Showing posts with label Seafresh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seafresh. Show all posts
Fish for Friday here with a lovely dish this week of Roasted Sea Bass with a Lemon Parmesan Cream. Sea Bass is a fish that people really enjoy eating these days.
Its a common name which is used to describe a variety of fish, but here in the UK, all sea bass that is sold is exclusively European Bass.
I sourced mine from Seafresh, the online fish monger. Their seas bass is farmed, which is the most sustainably sourced at the moment! I can attest that it is a beautiful piece of fish.
Not as thick as cod, or as flat as plaice it is white or light in colour and beautifully sweet and buttery in flavour, mild and delicious!
The sea bass from Seafresh comes in skin on fillets, each piece being frozen individually, making it easy to take out only as many fillets as you want to use at any given time.
Its very easy to thaw out overnight in the refrigerator, or for a few hours at room temperature.This is one of the things I really like about the way they pack their fish.
I roasted mine today in a hot oven. Prior to roasting I sprinkled it with a spicy rub mix, of herbs and spices . . . and dotted it with butter . . .
A beautiful piece of fish doesn't take much work when it comes right down to it. A good piece of fish speaks for itself.
This recipe cooks very quickly, only taking about 8 minutes in a hot oven. I had a sauce which I wanted to serve with it.
Because the fish cooks so quickly I made the delicious sauce that I wanted to serve with it first and kept it warm while the fish roasted. I also cooked the spinach that I wanted to serve with it.
That's one thing I really love about fish . . . the easy of cooking it and the fact that it cooks very quickly. Its an almost instant dinner!
Plus it is so healthy and such a great source of protein. I am always saying to Todd we don't eat fish nearly often enough. My mother always told us it was brain food.
I made a Lemon Parmesan Cream Sauce to serve with our fish today. It is lush and rich and goes beautifully with the flavour of the fish and that spicy rub.
Simple things like that can dress up even the simplest meals and without a lot of effort taken.
It is a basic cream sauce/or bechamel . . . flavoured with Parmesan cheese, white wine and garlic.
Bechamel is the most basic of sauces. It was one of the first things they taught us how to do and forms the basis for all sorts of other recipes. Its also very simple to make so long as you follow a few rules.
First rule being you must use equal parts of flour and butter to make a roux. There is no such thing as a low fat bechamel. You must also cook the roux for a few minutes to cook out the flour flavour. This is a must.
You also want to make sure you have the correct amount of liquid to bind to the roux. Too little and you will end up with library paste. Too much and you have soup. Quantities matter. A lot.
Finally a proper bechamel needs to be cooked long and slow. If you try to rush it by using too high a temperature beneath your saucepan, you run the risk of burning it and there is no coming back from that. Also whisk, whisk, whisk. You don't want it to be lumpy.
A bechamel at its very basic is simple to make and makes for a most luxurious finish for any dish. With its mix of white wine, stock, cream and Parmesan this sauce was exquisite with the fish.
I sauteed some spinach to serve along side. I love sauteed fresh
spinach. It cooks in a flash, which makes it perfect for serving with
fish.And its bright green colour set off the fish and the sauce beautifully.
You can cook the spinach while you are roasting the fish. It doesn't
actually take very long to cook the spinach at all. Its basically just
wilted. I just add it to a hot skillet, a handful at a time. Tossing it with tongs, it wilts perfectly in just a few minutes and retains its colour beautifully.
You can trim off any largish stems prior to cooking if you wish. They don't really bother me, but I know when I worked at the Manor, I had to make sure there were no stems on the spinach at all.
It would take me a good 10 or 15 minutes going through the spinach removing all the stems. I am not that pedantic at home.
That beautiful rich sauce goes very well with both the fish and the spinach. I did garnish it with a few micro-greens for colour, but you could also use parsley or even snipped chives.
The only other thing you will need is some potatoes, rice or pasta on the side. I steamed some baby new potatoes in the microwave.
Just wash them, cut them in half if larger, and put them into a microwavable bowl with a cover, along with a knob of butter and some seasoning.
