Fish Recipes
Yesterday morning we turned on the TV in the bedroom before getting out of bed. Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals was on. It's my favourite cooking show, so I watched the whole episode. She was doing a Bistro special featuring fish. I'm not big on fish, but everything she made looked so good that I had to make it that night. We were going grocery shopping later in the day, so we bought some fresh fish while we were out. I even picked up the same kind of pasta she used, but I couldn't pronounce the name. I do remember that she said it means "twins" in Italian, but I can't remember what it's called.
A few months ago I watched another show (I think it was Barefoot Contessa), and have been meaning to try fennel ever since. This woman didn't really sell me on it though. She said she's not fond of the liquorice flavour, and prefers to eat fennel roasted when she does eat it. I like liquorice, and was very curious how this vegetable would taste. Rachael Ray used fennel in this fish dish, and it was absolutely wonderful. I will definitely have to try it plain roasted as a vegetable side dish now. The fennel was surpisingly milder in flavour than I would have thought.
I made both of Rachael Ray's dishes to the best of my memory. I altered the pasta dish a bit by adding 2 extra ingredients because I know what my taste is. The best part about cooking this was going shopping for a new, large, oven-safe skillet with a lid. The recipes are behind the cuts.
P.S. We gobbled down dinner too quick to get a picture the first day. This is a picture of tonight's leftovers. These dishes serve 4 so we got two meals out of them.
Fish
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
If you are making the pasta dish as well, put a large pot of water on the stove to get ready for the pasta.
Heat a large skillet, one that has a lid and is oven-safe, to medium low heat. If you don't have oven safe handles on your skillet, you can wrap them in foil before putting it in the oven.
If the fennel you bought has the stalks attached, trim them off at the point where they meet the bulb and discard. Reserve a bit of the frawns for garnishing the finished dish.
Quarter the fennel bulb and remove the core by slicing on an angle, then slice your quarters up.
Cut the onion in half, and slice the halves up.
Pour the EVOO into the hot skillet. Add the fennel and onion to the skillet. You don't want to caramelize the vegetables, just make them soft and translucent. Keep the heat low.
Peel the potato and then slice it very thin down the narrow end so you have almost circular pieces as opposed to long rectangles.
Pour the chardonnay into the skillet. Add the potato slices in a single layer, completely covering the top of the vegetables. Add the chicken stock to the skillet.
Salt & pepper the fish fillets. Put the fillets in a single layer on top of the potatoes. Put the lid on the skillet and place it in the oven.
Bake it for about 20 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and bake it for another 5 minutes.
Serve the fish with some fresh chopped herbs, including the fennel frawns, and drink the rest of the chardonnay with your meal.
Tuna Pasta
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
Put a large pot of water on for the pasta. When the water is boiling, add your pasta.
Chop the garlic. Add EVOO to a hot skillet (medium heat), then add the garlic.
Open the tuna and drain off most of the liquid. Add the tuna in with the garlic. Break it up a little bit with a fork. Add the marinated artichoke hearts.
Pour in the chicken stock.
Slice the cherry tomatoes in half, and add them to the skillet when the pasta is cooked.
Chop the fresh parsley and basil. If you are making the fish dish, set a couple tablespoons aside to garnish the fish (and give it more flavour).
Add the cooked pasta to the skillet. Add the chopped herbs and remove the skillet from the heat. Toss everything together in the skillet, then serve.
Enjoy!
A few months ago I watched another show (I think it was Barefoot Contessa), and have been meaning to try fennel ever since. This woman didn't really sell me on it though. She said she's not fond of the liquorice flavour, and prefers to eat fennel roasted when she does eat it. I like liquorice, and was very curious how this vegetable would taste. Rachael Ray used fennel in this fish dish, and it was absolutely wonderful. I will definitely have to try it plain roasted as a vegetable side dish now. The fennel was surpisingly milder in flavour than I would have thought.
I made both of Rachael Ray's dishes to the best of my memory. I altered the pasta dish a bit by adding 2 extra ingredients because I know what my taste is. The best part about cooking this was going shopping for a new, large, oven-safe skillet with a lid. The recipes are behind the cuts.
P.S. We gobbled down dinner too quick to get a picture the first day. This is a picture of tonight's leftovers. These dishes serve 4 so we got two meals out of them.
Fish
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
- 4 filets of Red Tilapia (Rachael Ray used Cod, but any firm fish is a fine substitute)
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1 large starchy potato (I used whatever white one my grocery store had)
1 medium yellow onion (cooking onion)
1 fennel bulb (your grocery store might call it "anise")
1 cup chardonnay (or substitute with a good dry wine)
1 cup chicken stock
salt & pepper
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
If you are making the pasta dish as well, put a large pot of water on the stove to get ready for the pasta.
Heat a large skillet, one that has a lid and is oven-safe, to medium low heat. If you don't have oven safe handles on your skillet, you can wrap them in foil before putting it in the oven.
If the fennel you bought has the stalks attached, trim them off at the point where they meet the bulb and discard. Reserve a bit of the frawns for garnishing the finished dish.
Quarter the fennel bulb and remove the core by slicing on an angle, then slice your quarters up.
Cut the onion in half, and slice the halves up.
Pour the EVOO into the hot skillet. Add the fennel and onion to the skillet. You don't want to caramelize the vegetables, just make them soft and translucent. Keep the heat low.
Peel the potato and then slice it very thin down the narrow end so you have almost circular pieces as opposed to long rectangles.
Pour the chardonnay into the skillet. Add the potato slices in a single layer, completely covering the top of the vegetables. Add the chicken stock to the skillet.
Salt & pepper the fish fillets. Put the fillets in a single layer on top of the potatoes. Put the lid on the skillet and place it in the oven.
Bake it for about 20 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and bake it for another 5 minutes.
Serve the fish with some fresh chopped herbs, including the fennel frawns, and drink the rest of the chardonnay with your meal.
Tuna Pasta
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
- a small package of pasta, any short type of pasta is fine
2 cans of tuna packed in Olive Oil
approximately 2 cups of cherry tomatoes (my grocery store was out so I used grape tomatoes)
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
2 big handfuls of Italian Flat Leaf Parsley
lost of fresh Basil
several cloves of garlic, depending on your palate (I used 5)
1 small jar marinated artichoke hearts (Rachael Ray didn't use it, but I threw it in 'cause I found myself in the pickle aisle... it added a nice touch to the pasta)
3/4 cup chicken stock (she didn’t add this either, but I thought it needed something else to give it more sauce)
Put a large pot of water on for the pasta. When the water is boiling, add your pasta.
Chop the garlic. Add EVOO to a hot skillet (medium heat), then add the garlic.
Open the tuna and drain off most of the liquid. Add the tuna in with the garlic. Break it up a little bit with a fork. Add the marinated artichoke hearts.
Pour in the chicken stock.
Slice the cherry tomatoes in half, and add them to the skillet when the pasta is cooked.
Chop the fresh parsley and basil. If you are making the fish dish, set a couple tablespoons aside to garnish the fish (and give it more flavour).
Add the cooked pasta to the skillet. Add the chopped herbs and remove the skillet from the heat. Toss everything together in the skillet, then serve.
Enjoy!