Baked Whole Barramundi, with Asian flavours

This Barramundi fish was caught with a fishing rod and line from the beach, only the day before I baked it, and couldn't have been any fresher, or more delicious. He was caught in the waters of the Hinchinbrook Channel near Cardwell on the Far North Queensland Coast, by a friend who only ever catches as much as he needs, just eats what he can and very thoughtfully gives a few away to older residents of his community. Fishing sustainably like this will ensure that the barramundi won't be fished out in this area by local fishermen.

Salmon, Spinach and Leek Quiche, it's low in calories and carbs and is delicious

This low calorie Salmon and Leek Quiche will be perfect to enjoy over Easter, to balance out all of the other delicious chocolate treats which will be on offer. It can be eaten hot from the oven with a large leafy salad,  or as a cold healthy lunch. You can also add some extra vegetables if you wish.

One Pan Salmon Kedgeree

Kedgeree can be served for breakfast, brunch, lunch or for an easy dinner. Because it can be eaten cold, it's also perfect for on-the-go lunches. Most of the ingredients in this recipe are staple items in every pantry. If you have a can of fish or some poached salmon, an onion, curry powder, cooked rice, and eggs, a simple version of this recipe can be made.  Or replace fish with roasted pumpkin, a vegetarian option. 

Salmon Rissoles with a delicious Herb and Spiced Yoghurt Dressing

Call them Salmon rissoles, fish cakes, fish rissoles, or salmon cakes, they've been called all of these names over the years, because this is a retro recipe which I've been eating as long as I can remember. I've revamped these with a few optional ingredients, but the basic combination of mashed potato, beaten egg, flour, breadcrumbs and tinned red salmon remains the same.

The Freshest Coconut and Lime Ceviche for Easter

 

This Easter, if you like to enjoy Seafood on Good Friday as we do, why not make some   Ceviche for a seafood treat, it's fresh fish with a zing. Ceviche is typically made from very fresh raw fish which is "cooked" or cured in citrus juices such as lime or lemon. With other ingredients added such as fresh herbs and spices, it is a delicious, light and zingy starter for any meal, or can stand alone with a fresh salad as the delicious main meal. We used a very fresh fillet of Kingfish, about 500g, trimmed and cut into 1 cm cubes. The fillet needs to be at least 1 cm thick. However any firm white-fleshed fish could be used. With this recipe, the actual cooking of the fish is the easy part, as the acidulant in the lime juice  “cooks the raw fish.

Hot Smoked Salmon Kedgeree

 

On Sunday we ate this dish of hot smoked fish fillets and spiced rice for lunch, however it is also perfect eaten for breakfast with the addition of softish boiled eggs. Or you can take it up a notch for an easy Sunday night dinner by adding some thawed frozen peas, some more spice or curry powder if you like, and serve it with mango chutney or a relish. Easy peasy! It's a riff on my Friday Night Special, which is a family favourite, still very fishy, and is made on canned tuna or salmon. 

White Cannellini Bean and Tuna Dip with Homemade Sourdough Cob Bread

 

I am loving Spring already, what a gorgeous day it is here today in North Queensland for the first day of Spring. I hope it is wherever you are as well,  and that in the Northern Hemisphere the start of Fall brings lots of hope for a better year ahead. This was the last weekend for Winter, and by Saturday my sourdough starter was happily bubbling away, so I made the most of it and  mixed up three loaves of sourdough in bowls ready to rise all night in my warm laundry. While I was sleeping, the sourdough was doing its work, the perfect arrangement. On Sunday morning I found my mojo and prepared two loaves for proofing, and then excitedly thought that I would try my hand at an artisan style cob loaf for a change. So my friends, my story is as much about this delicious White Bean dip that I saw on John's blog at Kitchen Riffs, as about my artisan style cob sourdough loaf.

I saw the Bean dip recipe on KR's blog early in the morning and had been hankering after it ever since as it looked like a great alternative to carbs. All those beans are very healthy for our gut, and then when my bread came out of the oven, this went with that and we had a delicious lunch of  Cannelini Bean Tuna Dip with freshly baked Sourdough Cob Loaf and salad. Not something we generally do for lunch but my friends it was tasty and light and the dip only took 15 minutes in the food processor to prepare. I added some extra tuna, lemon juice and seasoning to the original recipe but that's just me wanting a really tasty topping for the sourdough. For afternoon snacks, dips, and drinks, I might go lighter on the lemon juice and the tuna and just use the 141 g. as per the recipe, but it depends on your taste buds at the time. I always like to taste my food as I cook. Thanks for the inspiration KitchenRiffs. Here are the ingredients for the Dip and then I will tell you about my best sourdough cob loaf to date. I'm still excited at the result.

