Recipes: Fish is the dish

Lifestyle Monday 28/March/2016 16:13 PM
By: Times News Service
Recipes: Fish is the dish

Baked Salmon Cake with Tartar Sauce
Baked in muffin pans and served with sauce on the side, these cakes are ideal starters.

Ingredients
• 3-4 salmon fillets
• 1-1/2 cups soft whole wheat breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pepper
• 2 eggs
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
• 1/4 cup minced fresh coriander
• 3 tbsp fat-free mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 tsp hot sauce
For tartar sauce
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp finely chopped onions
• 2 tsp lemon
• Salt and pepper as per taste

Preparation
• In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and make into a coarse paste. Place the salmon mixture into eight muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 200°C for 10-15 minutes.
• Combine the sauce ingredients and serve with the salmon cakes.

Tuna Quiche
With a tin of tuna and ready made pastry sheets, you can make this cheesy quiche in no time. A perfect and quick snack that is enjoyed by all.

Ingredients
• 1 (375g) sheet puff pastry
• 1/2 tsp mustard
• 2 tins (about 350g) tuna, drained
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 4 eggs
• 250ml single cream
• 250ml milk
• 50g gruyere or cheddar cheese, grated
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation
• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C .
• Line a pie tin with puff pastry. Prick with a fork and spread a thin layer of mustard onto the dough. Crumble over the tuna and sprinkle lemon juice.
• Whisk the eggs, cream, milk and grated cheese in a bowl. Stir until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture over the tuna. Bake for 35 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail
An authentic and refreshing recipe of Mexican shrimp cocktail with plenty of spicy flavours serves as a perfect starter or a light meal. Serve it chilled with tortillas.

Ingredients
• 2 cups medium shrimp, raw or cooked
• Salt
• 1 cup chopped red onion
• 1 cup peeled, diced cucumber
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 jalapeño, minced
• 1 can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped or 1 1/2 cups of freshly chopped tomatoes with their juices
• 1/2 cup tomato ketchup
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• Juice of a lime, about 2 tbsp
• Hot sauce (Tabasco) to taste
• 1 avocado, cut into chunks
Preparation
• If you have pre-cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp you can skip to the next step. If you are working with raw shrimp, peel and devein them.
• If you have a little extra time and want your shrimp to be extra good, put the shells in 6 cups of cool salted water, bring to a boil, then strain the shell stock into a separate pot and cook the shrimp in that liquid.
• If you want to skip that step, just bring a medium pot salted water to a boil (a tbsp salt for 2 quarters of water), add the shrimp, and cook for 2-3 minutes, until just cooked through. Reserve a cup of the cooking water and chill it.
• Cut half of the shrimp into large chunks, leaving the other half whole (for a more attractive presentation).
• Put the chopped shrimp in a bowl with the chopped onions, cucumber, celery, jalapeño, tomatoes, tomato ketchup, cilantro, lime juice and hot sauce. Gently stir to combine, and chill.
• Once the cooking water has cooled, add a little at a time to the shrimp cocktail, until the shrimp cocktail is the consistency you want (use clam stock or lightly salted water — a third of a teaspoon of salt dissolved into a cup of water — if you are starting with already cooked and peeled shrimp).
• To serve, add salt and more hot sauce to taste and gently mix in the chopped avocados. Dip the whole shrimp in the cocktail and arrange them on top.
• Serve in parfait glasses or in small bowls with tortillas on the side.

Fish kebabs
Fish kebabs are a fantastic way to woo your guests. This recipe needs just 1tbsp of oil and the grill for the entire batch.

Ingredients
• 4 boneless fish fillets (hammour or cod)
• 4 small potatoes (about 300g)
• 1 inch ginger
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 green chilli
• 1 handful fresh coriander
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp oil + 1 tsp

Preparation
• Steam the fish with salt for about 10 minutes or if you are using frozen fish, cook it as per the instructions on the packet.
• Next, boil the potatoes, peel and finely grate the ginger and garlic, and finely chop the green chilli and coriander. In a large mixing bowl, add all the ingredients except the oil. With your hands, combine the whole lot together well. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes.
• When the time is up, take the kebab mix out of the fridge and turn the grill on to 200 degree centigrade. Line with foil a baking tray and smother the tablespoon of oil all over it.
• Then grease your palms with the teaspoon of oil. Take a ping-pong ball size amount of fish in your palms, roll into a ball and then flatten to get a disc shape and place on the tray. Continue until all are done.
• Then place under the hot grill for 20 minutes, turning over carefully using a flat wooden spoon half way through cooking.
• Don’t worry if it falls apart a bit — just pat it back in place with the spoon or your fingers.
• Serve this hot with tomato ketchup spiked with chilli powder.