Cover and then cook on high for 9 to 11 minutes until fork tender. Let sit for 3 to 5 minutes before serving. Perfect!
Yield: 2
Roasted Sea Bass with a Lemon Parmesan Cream
Deliciously spiced and perfectly baked sea bass served with a lush flavourful cream. Simply wonderful. You can easily double the quantities to serve more people if you wish. This would make a great dinner party first course.
ingredients:
For the fish:
- 2 sea bass fillets
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/4 tsp each dried basil, dried oregano,
- 1/4 tsp each salt and black pepper
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- pinch cayenne pepper
- soft butter to dot
For the sauce:
- 1 TBS butter
- 1 TBS flour
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 30ml white wine (1 fluid ounce)
- 60ml chicken stock (1/4 cup)
- 120ml heavy cream (1/2 cup)
- 2 TBS grated Parmesan cheese
- the juice and zest of 1/2 unwaxed lemon
- salt and white pepper to taste
For the spinach:
- 1 bag washed baby leaf spinach (about 5 large handfuls)
- 1 TBS butter
- 1 small clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
- salt and black pepper to taste
instructions:
How to cook Roasted Sea Bass with a Lemon Parmesan Cream
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a baking sheet. Place the fish fillets skin side down on the buttered baking sheet. Combine all of the herbs and spices, rubbing them together well. Sprinkle evenly over the fish. Dot with butter and set aside while you make the sauce.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Whisk in the flour. Cook, whisking for about a minute to cook out the flour taste. Stir in the garlic powder, and then whisk in the chicken stock and white wine. Cook, whisking until the mixture comes to a boil and bubbles. Whisk in the cream and heat through gently. Whisk in the cheese to melt. Add the lemon zest and juice and whisk again until it all comes together. Taste and season with salt and white pepper. Set aside and keep warm.
- Put the fish in the oven and roast for exactly 8 minutes.
- While the fish is cooking heat a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add the butter and garlic. Once the butter begins to foam add the spinach, tossing it into the butter and adding more once the spinach begins to wilt, a handful at a time, until it is all wilted. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- To serve lay a portion of spinach on a heated plate, top with a fish fillet and spoon a portion of the sauce over top. Serve immediately. Some boiled baby new potatoes would be lovely with this.
Look at how perfect and flaky that fish is and its beautiful colour. I am always so very impressed with the fish and seafood we get from Seafresh. Their service is impeccable, the packaging well done and environmentally friendly, and the product of exceptional quality and value. If you would like to know more about their products please click here. You really can't go wrong!
A few things about Seafresh:
- Same Day dispatch on orders received before 1 PM.
- All packages are carefully hand packed.
- Free delivery on orders above £50, £8 on orders below that amount.
- Responsibly and sustainably sourced.
- Air Blast Frozen at source within 4 hours of being caught.
- Wide variety to choose from.
Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: theenglishkitchen@mail.com
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I received some lovely Sea Trout Supremes from Seafresh the other day and couldn't wait to try them. So here I am with a delicious fish dish for Friday that I think you are really going to fall in love with! If you aren't already aware of it, Seafresh is an on line fish monger, which sells quality fish, seafood,
poultry and meat. I was incredibly impressed with both
their product and their delivery service! There was absolutely nothing
that I could fault with any of it. Feel free to read about my experience here.
These beautiful trout supremes are sourced from the ice cold waters of Scotland and the Faroe Isles in the North of Scotland. Skinned and boned, and frozen individually, this beautiful fish is a part of the salmon family and contains health benefits similar to Salmon, being rich in Omega 3 fish oils. Scotland is famous for its trout and salmon, so I was really excited to be able to try this today. (Let it be noted that I thawed the fish completely prior to cooking so the cook times relate to thawed fish.)
Because it is a lovely piece of fish, I wanted to give it a really simple treatment so that the flavour of the fish would shine through. I thought about pan frying it, but then decided to steam it instead.
I placed the fillets on an oiled sheet of aluminium foil and brushed them with oil, and then I seasoned them lightly with salt and white pepper.