Ingredients:

• 1 x 400 g (15 oz.) can of white beans (I used cannellini beans)
• 1 garlic clove, the bigger the better
• 3 chopped shallots or substitute chopped chives 
• 141 grams (5 oz.)  from a large can of tuna in olive oil, and add more according to taste if you like it stronger 
• 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice (or more to taste)
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 2 to 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste, about 12 grinds
• finely chopped shallots, parsley or chives to garnish, just the green part

Method:

Drain the can of beans in a colander, rinse them and set aside to drain.

Peel the garlic clove, roughly chop, and add to your food processor bowl.

Wash and prepare the shallots, roughly chop, and add to the food processor. Save some green  bits from the shallots for a garnish, chopped chives work well too.

Add the can of tuna and the olive oil it's packed in to the food processor. Add the cannellini beans. 

Process the lot  until well mixed.

Add your lemon zest and lemon juice. While the motor is whirring, slowly add the olive oil, 2-3 tablespoons. (If you have made hummus or pesto in your food processor you will know to add a little extra olive oil to achieve the right consistency and some more lemon juice if it needs a little extra kick for your taste.)

Now add salt and pepper to taste.

Scrape the dip mixture from your food processor bowl using a rubber spatula or whatever bowl scraper you use.

For individual servings, spoon into individual bowls, or just use one large serving bowl. Garnish attractively with finely chopped shallots, chives or parsley. I was in a hurry to  put this on our table,  so some chopped shallots was what I used. 

I used my freshly baked sourdough cob bread slices  for dipping, but you can use pita bread, crackers, cucumber slices and other chopped vegetables such as carrots and celery. I was in a hurry so I just used whole cherry tomatoes and cucumber. Delicious and fresh.

Whilst I was preparing my cob loaf, my rectangular bread loaf was baking so the oven was nice and hot for the cob.

 I bake sourdough bread most weeks now, and as long as I remember to have my starter dough (Mother) fermented and ready and bubbling after a couple of days of feeding we have fresh sourdough bread baking by Thursday. Last weekend it happened to be Sunday, which was a free day, so I decided that was the day I wanted to try a different bread making technique and make a cob loaf. I've been inspired for quite a while by posts written on sourdough by Celia@FigJamandLimeCordial, who produces beautiful artisan style cobs of bread using covered enamel baking dishes, and has been very kindly making bread for her neighbours during the Covid crisis. She is also a very clever lady with handicraft. Anyway, I couldn't help myself, and I also invested in a book recommended by Celia written by Emilie Raffa, called "Artisan Sourdough Made Simple". In her book she refers to Celia's technique and breaks down the process of how to bake a loaf which resembles one baked by an artisan bakery. Well my friends to be honest, I didn't quite achieve that, but following Emilie's technique for a simple rye sourdough cob I was pleased with the result for my first attempt. I used my red enamel CHASSEUR pot with a lid to bake the loaf in and it worked. I was really excited with the result. My friend Lulu just happened to call in and visit whilst I was taking loaves in and out of the oven and found herself caught up in the excitement. The loaf had a beautifully browned crust, with a pattern, sounded hollow on the base when tapped, and most importantly was absolutely delicious.

I used my standard recipe that I generally use for making sourdough loaves, and if you would like my recipe you can find it here on my blog. Save me from typing it out again.

Whilst baking a loaf using this method takes more time, the result is worth it. So here is the method I used for the actual baking of the cob loaf after I had proofed it in a proofing basket lined with a flour dusted tea towel, however you could use a bowl. After the initial proofing of the dough overnight, and a gentle kneading, with floured hands cup the dough and pull it toward you in a circular motion to tighten its shape. It is very malleable at this point. Place the dough into your proofing basket, seam side up.

For the second rise, cover the dough and let it rest until it is puffy but not fully risen, which took about an hour in the warm sun.

Now for the baking, I was getting excited.  Preheat your oven to 230 deg. C., 450 deg. F Yes it needs a hot oven. Cut a sheet of parchment paper to fit the size of your baking pot.

Place your sheet of parchment over the dough and invert the proofing basket to release. Dust the dough with plain flour,  gently coating the whole surface of the dough. Then, decide what design you would like on your dough when it comes out of the oven, and make 8 cm cuts around the dough using either the tip of a razor blade or a small serrated knife. This is what I use. In her book, Emilie give lots of ideas about designs for her bread as does Celia on her blog. I just did four simple slits this time because I was pushed for time, next time I will be more creative.



