Tag: Fish

mediterranean white fish supper
Gluten Free, Meal, Seafood, Spring, Summer, Winter

Simple Mediterranean Style White Fish Supper

I need to start by telling you that we love this meal! It has been in regular rotation here for the past four months and the only reason I haven’t told you about it sooner is my disappointment with the previous attempts with photos and a belief that they never do justice to how delicious this is – if you enjoy fish and you enjoy complex Mediterranean flavours please  – make it! It is a simple one pan fish meal that can work well with just about any white fish.  We love Southern Blue Cod and it is mainly what I have used for this, but it is hearty enough to stand up to much stronger fish as well and is perfect with Snapper,  Gurnard or Monk fish, to name a few, and even bigger fish such as Tuna would be amazing in this.  Try the Tuna and please let me know – or I will let you know when I do! This meal is a delicious light supper using simple staple ingredients I like to have in the refrigerator and pantry. As an aside, the canned cherry tomatoes are a great pantry staple that I highly recommend especially in winter when fresh tomatoes are expensive and not at their most delicious. This is a great meal at any time of the year with strong, clean, simple flavours, and the only prior preparation needed is to cook off some baby or new potatoes. SIMPLE MEDITERRANEAN STYLE WHITE FISH SUPPER Start […]

Condiments, Gluten Free, Savoury, Spring, Summer, Winter

My Japanese Ponzu Sauce

Home made summer inspiration coming right up.  This cooling Japanese condiment while delicious at any time is particularly suited to hot summer days when you are wanting to do little more than some quick chopping and mixing to achieve dinner. I was initially motivated to make this having had a delicious Beef Tataki at a local restaurant.  Inspired, I decided to pair it with Ponzu Sauce and some of Eds venison fillets. This worked really well, but over the next few weeks it came into its own making big entertainment salads with venison Shitake mushrooms, Mushroom House-Crispy Oyster Mushroom Chips (worthy of a mention on there own for there utter deliciousness)…., simple salads for one – namely me – with a piece of salmon, tofu or beef over the top,   and more Tataki inspired  dishes. It turns out though that this amazing and complex sauce lasts well in the refrigerator – up to six months as long as no water is added and it it works over and beside a huge number of meals.  Use it – As a simple salad dressing with a Japanese twist. Make a great big family style salad Over raw or cooked fish such as salmon, tuna, oysters… Beef thinly sliced. Tofu. Potstickers or dumplings as a dipping sauce Shabu – shabu Noodles Poke bowl Buddha or grain bowl Steamed sautéed or charred vegetables Tempura. Crumbed fried or baked meats or vegetables… I am sure there are many other ways just waiting to be tried.  […]

salmon gravlax and Te Amo pinot gris
Canape, Gluten Free, Lunch, Meal, Salad, Seafood

Salmon Gravlax and Te Amo Wines Pinot Gris

This weekend I shared a day with my friend Ruth from Te Amo wines, matching food with her beautiful Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir wines.  It was also Ruths birthday and I was lucky to also be able to share food and wine with her amazing friends and family. The story of Ruth and her wine is all about the special relationship with family, friends, food and wine, and all of this was embodied in the spirit of the day I spent with her.  See the bottle in the picture above and her story is there – the drawing by her amazing daughter, a speech bubble with the name Te Amo,  meaning I love you, and on the back of the bottle a brief description of the wine giving you a feeling for the wine but allowing you to draw your own conclusions For this special occasion, and to match her Pinot Gris, I prepared  Scandinavian Salmon Gravadlax. This is a simple preparation that can happen slowly in the refrigerator over a few days. There are many variations on this traditional recipe that are also amazing, but for me I am happy to keep with the original simple recipe – no added spirits or beetroot today.  Most times I will eat gravlax as a pre prandial, canape or tapa, but today I wanted to make a seasonal salad to share as part of a birthday lunch, hoping to embrace fresh spring flavours for the party.  I have served the Gravadlax […]

miso mustard salad dressing
Condiments, Gluten Free, Lunch, Meal, Salad, Seafood, Vegetable

