Fish Friday.

[HillBill]

Not sure about you lot, but Friday is always Fish day... Here anyway.

To clarify, i've not been out and hooked me some fresh fish, though i do have some Trout and Mackerel in the freezer i caught myself.

When you cook fish, what do you have and how do you prefer to cook and serve it?

Multiple options here... Trout, mackerel, got some thai fishcakes i made a bit ago (also with trout) and some random breaded fish fillets from the local farm shop... Kinda not inspired on what to make...

Our go to is spuds, and veg, with parlsey sauce. Not feeling it for today...its a little generic, a little 'too often'

Given a free reign.... what you making?

 

[CLEM]

Not sure about you lot, but Friday is always Fish day... Here anyway.

To clarify, i've not been out and hooked me some fresh fish, though i do have some Trout and Mackerel in the freezer i caught myself.

When you cook fish, what do you have and how do you prefer to cook and serve it?

Multiple options here... Trout, mackerel, got some thai fishcakes i made a bit ago (also with trout) and some random breaded fish fillets from the local farm shop... Kinda not inspired on what to make...

Our go to is spuds, and veg, with parlsey sauce. Not feeling it for today...its a little generic, a little 'too often'

Given a free rein.... what you making?

I love fish, trout being a particular favourite of mine. Now I’d always thought of horseradish going with beef and so forth, never thought of it for fish at all, seemed a bit wrong Dunno why. However, i was wrong and i can tell you it goes a right treat with trout, i am sure i saw it on some tv cookery show a while back.
Anyway i found a recipe online, it was a Jamie Oliver one i think. Anyway it was very nice.

 

[CLEM]

Oh and Fridays was always fish round my this manor years round these parts at one time too, not so much nowadays i reckon.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Not being catholic, fish on fridays was never a thing in my world. However, there was a period in the early 80s, when saturday was fish'n' chips. Back then you could get cod & chips twice & still have change out of a fiver.

 

[bopdude]

Never really adheered to fish Fridays although do love a nice bit of fish, haddock from the chippy, and then all the rest in no particular order.

 

[John Fenna]

I am not a fan of fish - I avoid it all except the very occasional bit of cod from a chippy, anchovies on a pizza, smoked salmon or super fresh calamari.

 

[Kepis]

Love eating fish, tonight it's just simple home cooked Cod and chips with a good heap of peas, the fish will just be baked and the spuds cut into chunky chips and baked alongside with a spring of Rosemary and a light sprinkle of olive oil.

When i cook fish/seafood i like to keep it nice and simple, no fancy sauces or the like, as i like to taste the fish, a good parsley sauce made with fresh parsley straight from the garden is hard to beat.

 

[British Red]

Now I’d always thought of horseradish going with beef and so forth, never thought of it for fish at all, seemed a bit wrong Dunno why.

Not much different than Wasabi on sushi when you think about it. Fish takes strong flavours beautifully. This is my recipe of Tiger prawns with chilli, ginger & garlic

Garlic & Chilli Prawns by English Countrylife, on Flickr

 

[Broch]

Fish and shellfish are probably my favourite meals and I cook it in a many, many, ways but you cannot beat seabass plain fried in butter - simple meals are so often the best.

Oh and @CLEM - try mackerel with horse radish - really delicious

 

[Chris]

Sashimi, smoked salmon or trout, kippers, squid and octopus, sea bass, caviar, shellfish… I love it all when it’s nicely prepared and the seafood is fresh. Oh and monkfish holds up brilliantly in a curry.

My local pub recently had a special of ‘popcorn clams and cockles’. They were done in a spiced batter similar to salt and pepper chicken from a chinese, and with added fresh sliced chilli. A perfect snack to go with a pint.

The one I don’t really like is just a grilled salmon fillet. I know it seems pretty universally popular, even amongst non seafood lovers, but it just doesn’t do it for me.

As an island nation we really should be more used to eating shellfish and things, but it seems people are less keen on it nowadays.

 

[JonathanD]

Almost every night for us is fish night. Troutses last night. Great stuff.

 

[Broch]

I confess that I was 'trouted' out at one time when I was doing a lot of fly fishing. It would be rare for us to have less than a dozen trout in the freezer. I started writing a book "52 recipes for Trout" when I was developing new ways to cook it

 

[FerlasDave]

We eat more fish and seafood than land based animals. Prawn linguine was on the menu last night and it’s fish and chips for tonight. My inlaws do fish Friday every week but for us we go with the flow and it’s usually fish anyway.

 

[Chris]

The cost of fish and chips must put a lot of people off. You're looking North of £10 for a cod or haddock and chips around here and that's cheap 'up North' prices.

