You shall have a fishy on a little dishy

This is not my creation.

I don't think in a million years my brain would have been wired to consider this as a meal.  The combination of ingredients just sounds so strange together, and yet, weirdly, like strawberries and balsamic vinegar, Parmesan and pears or cayenne pepper and mango's, it just works. 

Actually this is one of Steve's concoctions.  He is a much more creative cook than I am - I tend to go for a recipe or a dish I have tried before and adapt it.  He just lets loose and experiments.  Sometimes this results in us having to order a pizza (like the ill-fated time we didn't have any tinned tomato's when he was making cottage pie so he substituted baked beans instead.  Turns out that just cos something is in a tomato-esq sauce doesn't mean you can substitute it for tomato's).  Other times, like this time, his evil genius just works.

This is toasted buttered bruschetta, layered with warm tomato and pepper salsa, a slice of lightly fried fresh monk fish, homemade crispy seaweed and a poached egg.

Weird and wonderful and surprisingly easy. 

You need:

1 loaf of fresh bread
2 tomato's (chopped)
1/2 yellow pepper (chopped)
1/2 green pepper (chopped)
1 red chilli (chopped)
1/2 onion (chopped)
Olive oil
Lemon
Bag of spring greens
Brown sugar
2 fresh fish fillets (firm white fish that won't fall apart on the griddle)
2 eggs
Oil for frying
Butter

You do need to do all of this at the same time so that everything comes together at the end and is still warm.

Slice two hefty pieces of fresh bread and turn the grill on, then toast the bread on both sides until lightly golden.  Remove and butter.

In a saucepan combine the chopped tomato, peppers, chilli, onion, a good glug of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice and allow to heat through on a low temperature

Heat the oil in a large wok, deep fat fryer or saucepan and, when hot enough, very, very carefully throw a few handfuls of the spring greens in.  Step back - the high water content in the spring greens will spit hot fat everywhere so keep your arms covered.  When the spitting subsides, use a spider or a slotted spoon and remove the spring greens to some kitchen towel to drain.  Keep frying until you have enough for your meal, then lightly sprinkle the spring greens in a little brown sugar.

Lightly griddle the white fish in a little oil and seasoning skin side down until the skin is crispy and golden.  Flip and repeat on the other side.

Poach two eggs, keeping the centres soft if you like them like that.

To assemble, layer the bread with the warm salsa, then the fish, the seaweed and then the poached egg.

Serve immediately, cracking the egg so that the yolk dribbles over the brushetta (which is amazing for mopping up the leftovers with afterwards.

If you try this, let me know what you think! I'll pass it onto Steve!

If you like (or hate!) what you have read, please do let me know in the comments below or slap me with a cheeky follow, or say Hi to me on my Facebook group or Twitter or Instagram!

Seafood Kebabs

My face is broken right now.  Well, not my entire face, just my jaw.  I woke up one day last week and the back left side was stiff and sore.  At first I thought it was a dentistry related problem, then I thought that my wisdom teeth may finally be coming through but it doesn't appear to be related to either of those.  After a bit of digging on the internet it seems like I may have temporomandibular joint disorder which sounds very impressive but basically just means I have a sore jaw.

I'll wait while you go 'Duh' in a style reminiscent of Homer Simpson. 

It also means that there is not a lot I can do about it except grin and bear it or (my favourite) moan about it to Steve.  Saint that he is, he has born all my moaning with good grace and also cooked me a beautiful dinner conjured from necessity to make me feel better.  It is basically a medley of soft things that don't require too much chewing, but are healthy and full of flavour. 

He decided to cook me seafood kebabs served with a seared salmon steak and fluffy cous cous.  As a light, fresh (easy on the jaw) summer meal, this was just delectable, and so quick and easy!

You need:

10-20 small prawns
8-10 scallops, corals removed.
Pack of small chorizo sausages, cut into 1.5 inch segments
Red pepper
Green pepper
Punnet of cherry tomatoes
2 salmon fillets
Packet of cous cous.

