ICAD 2016 - Week 8

ICAD #50 Paisley

ICAD #51 purple or violet
Purple fingerprints made into balloons

ICAD #52 staircase

ICAD #53 fortune
I was thinking big dollar signs for this one, with glitter. changed my mind and went with fortune telling. Don't ask me what the Ace of Cups means, I have no idea! Ever had your fortune told? I haven't, but I am curious. My extent is reading the stars signs in the local rag. 

ICAD #54 aquarium.
This was a card I prepared a couple of weeks ago. Lime green background with orange blotches. When I looked at it while thinking about this prompt, the orange blotches were asking to be turned into fish.

ICAD #55 Olympics
I am looking forward to the Olympics. I am hoping the Izzy gets to see the gymnastics on the telly, even more so, hoping it is a peaceful Olympic Games. 

ICAD #56 text or texture
I went with texture with this one. I found a scrap of crosstitch fabric, and other bits and bobs from my craft box. I first started crosstitching when I was pregnant with my first. I have several crosstitich samplers framed on the walls that are 25 years old! The one I was doing when he was born is one of those and is so special to me. 

Scrumptious fish pie

I made this fish pie a few weeks ago. It was so unbelievably delicious. It was so moorish I had to lick the yumminess from the plate. So tasty.

The recipe was in a library book I borrowed, and I can't for the life of me remember what the book was called. So this recipe is from my memory banks as I couldn't find the book again!


700 grams fish (this could be a mixture of any seafood. I used Basa and Ling from the deli at Woolworths)
700 mls milk
1/4 cup flour
75 grams butter
1 teaspoon grainy mustard
1 cup frozen mixed veggies or peas
1 tablespoon chopped chives
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, beaten well

Pour milk into a large saucepan and heat on a medium heat. Add the fish and poach for five minutes. Do not boil.

Strain the fish, retaining the milk. Break the fish into chunks and set the fish and milk aside.

Heat the butter on a medium heat, add flour and stir for a minute. Stir in the milk gradually. Add the mustard and cook, stirring until it thickens. About five minutes.

Add veggies, herbs and fish. Stir to combine and heat through. Season with salt and pepper.

Place in a pie dish.

Cover the fish mixture with puff pastry. Brush the pastry with beaten egg.

Cook in a 180 degree oven for 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown.

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Chermoula spice mix

I've never before had so many spices in my pantry. I am loving learning how to use them and all the different spice blends there are from all over the world. Not to mention all the delicious food I've been cooking up, and inevitably enjoying the heck out of tasting. 

One spice mix I love is Chermoula. There are plenty of different versions around, but with basically the same spices, in varying amounts.

This is one that I have used to bake fish. It works. It's awesome, it's delicious, and will totally have you wanting to lick the plate. It would also be great with just about any other meat you want to whack it on, with or without the yogurt.

You will need:

500 grams to 1 kilo of fish fillets(I used hoki, also known as blue grenadier)
1/2 cup greek or natural yogurt

Chermoula paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 brown onion, finely chopped
60 mls of lemon juice
4 tablespoons finely chopped coriander or parsley, or a mix of both
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
pinch cayenne pepper, optional
salt and pepper

Process all together to a paste, or near enough.

Using half a cup of paste, mix with half a cup of greek yogurt.

Spread all over fish in a baking dish and marinate for 15 minutes.

Cover with foil and bake at 190C for 20 - 30 minutes depending on how thick your fish fillets are. 

Serve it up and enjoy!

You can refrigerate or freeze the leftover paste and rub it on steak or chicken on another night.
I have used the leftover paste in a red lentil soup before too, which worked out very well.

This is the first time I tried cauliflower rice. I didn't mind it. I grated half a cauliflower, you could use a food processor, then spread the cauli in a single layer on a tray and baked for 15 minutes at 200C, stirring and turning once halfway through.


Do you have spices in your pantry?

Are you a coriander fan? I love the stuff!

An InLinkz Link-up

Creamy poached Basa

I use Basa fillet for this recipe. It's a fresh water fish, not too expensive and you'll find it in the seafood freezer section in the supermarket or in the deli at Woolworths. 

It is a thickish, white meat fish, with a mild flavour. It is really good with just a sprinkling of dry tarragon, a few small knobs of butter and baking in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes.

This is how I cook it mostly. This is how I love to eat it. So tasty.

