I wanted to share this delicious recipe with you on Friday but ran totally out of time!  Never mind, I got here in the end.  If you love fish, you are really going to love this wonderfully delicious recipe!

 

We really love fish in this house.  Not only is it quick and easy to cook, but its fabulously tasty and  oh-so-good for you!  I especially love lemon sole.  It has a beautiful texture and a wonderfully mild flavour that lends itself perfectly for use with other flavours!

 

This recipe I am sharing is adapted from one I found in Olive Magazine a number of years back. It borrows heavily from Oriental flavours with its use of ginger and red chilies.  Yes, it is a bit spicy, but not obnoxiously so!

 

I get my fish from Seafresh, an on line Fish Monger.  Their products are always high quality and so very fresh, plus their delivery service is impeccable.  Did you know that when you buy fish  as the grocery store that is labelled as being fresh, it is often more than a few days old, or it has been frozen already and thawed out.  I think its a real  shame as fish is not cheap, and for my money I like to know that I am getting the best quality that I can.  That has never been a problem for me using Seafresh!  I cannot fault them on any level.

 

The Lemon Sole comes in a 1KG package, skin on, with there being 4 to 5 fillets per package.  I skinned it, which is very easily done.  I am not a person who is that fond of eating fish skin, but some people love it. If you are like me you can find a video on how to do that here. 

 

A good sharp boning knife is all you need. Of course you can also cook it with the skin on.  Its all a matter of preference.  

 

The ginger used in this recipe is Stem Ginger in Syrup.  Essentially this is knobs of fresh ginger that have been boiled and the preserved in a sugar syrup. You can use both the knobs themselves and the syrup. I am never without a jar of this on hand. Its not just for cakes and baking as this delicious recipe will testify!

 

You will need one ball of the ginger and 1 TBS of the syrup.  The ball of ginger gets minced, along with 2 cloves of garlic  . . .

 

To that you add half of a minced red chili. You could use a whole chili, but I find that far too over-powering myself. I want to also be able to taste this lovely piece of fish!

 

A TBS of the ginger syrup and a TBS of dark soy sauce are added as well. 

 

You lay your fish in a single layer on a baking tray, spoon the ginger dressing over top and then pop it under the grill.  Its as easy as that!

 

4 to 5 minutes later you are rewarded with beautifully, perfectly cooked pieces of fish with a gorgeously flavoured dressing!

 

It is a tiny bit spicy from the chili, but not overly so, and of course the ginger also has a bit of a kick, but there is also that luxurious sweetness from the syrup  . . .

 

And of course the saltiness of the soy . . .  these flavours blend so perfectly together and really work with this lovely and delicately flavoured piece of fish!

  

You could serve it with some stir fried vegetables or an oriental salad.  I served it with some steamed brown rice and a mix of beans, legumes and baby corn.  Beautiful as always!

 

I love cooking with fish, its just so very versatile and healthy.  I plan on eating more of it in the new year as I am determined to get and eat a lot healthier over the next year!  But first Christmas  . . . 

A few things about Seafresh:

  

I had some lovely salmon fillets in the freezer that we had gotten from Seafresh. Their fish is so amazing.  I have never had any fish from them that I didn't like.  Its frozen fresh at the source and so it is the freshest fish that you can find.  Their salmon fillets are absolutely gorgeous. Boneless and skinless and individually frozen so that you can take out as many or as few as you want to cook.

 

Sourced from the clear cold waters of Scotland and the Farroe Islands, they are centre cuts, cut from the thicker mid-section of the salmon, rather than the tail.  Fish cuts from closer to the tail are a lot "fishier" if you know what I mean.  Stronger in flavour.  I much prefer the higher quality centre cuts.

 

I fancied a rib sticking soup today and so I did some research online.  I thought perhaps a chowder with maybe some spinach, but I didn't have any fresh spinach in the house, although I did have frozen . . . but in something like a chowder I feel fresh spinach is best.

 

I came across what looked like a very promising recipe on Spruce Eats for a Creamy Salmon Chowder.  I did find a few others, but of all the ones I looked at, this one looked the best from my view-point and inspired me.

  

I adapted their recipe to my own tastes and knowledge, plus I sized it down to serve two people perfectly and generously.

 

I wanted a recipe that wouldn't over-power the delicate flavours of the salmon and which would allow the salmon itself to shine.

  

A lot of chowder recipes use bacon, and I am not against bacon, but I didn't want bacon in my salmon chowder, at least not today anyways. 