Drizzle a griddle pan with a little olive oil and turn it up until it is hot.  Chop and deseed the peppers and lightly griddle them with the chopped chorizo sausages and tomatoes until seared and starting to colour.  Remove from the heat.

Put your cous cous onto cook by pouring the required amount into a pan, adding a sprinkling of sea salt flakes and pouring boiling water over the top so that the cous cous is just covered.  Stick a lid on the pan, make sure the heat is off and leave it for 10 minutes.

Season and lightly oil your salmon, add it to the the hot griddle pan and let it sear, flipping it halfway through cooking.  If you have some leftover prawns as we did, you can quickly cook them off as a sneaky cook's perk before serving!

Thread your vegetables, scallops, sausages and prawns onto skewers.  If you are using wooden ones, you may wish to soak them in some cold water first so that they don't catch fire.  Add them to another griddle pan and allow them to sear.  They are cooked when the seafood is done and this depends on how flat you can get your kebabs to lay!  Turn the skewers over at least once to allow them to cook evenly.  (This is also fab on the BBQ if you are planning one this weekend...)

Fluff up the cous cous with a fork and melt some butter through it.  Serve the cous cous with the salmon on the top and the skewers perched over the top of that.

You may notice that, unusually for me, this dish has absolutely no herbs or spices in it apart from olive oil and a little salt in the cous cous.  Trust me, the flavours are light;  the seafood is fresh, the vegetables are packed full of sweet juices and the sausage adds a smokey depth that as a meal it really doesn't need anything else added to it!  However, if you are desperate for some additional flavour, you can always use my pumpkin seed dressing for the salmon, or a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime over the fish or a little bit of sweet chilli sauce also works incredibly well!

Tuck in and enjoy!

If you like (or hate!) what you have read, please do let me know in the comments below or slap me with a cheeky follow, or say Hi to me on my facebook group or twitter!

Fruit of the Sea, Fruit of the Land

Whenever we go to an Italian restaurant you can be sure that I will gravitate towards the pasta that has shellfish and tomato in it.  Prawns, clams, langoustine, mussels, crab, cockles or lobster and wild (sea) horses couldn't keep me away.  It is one of my all time favourite combinations and perfect for the summertime with light, tart, sea-salt-fresh flavours.  For some reason I have never made it at home.

Until now.

This light dinner is divine.  It has an almost citrus overtone from the white wine that is mellowed out by the olive oil.  It's a bit like a mix of linguine vongole and linguine del mare.  If you are looking to impress, this dish will do the trick with very little effort from you.

You will need:

Punnet of cherry tomato's (halved)
Good quality olive oil
Dried Thyme
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
Small handful fresh basil
1/2 cup white wine
Pack of raw king prawns (or tiger prawns)
Enough linguine for 2 people

First off, scatter the tomato's over a baking tray lined with baking paper, slosh a generous glug of olive oil over the top and scatter dried thyme and salt over them. 

Toss the whole lot so every segment of tomato is covered.  Roast in the oven at 180C for 30 minutes.

When the tomatoes are lightly roasted but still holding their shape, put the pasta onto boil and start to cook according to the packets instructions.  Make sure you keep some of the cooking liquor back as you will need it!

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a frying pan and on a very low heat start to gently heat the garlic.  You want to soften it but not brown it.  At the last minute add a large leaf of basil to the garlic and olive oil to lightly scent it.

Now add the tomatoes to the olive oil and garlic mix and turn the whole lot together. Add a little more basil and the wine, turn the heat up high and bubble the mixture away to reduce the wine down.

When the sauce thickens add one ladle of the pasta cooking liquor to the sauce and bubble away some more.  Taste it and see if it needs anything.  If it is a little sharp, add olive oil.  You may need to add some salt as well.

When the pasta is cooked add the prawns to the sauce and cook until pink.

Pour the linguine into the sauce and toss the whole lot together so that each strand of the linguine is lightly coated with the sauce.  Garnish and dig in!