Catch of the day
Seafood is the key to fuss-free meals when you’ve got other fish to fry, says NZ House & Garden food editor Sally Butters.
Clams, bacon & dashir
Serve this dish with a crusty baguette – it’s ideal for mopping up the delicious broth.
Canola oil for frying
6 rashers smoked streaky bacon,
cut into pieces
600ml water
5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and
cut into thin matchsticks 4 spring onions, thinly sliced on
the diagonal
1 tsp instant dashi
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1.5kg clams, cleaned of grit
In a frying pan, heat a little oil, add the bacon and fry until crisp. Drain on paper towels.
In a large wide saucepan, heat the water with the ginger and 3 of the spring onions. When it comes to the boil, add the dashi, stir to dissolve then add the soy sauce and mirin. When the mixture comes back to the boil, add the clams, cover with a tight-fltting lid and steam for a few minutes until all have opened (discard any that don’t open).
Spoon the clams into warmed bowls, add some broth to each, garnish with the remaining spring onion and sprinkle with the bacon. Serve immediately.
Serves 4
Roasted lemon fish with capsicums & cherry tomatoes
A much-underrated fish, lemon fish (or rig shark) is sweet tasting and firm fleshed, making it ideal for roasting. Any other thick fish fillet would work here, too.
The important part of this recipe is to have the oven and baking dish hot before you add the vegetables – it gives them a really quick start.
250g cherry tomatoes
3 capsicums, yellow and red, cored
and thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for
frying
600g skinned and boned lemon
fish, cut into 4 pieces
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp black olives
2 tbsp capers
Finely chopped flat-leafed parsley
to garnish
Place a baking dish in the oven and heat to 200C.
In a medium bowl, toss the cherry tomatoes and capsicums with the oil, season with salt and freshly ground pepper, and place in the hot baking dish. Roast for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, season the fish with salt and pepper and brown in a frying pan with a little olive oil.
When the vegetables have cooked for 10 minutes, sprinkle the vinegar, olives and capers over and place the fish on top. Roast for
5-8 minutes (depending on the thickness of the fillets) until the fish is just cooked.
Sprinkle with parsley and serve on warmed plates. This is delicious with a side of boiled new potatoes and a rocket salad dressed with lemon, extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper.
Serves 4
Mussel fritters with walnut tarator
Tarator is a Middle Eastern sauce, made with various types of nuts. Here, walnuts go particularly well with the mussels.
Walnut tarator
1 clove garlic, finely chopped cup fresh walnut pieces cup day-old breadcrumbs cup extra virgin olive oil cup milk tsp salt
3-4 tbsp white wine vinegar Mussel fritters
cup white wine or water 2kg live mussels, debearded and
scrubbed
1 lemon, finely grated zest cup finely chopped flat-leafed parsley 3 eggs, separated cup flour tsp baking powder Canola oil for shallow frying
Tarator: In a food processor, grind the garlic and walnuts to a small crumb. Add the breadcrumbs, olive oil, milk and salt, and process until smooth.
Add 3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar, taste and add a little more if necessary. You may need to add a little more milk. Makes about 1 cup Fritters: In a large saucepan, heat the wine or water over a mediumhigh heat then, in 2 batches, cook the mussels just until they open. Strain, reserving the cooking liquor, and set the mussels aside until cool enough to handle.
Remove the meat from shells and discard the tongues. Cool the mussel meat before using. (This can be done a day ahead, storing the mussels in the cooking liquor to keep moist.)
Chop each mussel into 4-5 pieces and combine with the lemon zest and parsley. Combine the egg yolks with cup of the reserved cooking liquor and mix with the mussels. Sift the flour and baking powder and stir into the mussels. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks and fold into the mussel mix.
Heat a frying pan, add some oil and when hot, drop large spoonfuls of the batter into the pan and cook on each side. Do this in batches and keep the fritters warm while cooking the remaining mixture. Serve on warm plates with the walnut tarator. Delicious with braised spinach.
Serves 4 (makes 12)