I cut the cooked fish into four. Makes it easy to serve with a large spoon.

2 Basa fish fillets
Silverbeet, about 6 largish leaves(use kale or spinach instead)
1 small onion, sliced (or a small leek)
1/4 cup cream(I have used just water if you don't want it creamy)
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
salt and pepper

Using a small casserole dish, lay silverbeet leaves to cover the bottom of the dish. 

Scatter half the onion over the silverbeet, then layer on the fish. If the fish is too long, fold over the thinnest end to fit.

Scatter on dried tarragon. Scatter rest of onion on top of fish and then lay silverbeet on top. Pour cream over top, sprinkle over salt and pepper.

Cover and bake in oven for 20 minutes. If the fillets are thick and large, maybe closer to 30 minutes.

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Yumptious Fish soup

It might not look like much, but I loved it. Yumptious :)

Mum said my Russian Grandpa used to make a soup like this, I can't remember it. I do remember his tomato soup. I am not sure if it was homemade or out of the can, but I used to love the way he put cubes of cheese at the bottom of the bowl. It's one of my favourite memories of him cooking for me. 

The other thing I recall always seeing in his fridge is Rollmops. It must have been where my taste for them came from. 

About to tuck in :)

My brother surprised me a few weeks back when he rang me from Adelaide where he was visiting. He was in Hahndorf and asked me if I wanted some. It lightened my heart because he had thought of me when he saw them, remembering my taste for them, which in turn reminded me of my Grandpa. 

It's kind of a relief, for your sake, that this soup doesn't have rollmops in it, the pickled fish are an acquired taste and not everyones cup of tea. 

1 tablespoon oil

1 large onion, diced

180 grams diced bacon

2 sticks celery, sliced

2 garlic cloves, chopped finely

2 medium potatoes, chopped in 1cm dice

1 tablespoon flour

2 cups milk, warmed in microwave

1/2 cup corn kernels

400 grams fish(I used Mulloway)

100 grams scallops*

1 1/2 cups fish stock

*I used frozen scallops from the supermarket. If you don't have them you can just use 500 grams of fish. You can use mussels(in the shell) for something fancy. Add them for the last two minutes and serve on top of soup.

Heat oil and fry bacon until just starting to crisp.

Add onion, celery and garlic and fry until onion is soft.

Add flour and stir in for a minute.

Add potato, milk and stock, simmer until thickens, about 5 minutes.

Add corn and fish and cook until fish is opaque.

Add in scallops for the last two minutes.

Season and serve.

Sculptures of Beachport SA

Fishy spaghetti and being awesome

This would have to be one of my favourite lunch time meals, mainly for weekends, when Brett is home, and when there is a bit of fish in the freezer. If you don't like fish, you're not going to like this.

I start by sautéing some garlic and onion. When it is soft, add a can of chopped tomatoes, half a cup of water and let simmer for 10 minutes. Depending on how much sauce you need add more water and some pureed tomato (like passata). At the last minute I add the fish (I used coorong mullet) because it doesn't need much cooking time. Serve with cooked pasta.

I have made this with mussels, or some marinara mix (frozen or from the deli). Prawns would be good too. I love how the seafood flavour goes into the sauce.

After lunch, I go see what Brett is doing in the shed. He's cleaning up a bit, and rearranging. He recently bought a cheap runabout to use for work, and moved the caravan into the shed so there's room under the carport for his new second hand car.

Last week he got a computer virus, it wouldn't let him do anything on it. While I was in the shed, I started it in safe mode, system restored it, and put some security on it (the dope hadn't installed it!!!), and scanned it. We sat in the shed with coffees and kids and watched the computer screen. He was very happy, and thankful when I restarted in normal mode and the virus was gone. Even jokingly offering me some "in the sack action" as a reward for fixing his computer..... Errr, no thanks luv. Men!!!

"That's OK dear, it's just another day in the life of being awesome!"

He can now go back to hiding in the shed to surf the net, and play his music. Don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing. It does annoy me sometimes when I'm trying to get things done with two witching children and he is hiding. But then it annoys me too, when his bum is parked on my computer chair and I want to use it.

I'm happy to say that I caught him looking at laptops, and admitted he is buying me one for my birthday next month. Weeeeeeeeeeeee!! Tell me how good it is to lie in bed with a laptop, tell me, tell me.