Saturday, August 6, 2016

Go Fish

It's hot and everybody's tired of cooking, making the kitchen hotter. We're smart enough to be eating watery melons, berries and vegetables like cucumbers we don't have to cook, to replenish the water our body loses sweating. So how about something else watery, that doesn't need long to cook? How about fish! 

It just so happens they're most plentiful in summer, drawn by the warmer waters of the northern hemisphere. They're quick and easy to cook. Digesting them won't overheat our metabolism and make us perspire even more. Plus they're less caloric than meat. So go get fish. There are often vendors at your local farmers' market.

Here are a few ways the rest of the world enjoys hot weather fish. You can too, making a whole meal by adding a cucumber salad or cold soup.

Crete's Fisherman's Soup
Serves 4
2 1/4 lbs medium potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
1 turbot (around 4 lbs), scaled, gutted and cut into 5 pieces, including the head

1 1/2 c tomatoes, chopped
2 celery sticks
4 bay leaves
Salt
1 2/3 c extra virgin olive oil
3 c water
Juice of 2 lemons
Parsley leaves
4 langoustines or prawns

 
 Use a lidded saucepan that will fit the potatoes snugly in a single layer at the bottom of the pan. After adding the potatoes, add the fish, followed by the tomatoes, celery, bay leaves, salt, olive oil and water. The liquid will only partly cover the fish. Put the saucepan over a high heat and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid and continue to boil another 20 minutes. Shake the pan every so often, but never stir the contents. Before you turn the soup off, make sure the potatoes are soft. Add the lemon juice and parsley leaves, then give the pan a final shake. Turn off the heat, add the langoustines or prawns and let it sit for 15 minutes before serving.
To serve, use a slotted spoon to carefully transfer the fish to shallow bowls. Divide the soup and potatoes into bowls. Add a langoustine or prawn to each  Serve with toasted baguette or warm pita.

Three Chili Fish with Tahini
 serves 4
4 halibut steaks, on the bone (or halibut fillets, skinless and boneless)
Salt
¼ c olive oil
2 mild red chilies, halved lengthwise, seeds removed and cut into ¼” pieces
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 dried ancho chili, trimmed, seeds discarded and torn into ¾” pieces
½ tsp Aleppo chili flakes
2 1/3 lbs plum tomatoes, blanched, skins removed and then flesh roughly chopped into 1/4” dice
4 tbsp tomato paste
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp cumin seeds, toasted and roughly crushed, to serve
cilantro leaves, roughly chopped, to serve
For the tahini sauce
4 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp lemon juice
Lightly season the fish with 1/3 tsp of salt.
In a large sauté pan with a lid on, heat oil over medium-high flame. Add the fresh chili and fry for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, caraway, ancho and Aleppo chili, and fry for a minute more until the garlic starts to turn golden-brown. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and 1/2 tsp of salt. When the mixture is boiling, turn the heat down to medium and simmer 15 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the sauce is thick. Lay the fish in the sauce, cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the sauce by combining the tahini and lemon juice with ¼ c water and large pinch of salt.
Gently lift the fish out of the pan and keep warm. (It may have released a lot of liquid during the cooking, turning the sauce runny, in which case increase the heat and let it bubble away until thick again.) Divide the tomato sauce between four shallow bowls, top with a piece of fish, dribble over a generous helping of tahini sauce, sprinkle with the cumin and cilantro leaves, and serve.

Mexican Snapper Veracruz, easy version
serves 4

4 white fish filets (haddock, cod, snapper, pollock)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 c olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red onion, diced
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
14 0z box/can chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp capers
2/3 c chopped pitted black olives

 Preheat oven to 350º.
Wash and dry the fish. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Season well with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Cover the bottom of a large baking dish with olive oil. Put half the garlic and onion on top.
Lay on the fish filets. Cover with the tomatoes and rest of garlic and onion. Blend into the tomatoes the spices, capers and olives.  Cover the pan with foil. Bake 20 minutes. Uncover and cook another 5 minutes. Test to see that fish flakes, that it's done.  Serve topped with freshly chopped cilantro leaves.





 
Moroccan Trout stuffed with Dates
serves 4

4 medium trout, boned but whole
3/4 c chopped dates
1/4 c cooked rice
1 onion, finely diced
1/3 c chopped cilantro leaves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 c blanched almonds, chopped
3 tbsp butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350º.
Rinse the trout and pat dry. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
In a medium bowl, combine dates, cooked rice. 1/2 onion, cilantro, spices, almonds and 1 1/2 tbsp softened butter. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Blend well.
Spoon this stuffing into the trout. Heavily oil or butter 8 sheets of foil. Double up to make four and lay one trout on each one. Brush the remaining butter over the trout and season it with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Top each fish with some of the remaining chopped onion. Close up each foil packet tightly, sealing the edges.  Place on a large baking sheet and bake 20 minutes. Remove fish to serving plates and dust each with a pinch of ground cinnamon.

Cantonese Steamed Fish

Serves 4
 
1+ lb firm white fish fillets like sea bass or cod, or a whole fish like turbot
1 tsp coarse sea salt or plain salt
2 “ fresh ginger  finely shredded
5-6 spring onions finely shredded
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp peanut, canola or corn oil
2 tsp sesame oil
fresh coriander sprigs, to garnish
If you are using a whole fish, remove the gills. Pat the fish or fish fillets dry with kitchen paper. Rub with the salt on both sides and set aside 30 minutes. This helps the flesh to firm up and draws out any excess moisture.
Set up a steamer, or put a rack into a wok or deep pan, and fill it with 2” of water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Put the fish on a heatproof plate and scatter the ginger evenly over the top. Lower the plate of fish into the steamer or on to the rack. Cover the pan tightly and gently steam the fish until it is just cooked. Flat fish will take about 5 minutes to cook. Thicker fish will take 12-14 minutes.
Remove the plate of cooked fish from the pan and sprinkle with the spring onions and the light and dark soy sauces. Heat the two oils together in a small pan. When they are hot and smoking, pour the hot oil on top of the fish and garnish with the coriander sprigs. Serve at once.

Turkish Fish with Harissa and Olives
serves 4

1/4 c flour for dusting
1/2 c olive oil
4 white fish fillets (cod, perch, snapper)
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
14 oz box/can chopped tomatoes
2-3 tsp harissa
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 c pitted black olives
4 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 c chopped flat leaf parsley

 Season the flour with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and dredge the fish filets in it.
In a heavy, large frying pan, heat 1/4 c olive oil. With heat on medium, add fish filets and brown 2 minutes on either side. Remove to a platter.

Add remaining olive oil, heat and then add onion and garlic. Cook until soft, 3-4 minutes. Add tomatoes, harissa, bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Cook 10 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Remove bay leaves. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Return the fish to the pan, add olives, then cover the fish with the sauce. Cook 2-3 minutes so fish is thoroughly cooked. Remove cinnamon stick. Add lemon juice and parsley. Serve.


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