Fish with Leeks and Tomatoes

We're still traveling, and won't be home for a couple of weeks. Here's a recipe from the archives to keep you busy and happy till we get back. Bon Appetit!

Growing up in an Irish Catholic family meant that we ate fish on friday. Every friday, without fail. 

Actually, as Catholics, we weren’t obliged to eat fish. We just couldn’t eat meat. At our house, though, 'no meat' meant fish. So we ate fish every Friday. We didn’t live especially close to the sea (Atlanta), and the selection of fresh fish at that time wasn’t great. We were also a large family (Irish Catholic, remember?). All of this meant that we ate a lot of the dreaded Tuna Noodle Casserole. With potato chips on top. No peas. We also ate a lot of salmon patties made from canned salmon. I still like these. I haven’t made them in a long time, though. Hmmm....

The Reckoning (recipe: Fish Terrine)

In restaurants in Germany, when you finish your meal you don't ask for the bill. You ask for 'die rechnung'. It's what tells you how much you have to pay for your excesses at the table. As you may have guessed, this word is the root of our English word 'reckoning'. Which also has to do with paying for your excesses.

Grilled Scallop Appetisers

Scallops. Can we ever get enough of them? We love them, with their delicate, sweet flavor. They also cook very quickly, which makes them a hit at our house!

We had some wonderful scallops in January, and still have fond memories of them and the friends who gave them to us. This time we grilled our scallops and drizzled some old balsamic vinegar over them. We ate these with rice, as a first course. They were a perfect way to start a meal.

FRIDAY FISH

Growing up in an Irish Catholic family meant that we ate fish on friday. Every friday. Without fail. The only exception we ever saw was when my older brother had rheumatic fever and the doctors wanted him to eat beef every day to strengthen his heart. Heh. I know. But it was the best medical wisdom at that time. My grandfather had the same advice after his heart attack, and he lived to be 87.

Actually, as Catholics, we weren’t obliged to eat fish. We just couldn’t eat meat. Except my brother. At our house, though, 'no meat' meant fish. So we ate fish every Friday. We didn’t live especially close to the sea (Atlanta), and the selection of fresh fish at that time wasn’t great. We were also a large family (Irish Catholic, remember?). All of this meant that we ate a lot of the dreaded Tuna Noodle Casserole. With potato chips on top. No peas. We also ate a lot of salmon patties made from canned salmon. I still like these. I haven’t made them in a long time, though. Hmmm....

Because we didn’t live near the sea, the fish we ate was most often canned. Tuna and Salmon. Sometimes frozen, from the kitchen of our friend Mrs. Paul. She always made her specialty for us, fingerfish, a species that must be extinct now. At least I hope so.

In the summer, it was different, because we could go to the beach (St. Simon’s Island). At the beach we ate fish. Crabs. Shrimp. Lobster. All of it. We loved it. Somehow, though, we didn’t eat fresh fish at home. In later years, my parents used to bring home frozen shrimp and crabs. But they waited till I had left home to do that. I’m not bitter, though.

All this meant that I didn’t have a big taste for fresh fish. Shrimp, yes, but not fish. I didn’t know anything about them either. I liked to order trout in restaurants because I loved eating the flesh on one side and then unzipping the backbone to get at the other side. I still like to do that.

It was only when we moved to Belgium that I began to seriously cook and love fresh fish. Here, we are close enough to the sea to have fresh fish readily available. Everyone has their favorite fish market. For some, it’s in nearby Soumagne. For others, it’s in Herve. Or even the supermarket. My friend Françoise swears by the fish monger who’s in the town of Ensival for its weekly market. Me, I shop around.

I’ve developed a taste for fish. We still associate it with Fridays, but we eat it other days of the week as well. I find myself in the strange position of knowing the names of my favorite fish in French but not necessarily in English. Some of them have names that are not so pretty in English--rouget, for example, is mullet in English. Makes me think of a bad hair style...

