Fish Pie

For a 26 cm Le Creuset oven dish:

Boil 500 gram cod, smoked haddock, or a combination, in: 200 ml whipped cream, 400 ml milk, onion rings, 2 cloves and bay leaf for about 10 minutes. Because of a miscommunication I ended up with 250 gram cod, it's clearly not enough.

Pour the milk through a sieve and cool the fish.

Flake the fish and layer the bottom of the oven dish with the fish, add two hard boiled eggs (sliced) on top of the fish. At this point boil floury potatoes, about 900 gram.

Make a roux from 50 gram butter and 50 gram flower. Add the milk-mixture.

Simmer the sauce for 10 minutes and add a few tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped. Add nutmeg, black pepper and salt.

Add the sauce to the oven dish and let it cool in the fridge.

Mash the potatoes with 100 ml milk and one egg yolk. Add white pepper and salt. Spoon the mashed potatoes on top of the dish and bake in a 200 degrees Celsius oven for 40 minutes.

While waiting, eat some oysters (optional).

Serve with green vegetables.

Pastéis de bacalhau

Oh dear, Portuguese salted cod fishcakes (pastéis de bacalhau) are just too addictive. They are called Bolinhos de bacalhau in Northern Portugal and Brazil. Try this recipe at your own peril. They are very easy to make.

But you will need salted cod or similar fish.

Salted cod:



Or black Pollock (called 'saithe' in Britain; (zwarte) koolvis in Dutch); cheaper than cod):





Soak the salted cod for 24 hours and change the water a couple of times to get rid of most of the salt.

Boil for 15 minutes. Take off the skin and remove fish bones. To soften the cod you can boil the cod in milk for another 10 to 15 minutes.



Shred the cod in small pieces by hand. This is somewhat time consuming but necessary.



The other ingredients are: potatoes, onion, garlic, egg, some black pepper and fresh coriander leaf and/or parsley.

For one package of salted cod (see photo) you need about 4 potatoes. Boil and mash.



Cut the onion, garlic and coriander (and/or parsley) in small pieces.



Mix everything together adding two eggs. Add some milk if the mixture is too dry. Eggs will prevent the cakes from falling apart when you fry them.



Use two spoons to make bite sized fish cakes.





Keep them in the fridge for at least a couple of hours before frying. This, again, will prevent the cakes from falling apart.

Fry the cakes in hot oil (a couple of minutes will do).



Serve with Portuguese tomato rice or eat the pastéis de bacalhau as a snack.

Forelle Blau

Forelle Blau, or "blue trout" gets its name from the trout's blueish hue when you douse the fish in hot vinegar.

It's very simple. First prepare a stock from onion, black pepper, salt, bay leaf, juniper berry and assorted green "soup" vegetables (I just had onion).

Boil the stock for 30 minutes.



In the meantime heat 250 ml of vinegar. Just plain vinegar or white wine vinegar.



When the vinegar boils, pour it over the trout. The trout can be washed, but the slimy outside layer should be still intact. It's the slime which turns blue. Lightly salt the trout on the inside.



Then slide the trout and vinegar in the stock and let it simmer for 15 minutes on a very low fire.



Serve with potatoes, green vegetables and Meerrettich Sahne (horseradish cream).

Meerrettich Sahne

Horseradish cream; it's a cold sauce, perfect for trout.

Grate some fresh horseradish root. You need about 4 tablespoons.

Mix the grated horseradish with 150 ml soured cream or crème fraîche. Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice, black pepper and salt. Mix well and keep in the fridge for one hour before serving.

Stuffed salmon

This simple snack invokes memories of Peruvian ceviche. Get some smoked salmon, cut thinly and big enough to use as a wrap.

For the filling:
One avocado, cut in very small cubes
One green apple (Granny Smith), cut in very small cubes
100 gram brown shrimp (Dutch: grijze garnaal, French: crevette grise)
Spring onion, cut finely
Basil leaves, cut finely (optional).

For the dressing (taste for the right mix of the ingredients, you should taste the mustard):
Sour cream
Sharp mustard
Lemon or lime juice

Mix the filling and dressing and wrap the salmon around it. Don't use too much dressing, otherwise you won't taste the other ingredients. Keep in the fridge until serving. You can serve the stuffed salmon as part of a green salad. Serve with lemon wedges.

Kerala Fish Curry

What? No fish curry on my blog? I have some left over coconut milk in the fridge and I want to make it a policy not to throw food away.