There's a place in Grimsby that does fish and chips (Mathews Chippy) for £3 and the owner does it as he sees feeding people affordable food as a service to the community. He doesn't make a loss on it, so it clearly can be done. A real stand up chap. But that's what fish and chips used to be - cheap, cheerful and filling food for the working classes.

We live on an island and there's really no excuse for fish being so expensive, or for the poor availability of fresh fish outside of coastal towns.

 

[Pattree]

Wife doesn’t like “food with faces” so I have a stash in the freezer for when she’s off on a course or looking after grandchildren (as last night)

I fried a heap of cabbage then rested the whole fish on top and put the lid on for a few minutes. And that’s that. I don’t like overcooked fish. Had it with steamed veg and spuds.

No correlation between fish and Friday here. I don’t fish.

 

[Kepis]

The cost of fish and chips must put a lot of people off. You're looking North of £10 for a cod or haddock and chips around here and that's cheap 'up North' prices.

There's a place in Grimsby that does fish and chips (Mathews Chippy) for £3 and the owner does it as he sees feeding people affordable food as a service to the community. He doesn't make a loss on it, so it clearly can be done. A real stand up chap. But that's what fish and chips used to be - cheap, cheerful and filling food for the working classes.

We live on an island and there's really no excuse for fish being so expensive, or for the poor availability of fresh fish outside of coastal towns.

I bought fish and chips in as a treat for my sister and I a little while back, two small cod and one regular chips between us - Twenty quid, it was nice, but at that price I don't do it too often.

One of my old neighbours used to work at the local port on the Pilot boat and he used to rock up on the doorstep with all sorts of stuff, fresh Cod, Plaice etc straight off the boat, his best though was when he turned up once with an onion sack full of Scallops, i did enjoy those, all he asked in return is would we cook some for him when we had it, as he didn't cook and his wife refused to cook fish, seemed like a fair trade to me.

 

[Chris]

I bought fish and chips in as a treat for my sister and I a little while back, two small cod and one regular chips between us - Twenty quid, it was nice, but at that price I don't do it too often.

One of my old neighbours used to work at the local port on the Pilot boat and he used to rock up on the doorstep with all sorts of stuff, fresh Cod, Plaice etc straight off the boat, his best though was when he turned up once with an onion sack full of Scallops, i did enjoy those, all he asked in return is would we cook some for him when we had it, as he didn't cook and his wife refused to cook fish, seemed like a fair trade to me.

Ooooh. Scallops are my all time favourite. Seared in butter... mmm.

 

[Broch]

My idea of seafood heaven (well, one of them anyway).

 

[Broch]

I always cook on Friday (I do cook other times as well). So, tonight's planned fish meal; I've made this before and it's worth the effort (sorry, I can't remember where these recipes came from):

Spicy Orange and Harissa-glazed Cod
Serves 2

2 cod fillets
2 tablespoons of clear honey
1 tablespoon of rose harissa
Grated zest of 1 orange
Juice of ½ orange
Black pepper
Salt

Season the cod with pepper
Fry the cod in a little oil for 2-3 minutes on each side
Season with salt

Mix honey, harissa, orange zest and juice together
Pour over the cod and simmer – baste the fish
Cook until the sauce thickens and becomes sticky

Serve immediately.

Herb and Ginger Rice
Serves 2

150g basmati rice
225 ml cold water
20g salted butter
Salt
Grated root ginger
1 tablespoon dried herb leaves
1 tspn ground ginger
1 clove finely chopped garlic
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Put all ingredients in a saucepan, season with salt, cook for 30 minutes

Braised Celery, red pepper and garlic
As side dish – for 2

3 sticks celery, cut into 5cm lengths and 1 cm wide
Red pepper – cut into 1 cm strips
Fresh ground black pepper – ½ teaspoon
4 cloves garlic, sliced
½ tablespoon Rice wine vinegar
200ml chicken stock
Salt

In a large pan, fry the pepper and celery for 2 mins
Add the black pepper and garlic and fry 2 mins – until the veg softens
Add the vinegar and stock bring to a simmer – 10-15 mins, stirring occasionally
Continue until the celery goes limp and liquid is reduced
Salt to taste.

 

[Tengu]

Im not a great fish eater; me and dad have fish and chips on a Friday. Its a Dad thing.

When I lived in Cornwall it was terrible getting both affordable and decent fish and chips; they still have a fishing fleet and I believe they still grow taters, last I looked...

The place opposite the fish market in Newlyn is highly recommended, not cheap but you will get a huge serving, enough for two.

The chippy on Chester road/Glamis road junction in Newquay also good. Fry in dripping.


Tip; good chippies are always frequented by Bikers and Little Old Ladies, so if you see a big queue of those folk you will know you have a decent one.