Use the parchment to lift the dough into the baking pot. This is very important as it is still soft to handle.

BAKE the dough on the centre rack of your oven for 20 minutes, covered with the lid of your pot.. Remove the lid, and continue to bake for 30 minutes. Lift or tip the bread out of the pot, and finish baking the bread back in the oven directly on the rack for the last 10 minutes. Transfer your loaf to a wire cooling rack and cool for 1 hour before slicing, if you can keep the hungry hoards away from it that is.

Your work is done and your bread will be delicious using that technique.

Enjoy Spring or the Fall my friends, I am feel quite optimistic that things can only improve from here on in.

Oops we have visitor, must go. Sorry about any typos:)

Warm wishes

Pauline

My Malaysian Fish Dish Recipe

Instead of queuing up for fresh fish and prawns today, and paying a fortune, I cooked this Malaysian Fish Dish curry for dinner tonight for the two of us, and it was delicious, and there are leftovers tomorrow to look forward to. This recipe is a riff on a family recipe I found the other day, handwritten on a piece of paper in one of my Mother's recipe books. 

Succulent and Saucy Nannygai Fish Wings

We were given a kilo of Nannygai fish wings by friends who went on a a fishing trip to the Great Barrier Reef out from Mackay. They caught a lot of fish. I'm not sure whether these were small mouth Nannygai (Crimson Snapper) or Large mouth Nannygai, however both are beautiful eating fish, and I think it would have been easier from what I have read to catch the small mouth ones.

Friday Night Special for a family

Tuna and rice are the basis of so many economical and tasty meals and this one has been a family favourite for years. Preparing fast, easy and nutritious meals is the way to survive the summer we are having. Sometimes they take a little bit of forward planning, for example with this dish having the rice cooked in advance, but that is easy particularly if you cook a stir fry the night before accompanied by rice.

Coconut and Lime Ceviche as a starter or canape, from the kitchen of Pinetrees Lodge on Lord Howe Island

Coconut and Lime Ceviche

Greetings from Food and Wine week on Lord Howe Island. Ceviche is typically made from very fresh raw fish which is "cooked" or cured in citrus juices such as lime or lemon. With other ingredients added such as fresh herbs and spices, it is a delicious, light and zingy starter for any meal. We used a very fresh fillet of Kingfish, about 500g, trimmed and cut into 1 cm cubes. The fillet needs to be at least 1 cm thick. However any firm white-fleshed fish could be used. With this recipe, the actual cooking of the fish is the easy part, as the acidulant in the lime juice  “cooks the raw fish”.

Salmon Fishcakes (Rissoles) for a nutritious and easy midweek meal

Salmon Rissoles or Fish Cakes

Salmon rissoles or Fishcakes are a great idea for a satisfying, nutritious and tasty midweek meal and the kids love them as well as the adults. I remember this being one of my favourite meals when I was growing up at home in Rockhampton, many moons ago. It is a timeless classic, very simple to make and kind to the household budget. If you keep a can of salmon or tuna and a few potatoes and onions in your pantry, this dish can be very easily created at the end of a working day or during the day if you work from home, and then just cooked up 15 minutes before you want to eat. I am often quite varied with ingredients that I add depending on what I have on hand.

It is a good idea to make a double quantity, as you can then freeze half of them uncooked for next time, or you will find that leftovers are great heated up the next day for lunch boxes or eaten cold, or be prepared that they will all just disappear in one sitting by your hungry family. Make these an hour before you want to cook them if possible. They will firm up in the fridge and be much easier to cook and turn over.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 large can of quality pink or red salmon or tuna in springwater
1 medium onion, finely chopped ( or a small bunch of fresh chopped chives or finely chopped shallots)
3 medium potatoes, boiled and mashed
1/4 cup of breadcrumbs for the mixture
1 large free-range egg
25g fresh or frozen peas (optional)
1 chilli, finely diced (optional)
1/2 capsicum finely chopped
Coriander and Parsley (or just parsley), finely chopped (approx. 2 tablespoons)
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup Panko or homemade breadcrumbs for coating or just plain flour  for coating so they don't stick to the pan

Let's cook:

Put your peeled and chopped potatoes onto boil in a half-filled large saucepan and add a pinch of salt. Bring the pot to the boil, and then simmer gently for around 10 minutes or until cooked through. If using peas as well, place them in the boiling water for the last 2 minutes. Whilst the potatoes are boiling, prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Drain all the liquid from the can of salmon in a colander over the sink. Remove the skin and place salmon in a bowl and using a fork flake it into small pieces. Leave the bones in, these are very good for you, and are full of calcium.They're soft and you can easily mash them to incorporate into the flesh.
Chop the other ingredients.
Mash the cooked potato and allow it to cool.