Miso Mustard Dressing and Black Bean Noodle Salad

Todays recipe forms the base for a simple weeknight meal for one, or a crowd, but can also be a delicious salad in its own right.  Miso meets mustard and comes together in this surprising and delicious dressing/sauce. Miso it seems is a very versatile ingredient which can be used in surprising and different ways apart from all the wonderful Japanese recipes we know and love.  With its strong umami flavour, its fermented gut health qualities and its very long shelf life, it is a great addition to the refrigerator.  Its longevity works really well for me – with my impulsive food buying nature, I like to know I don’t have to use it all now, and risk my family becoming thoroughly sick of one particular ingredient. No chance of that today though as I ended up making supper for one on this occasion as flight plans were unexpectedly rescheduled.  Luckily this is one of those meal plans that can easily fit around the needs of the moment for the masses or the few. I have been working on extending my repetoire for simple meal plans for weeknights. We have been making some amazing ready meals at work and I like the idea of extending this idea to some of my home meal prep.  I haven’t made this “one pan” – but still the dishes are not onerous with a blender or jar for the dressing, a pot for the noodles and vegetables and a pan or sheet tray for […]

polenta fish in chips
Brunch, Canape, Gluten Free, Lunch, Meal, Snack

Smoked Fish in Polenta Chips

Today I have a new take Polenta – an old staple with a surprising new twist.  Inspired by a recipe in The Guardian by one of my great food hero’s Yottam Ottolinghi.  This is the real deal in comfort food – smokey, fishy, spicey  (if thats what you want – I do! ), a little cheesey and to finish  some fresh herby goodness.  It involves infusing milk with aromatics from your pantry and garden, then gently poaching smoked fish in this before straining and adding the polenta to cook, then once thickened returning the flaked smoked fish cheese and herbs to the thickened polenta. Cooking like this for me allows moments to step away from the busyness of life and focus on simpler things, to take it a little slowly – be patent and let the milk infuse – go outside and find a few simple herbs tucked in the corner or sheltering from the winter under the weeds – this is not about the perfect ingredient list, just taking time to bring it together with what you have to hand.  In the end you will have something that can wait until you are ready to enjoy on your own or share with the few or the many. This recipe can be halved , doubled or tripled to suit – make it an put a slab in the freezer for later or make a great big batch for hearty snacks or dinner for a crowd. Polenta has always been a […]

Goan fish curry parcel
Gluten Free, Meal, Seafood

Week Night Indian Spiced Fish Parcels

  Mid week meals need to simple, quick and versatile.  This is a new addition to our rotation and has been dubbed by the men in my house delicious and blog worthy.  As always I am very susceptible to flattery so it will definitely stay on the menu.  More than flattery though will keep it on our table,! It works because it can be changed up in a number of ways – you can change the variety of fish you use – branch out and try fish you haven’t cooked before or a cheaper variety. It has worked for me using whatever fish is most affordable, or available on the day, and even try mixed fish in the parcel – maybe prawns too!  You can also play with the vegetables you put in here as long as nothing requires more than the quickest cooking.  The coconut cream and the spices carry through the parcels and make it all delicious. The idea for this came from a conversation with a friend Jean Foster in Raeward Fresh, with a verbal recipe given – time and my memory being what it is this may have strayed far from Jeans original recipe but it has certainly led to some delicious dinners and for that I thank you Jean! I am lucky enough to have some of Jen’s Cozinhas Goan fish curry powder, and I would certainly recommend your searching this out if you live in New Zealand.  For those not lucky enough to use […]

sushi salad lettuce cups
Canape, Gluten Free, Lunch, Meal, Salad, Seafood, Summer

Summer Sushi Salad Lettuce Cups

A spell of early summer days has hit Queenstown and with it happy times and a need for cool, soothing, quick and simple meals.  My photography today definitely doesn’t do justice to how delicious and easy these were to eat.  You need to check for Ed’s tips on lettuce preparation and enjoy these yourself while the summer days last.  There is plenty of scope here to ad-lib and to add all of the good bits you want a little more of in your traditional sushi. Sushi salads have long been popular at home and at work, but this week sushi salad randomly collided with a plan to make Prawn San Choy Bau for the blog.  The sushi salad was to be for our evening meal and the Prawns for San Choy Bau blog post, that will have to be another day!  It all came together by happy chance as dinner for family, and Marko, my hard working Cultural Exchange helper.  It was declared delicious and definitely blog worthy in its own right – so here we are!  The prawns, although providing another delicious crunch element, could easily be replaced with any other seafood – fish fillets, crab, calamari – or tofu, or as you see in the pictures  – some slices of avocado, cucumber, snow peas etc. (The snow pea sprouts unless chopped are not such a good idea in my mind – why do they always seem to end up hanging out the side of my mouth – is […]

mussel fritters
Canape, Gluten Free, Meal, Savoury

New Zealand Green lip Mussel Fritters

Healthy, affordable, available and delicious, New Zealand Green lip Mussels are found in abundance in our supermarkets and fish mongers – fresh in tanks, frozen in the half shell, as pates, pickled/brined and smoked. I love that, in a world in which good quality foods can be expensive,  mussels are so much a part of our food culture and can still be so affordable. I love to buy them fresh from the tank as an easy Friday night meal, simply steaming them open and serving them in a big bowl with some crusty bread and good butter. These mussel fritters are simple and very versatile, you can easily change the flavour profile by adding spices or pastes to your base mix, or using different toppings Use smoked mussels fresh. Load with fresh herbs such as parsley, chervil and dill. Add a spoon full of zhoug or harissa to give a middle eastern feel. Add a teaspoon of curry powder – a great savoury addition to a surprising number of things. Handful of grated cheese. Add some fresh chilli and asian herbs and spoon an Asian dipping sauce over them in the shell. Serve with yoghurt, labna, mayonnaise, cashew based sauce, zhoug……… Make them larger and serve them as part of a meal rather than a canapé. BASIC MUSSEL FRITTER MIX This will make approximately 25 small but chunky fritters to fit in your half shells If using fresh mussels steam these open in a large pot.  Simply add a half […]

prawn croissant tapas
Canape, Savoury, Seafood, Snack

Prawn Croissant Tapas

Any time is a good time to have friends and family around and to be able to share with them simple and delicious snacks, or tapas,  with a glass of wine is for me the some of the best of times! These prawn croissants can be prepared earlier and served cold, at room temperature, or gently warmed. You can also easily halve the prawns and pastry to make them a  one bite canapé size.  These are simply  made, with foods that you can have in your refrigerator and freezer at any time, all that is required is a little defrosting time for your prawns and pastry.   PRAWN, KIMCHI, CREAM CHEESE CROISSANTS Preheat oven to 220’c If  you are using Good Honest Pastry, start by cutting it lengthwise in half and rolling it again lengthwise to 3/4 its length. You need a long rectangle of pastry approx. 15 cm wide and 60cm long Cut your pastry into long triangles the width of the pastry and about 4-5cm wide at the base. (See photo). Place 1/2 a tsp of cream cheese and one teaspoon of chopped kimchi at the wide end of the pastry and the prawn across the top of this. Roll from the wide end to the narrow end of the pastry stretching it slightly around the prawn mix as you go. Place on a lined baking tray and brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake in a hot oven 15 – 20 minutes until crisp […]

raw fish kokoda
Canape, Gluten Free, Meal, Salad, Savoury, Seafood, Snack

Delicious and Easy Raw Fish Kokoda

Sadly, I haven’t just returned from a holiday in Fiji sitting in beach front restaurants eating genuine Fijian raw fish Kokoda.  But, I was this week the recipient of some beautiful line-caught tuna, fresh from the West Coast.   The immediate problem was that the only time available to prepare the fish was now!  Luckily it came with a reference to a local restaurant that has a delicious Kokoda (Fijian ceviche), on the menu.  Thanks to Google, and the fact that making Kokoda requires just a few every day ingredients,  our dinner was delicious! Inspired by success, I knew I wanted to share this with you.  It is such a simple and delicious treat that can be made in large or small quantities – a dainty canapé, an entree or served with salad as a light main course.  Although I chose to use tuna a second time, this was because it was the freshest fish available on the day, you could make this with any very fresh fish you are lucky enough to buy, catch or be given.   So – to my lovely daughter who gave me the first piece of tuna and the idea for Kokoda, I say, “make sure you take a lemon, a red onion and a can of coconut milk on all your fishing trips, but please bring home a little fish as well xx”. As is becoming apparent, I do like food to mostly be quick and tasty .   Mid week particularly is […]