Where was I? Oh, yes. We try to buy fish that’s sustainable and relatively local. This usually means tilapia or plaice or pollack or cod from Iceland. My favorite fish is the trout caught by one of our friends. He doesn’t really like to eat it, so he and his wife freeze it and sometimes they give it to us. YUM!

This dish is one that I first made one night when we were going out of town and we had some leeks and tomatoes in the fridge. And some fish. You can use any firm-fleshed white fish for this. It’s veryvery easy, and the flavors are delicate and healthy and clean--tomatoes, leeks and of course the fish. I serve it to company. On Fridays, of course!

Friday Fish

4-5 large leeks

10-12 small tomatoes (golf ball size)

400 g / 1 pound white fish

2 Tablespoons + 2 Tablespoons olive oil

• Preheat the oven to 160 C / 350 F.
• Cut the root ends off the leeks, and the hard green part. Cut them in half lengthwise, and wash them thoroughly under running water to remove all the sand and dirt between the layers. I just hold them near the base in one hand and with the other separate the layers and wash between them.
• Slice the leeks into pieces about 2 cm / 1 inch long.
• Heat 2 T olive oil in a large pan and add the leeks. Cook over medium-low heat till the leeks have released their liquid and are soft. This should take about 10 minutes.
• Put the leeks in a baking dish.
• Cut the fish into pieces about half the size of the palm of your hand. They should be roughly the same size so that they cook at the same rate. If there are some that are thinner than others, double them up. Nestle the fish pieces down into the leeks.
• Cut the tomatoes in quarters. Put the tomato pieces down into the leeks between the fish pieces.
• Drizzle 2 T of olive oil over the fish.
• Bake till the fish is opaque and flakes easily--about 20 minutes.

Serves 4 if they like it and 10 if they don’t.

NOTES:

• I often serve this with new potatoes, steamed and then crisped in a non-stick pan in a little olive oil. The crunch goes well with this dish.
• Good crusty rolls go well too. I think you need some crunch.
• Sometimes I just steam the potatoes and add them to the dish with the fish. Then I need crunch from rolls or something else.
• You can use flavored oil to drizzle over the fish--sometimes I use lemon flavored oil. Pepper oil wouldn’t really work here--it would kill these delicate flavors.

Fish Cakes

Do you ever just open the fridge and find parts of things left over? Of course you do. We all do. When that happens, sometimes Dan and I just eat little bits of things for dinner. At our house we call that ‘grazing’. Other times I make something that ends up being really good, and then I wish I had taken the time to write it down so that I could make it again.

When I made these fish cakes, I opened my fridge and what I found was some baked fish and two baked potatoes. I immediately started to think about fish cakes. I wanted something kind of chunky, not really fine. Rustic. I also had some Asian spices and some herbs. The result was, if I do say so myself, very good. And I somehow thought about jotting down how I made them. I know. I’m very glad I did. You will be too, I think.

Of course, I don’t have to tell you that all of the measures here are approximate, and you can change them as much as you wish. You can change the herbs and spices as well. Go ahead, make this dish your own!

I used tilapia for this. I had baked it with ginger and lemongrass leaves and a chopped red chili. The fish already had a lot of flavor, but I added a little more. If you’re starting with raw fish, bake it in a hot oven with milk for about 15 minutes till it’s flaky. Then drain it and let it cool. This recipe is written as if your fish is already cooked, but without the Asian flavors already in it.

Fish Cakes

250 g / 1/2 pound baked fish

1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

4-5 lemongrass leaves, chopped fine

small piece of red chili, chopped very fine

2 baked potatoes, cold

dash fish sauce

a good handful of cilantro, chopped

Salt

Pepper

Oil or butter to fry

• Flake the fish into large-ish flakes.
• Peel the potatoes and crush them with a fork, again into large-ish bits.
• Add the ginger, lemongrass leaves, chili, fish sauce and cilantro with the potatoes. Mix well. Salt and pepper to taste.
• Add the fish and stir gently to mix.
• Form patties with your hands. Heat oil or butter in a large pan until a drop of water spits when added to it. Put the fish patties in the pan and cook till golden brown on one side. Gently turn them over and cook till brown on the other side.

Serves 2 if they like it and 4 if they don’t.

NOTES:

• Everything here is already cooked, all you’re doing when you fry these is browning them and heating them up.
• We ate this with a salad and a little sauce made by mixing mayo with balsamic vinegar and some of the herbs from the fish cakes.

SCALLOP VERRINES

This is another recipe made from our gift of Breton Scallops. For this one, I wanted something lighter, with some Asian flavors. I had some lemongrass leaves that I thought would go well with the sweetness of the scallops. I also had some crisp radishes for a sharp note and some celery root to round out the flavor.

I didn’t do much to the scallops--they didn’t need much. I rinsed them, dried them well, and ground some pepper over them. This time, I didn’t have a pan with flavored oil ready for them, so I put a little bit of olive oil on the scallops themselves. That way, I didn’t have to use too much oil. It worked well--they seared nicely and had a lovely color.

I had intended to make a vinaigrette for these, but when I tasted the vegetables with their herbs, I tossed that idea and just used a little bit of mild rice wine vinegar. Perfect!

I like verrines. There’s something about their compact completeness that appeals to me. Maybe because I love little containers. Maybe because I love glassware. I don’t know, but I know that I make verrines whenever I can. They’re just so....cute.

Scallop Verrines

2 radishes

4 cm / 1 1/2 inch cube of celery root

4 cm / 1 1/2 inch celery

6 lemongrass leaves

3 basil leaves

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

8 sea scallops

• Slice the radishes in half, then slice each half in three, making three round slices. Cut julienne from those. This is the size you’ll want to make all of your other julienne.
• Slice the celery and the celery root the same length as your radishes, and julienne.
• Make a chiffonnade of the herb leaves: stack the basil and lemongrass leaves, roll them like a tiny cigar and cut them into thin slices. You’ll end up with shreds.
• Put all of your julienne and herbs in a bowl and add the rice wine vinegar. Stir to mix well.
• Rinse and dry the scallops. It’s important that they be very dry or they wont’ sear well. Grind some pepper over them, and add about a teaspoon of good olive oil. Mix gently to coat the scallops with the olive oil.
• Heat a frying pan till it’s very hot and add the scallops. Cook about 2 minutes each side or until almost done. They’ll continue to cook after you take them off the heat. You don’t want to overcook these or you’ll have little seared chewing gum balls.
• Put the julienne mixture in each of 4 verrines. Top each one with 2 scallops threaded on a pretty skewer or toothpick. Serve immediately.

Enough for 4

NOTES:

• I used lemongrass leaves because I had them. If you don’t have them, you can use any other fresh herb that you have that would go well with these flavors. Parsley, cilantro, dill, fennel, rocket. I don’t think I’d use mint, though.
• Fennel would be a nice addition to the julienne if you have it. You could also add a tiny bit of cabbage or endive. Or bell pepper.
• You could use lemon or lime juice instead of the vinegar. Or white balsamic. I don’t think I’d use the dark balsamic, though, or you’d kill the pretty colors.

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Scallops and Chick Pea Puree

Luck.

You know, I’ve never thought of myself as a lucky person. I mean, I’ve never won any kind of prize. Never won even a small lottery prize, never won anything from Publisher’s clearing house. Never even won at bingo. Once in the Netherlands I held 20% of the tickets for a raffle that had 25 prizes, and I STILL didn’t win anything.

I don’t care. I may not have Lotto luck, but I have Life luck. I found my soul mate, I’ve always found work that interested me, and I have friends who I treasure. One of those, my friend Françoise, invited us to a large house party on New Years Day. The party was at a gite (a sort of large self-catering cottage) in the Ardennes near here. The other members of the party were about 20 friends of Françoise and her husband Jean-Claude. These friends-of-friends live in Brittany, and they normally meet Françoise and Jean-Claude twice a year: in the Loire valley where they meet to buy their wine, and over New Year’s. They came with food and wine and high spirits. They came in a van with a trailer attached to hold the food and the pots and pans. Maybe some clothes too (some of them were very chic). They’ve been doing this for 20 years. We were very pleased to have been invited.

The day began (for us) with lunch. In grand Belgian tradition, we ate sauerkraut with two kinds of sausages and ham. And mashed potatoes. And some strong mustard. And lots of wine, of course, for those who still had a head for it after the night before. We put coins underneath our plates to ensure prosperity in the new year.

It was a wonderful day. Lots of stories--the kind that only old friends can tell about each other, lots of jokes, lots of laughter. The Belgians told French jokes, the French told Belgian jokes, and Dan and I told English speaker jokes.

There was lots of wonderful conversation and wonderful food and we hated it when we had to leave. But leave we had to, and after all the good-byes and thanks were said we headed towards our car. WAIT! we heard, and when we looked around there was one of our new friends coming towards us with a bag of something. It turned out to be scallops. A lot of them. For us, since we wouldn’t be there for dinner. Life luck!

These scallops came from Brittany, fresh frozen and brought carefully in the van or the trailer (I’m not sure which), still frozen. They had been slowly thawed in the cold air outside, protected from marauding cats. And now they were on the way home with us.

Since they had been frozen, I had to use them quickly. There were a lot of them. So Saturday was scallop day at our house. I wanted to see how many ways I could prepare scallops in one day. So look for some scallop recipes coming your way.

Who needs Lotto luck, eh?

This recipe would make a nice appetizer. In fact, it DID make a nice appetizer. I used canned chickpeas, because for some reason the dried ones aren’t available in my supermarket right now. They were fine here.

This recipe might look familiar to you. It’s basically this soup with less liquid in it. The extra liquid then becomes a sauce to drizzle over it all at the end.

Scallops and Chickpea Puree

1 can chick peas

4-5 sage leaves

2 Tablespoons olive oil

4 bay leaves

1 small shallot, chopped fine

1 dried hot pepper

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

1/4 cup white wine or tart apple juice

4 large scallops

chopped parsley to serve

• Heat the chick peas with the sage leaves in a pan.
• In a small skillet, heat the oil and add the bay leaves and the shallot. Crumble the hot pepper over it. Cook over medium heat till the shallots are soft and translucent.
• Add the tomato paste and the white wine or apple juice and cook on high heat till the liquid is almost all gone.
• Remove the bay leaves and scrape the contents of the skillet into the beans, and cook for another 5 minutes or so.
• Pour the beans and the liquid into a tall, narrow container, then pour off about 1/2 cup of the liquid and some of the chickpeas. Liquify the rest of the chickpeas and the liquid. You want something with the consistency of thick mashed potatoes. Or hummus.
• Rinse and pat dry the scallops. They need to be dry or they won’t sear properly. Without cleaning the skillet (you want that skim of infused oil that’s still in there), put it back on the heat and turn the heat up high. When the pan is hothot, cook the scallops for about 2 minutes on each side. If you overcook them, you’ll have chewing gum.
• To serve, put some of the puree on a serving dish, add a scallop and a chick pea. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, spoon some of the reserved liquid over it, and serve while hot. Or you can take a lot of photos of it and eat it cold like we did. But I think hot is better.

Enough for 4.

Notes:

• This would also make a nice verrine.
• This puree also makes a nice spicy dip for chips or veggies.
• If you do as I do and crumble the hot pepper with your fingers into the hot oil, be sure that you don’t wipe your eyes afterwards. The oils from the pepper will be on your fingers. It’s no use trying to wash it off--it’s not water soluble. It’s oil soluble, so the easiest way to get it off your fingers is to pour a little oil over your fingers and rub the oil into them well. Then rinse, and pour some dish soap directly on your fingers and rub them again. Rinse well. Now you can rub your eyes.

