All posts tagged seafood

Barbecued Calamari Salad

By On 20/02/2012 In Food, Salads With 3 Comments Permanent Link to Barbecued Calamari SaladPermalink

I’ve been meaning to make a calamari salad for weeks so I’m glad to say today is the day! It’s definitely a summery salad, and as we’re fast approaching the end of summer *gasp* I thought I’d better get my skates on. I’ve wanted to make a few more dishes with the Moroccan preserved lemons from a few months back (if you didn’t see them they’re right over here). I looked at a few recipes for inspiration and came up with this little ditty.

I was very excited to finally use the baby tomatoes from our garden for the salad. The fact that these plants are still alive is amazing – my poor little darlings! They were looking so healthy before Christmas however two weeks away in Tassie (with nobody to water them), followed by some stinking hot Melbourne days took it toll. Nevertheless, with a little bit of TLC they eventually resurrected… and boy were they the tastiest little tomatoes I’ve ever had, all six of them!

After all my excitement over the six tomatoes, Sebby scavenged some old floorboards, grabbed the power drill and jigsaw, and proceeded to put his grade 8 woodwork skills to the test. In just over an hour this clever fella had knocked up a beautiful big planter box! This means next year I’ll have even more room for my tomatoes. If we’re lucky enough we might even get 12 of them!

x e.

 

 

 

Barbecued Calamari Salad

serves 2

1 handful of rocket
1 handful of spinach
1/2 carrot grated
6 baby tomatoes halved
1/2 an avocado diced
small handful of sprouts

For the dressing

1/2 chilli chopped
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 lemons
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
1/4 preserved lemon finely chopped
3 teaspoons sugar
salt and pepper
3 calamari

 

1. Place rocket, spinach, carrot, avacado, tomato and sprouts into a big salad bowl.

2. Cut open the calamari so they’re laying flat on the board. Lightly score one side in a criss-cross pattern and then cut into 2cm strips and place in a bowl. Once all pieces are scored, squeeze the juice of one of the lemons over the calamari ensuring it’s all coated well. Let it rest for 5 minutes, mixing it regularly so that the lemon coats it completely. The acid in the lemons will soften the calamari so it’s nice and tender. Turn the barbecue up to a medium heat and shut the lid to let it warm up.

3. Meanwhile to make the dressing, in a small bowl add chilli, sesame oil, olive oil, juice of the other lemon, garlic, preserved lemon, sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

4. Once the calamari has softened, place it on the barbecue scored side down and let it cook for one minute and turn over to cook the other side. Once completely cooked, add the calamari to the salad and plate up. Drizzle the dressing over the top.

Spicy Flathead & Mixed Vegetable Rosti

By On 22/11/2011 In Food With No Comments Permanent Link to Spicy Flathead & Mixed Vegetable RostiPermalink

Another week, another trip to the Vic markets!  This week we were craving a good fix of fish so we bought a few fresh fillets of flathead.  Flathead is without a doubt my favourite fish.  It may be a little more expensive than certain other types of fish (I’m guessing because the fillets are small & there are so many little bones to get out) but it has such a lovely flavour, I can’t go past it. All in all, it was another successful trip to the market.  Our fridge and fruit bowl is now packed with delicious fresh produce, which will no doubt all end up here on the blog!

This week was also the first week I started my Christmas baking (another series of treats for the blog!).  Toot toot!  I’m hoping to have lots of tasty treats to share with you all. Every year my mum makes all sorts of little Christmas goodies leading up to the end of December, so I thought I’d have a shot at making them myself this year.  I think I’ll start with the traditional recipes first so keep an eye out for the posts.

I also just started my Christmas shopping.  Unlike any other year I feel so unorganised… even if I have started early!

Are there any Christmas traditions your family makes every year?  I’d love to know!

x e.