 

A mirepoix of vegetables are softened in some butter.  Mirepoix is a mix of aromatics used to give sauces, stocks and soups flavour. Usually it will consist of carrot, celery and onion, slow cooked in butter or oil without browning. 

 

The goal is to sweeten the ingredients rather than caramelise them so that they will flavour your soup, sauce or stock beautifully.

 

After that you whisk in some flour and add a bit of chicken stock.  Not an awful lot really,  just enough that you can add your potato to the pan and it will basically almost cover it so that it can cook.

 

Once the potatoes were almost fork tender I added my salmon fillets and they poached quickly in the heat of the stock and the pan.  It doesn't take long.  Once they were poached I was able to break them into largish flakes  . . .

  

It was then just a process of adding some whole milk, thawed frozen peas, and seasoning . . .  I added some Tabasco sauce because I thought it would go well with both the fish and the cheddar cheese that is stirred in at the end.  This was quite simply fabulous.

 

As with any fish dish, quality speaks for itself.  When you are starting with really good fish, you really don't or shouldnt' have to do very much to it to get the best from it.  The Salmon fillets from Seafresh are beautiful. I think they are the best I have ever eaten and that says a lot!  If you are looking for quality fish at a great price with a fabulous delivery service I can't recommend Seafresh highly enough!  Their product, delivery service, packaging and customer service are exemplary in my opinion and so is this recipe!!  

A few things about Seafresh:

 

Todd just adores Prawns. Its not something I cook for him very often, but every once in a while I do treat him to some.

 

I am allergic to them, so I have to be careful. I am okay cooking them, just not okay eating them. There is no reason that he should be deprived of something he loves simply because I can't eat it myself.  He puts up with me cooking pizza and pasta from time to time after all!

 

We get beautiful King Prawns from the people at Seafresh Quality Foods.  Seafresh is an on line fish monger which sells quality fish, seafood, poultry and meat.  I have always been incredibly impressed with both their product and their delivery service!  I have never had a bad experience. You can read about my first experience here!

 

Nothing has changed.  I am still just as impressed with them as I have always been and will always highly recommend them to anyone wanting to purchase quality seafood, fish, poultry and meat.

 

What I really love about their King Prawns is that they are quick frozen individually. I can take out as many or as little as I want, which makes them very handy to use and ideal for us as we are a small family.  Also because only Todd eats them, I can take out just enough for him to enjoy without having to thaw out the whole pack.  They are also shelled and de-veined at the source, so, once defrosted, you can just cook them without any messing about.

 

I had leftover pizza for breakfast this morning (I know, very naughty!) and so I knew I wouldn't be really hungry or wanting a large dinner.  This was the perfect day for me to cook Todd his favourite King Prawns.

 

I had some fresh basil which needed using up, and fresh cherry tomatoes that were near their use by date as well.  I decided to incorporate them into a quick and easy stir fry that I thought he would enjoy!

 

This is such a quick and easy make.  In fact that is one thing that I really love about fish and sea food. It cooks really quickly and is my go to choice when it comes to wanting to get a dinner on the table pronto!

 

Raw and defrosted King Prawns are sauteed in a bit of olive oil on both sides to begin with. It doesn't take very long, about 2 minutes altogether, to cook prawns. They cook really fast.  As soon as they turn pink they are done.  Don't be afraid and over cook them, if you do you will be disappointed as over-cooked prawns are rubbery.  They will continue to cook as they sit, so about two minutes cook time is actually perfect!

 

Once they are cooked, you scoop them out and add some garlic and red chili flakes to the pan.  You only need to cook these until they are fragrant. The smell of that lovely garlic will permeate the air and you will be able to smell the heat of the chilies. How much chili you add it up to you. I only add a pinch.

 

It is really important that you don't allow the garlic to brown.  Browning it turns it bitter, so really be careful that this doesn't happen. Only cook until you can smell it. 

 

After that you add some dry white wine.  I buy small bottles of wine (red and white), each holding only about 1 glass of wine, just for cooking purposes. We don't drink wine.  Today I used an Australian Chardonnay.  You let that bubble up for about 3 minutes and then you throw in the tomatoes and basil, seasoning the mix with some salt and pepper.

 

How long you cook the tomatoes is up to you. I like them to be fairly wilted so that they release their juices as this makes a bit of a sauce for the prawns.  Once your tomatoes are done as much as you like, you can just re-add the prawns to the pan and heat them through briefly.

