Fish recipes

[Steve Maskery]

Fish pie?

Well I do make fish pie. It's actually a Weight Wathers receipe, though you'd never know it. A couple of weeks ago I made one that SWMBO described as my "best ever". I'm reluctant to tamper with something that is so good.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I had a friend who used to give me the occasional conger. I used to cook it, take the easy meat off it, give a bit of the rest to the cat, a few good meals to the J. Russells (which loved it), and the bones etc to the hens. I had two 20 y. o. lodgers at the time, one who was fussy (his parents had a F&C shop in Bridlington) and the other who would have eaten me had I stayed still long enough. I made pies with Alaskan pollock, whiting and conger and both ate them and thoroughly enjoyed them. I made Robin, the non fussy one promise he wouldn't tell the other one what was in them.

 

[Steve Maskery]

That sounds very interesting Phil. Were your pies pastry or mash topping?
S

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Mash. My pies, like my soups and stews get made from anything that happens to be there on the day.

 

[Guineafowl21]

I had a friend who used to give me the occasional conger. I used to cook it, take the easy meat off it, give a bit of the rest to the cat, a few good meals to the J. Russells (which loved it), and the bones etc to the hens. I had two 20 y. o. lodgers at the time, one who was fussy (his parents had a F&C shop in Bridlington) and the other who would have eaten me had I stayed still long enough. I made pies with Alaskan pollock, whiting and conger and both ate them and thoroughly enjoyed them. I made Robin, the non fussy one promise he wouldn't tell the other one what was in them.

Plenty of conger in the wrecks off Plymouth. I used to cut them into steaks, then the wife would steam them in a bowl, with chilli, ginger, spring onion, coriander, soy sauce.

I wish I’d filmed the time someone let loose a bloody great conger on the deck. Comedy gold - everyone legging it, then prat-falling and grabbing the gunnels. The conger was actually barking at us.

 

[Phil]

In the far distant past, single and had to feed myself, I would do some steamed hake.

Deep Pyrex dish with lid.

Take a nice sized onion and slice thinly, layering half at the bottom of the Pyrex.

Some blobs of butter.

Sprinkle black pepper, and Origanum or Thyme (fresh is ideal) over the onion.

Lay the pieces of hake onto this ‘bed’. Enough for two meals.

Spread other half of onion over.

Slice a tomato over, sprinkle more of the pepper and Origanum/Thyme over.

If on hand some parmesan on top.

Place lid on.

Into pre-heated oven at 180c for about 20 minutes.

Goes well with cold dry white wine.
In those days it would have been Witzenberg or Carafino.

 

[Guineafowl21]

Ling in Mornay sauce was quite nice (think cauliflower cheese, but with ling instead). The fish made it a little watery so next time I’ll salt it. 20 mins in coarse salt, then rinse off?

 

[Steve Maskery]

In the far distant past, single and had to feed myself, I would do some steamed hake.

I'll have to try that, Phil. Hake is readily available here.
S

 

[Phil]

I'll have to try that, Phil. Hake is readily available here.
S

What I would sometimes do is some very thinly sliced potato at the bottom.
Think thin = think short cooking time.

 

[NickM]

I've spent most of the last week fishing in Guernsey and haven't caught a single fish worth eating!

I was mostly lure fishing for bass, but just caught a few wrasse which, although great fun to catch, are not a desirable eating fish (although I've heard they are worth cooking up if they're really big).

The only "edible" fish I caught was a mackerel but, as I only had one which wasn't enough to feed me and my parents, I used that as bait which netted me a ..... dogfish.

The mission was not helped by my defender breaking down on my way to catch the ferry for a day's fishing in Herm. Hats off to the AA though,who are repatriating the stricken vehicle back to the mainland for me!

The same week in May last year was also very poor for bass. I'll be back in August and October and will hopefully have more luck then.

In the meantime, I've had to make do with eating bass and bream in local restaurants which has been excellent!!

 

[Guineafowl21]

dogfish

Actually not too bad as fish and chips - head off, snip fins off, then use a pair of pliers to skin. Shark family so no bones. And there are millions of the buggers, so nice to make use of them.

 

[NickM]

Actually not too bad as fish and chips - head off, snip fins off, then use a pair of pliers to skin. Shark family so no bones. And there are millions of the buggers, so nice to make use of them.

Free sandpaper as well!

 

[AJB Temple]

"Not too bad" does not sell anything to me! Even Rick Stein reckons that dogfish needs to be disguised with a lot of other stuff to hide its rather insistent flavour.

 

[NickM]

I think dogfish are in the "pot bait" category here. Sadly, I think wrasse are in the same category, but they're beautiful fish and should be released I think. This was probably the best one I caught:



The big fishing topic here is the impact on commercial crab and lobster fishing of the explosion in the octopus population. They go from pot to pot and devour the whole catch. Apparently it was like that a long time ago, but a very cold winter in the 1960s reduced the numbers. They're making a big comeback. We'll all need to start eating octopus...