 

 

 

Spicy Flathead & Mixed Vegetable Rosti

2 fillets of flathead fish per person
1/3 cup plain flour
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1tsp hot paprika
salt & pepper

—————

1/2 cup flour
1 egg
1 small zucchini
1 small aubergine
1 carrot
1 onion
3 potatoes
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp hot paprika
salt & pepper
2 cloves of garlic

——————

lemon & dill to serve

 

1. On a plate mix together flour, coriander, cumin, paprika, salt & pepper and dust the fish fillets. Let them sit in the flour mixture together whilst making the rostis.

2. Grate up the zucchini, onion, garlic, aubergine & potatoes then drain any excess liquid. Add one egg and flour, spices and season to taste. Heat oil in a large frypan and once hot, roll mixture into patties squeezing out any liquid. Place in the fry pan and cook thoroughly both sides.  If you’d like to dry out the mixture a little more, bake the rostis in the oven for a further 15 minutes on 150 degrees.

3. In another frypan, heat a good glug of olive oil and shallow fry the fish until golden brown on both sides. Once cooked, place on paper towel to absorb any excess oil.

4. Serve with a big wedge of lemon & finely chopped dill sprinkled over the top.

Sophie’s Salmon

By On 03/11/2011 In Food With No Comments Permanent Link to Sophie’s SalmonPermalink

A couple of weeks ago my good friend Sophie asked me to help photograph some food for one of her uni assignments.  She’s in her second year at RMIT, doing what sounds like the most amazing degree ever (a little bit jealous here).  I’m sure it’s helped by the fact that she’s extremely good at what she does! Anyway, her class were given the task of creating a recipe book based on the classic colour wheel.  Each student was asked to choose one of their favourite recipes based on a particular colour.  The whole class then had to illustrate their chosen recipe and compile them all together as a collaborative recipe book.

Sophie had decided to choose a salmon dish with salmon pink as her colour of choice.  My job in this was to photograph all the food.  I had to take shots of the food together, individually, sideways, lengthways, shortways & longways so she had plenty of different images to illustrate them from.  I saw it as another good excuse to cook a scrumptiously delicious dish & share it with friends (not to mention photograph it for you lovely people… right?).

As part of her submission, Sophie also had to include a journal of all her inspiration as a document of how she came to the end result. You can read up on how Sophie created her masterpiece on her ‘journal blog’ The Zip Zap Zop, here.  I was rather chuffed to find a little Adeline & Lumiere blog mention in there too!  Awww… thanks Soph!

Anyway, I think Sophie’s recipe book submission is super cool!  She is an extremely talented up & coming textiles designer.  (Good luck with all your work submissions for this year. I’m sure you’ll ace ‘em!)
x e.

 

Photos of each individual ingredient for Sophie to illustrate

Artwork details from Sophie’s recipe submission (isn’t she a clever little minx?)

Sophie’s Salmon

Serves 2 hungry people

¾ cup of couscous
1 medium salmon fillet (approx. 200g), skin on, scaled and boned, cut into 4 strips
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 medium zucchini, sliced into batons
A large handful of string beans, top and tailed.
2 ripe Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
Juice of half a lemon
½ teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
1 medium handful of fresh coriander, chopped roughly
1 Tablespoon of reduced fat sour cream, to serve

 

1. Place the couscous in a bowl and fill with enough boiling water to cover it.  Cover the bowl with a plate and set aside for 3 minutes.

2. Place the strips of salmon into a small freezer bag and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper. Move the salmon around in the bag so that it is coated thoroughly.

3. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a large non-stick frying pan at medium heat. Add salmon strips, placing them on their side. Cook for 4 minutes, turning the salmon halfway. Remove from pan and set aside.

5. To the heated pan, add the zucchini and beans. Cook for 4 minutes stirring regularly.

6. While the vegetables are cooking, use a fork to mix the chopped tomato, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, lemon juice, chilli and coriander into the couscous. Add salt and pepper to taste.

7. Mix the couscous through the vegetables in the pan.  Place the salmon strips on top, cover with a lid and allow to cook for a further 3 minutes.

8. To serve, slide everything from the pan out onto your plate, and add a dollop of sour cream.