  

That's it! Dinner is served!  I spooned this over some steamed white rice for Todd, but they would also be really lovely spooned over pasta.

 

Todd really feels special when I cook something like this just for him.  That makes me happy! 

A few things about Seafresh:

 

We've been eating more fish in our home in recent years, and moving away from red meat.  Poultry and fish is what we eat most of the time now, with the odd piece of red meat.  Not only is fish delicious but it is a lot better for you at the end of the day.

 

Fish is filled with omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins such as D and B2 (riboflavin). It is also rich in calcium and phosphorus and a great source of minerals, such as iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium, and potassium. The Heart Association recommends eating fish at least two times per week as part of a healthy diet.

 

A few weeks back I got some fish from Seafresh, the online fish monger.  I really like their products and their service. Not only is their fish of a really high quality and provenance, but the packaging and delivery service is impeccable.  Everything arrives in a timely manner, frozen, well wrapped and expertly packaged. All of their packaging is environmentally friendly.  Their fish and seafood is sustainably sourced and is frozen in as short a time possible after harvesting, at the source of the catch, which means that you are getting the freshest fish and seafood that you can possibly buy.  There really is a marked difference between their fish and others I have tasted. I also find that they have wonderful customer service, much better than a lot of other food product companies I have dealt with. They really DO want your experience with them to be the best and it shows in the care and attention given to every detail.

  

Included in my order was some Tilapia. I love trying new kinds of fish and this was one I had not eaten before.  I told my friends about it and immediately I got some negative feedback from a few people on Tilapia.  I was then a bit uncertain as what to do about it.

 

But you know, people say a lot of negative things about certain foods without really knowing what they are talking about and so I decided to research it a bit, and here is a bit about what I found out.

 

Its a farm-raised fish with a mild tasting and flaky, yet firm flesh. Loaded with nutrition, it is also very versatile. You can fry it for tacos, cook it in a soup or a stew,  or broil it and stick it in a bun.  Its happy and delicious any way you decided to cook it. Although it is a fish that is native to the Middle East it is now grown in fisheries in more than 80 different countries.  Truth be told, the fish that Jesus served to his followers was most probably, Tilapia, and this is according to Biblical Scholars.

 

Not only is it a very affordable fish, but Americans eat more than 1 pound of tilapia per person per year.  That's a lot of fish!  3 ounces of Tilapia only contains 111 calories but delivers 22.8g of protein, and only 2.3g of fat, with 0g of carbohydrates!  It may not contain as many heart healthy Omega-3 fatty acids as Salmon would per se, but it still packs a lot more than beef, pork, chicken or turkey.

 

It is also high in Omega-6 fats largely due to its diet of corn. Omega-6 is a fatty acid your body can't make on its own and helps to keep your cholesterol down, also helping to prepare your muscle cells to respond to insulin, which is the hormone which is responsible for turning sugars into energy. This is great news for Diabetics. 

Some of the negativity was in relation to it being a ground feeder.  Well, Lobster is a ground feeder and people pay big bucks to eat that.  So are prawns, crab, etc.  All very popular.  Part of the reason it IS so great for your cholesterol is because it is a ground feeder.  

After all the research I did, I came to one conclusion and that was nothing really negative about it and I have to say I felt good about eating it, and I feel good at recommending it.  This is a healthy, delicious, nutritious and versatile fish.  End of.

   

Today I cooked it simply.  I ground some pistachios up to a fairly fine powder (in my coffee/spice grinder).  A few larger bits got through but hey all round they were pretty fine. You want it to stay fine and not grind into a butter if you know what I mean.  I mixed that with some lemon zest, seasoned the fish, coated it in the nut powder and simply fried it in a bit of olive oil, for a few minutes on each side.  The end result was fabulously delicious served with some lemon squeezed over top and sweet potato and new potato wedges.  Todd had to have his peas.  He loves peas with fish.  This was a winner of a fish dinner!

 

Just look at how moist and flaky that fish is.  A beautiful white colour and fabulous flavour. I highly recommend!! 

Seafresh source their Tilapia fillets from Asian waters, and highly sustainable sources. Its flavour is a cross between cod and plaice, with a slight sweetness in the flesh as well.  We thought it was simply fabulous. Delicious, affordable, sustainable, healthy. You just can't go wrong!  This is a new favourite in our house!

If you would like to know  more about other Seafresh products please click here.  You really can't go wrong! 

A few things about Seafresh: