Fish Fillets

Want to spice up your ordinary frozen fish fillets?  Then try out this receipe!

Ingredients:

• 4 Frozen Fish Fillets
• 1 large tomato
• Handful fresh basil
• 2 Garlic cloves
• Olive Oil
• 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
• Salt & Pepper

Method:

1. Thaw the frozen fish fillets.  In the meantime, roughly chop the tomato then add  together to the garlic, basil and olive oil and blend all using a blender.
2. The paste will be quite runny at this point, add the breadcrumbs and mix with a spoon until you get a smooth spreadable paste.
3. Season with salt and pepper accordingly.
4. Spoon over the fillets and coat one side.
5. Let stand in the fridge until ready to use.
6. Grill on a preheated BBQ for about 10 minutes on low heat with the lid closed.  Make sure to coat the griddle with oil before putting on the BBQ so to avoid the fish sticking to it.

On the side you can make a cold salad.  The one shown in the above picture is made from a mix of kidney beans, cucumber, green peppers and some feta cheese, then drizzled all over with some olive oil.  Chill before serving.

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Marinated Tuna Steaks

Who doesn't love BBQ season?  Here's a healthy recipe as an alternative to the normal meat recipes one is used to associate when barbecuing.  Although they do look like a piece of steak don't they?

Ingredients for 2 persons:

• 2 Tuna Steaks
• 1 cup fresh basil
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1/3 cup white wine

Method:

1. Put the basil, garlic and olive oil in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Place the tuna steaks in a dish and pour over the freshly blended 'pesto'.  Pour over the lemon juice and white wine.
3. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.  Then grill on a barbecue or on a hot plate for about 2 minutes on each side.

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Trio di Calamari

Since I love fried calamari I wanted to try it at home with fresh calamari, and while at it I did 3 variations so at least after the hard work of cleaning and cutting the calamari once eaten you will be left with the thought "..when will I do these again!!"

Ingredients:

• 4 Calamari
• 2 Cups Milk
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Cup Flour
• 1/2 Cup Breadcrumbs
• 1/3 Cup Ready made Sweet Chilli
• Salt & Pepper
• FryingOil
• Olive Oil

Method:

The calamari are normally cleaned by the fishmonger however you need to rinse them properly and check for any transparent 'bone'still within.  After cleaning them thoroughly cut them into rings usually not larger than about 2cm, depending on your likings.
Mix the 1 egg and the milk in a bowl and place all the calamari in, cover and refrigerate for at least 30mins to 1 hour.
Prepare a bowl with the flour, salt and pepper and toss in all the calamari and coat evenly.

Lightly Floured Deep Fried Calamari:

1. Put a deep pan with about 3 inches oil and put on high heat.
2. Fry in batches so that the calamari rings will cook evenly and will not soak too much oil. Fry for about 3 minutes.

Breaded Calamari Rings:

 1.  Beat the remaining egg in a bowl and put the floured calamari in and coat evenly.
 2.  Remove the excess egg and toss in the bowl with the   breadcrumbs.
 3.  Make sure that the oil is heated up properly (especially after frying the other batch) and toss it carefully.   Fry for about 3 minutes.

Calamari in Sweet Chilli sauce: 

1.  Toss the floured calamari in the heated non stick pan and cook for about 1 minute with a drizzle of olive oil.
2. Pour in the sweet chilli sauce and cook for a further 2/3 minutes.  If sauce is too thick add a little water or white wine. 

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Spaghetti Vongole

I am not a huge fan of fish however this one with fresh shellfish was so good that I had to share it with you.  On my fathers recommendation, a trip to the farmers market is worth while.  Look out for the 'fisherman's wife' van, we have never been disappointed.

Ingredients

• 1 kg fresh vongole (managed to find fresh ones at the local farmers market)
• Garlic
• Cherry tomatoes, halved
• 500g spaghetti
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Olive oil
• 200ml white wine
• Crushed chillies (optional)
• Parsley

Method

1. Put a pan of water for the pasta, to boil.
2. If you are using fresh vongole, sort through them and if there are any which are not tightly closed try to tap them sharply and if they do not close throw them away.
3. Add the pasta to the boiling water.
4. Quickly put a non stick pan on high heat add the olive oil.  When heated through put in the garlic, tomatoes, chilli, salt and pepper.
5. As soon as the garlic starts to colour put in the vongole and the white wine and close the pan with the lid.  Cook for about 4 minutes untill all vongole are open.  If there are any that did not open just toss them away.
6. Drain the pasta and add to the pan of vongole.
7. Stir for a further minute and serve immediately with some chopped parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.

Enjoy! And as a friend of mine always says... 'fresh fish makes all the difference'  

Dedicated to you Jen!

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Denci (Dentex) Fillets

Ingredients

• 1 Denci fillited
• Cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 Green bell pepper
• 1/2 Orange bell pepper
• 1 cup pitted olives
• 1 cup tomato puree (passata)
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

Method

1. Drizzle a hot non stick pan with olive oil and cook the denci fillets for about 5 minutes.
2. Toss in the chopped bell peppers and cook until softened.
3. Add the cherry tomatoes, olives and tomato puree and season to your liking
4. Let it simmer for about 15/20 minutes until you have a thick sauce.

Goes well with potato salad.

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Salmon Parcels

Ingredients

• 1 roll of ready made puff pastry
• 2 Salmon fillets
• 1 large onion
• 2 tomatoes
• Salt & Pepper
• Curry (optional)
• Olive Oil

Method

1. Cut in half the rolled out pastry and set on a baking sheet.
2. Place the salmon and the remaining ingredients on top of it, drizzle with olive oil.
3. Close the pastry and prick with fork.
4. Move the baking sheet with the salmon parcels onto a baking sheet and cook in a preheated oven for 30 minutes or until brown at 190°C

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