 

[AJB Temple]

I like octopus. They are very intelligent creatures though.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

They (octopuses) go from pot to pot and devour the whole catch.

As do congers.

 

[AndyP]

Had octopus tentacles for the first time a month or so back, grilled I think . Tasted much like calamari to me. I'd certainly eat it again.

 

[Guineafowl21]

"Not too bad" does not sell anything to me! Even Rick Stein reckons that dogfish needs to be disguised with a lot of other stuff to hide its rather insistent flavour.

Just being honest! I don’t remember a particularly strong flavour, just a softish texture. The book, North Atlantic Seafood, recommended by Phil Pascoe, describes it as ‘satisfactory material for the fryer’. Not everyone’s first choice, but if you can’t catch anything else, do try it as battered goujons with some tartare sauce. Even the “I don’t like fish” person seemed to enjoy it.

Up here, dogfish is sometimes sold as Rock Salmon, which can refer to the Lesser Spotted doggy, Bull Huss, Smoothhound or Spurdog, so it’s anyone guess what you’re getting. But it does, at least, suggest a waste-not want-not approach, which is good.

@NickM nice Ballan Wrasse - the book is a bit ambivalent about them, but suggests steaming or poaching, or Vras a la Cherbourgeoise. Maybe if one comes up damaged or foul-hooked you could try that.

 

[AJB Temple]

Lesser spotted is now regarded as endangered.

 

[Guineafowl21]

Lesser spotted is now regarded as endangered.

Where is that from? In inshore waters, they seem to be extremely (annoyingly) numerous. As far as I can find out, the concern is not so much for numbers, but the lack of any management/quota/landing size measures, given their low economic value.

One thing in their favour is, they seem to be very resilient to being hauled up and thrown back.

 

[AJB Temple]

Where is that from? In inshore waters, they seem to be extremely (annoyingly) numerous. As far as I can find out, the concern is not so much for numbers, but the lack of any management/quota/landing size measures, given their low economic value.

One thing in their favour is, they seem to be very resilient to being hauled up and thrown back.

Marine Stewardship body. Our fish wholesaler has a full list that they hand out to customers which also gives the seasonality info for every species we typically encounter in the UK. I think the issue is they are bottom feeders and there is not much information on the population. They are not found everywhere around the UK coast apparently.

 

[Guineafowl21]

Marine Stewardship body. Our fish wholesaler has a full list that they hand out to customers which also gives the seasonality info for every species we typically encounter in the UK. I think the issue is they are bottom feeders and there is not much information on the population. They are not found everywhere around the UK coast apparently.

Yes, it looks like they’d be vulnerable to overfishing if popularised, due to lack of info and measures. Sharks are apparently slow to mature and breed as well.

 

[AJB Temple]

^ Yes, that's exactly the issue.

 

[Raymedullary]

When I lived on the Hampshire coast, our neighbour often caught mackerel off the beach. Once you've had that simply grilled and simply seasoned within an hour of being caught you really cannot imagine better!

 

[Guineafowl21]

When I lived on the Hampshire coast, our neighbour often caught mackerel off the beach. Once you've had that simply grilled and simply seasoned within an hour of being caught you really cannot imagine better!

Mackerel fresh from the sea and straight onto the grill - best fish ever.

Kept for any length of time, or frozen - I use it for bait.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

We used catch mackerel on the boat, boil them in seawater and eat them with new potatoes and butter. Eaten within 15 minutes of being out of the water.

 

[AJB Temple]

Super fresh mackerel is very good as sashimi. But being oily it's quite rich and I only ever want a small amount. Not sure that there is any such thing as "best fish ever" . Variety is the spice of life. But if I were to be condemned to a desert island, with no women or chocolate to keep them happy, I would probably select Dover sole as my fish of choice, or Turbot at a pinch, or Lobster. A good supply of Oscietra or Beluga would help make up for the lack of companionship.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My idea of hell in a meal - oysters, caviar and champagne.

 

[Guineafowl21]

Not sure that there is any such thing as "best fish ever" .

You weren’t out on the rocks at Portsoy, with beer cooler and mates, barbecuing the fish as we reeled them in, sharing a laugh (and a few line tangles) with the jolly Polish boys who’d come out to do the same!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Snorkeling for mussels off Hot Water Beach in NZ, burying them on the beach and digging them up cooked ten minutes later.

 

[AJB Temple]

Snorkeling for mussels off Hot Water Beach in NZ, burying them on the beach and digging them up cooked ten minutes later.

Did they open in the sand? How did you get the grit out? Or were they wrapped somehow?

 

[AJB Temple]

You weren’t out on the rocks at Portsoy, with beer cooler and mates, barbecuing the fish as we reeled them in, sharing a laugh (and a few line tangles) with the jolly Polish boys who’d come out to do the same!