NIGEL'S FISH

When I don’t know what to cook, I usually turn to my trusty copy of Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries. Ok, by now you probably know I’m a real Nigel Slater fan. One reason that I always turn to this book is that whatever I find will be seasonal and prepared without too much fuss. It will also be delicious.

In October, Nigel prepared some haddock. It was simple, quick, and creatively done. I’ve used this recipe several times, with different fish and different herbs. It’s always good. This time I wanted something Japanese-y. I was craving the clean, distinct flavors of Japan, with its sticky rice and its crunchy fish and its tiny bits of sauces that pack a real WALLOP. I had a piece of cod that would be perfect if I could make it really crunchy and flavorful to go with the bland rice.

So I took Nigel’s idea and changed it (of course). I cut the fish into smaller pieces, I used a whole grain bread, I used parsley instead of tarragon. To be honest, if I’d had tarragon I’d have used it, but all I had in the soft fresh green category was flat leaf parsley. It worked perfectly! I served this with some sticky rice, some umiboshi paste, and some wasabi, because Dan loves wasabi. We also had some shredded cabbage for green crunch. YUM!

What makes this special is the anchovies in the bread crumb mixture. I know. Anchovies--ew. Trust me on this, they’re really good here. You don’t use enough to really taste them as anchovies, but they add a depth to the flavor that makes this simple dish very special. So go ahead, use them. Please.

Nigel’s Fish

adapted from Kitchen Diaries

450 g / 1 lb cod or any white flaky fish fillets

115 g / 1/4 lb bread

5 anchovy fillets

A good handful of flat leaf parsley

about a teacup of flour

1 egg

Salt and pepper

3-4 Tablespoons of a neutral-flavored oil

• Rinse the anchovies and pat them dry. In a food processor, blitz the bread with the anchovy fillets and the parsley. You don’t really want the bread crumbs to be finefine--leave them a little coarse. But you DO want the anchovy fillets really blitzed in there, so go to town with it!
• Put the flour in a dish big enough to hold the fish fillets, and add a little salt and a lot of pepper to it. Remember that the anchovies are salty, so you don’t want too much in this mixture.
• Break the egg into another dish big enough to hold the fish fillets, and beat it lightly.
• Heat the oil in a non-stick pan. Dip the fillets in the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs. You really want a good coating of them, so if they don’t stick well, pat them on there with your hands.
• When the oil is sizzling hot, add the fish fillets and cook gently until they’re golden--about 3-4 minutes, depending on the thickness.
• Turn carefully and cook another 2-3 minutes on the second side. Remover from the pan veryvery carefully and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.

Serves 4 if they like it and 10 if they don’t

NOTES:

• I’ve made this with haddock and cod. It would also work with sea bass or any other meaty white fish.
• Nigel uses tarragon in the bread crumbs. Use whatever fresh herb you have. I think it needs to be fresh, though. It’s really good with rosemary, with parsley, with sage. But it’s AMAZING with tarragon.
• Normally I use olive oil whenever I can. I just like the flavor. Here, though, you really need an oil with no flavor. I used colza / canola / rapeseed oil.
• If you’re not feeling Japanese, these are very good with mashed potatoes and a salad.
• I used a 6-grain bread for this. The bread had a nice complex flavor all its own, and added a lot to the flavor, I think.

Thanks for the compliments on the new bannerhead. That photo was really serendipitous - we went to Aachen so that I could take some photos of the Christmas market, and it was closed! There was a holiday that I didn't know about, so all the booths were locked up tight and I only got two photos: the red star that I used for my Christmas bannerhead, and this one. This one was taken in a restaurant while we were waiting for our dinner. There were herb plants on the table with spots directly above. This rosemary plant was just BEGGING to have it's picture taken! I wanted to practice getting a shallow depth of field, so I snapped away. VOILA! Serendipity.