COds fishy adventures

[cod]

ok as you may know dh has been diagnosed wiht high cholesterola dn soa by product of this is now we are going to UP our fish consumption. Now i cna cook but am ratehr scared of fish(!) so i thought it may be interesting to have a fishy thread where we cna try out new fihs _ i knwo JOOLstoo is into eating more fihs.

so day one
recipe planned is \link{http://www.waitrose.com/food_drink/recipes/recipesearch/recipe/0602r04.asp\here, BUT they had no halibut at teh market today - so i am using hake - another firm fleshed fish apprently}

so will report back on difficulty
bones
taste

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Not a fishy recipe but if you can persuade him to switch to the Benecol/Flora Pro-Active spread it can help to lower cholesterol without having to go on a special diet (probably tastes disgusting though). They also do yoghurts. Though if he is overweight you would probably prefer to change his eating habits....

i knwo
think he ratehr do wihtout
in one of my many tomes it says the "best " spread for bread is olive oil a smidge
think hell just have ot only haev bread wiht a sauce

cod!

any chance of the sardine & pasta recipe?

DH is working in Bham for 2 weeks (5am starts bleurgh) so I am cooking, but am low on ideas not involving oven pizza.

oh, and smoked fillets of salmon (tesco finest) make a brilliant rissoto - have posted it somewhere already

Yes, I know, bacon, but you only need the tiniest thinnest bit, or you could use parma ham. Cut the white fatty bits off.

you can have mine mrs b.
cook pasta (any shape but spag is good).
stir in not too much (spicy if you like chilli) tomato sauce (which you prepared earlier and froze to make your life easier) together with some good quality sardines (tinned is fine) which you kave mashed up roughly with fork. sprinkle each serving with toasted coarse breadcrumbs. enjoy!

smoked mackerel- the honey roasted one with new potatoes and salad. you can open the packet of mackerel and slide it onto the plate without really having to... touch it! Kids really like this which is wierd. Delia's cod with tomato sauce is good cos you hide the fish. Baked trout fillets are good too- I flake them into pasta with broccol for the kids and then slather it in pesto and creme fraiche for us , kids love that too. wierd aren't they?
Why do loads of men have high cholesterol? My bil does.. do women too but they just don't test us? Is it only fat men or skinny men too?

next time you get your hands on some halibut bake it Spanish style:

Thinly slice some (4 ) peeled waxy potatoes, red skinned like desiree.
Brush a pyrex baking dish (or whatever passes for pyrexe in your house) with olive oil and rub with a cut garlic clove.
Layer potatoes on bottom of dish, seasoning with salt and sprinkles of dried thyme and 2 sliced garlic cloves.
Drain a can of whole plum tomatoes reserving the juice and slice them and place on top of potatoes.
Cover with foil and place in a very hot oven, 220 C, for 15 minutes.
Take them out, pour on reserved tomato juice, cover and return to oven for another 10 minutes while you:
Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and flash fry 4 halibut steaks on each side, one at a time to prevent overcrowding the pan. Put the fried steaks on a plate.
To the sizzling oil in the pan ( I always add butter at this stage but it may be the devil's work for you) add a good tablespoon of drained capers, the juice of a lemon and some sea salt. Let it sizzle for 30 seconds.
Take out potatoes and tomatoes, remove foil, lay halibut steaks on top and pour over the lemony pan juices.
Replace the foil and finish in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Serve with broccoli and bread.

We can't get halibut here

I used to be scared of cooking fish until I did Prue Leith course - its easy peasy to tell when its done...

Stick a knife into centre of fish if knife comes out singeingly hot, fish is done. I test by putting hot knife tip on my upper lip (bizarre I know).

ALL fish recipes tell you too cook for too long usually 10-12 mins is enough for all but the thickest fillets (obviously if if you're cooking a 100lb whole sturgeon it takes a bit longer).

ta ll
that sounds lowacl the halibut thing

oh you lucky thing doing a Prue Leith course!
I used to do the knife to lip thing too when I was working, it's the best way. Trimmed my mo at the same time and all.

i did a course too
4 weeks

not p leith thougha dn not enough fish although can skin em

Are prawns really high in cholesterol or did I misunderstand you, cod (not hard to do...)?

FishWorks also do classes which are apparently very good. Isn't there one in Bath Cod?

I was a complete fraud, never did a cookery lesson in my life. Going to catering college soon though p/t ready to go back to work.

We don't get smoked haddock either, IMO Australian fish is very over-rated. Oh how I miss a nice bit of cod.

prawns are very high in colhesteral, but you should drink lots of Jasmine tea afterwards

You h ave put your dh on three or four cups of chinese tea a day haven't you cod, it slices through those cloggy tubes

I thought the cholesterol in prawns and eggs had been deemed OK these days. Bad cholesterol is produced by your liver from saturated fat not necessarily from things which have cholesterol in them.

Any dietitians on board?

If you don't live near the sea where is the best place to buy fish from? Don't have any fishmongers (do they still actiually exist?) so choice is probably market stall or supermarket. I really like fish too but am also scared of cooking it (and couldn't bear to eat it if it wasn't filleted)

Have fond memories of fishmongers in hometown where it was all super fresh and they did the filleting/head removal, etc

yes at our market they come from POole every week

they do all the filleting etc gratis

The problem with our market is we are not close to the sea (hertfordshire) so not sure how fresh the fish is (sometimes I think it looks like it has been frozen - don't know if that is a problem or not)

Suzywong - don't you like barrimundi?

Oh and before you all get too impressed by my Prue Leith course, it was the one week Easy dinner parties course - focussed on dinners you can get done reliably in 90 mins.

Thought it was going to be about how to disguise M&S ready meals as your own but they actually taught me how to cook!

Still impressed

No barramundi, snapper all the same to me. give me a nice flouro yellow over salted piece of smoked haddock or a plaice any day

I think Waitrose would be your best bet for fish

Don't mean to disillusion anyone but most "fresh" fish is frozen. Trawlers go out for weeks at a time and freeze the fish on board when it's caught. Very little is landed same day and sold fresh. Nothing wrong with freezing it though, like chicken, just make sure it's properly defrosted and cooked until piping hot (see earlier lip test).

OK I shall stop opining now and go for a lunch break away from this exhausting toil...