Further to that I julienned some basil leaves and scattered them over top and squeezed over the juice of a fresh lemon.
I sealed up the packet and lay it aside so I could start my sauce.
I decided on a Ginger and Tomato Sauce, which might sound a bit unconventional, but let me assure you the flavours work beautifully with an oily fish such as Salmon or Trout.
I peeled and de-seeded two large tomatoes and popped them into the jug of my immersion blender and added a quantity of sliced peeled fresh ginger root. I blitzed the two together until they were quite smooth and then I passed them through a sieve into a non-reactive saucepan.
I then set it aside until I had cooked the sea trout.
I steamed the trout, in the packet, in a basket over boiling water for about 8 minutes, at which time it was cooked perfectly.
To finish the sauce I heated it gently over moderate heat just to the boiling point, whereupon began to whisk the butter into it a small bit at a time resulting in a silky glossy and rich sauce.
To serve I spooned a portion of this beautifully flavoured sauce onto each heated dinner plate and laid a fillet of the steamed sea trout on top. We enjoyed this beautiful fish dish along with some boiled new potatoes and steamed green beans. It was a dinner made in heaven. Elegant and yet quite simple. Delicious!
Yield: 4
Steamed Sea Trout with a Ginger & Tomato Sauce
Perfectly cooked fish is steamed and served with a snappy and lush sauce flavoured with ginger and tomato. Delicious! You will need a steaming basket/rack to cook the fish.
ingredients:
- 4 Sea Trout fillets, skinned
- 1 TBS light olive oil
- 8 basil leaves, rolled and julienned
- the juice of one lemon
- fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
For the Ginger & Tomato Sauce:
- 2 large beef steak tomatoes, peeled and seeded
- 55g fresh ginger, peeled and sliced (2 ounces)
- 45g salted butter (3 TBS)
instructions:
How to cook Steamed Sea Trout with a Ginger & Tomato Sauce
- Tear a sheet of aluminium foil large enough to enclose the fish fillets in a single layer. Oil it lightly. Place the fish fillets onto it and brush each with some oil. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the basil leaves. Squeeze the juice of the lemon over top. Pull the foil over top to enclose completely, leaving some air space. Seal tightly and set aside.
- Put the tomatoes and ginger into the cup of an immersion blender or liquidiser. Blitz until smooth and then pass through a fine sieve. Discard any solids.
- Put the packet of fish in the basket of a steamer, over boiling water. Cover the steamer. Steam over the boiling water for 7 to 8 minutes until cooked through. Remove and set aside while you finish the sauce.
- Place the sauce in a saucepan and bring just to the simmer. Don't allow it to boil. Break the butter into bits and whisk in a bit at a time until you have a lovely glossy sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Place a pool of sauce on each of four heated dinner plates. Place a cook fillet of Sea Trout on top of each and serve with your favourite vegetables.
NOTES:
Regular trout and salmon can also be cooked in this manner.
If you can't get Sea Trout Supremes you can also use ordinary trout fillets or salmon fillets and cook them in the same manner with excellent results. The cook time will vary.
A few things about Seafresh:
- Same Day dispatch on orders received before 1 PM.
- All packages are carefully hand packed.
- Free delivery on orders above £50, £8 on orders below that amount.
- Responsibly and sustainably sourced.
- Air Blast Frozen at source within 4 hours of being caught.
- Wide variety to choose from.
Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Note - Although I was gifted with product free of charge for the purposes of review, I was not required to write a positive review in exchange, nor would my integrity allow me to recommend anything if I did not truly like it. Any and all my opinions are my own entirely.
Here I am sharing a delicious fish recipe for Friday the 13th. Fish for Friday! Not unlucky! Good for you!
I have always seen Friday the 13th as being a lucky day myself, and 13 as being one of my lucky numbers!
Today's dish is Haddock, using some of that lovely fish I got from Seafresh quality foods a while back. I had used some in a fish pie and it was excellent.
I thought today I would bake the remainder in one of my favourite ways to enjoy Haddock.
