish and seep into the flesh). Sprinkle the top of the fish with the parsley. The fish can be served with boiled potatoes, and either a green salad or steamed green vegetables.

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Well I hope the above offers at least a little appeal to all you fish lovers out there. I also hope I've recorded the quantities of ingredients right, as I tend to go by instinct rather than true measurements.

Thanks for reading!

Summary: Five easy ways with fish