Seafood Curry

Is it really 2014 already?

I started writing this post on the 14th July 2012 – not sure it was meant to take this long to write. Doesn’t time fly! What a roller-coaster 18 months…

Needless to say, with some gentle persuasion, getting back to this, was getting back to something I love and enjoy doing, and sharing with others. Life was so down and up, that I have missed all my old blogger friends on twitter etc. I wonder what the likes of Karen, Choclette, Dominic, Jack and Fiona and many others have all been up to? A lot of reading and catching up to come, me thinks…

So anyway, am I back? Is this just a passing phase? I hope not 🙂 I have already got another post to follow shortly 😉 I just hope the world of food blogging hasn’t changed too much and that I am not stuck in the old world of ‘2012 style’ posts!

I think this recipe originally came from a BBC email I received way back when, while I was going through a spicy fish phase in my life, having previously done the Spicy Seafood Stew.

So seeing this half-finished post sat in my draft pile, I decided to re-try the recipe. I was surprised that this had not been cooked again in the last 18 months, it was that good! With the availability of social media and sharing images real-time, it meant I was now able to send photos to family members as I was making it, with replies such as ‘yumm’ and ‘can you save me some pls?”

The best part of this recipe is the curry sauce – this is something that took very little time creating and can be cooked up long in advance and potentially used with any accompaniment of your choosing. And of course, if you like it hotter, just add more chillies 🙂

Ingredients:
75g ghee (you can substitute with margarine)
300g skinless white fish like pollack, cut into large chunks
200g skinless salmon , cut into large chunks
200g raw peeled prawns
100g mussels (optional), cleaned and de-bearded


For The Curry Sauce:
1 onion , roughly chopped
100g ginger , chopped
50ml vegetable oil
2 tsp garam masala
½ tsp asafoetida (if you have it)
1 tsp turmeric
1 red chilli , deseeded and finely chopped (leave the seeds in if you like it really hot)
400g can chopped tomatoes
good handful coriander leaves


1. For the curry sauce, whizz the onion and ginger together to a purée. Heat the oil in a large pan until smoking. Add the garam marsala and sizzle for 30 secs, then add the onion and ginger purée, reduce the heat and slowly cook for 5 mins. Add the remaining spices, fry for 1 min, stir in the chilli and fry for another min, then add the tomatoes and a good pinch of salt and grind of pepper, and stir well. You can do this way in advance, then just throw the curry together on the night – the sauce will freeze or keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

2. To make the curry, melt a third of the ghee in a large pan. Cook the white fish for 2-3 mins until lightly browned, then set aside on a plate. Repeat this process with the salmon and prawns, adding another third of ghee each time. For the mussels, heat a medium-sized saucepan on a high heat. Add the mussels with 2 tbsp of water, cover tightly with a lid, and steam for 3-4 mins, shaking the pan every so often. Drain and set aside with the other seafood.

3. Bring the sauce to the boil, stir the fish and mussels in gently, bring to the boil again, then remove from the heat and leave for 3-4 mins – the fish will finish cooking in the heat from the sauce. If you like, add some coriander leaves and serve with rice!

Enjoy!

Monkfish Moilee

I thought it was about time I tried a new curry recipe on here, after having had several requests from family and friends, for something they could try too!

Gordon Ramsay’s big yellow ‘Great Escape’ Curry book was staring at me from the bookshelf as soon as I thought about doing a new blog post, so decided to use it, to look for a fish curry recipe, as a change from all the meat I normally use.

As soon as saw this recipe, I knew it was perfect, as I had never cooked with Monkfish but it was something I had always wanted to try, especially after seeing countless chefs on TV show how easy it was to remove the large bone and then cook with it.

According to Gordon, a fish moilee is simple coconut fish curry from Kerala on the west coast of India. Some consider it an Anglo-Indian dish as it was commonly found in other Southeast Asian cuisines connected through the British Empire.

It is perfect for this time of year, especially with the warm weather we have been having, as it is not too heavy, even with the meaty Monkfish tail. Definitely one recipe to pin on the side of the fridge!

Serves 4

Ingredients:
500g skinless and boneless Monkfish tails
¼ tsp Ground Turmeric
½ tsp Sea Salt
Juice of 1 Lime
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 Large Onion, peeled and finely chopped
3cm Ginger, peeled and finely grated
3 Garlic Cloves, peeled and finely crushed
3 Green Chillies, deseeded and sliced in half lengthways
4 Curry Leaves
400ml tin Coconut Milk
6 Cherry Tomatoes, quartered
Coriander leaves to garnish

1. Cut the monkfish tails into bite sized chunks and place in a bowl.

2. Mix together the turmeric, salt and lime juice to create a wet paste, then mix this with the monkfish chunks and leave to marinate for about 20 minutes.

3. Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium to high heat.

4. Add the onion, ginger, garlic, chillies, curry leaves and salt. Stir frequently for 5-6 minutes until the onion is translucent and soft.

5. Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally.

6. Add the marinated fish and cherry tomatoes and gently simmer for another 4-5 minutes until the fish is cooked through.

To serve, ladle the curry into a warm bowl and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with plain rice.

Enjoy!

Fantastic Fish Pie

It is about time to finish off a post I actually started a couple of months ago!

