Christmas fish?

[tribpot]

Hi all,

I am cooking Xmas dinner this year (yes, voluntarily) for me, dh and ds, my parents and grandparents.

My parents are fish-eating veggies, dh has multiple food intolerances including wheat and shellfish. Grandparents are fine but obviously not into any 'foreign stuff' being 85.

I'm planning to do fish of some kind as it seems easier to do one thing we can all eat (my parents normally do a trad roast, with chestnut stuffing that they eat instead of the meat). Salmon seems good but I can't find a decent recipe on Delia or the Beeb that doesn't involve shellfish, wheat or both. Also my grandad is a trout fisherman so don't want to serve trout unless he offers up one or two of his prize catch!

Any suggestions? It should be fool-proof (as I am a casserole-cooker by nature, i.e. chuck it together it can't go wrong) but a bit posh and Christmassy.

Know it would be a bit of work, but how about a buffet kind of thing. Might work if you can make things a few weeks before and then freeze them. Think Delia Smith's Christmas book has some buffet ideas in there (and it's a great book for special Christmas recipes).

How about tuna steaks? Very quick to cook. Could do a nice mariande or perhaps a herb salsa to serve with it. Or a mix of grilled fishes such as tuna, salmoon, swordfish, etc.

Great suggestions both, will be looking for Delia's book and having a look for a herb salsa. We're going to rehearse this at least twice before the day so plenty of fishy experimentation to come.

I like the buffet kind of thing, quite Swedish (we lived in Sweden for some time), the julbord or Christmas table.

The fish medly and herb salsa I do is in Nigella's Feast cookbook

Good-oh, will acquire both books. Thanks again!

i love whole fish that has been baked in the oven and it is so simple. wrapped in foil with a few ingredients. can give a more detailed recipe later if this sounds interesting.

Yes please! Sounds great.

Why not poach a whole salmon then serve it skinned?
Very classy.

in the past i have used a whole red snapper (about 5 lbs worth), grouper (a big sea bass) or barracuda but i imagine most fish with a firmish to firm flesh will do.

score both sides of the fish with deep diagonal slashes, about 3 per side. rub in some salt and pepper. Move it over to oven grade foil and squeeze in Lime or lemon juice. Add olive oil. use your eye judgement to how much as i don't do measures for some things. You can add any herb that is complimentary to fish. Seal the foil by bringing up both sides at the top of the fish and fold over repeat with the sides.

i now put inside a roaster to contain any leakage.

put in an oven preheated to 150 - 200 degrees celcius.

leave for around 30 mins.

you can have an experimental run with a piece of cod or haddock(say a lb or two) or the like just as long as your fish has skin to put skin side down on the foil. The time would be less of course, say 20 mins to start with. If it is cooked all the way through in 10 mins then the 30 mins above is fine for 5 lbs of a whole fish. What you want to see is that the flesh has gone from clearish to opaque and that it flakes off nicely.

if you use salmon for this recipe, reduce the times as salmon is delicate and if cooked too long the fish turns to mush.

i imagine this would work fantastic with tuna and swordfish steaks

oooh dear, if it cooks through in 20 mins - not 10 mins. had a busy day and my brain just calming down.