Seafresh is an on line fish monger, which sells quality fish, seafood,
poultry and meat. I was incredibly impressed with both
their product and their delivery service!
There was absolutely nothing
that I could fault with any of it. Feel free to read about my experience here.
Their Haddock Loins are skinless, boneless and responsibly sourced in the Atlantic Ocean. Its a great alternative to Cod, and let me tell you these fillets are nice and meaty and a great size.
You can bake them from frozen if you wish, but for this recipe today I preferred to use them thawed.
This is a really simple way of preparing Haddock. Of course you could do this with any kind of fish, but it is especially good with Haddock.
All you will need is some seasoning, cracker crumbs, butter and of course the fish.
I use Ritz Cracker for this as they work and taste the best. The seasoned haddock gets placed in a buttered dish.
Finally, you just sprinkle a layer of buttered cracker crumbs over top and bake.
Easy peasy, lemon squeasy as they say! And oh so tasty!
You can serve them with some lemon wedges for squeezing over top.
Fish and lemon . . . a beautiful combination.
My sister had been tormenting me with tales of her and Dad going out for dinners of Haddie Bits and Chips.
I have never had Haddie Bits and Chips, but apparently they are delicious.
Here's a photo of them . . . just so you can drool also. These come from Pearle's in Paradise, Nova Scotia. Sigh . . .
Have I ever told you that whenever anyone in my family goes out to eat we like to treat ourselves to Fish and Chips? Its true.
We are all the same . . . so predictable.
This Homestyle Baked Haddock is just as good, well almost as good anyways, and a lot less work.
We enjoyed it with Spring Onion Mash, broccoli, cauliflower and some cobs of frozen corn.
Oh boy . . . usually you can rely on the frozen cobs of corn to at least taste half decent but meh . . . this was nothing to write home about.
Its a good thing the rest of the dinner more than made up for it! Yum yum!
Yield: 4
Homestyle Baked Haddock
Quite simply delicious. Good food, simple ingredients, quality ingredients, done well. What more could you want.
ingredients:
- 1 - 1/2 pound haddock loin fillets
- 60g cracker crumbs (1 cup)
- 6 TBS melted butter
- fine sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
- lemon wedges and chopped fresh parsley to serve
instructions:
How to cook Homestyle Baked Haddock
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Have ready a baking dish large enough to hold all of your fish in one layer with space in between each fillet. Spread one TBS of the melted butter on the bottom of the dish.
- Wipe the fish dry and season it all over generously with salt and pepper. Lay in a single layer in the baking dish.
- Combine the remaining butter and the cracker crumbs. Sprinkle these evenly over the fish.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, until golden brown and the fish flakes easily. Serve hot with lemon wedges for squeezing and a sprinkle of fresh parsley if desired.
You know what I am going to do the next time I get home for a visit? You got it Pontiac. I'm treating myself to some Haddie Bits and Chips. In the meantime I will just have to enjoy fabulously tasty dishes like this! I hope you will too!
A few things about Seafresh:
- Same Day dispatch on orders received before 1 PM.
- All packages are carefully hand packed.
- Free delivery on orders above £50, £8 on orders below that amount.
- Responsibly and sustainably sourced.
- Air Blast Frozen at source within 4 hours of being caught.
- Wide variety to choose from.
Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Note - Although I was gifted with product free of charge for the purposes of review, I was not required to write a positive review in exchange, nor would my integrity allow me to recommend anything if I did not truly like it. Any and all my opinions are my own entirely.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
My Todd just adores King Prawns. Its not something he gets to eat very often as I am allergic to them, but when I do cook them for him, he feels really, really special!
A few months back we had received a beautiful box of fish from Seafresh Quality Foods.
Seafresh is an on line fish monger, which sells quality fish, seafood,
poultry and meat. I was incredibly impressed with both
their product and their delivery service! There was absolutely nothing
that I could fault with any of it. Feel free to read about my experience here.
Included in the box was a bag of beautiful large uncooked King Prawns. Their prawns are individually quick frozen so that you can take out as
many or as little as you want, which makes them very handy to use and
ideal for whatever size family you have. They are also shelled and
de-veined at the source, so you can just cook them without any messing
about.