While the potato is cooling add all the other ingredients to the fish, then the cooled mashed potato, mix well and form into patties about the size of the palm of your hand. Coat with dry breadcrumbs, if desired, or just coat them in flour and leave them in the fridge on a plate covered in Cling Wrap for about an hour to firm up.  After removing them from the fridge, you may need to give them another light dusting of breadcrumbs or flour before cooking.

Fry in hot oil such as Rice Bran Oil until both sides are golden brown, which takes about 15 minutes.

Serve with Sweet Chilli Sauce or Chilli Jam if you are in a hurry,  and a fresh green salad or vegetables. Sometimes I make a Minted Yoghurt dressing to serve alongside them.

Minted yoghurt dressing:

100 g reduced-fat natural Greek style yoghurt
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint leaves
1-2 teaspoons lemon juice, to taste

Mix together and serve alongside the salad and fishcakes.


MY TIP: This recipe is just as delicious made with tinned tuna. Tinned salmon used to be very expensive, pink salmon not as expensive, so tinned tuna was generally used by my Mum and they also tasted just as delicious.

I hope you get a chance to make these easy rissoles, I don't think you will be disappointed.

Enjoy!

Warm wishes,

 Pauline.

Easy Tuna Kedgeree (our Family Friday Night Special Recipe)

Friday Night Special is a McNee family recipe originally passed on by Neil's sister, Suzanne, many years ago. Whilst I still rely on memory, it was a good excuse to talk to Sue tonight to find out what the original recipe actually was. I had remembered it fairly well, but have obviously gradually increased the quantity of curry powder over the years. The original recipe was only two teaspoons.

Salmon, fresh or smoked, with asparagus and tagliatelle

Salmon, fresh or smoked, with asparagus and tagliatelle
Serves 4-6

Last night I made a variation of a meal that I love, which normally has smoked salmon, tagliatelle and asparagus and is only 520 cal, or 2183 kjs per serve. Instead of the smoked salmon I substituted poached salmon which was beautiful but required some extra herbs and seasonings to give it the burst of flavour that the smoked salmon provides. We are now needing to consume so much omega-3, but honestly I don't take fish tablets, and I need a variety and tasty meals using fish, particularly oily fish like salmon. This recipe requires herbs and you can use what you have that go with fish, but I think the mint is very necessary.

200g smoked salmon, cut into strips or 3-4 nice fillets of fresh salmon
375 g dried or 500 g fresh tagliatelle
2 large bunches or 400 g asparagus trimmed and cut into 5 cm lengths
2 leeks, white part only, rinsed and finely sliced
1 cup salt-reduced chicken or vegetable stock (extra 500ml stock if poaching fresh salmon)
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 cups, (235 g) frozen peas, fresh if you have them
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint (if you really like it add more like I do)
3 tablespoons finely chopped chopped parsley, plus extra to serve
a very large handful of shredded basil, plus extra to serve
dill (optional)
tarragon (optional) , quite strong so be careful
pinch nutmeg ( I like it grated fresh), smells wonderful
2 tablespoons grated fresh parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve
1 tablespoon olive oil

Let's cook:

Cook the tagliatelle in a large saucepan of boiling water until al dente. Drain well.

If using fresh salmon, set it to poach slowly in a separate deep pan in simmering chicken stock with slices of lemon and added herbs for about 10 mins or until cooked but still firm.

Put the leek and half the stock in a large, deep frying pan. Cook over low heat, stirring often for 4-5 minutes. Add and stir in the peas, mint and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the remaining stock and 125 ml (1/2 cup) water and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Stir in the fresh asparagus, parsley and basil and simmer for a further 3-4 minutes, or until the asparagus is just tender, and still crisp. You can gradually increase the heat so that the sauce reduces to a light coating consistency. Gently stir in the grated nutmeg, parmesan and smoked salmon or sliced cooked salmon,  and add a good grind of black pepper.

Gradually add the pasta to the sauce and toss lightly to coat. Serve lightly drizzled with the olive oil, and scattered with a little extra grated parmesan and chopped parsley or basil or whatever you prefer.

There are always leftovers which are delicious heated up the next day.
p.s.
Luckily I have basil, parsley, tarragon, mint and dill growing prolifically in my garden so I use whatever I wish. Sometimes I add a fresh chilli from my garden depending on who will be eating it. We love it.

I'm sure lots of other flavourings could be used in this dish. Any ideas?