Why did you need a beer cooler - whenever I go to Scotland it's always freezing

 

[Guineafowl21]

Why did you need a beer cooler - whenever I go to Scotland it's always freezing

Moray microclimate! I’m framing up a stud wall to extend the wood shop, and it’s bloody boiling here. Going for a shandy now.

* When I say beer cooler, I mean the fish bucket filled with ice and seawater.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Did they open in the sand? How did you get the grit out? Or were they wrapped somehow?

Just wrapped them in seaweed. We could probably have found water a little hotter, but it was just adequate.

 

[Guineafowl21]

In compensation for a missed order last week, they sold me this (apparently £60) turbot for £20.

I’ve divided it into four skinless fillets, and kept the head and frilly collar meat as well. Recipe ideas for this fine fish, please, especially the latter parts.

Scallops, ‘langos’, hake and ling also present.

 

[AJB Temple]

I've just collected a 4.2kg Turbot from our supplier. landed this morning. I've filleted it and removed the wings with fish scissors. It will then be portioned into however many neat 80 gram portions I can get out of it (we serve 80g as a fish course as there is a meat course afterwards) and in this case it will be cooked in butter (saute) at low to moderate temperature, mostly skin side down. It is served with deep fried mussels in a very light white wine batter, and sauced with a heavily reduced white wine sauce, with a little finely chopped dill added, a touch of butter and cream, and then Bamixed (stick blended) to lighten it into a foam. Plated with sprigs of washed samphire. Do not overcook - it goes from amazing to dry and rubbery if you go 30 seconds too far.

You can also poach in in red wine - classic and works well. Serve with French mash.
You can also roast whole.
and you can cut directly across the fish to create steaks about 2cm thick. Oven or pan roast.

 

[Guineafowl21]

I've just collected a 4.2kg Turbot from our supplier. landed this morning. I've filleted it and removed the wings with fish scissors. It will then be portioned into however many neat 80 gram portions I can get out of it (we serve 80g as a fish course as there is a meat course afterwards) and in this case it will be cooked in butter (saute) at low to moderate temperature, mostly skin side down. It is served with deep fried mussels in a very light white wine batter, and sauced with a heavily reduced white wine sauce, with a little finely chopped dill added, a touch of butter and cream, and then Bamixed (stick blended) to lighten it into a foam. Plated with sprigs of washed samphire. Do not overcook - it goes from amazing to dry and rubbery if you go 30 seconds too far.

You can also poach in in red wine - classic and works well. Serve with French mash.
You can also roast whole.
and you can cut directly across the fish to create steaks about 2cm thick. Oven or pan roast.

Thanks. I removed the skin on advice from the Fallow restaurant YT channel, but will leave it on next time.

For the turbot head, frilly collar, perhaps the langoustine bits and pieces, how about making a sort of bouillabaisse?

 

[AJB Temple]

Here is one I prepared about 10 minutes ago. For scale the blade on the knife is 30cm long. I use a Yanigiba for filleting. It's a very large board. I just whip the fillets off whole as you can see in the second picture.

In my case the skeleton, head and everything is going into the stock pot with herbs, aromats and white wine. Obviously this is a big fish so it gets chopped up. Turbot makes fantastic stock. If you are going to make a bouillabaisse, I think you need a wider range of fish first, and I would still make the turbot into stock first as a base. Then pick the flesh out of the head.

VERY IMPORTANT you must remove the gills from the head if you are going to use it in a stock or soup, or if you roast or poach the fish whole. if you don't do this it will make everything taste very bitter. Best way is with heavy duty fish scissors or poultry shears. This applies to all fish cooked whole.

 

[AJB Temple]

You can take the skin off if you want - I skin Dover's fully for example. But for Hake and Turbot and Brill, I leave the skin on and cook in the pan mostly (90% of the time) skin side down. It's a delicate fish and I feel the skin protects it. If you want the skin to go crisp, then put the fish skin side up on a blue cloth or some paper on a tray in the fridge for a couple of hours. This dehydrates it somewhat.

It may be that Matt and Will at Fallow want to get some colour on the fish. They will also be flashing it through the pan quicker and at a higher heat than I do. But they are dealing with volume ALC whereas I am doing fine dining at a different pace. I don't want colour on it because of the delicate sauce. I'm actually doing it with a shellfish sauce tonight.

We will be getting another similar fish delivered tomorrow hopefully - maybe a bit bigger.

By the way, if you portion it and have a means of vacuum packing, Turbot freezes very well and so does the stock.

 

[Steve Maskery]

That is a mighty fine fish you have there, Adrian. I've never had it, but have seen it in portions before.
I know that it is an expensive fish, and so it should be. Can I ask how much such a beast costs? I will not be offended if you tell me to mind my own business.
Do you know how old an animal like that is?
S