Simple fish ideas for a fishy novice

[LizzieMint]

I cook a lot but I'm not much of a fish eater so I don't think I've ever actually cooked a fishy meal, apart from fish pie.

My DCs love fish, so I'd like to cook it more for them, but don't know where to start. Can anyone suggest simple things I could try? They all like things like tinned mackerel, pilchards, sardines.

I think they'd probably like shellfish too but again, wouldn't know where to start.

We eat a lot of fish but tend to stay away from shellfish.

Plaice, lemon or Dover sole, tuna steaks, salmon are what we east most often. I sear the salmon and tuna on a hot pan and have it with lemon juice.

The plaice and sole, I put in seasoned flour, shake off flour and fry in a bit of butter on a high heat for 2 minutes a side. I also eat mine with lemon juice.

We eat a lot of squid, calamari and octopus (when I can find it). Squid I fry quickly in butter and oil. Calamari is delicious coated in flour, egg and semolina then deep fried. Octopus is a bit more complicated and needs a long cooking time to tenderise.

I like to wrap salmon in tinfoil and make a parcel with some Thai spices or Chinese soy sauce or mirin and some spring onions and bake in the oven.

We like Salade Niçoise which nice on a hot day.

Smoked mackerel is cheap and simple. Make a horseradish and beetroot salad and new potatoes or Puy Lentils.

Smoked mackerel or smoked trout makes a nice pate, loads of lovely recipes on BBC Good Food

Kedgeree

Mussels won't be in season until September but they make a nice pasta dish. creamy pasta with mussels recipe here

White fish is nice just baked in the oven with some seasoning and cherry tomatoes, or with a spoonful of pesto on top.

Salmon is great just seasoned with salt and dill.

And White fish makes a great simple curry - just mix curry paste with coconut milk and cook the fish in it, so simple but really tasty.

Cooking fish like salmon or cod in foil in the oven is quite easy (at about 170 degreesish for about 15 minutes) with a few flavourings like a coriander, lime and chili or rosemary, bay and lemon.

Or you can put a whole meal wrapped in a bit of greaseproof paper - like chopped up new potatoes and veg with a glass of wine and fish on top. Then put in oven.

Also those vacuum packed bags of mussels you can buy in supermarkets - with the sauce included and just microwave - really cheap and really tasty.

Good Jamie Prawn recipe www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/spaghetti-with-prawns-and-rocket-spaghetti-con-gamberetti-e-rucola

Excuse my complete ignorance, but with thins like plaice, Dover sole etc, do they have bones you have to pick out?
Salmon I might try again, I did used to cook that for my eldest but she was sick straight after eating it (not related to the fish!) when she was about 2 and flatly refused to eat it again afterwards, hopefully she'll have forgotten by now!
Don't think I'm quite ready for octopus yet, baby steps!

www.mygourmetconnection.com/recipes/main-courses/fish-shellfish/honey-lemon-salmon-ginger-rice.php

This is my new favourite meal, I use brown rice and a few peas and it's lush!

Oh no I just typed a huge reply with all the recipes!

I was saying that my husband hated fish before he met me but loves it now as I started him off on un-fishy tasting fish. I did bang bang chicken by anabel karmel (chicken goujons made with lemon sole- lemon sole is the most delicate um fishy fish I've found)
Italian fish stew with any white fish, kedgeree and haddock and corn chowder.

Thanks betrayed that looks lovely in going to try it :)

No bones in any of the fish I mentioned. I do always check before giving it to my toddlers though.

Those sound perfect for me YouMakeMeHappy, I'm OK with not-fishy fish.
Will try a few of these out and see how we get on - thanks!

If you buy it filleted (ask the fishmonger to fillet it) then no bones.
If you buy it whole then yes it has bones!

If you don't like bones it's easiest to start with steaks (salmon, tuna, cod) or fillets.

Tuna steaks, sear in a hot pan on both sides (leave it pink in the middle, like steak), then add butter lime juice and pepper to the pan to make a "sauce". delicious and very un fishy.

cod is lovely baked in the oven with some butter and cherry tomatoes.

salmon steaks are good brushed with some soy sauce and honey and lemon, or teriyaki sauce, then oven baked

All incredibly simple.