Category: Fish

This dish is, in my humble opinion, restaurant quality. The crust and the sauce elevate boring old salmon to something quite special. Don’t be put off by the recipe suggesting it takes 1-2 hours to prepare – there is no way it takes even an hour to prepare. So while it is special you don’t need to save it for a special occasion.

Lovely served with mashed potato and roasted broccoli.

Recipe link

Thank you to Pete Evans for this wonderful beautiful dish, in taste and looks. This dish is easily halved, as I have done here. All the components can be made ahead of time and assembled at the last minute. If you have any left overs this will keep in the fridge for a few days and still taste wonderful.

Link to the recipe

Some tips

• I recommend not adding the olive oil to the herb crust until you are ready to dress the salmon. The olive oil will over a long length of time reduce the freshness of colour from the herbs.
• I don’t add the full amount of olive oil to the crust, it is not necessary. The purpose of the oil is to bind the crust ingredients together. Pour in a bit at a time and mix until you feel it is the right consistency.
• Note that only half the quantity of the tahini sauce is needed for the salmon. The recipe suggests using the other half to serve on the side. Personally, I don’t think this is needed so I just make half the quantity
• and finally, the recipe suggests using a food processor for making the tahini sauce. What a waste of washing up! You only need a fork to mix up the tahini ingredients. Note that it should be a fairly thick paste as it forms a layer on top of the salmon for the herb crust to stick to.

An easy and fool proof way to cook a lovely piece of fish. Crazy water is a translation of ‘acqua pazza’ – the Italian name for this way of poaching fish. It is traditionally done with whole fish but I know many of you are squeamish about whole fish and would prefer to use fillets. If you do this, just remember to reduce the cooking time for the fish. You can also use bream.

Recipe for 4

• 4 whole small seabass, gutted
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove very finely sliced
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 500g ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
• a glass of white wine
• handful of capers
• small handful of flat parsley, chopped
• small handful of basil leaves, torm

Method

• If needed, rinse the fish clean and pat dry in a tea towel
• In a frying pan that you can put a lid on to, heat a good glug of oil and then lay the fish side by side. Sprinkle over the garlic, chilli and two pinches of salt.

• After 4 minutes, turn the fish over, add the tomatoes and cook for another 4 minutes
• Now add the wine and capers and cook for a further 4 minutes, until the fish is cooked through.
• Remove the fish from the pan to plate up. Add the parsley and basil to the pan and turn up the heat for a minute or two to reduce the sauce. Pour over the fish and enjoy.

This recipe comes from BBC Good Food Magazine. It oozes juice and tastes amazing. In fact the raw mix is so good I can imagine serving that as a starter in a bed of lettuce. We always have this with sweet potato fries. You can get me on the trade description act though here because I roast them not fry them., coated in some oil, salt, smoked paprika and then dusted with semolina.

Ingredients: for two people

• 300g fresh tuna steak
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• small knob fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• handful coriander leaves, chopped (of course I substitute for some parsley)
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• burger buns, lettuce leaves, sliced tomato and avocado, to serve

Method

1. Chop the tuna into small chunks, then carry on chopping until the tuna is roughly minced. If you have one, a large rocker chopper (for herbs) is great for this.
2. Tip the tuna into a bowl and mix with the garlic, ginger, soy sauce and coriander. Shape into two burgers, place on a plate, then freeze for 10 mins to firm up.
3. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan, then cook the burgers for 1-2 mins on each side or until done to your liking. To be honest though, I wouldn’t actually bother with this recipe if you want it to be cooked thoroughly all the way through. You will lose all the lovely juiciness.
4. Serve the burgers in toasted buns with lettuce, tomato and avocado