I remember when I worked at the Manor, they loved their prawns and would eat masses of them. I would have to shell and clean them. It was fiddly and time consuming.
Another thing Todd really enjoys is a good curry. I don't cook them near often enough either. I really should cook them more often. He likes them really spicy. I prefer them on the mild side.
I had been saving some of the King Prawns to cook him a special meal on his birthday. Something he would really enjoy and all just for him. Curry Coconut King Prawns.
I adapted the recipe from a book my ex boss gave me when I was working for her entitled, Fresh Every Day, More Great Recipes From Foster's Market, by Sara Foster. I love this book. It is full of lovely, do-able recipes. I used to use it a lot when I worked at the Manor as my boss liked this kind of food, and I have referred to it many times since. Its just a good good cook book.
I decided to use the recipe in the book for the Curry Coconut King Prawns because I knew I would be unable to taste the finished dish myself, and I trust Sara Foster's recipes and culinary intuition as far as what tastes good.
It was a simple recipe. You need only to soften some onion until translucent and then begin cooking the prawns. You do this in batches, cooking them first on one side and then on the other.
You need only cook them until they are pink on each side. DON'T over cook them! Overcooked prawns have a rubbery texture that is not very nice.
Once you have cooked them, you scoop them out and hold them, covered lightly with some foil in a bowl while you make the sauce. The sauce is also very simple. Just coconut milk, stock, dry sherry, curry powder and garlic.
This gets reduced and then you stir the prawns, onions and their juices back into the sauce and heat through briefly along with a handful of chopped fresh coriander, and you're done! A garnish of fresh minced spring onions and Bob's your Uncle. You have a delicious curry all ready for the people you love to enjoy along with some rice or whatever it is they enjoy with curries! Easy peasy and according to Todd, most delicious!
Yield: 4 - 6
Curry Coconut King Prawns
The perfect supper for when the nights are beginning to draw in and you begin to crave richer foods. Quick, easy and delicious.
ingredients:
- 3 TBS olive oil
- 1 small onion, peeled and minced
- 1 1/2 pounds king prawns, peeled and deveined
- salt and pepper
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 (1-inch) piece of fresh ginger, julienned (about 2 TBS)
- 120ml dry sherry (1/2 cup)
- 240ml unsweetened coconut milk (1 cup)
- 240ml chicken or fish stock (1 cup)
- a handful of chopped fresh coriander leaf (cilantro)
- 2 spring onions, trimmed and minced
instructions:
How to cook Curry Coconut King Prawns
- Heat half of the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook over medium high heat until soft and translucent without browning. Add half of the prawns, season with salt and pepper. Saute for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per side until pink. Remove the prawns from the pan, reserving the onion and pan juices. Place on a serving platter and loosely tent with foil and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining prawns and oil.
- Stir the curry powder, garlic and ginger into the pan you cooked the shrimp in. Saute for a minute. Add the sherry and cook for a minute longer, scraping up any brown bits. Add the coconut milk and broth. Bring to the boil. Reduce the temperature to a low boil and cook for 10 to 12 minutes until the sauce thickens and reduces by two thirds. Return the prawns to the pan and cook for a further minute to heat through and coat the prawns with the sauce. Remove from the heat, scatter with the coriander and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine. Garnish with the minced spring onions and serve.
Todd felt really spoilt when I served this up to him. He was licking his chops big-time!
A few things about Seafresh:
- Same Day dispatch on orders received before 1 PM.
- All packages are carefully hand packed.
- Free delivery on orders above £50, £8 on orders below that amount.
- Responsibly and sustainably sourced.
- Air Blast Frozen at source within 4 hours of being caught.
- Wide variety to choose from.
Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Note - Although I was gifted with product free of charge for the purposes of review, I was not required to write a positive review in exchange, nor would my integrity allow me to recommend anything if I did not truly like it. Any and all my opinions are my own entirely.
Up Tomorrow: Cheddar & Corn Chowder
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