Anyone For Seconds? celebrated its first anniversary on the 1st September 2010 and with around 400 visitors a day at the moment, all the posts for foraged related recipes, written this time last year, are suddenly all the rage again and the top viewed posts on the blog. It’s been fun re-reading what I wrote a year ago.

With a promotion at work, only 6 months in after joining the company, life has been hectic to say the least, not giving me as much time to write up recipes I have cooked. I still love cooking, taking photos of dishes I have done and have 3 more posts already queued up to be finished off – it’s just been a case of finding the time to do it.

I thought of using this Jamie Oliver recipe for my return, as it is a massive family favourite and at parties it always get demolished before anything else!

This recipe is a variation of his Fish Pie dish from his book “The Return of the Naked Chef” as we use more seafood and different fish in our version.

As Jamie says and which I totally agree with, “The whole fish pie thing is one of the most homely, comforting and moreish dinners I can think of. This is a cracking recipe which does it for me.”

As my mum told me:

“My grandmother used to make a fish pie that I loved but couldn’t eat it any more as the white sauce was made with wheat flour. When I saw Jamie Oliver make his fish pie without a traditional white sauce, I thought this is for me. I adapt it sometimes by adding Salmon or smoked haddock and always use prawns and use Dijon mustard instead of English.”

(Printable Recipe)

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
5 large Potatoes, peeled and diced into 2.5cm/1 inch squares
Salt and Ground Black Pepper
2 Free-range Eggs
2 large handfuls of Spinach
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 Carrot, halved and finely chopped
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
285ml/½ pint Double Cream
2 good handfuls of grated mature Cheddar or Parmesan cheese
Juice of 1 Lemon
1 heaped teaspoon Dijon Mustard (Dijon is Gluten Free)
1 large handful of Flat-Leaf Parsley, finely chopped
½lb Cod Fillet, skin removed and sliced into strips/chunks
½lb Salmon Fillet, skin removed and sliced into strips/chunks
1 large handful of frozen prawns, defrosted
Nutmeg (optional)

Pre-heat oven 210C, Fan 190C, Gas 7

1 Put the potatoes on to boil.

2 Boil the eggs for 8 minutes. Once cooked, remove the eggs from the heat, cover with cold water and set to one side.

3 In a non-stick saucepan, gently fry the onion and carrot in a little oil until softened.

4 Put the fish, eggs and prawns in a oven-proof dish and press the spinach in between the fish and eggs. If you wish to cook the spinach first, do so for one minute but squeeze out any moisture.

5 In the pan with the onion and carrot, add the double cream and bring just to the boil. Remove from the heat and then add the cheese, lemon juice, mustard and parsley. Pour the mixture evenly over the fish.

6 Drain the potatoes when cooked and mash them with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and a touch of nutmeg. Spread it on top of the fish very roughly.

7 Place in oven for about 20-30 mins until the potatoes are golden.

Serve with green vegetables.

Enjoy!

Fish Korma

It seems ages since I wrote a blog post, what with the house move to a whole new county, taking over our lives for the last 4 weeks!

Broadband has now finally been installed and there are fewer boxes in each room, allowing us to start cooking again properly and getting back in touch with the foodie community again. There are lots of people I will be catching up with over the next few weeks, plus learning about our new corner of the world and seeing what foodie goodies are available nearby.

One big bonus is that our new home has a big blackberry bush at the bottom of the garden, so thats me sorted for my wines, vinegars, coulis’ and compotes again this year.

This recipe below was one of the last dishes I cooked before we left our old house and was chosen as a blog post, as we needed to use up what we had left in our fridge and freezer. With all the fish we had left, this recipe seemed perfect to go with the Very lazy Ginger we had been sent!

Contrary to general belief, Korma is not a dish but one of techniques used in Indian cooking. This Fish Korma is easy to cook and has an irresistable aroma and taste.

Source: Curry Bible – Mridula Baljekar

(Printable Recipe)

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
700g/1lb 9oz Fish fillets cut into large pieces (we used Salmon and Monkfish)
1 tbsp Lemon juice
1 tsp Salt
55g/2oz Raw unsalted Cashews
3 tbsp Olive Oil
5cm/2in Cinnamon Stick
4 Green Cardamom Pods, bruised
2 Cloves
1 Large Onion, finely chopped
1-2 Fresh Green Chillies, chopped
2 tsp Ginger Purée
2 tsp Garlic Purée
150ml/5fl oz Single Cream
55g/2oz Whole Milk Natural Yoghurt
¼ tsp Ground Turmeric
½ tsp Sugar

1 Place the fish on a large plate and rub in the lemon juice and ½ tsp of the salt. Set aside for 20 minutes.

2 Soak the cashews in boilng water for 15 minutes.

3 Heat the oil in a large pan over a low heat and add the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Let it all sizzle for 30-40 seconds.

4 Add the onion, chillies, ginger and garlic purées. Increase the heat slightly and cook, stirring frequently for 9-10 minutes, until the onion is soft.

5 Drain the cashews and purée them with the cream and yoghurt.

6 Stir the turmeric into the onion mixture and add the puréed ingredients, the remaining salt and sugar.

7 Mix thoroughly and arrange the fish in the sauce in a single layer. Bring to a slow simmer, cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and shake the pan gently from side to side.

8 Spoon some of the sauce over the pieces of fish, re-cover and cook for a further 3-4 minutes.

Serve with Indian Bread or Basmati Rice.

Enjoy!