Ingredients
Onion, chopped -- 1
Garlic, peeled -- 4 to 6 cloves
Gingerroot, peeled and thinly sliced -- 1 (1-inch) piece
Chile peppers, chopped -- 1 to 6
Tamarind pulp -- 2 or 3 tablespoons
Warm water -- 1 1/2 cups
Oil -- 3 or 4 tablespoons
Mustard seeds -- 1 tablespoon
Ground coriander -- 1 tablespoon
Turmeric --2 teaspoons
Fenugreek -- 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves (optional) -- 4 to 6
Salt and pepper -- to taste
White fish, cut into bite-sized pieces -- 2 pounds
Coconut milk -- 1 1/2 cups

Method
Place the onion, garlic, gingerroot and chilies in a blender or food processor and process until pureed but still a little chunky. You may have to add a little water and work in batches if using a blender.



Mix the tamarind pulp with the water and break it up with a fork or your hands to dissolve. Strain the tamarind water and discard the pulp.

Heat the oil in a large pot, kadhai or wok over medium-high flame. Add the mustard seeds and sauté until they start to pop. Add the dry spices quickly and stir just until they are absorbed by the oil. Do not allow the spices to burn.



Quickly add the onion puree and curry leaves. Reduce heat to low and cook until the liquid is reduced and the onions have lost their raw flavor, about 10 to 15 minutes.



Add the tamarind water, season with salt and pepper and simmer another 10 to 15 minutes to meld the flavors and reduce the liquid a little.



Stir in the fish ...



... and coconut milk and simmer slowly another 5 to 10 minutes until the fish is cooked through. Adjust seasoning and serve with basmati rice.



Variations
Fish curries in Kerala commonly use kudam puli (also known as kodampuli, kodum puli, kukum star or black tamarind) as a souring agent. This recipe uses regular tamarind as a substitute.
Kerala curry is good with a wide variety of fish. Use whatever is available to you.
Add 1/4 cup grated coconut with the tamarind water.
Add 1 cup chopped tomatoes if you like.
The dish is normally served quite spicy. Vary the number of chilies according to your taste.
Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of paprika along with the other spices.



I love my new De Buyer "Country Fry Pan" (24 cm). It's called a 'hapjes pan' in Dutch and has the same shape as a chef's pan (I think) but more importantly it has the same shape as an Indian/Pakistani "karahi". I used to own two original karahi's but they were made out of thin aluminum: completely useless. This country fry pan is made of heavy 99% iron - it weighs 1,5 kilo! It's perfect for curry's.

Braised mackerel with radish

A simple mackerel recipe. Cut the mackerel crosswise in 2-inch pieces, remove vins and head. Wash the fish.

Peel a Korean radish (Tae Baek) and cut in 2-inch chunks. One kilo for 2 mackerels. Slice 2 onions in large pieces.

Add all the ingredients to a large pot.

Make the seasoning:
12 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon shredded ginger
125 ml soy sauce
75 ml hot pepper flakes
2 tablespoons sugar
250 ml water

Bring to a boil. Pour broth over the fish.

Add spring onions and green and red pepper.

Simmer for half an hour. Evaporate excess broth.

Clupea (herring)

The Netherlands are considered a herring-country but there are many ways of preparing herring. Smoked herring is chiefly exported to France, salted herring to Germany and 80% of 'Dutch' herring is imported from Norway.

This is a start of a long list of ways to prepare herring all across Europe.

Two types of herring are consumed: the Baltic herring, small, 14 to 18 centimeters; and the proper Atlantic herring.

Germany

Salzhering = raw herring in brine.

Netherlands

Bokking:

* stoombokking = warm smoked, Atlantic herring.

* spekbokking = cold smoked, Atlantic herring.

Hollandse Nieuwe / maatjesharing = Baltic herring, the head removed and ripened in salt water and caught between May and July.

Zoute haring = Baltic herring, the head removed and ripened in salt water and caught between August and April.

Zure haring = Baltic herring, zoute haring marinated in vinegar.

France

Smoked herring

Great-Brittain

Kipper = split from tail to head, gutted, salted or pickled, and cold smoked.

Russia

Salted and dried herring (eaten with beer):

Paella - Rick Stein in Mallorca

1) Fry garlic in oil, add squid & black pepper.



2) Add onion.



3) Add bell pepper.



4) Add tomatoes.



5) Add rice and saffron (you can mix the saffron with the fish stock).



6) Add fish stock. Make sure it's salty enough. You can mix the stock with some lemon at this point.



7) Fry some prawns separately.



8) Let it simmer on the stove top until the rice is half done (15 minutes).



9) Put the paella in the oven until the rice is done and the paella has a crunchy top.