Crustless Salmon & Ham Quiche

This quiche is so good that Mr Redneck and I just couldn't help going back for seconds and even thirds ! We love quiche but making a quiche with pastry is a lot of work, plus it is not very healthy. More often than not, the pastry base ends up soggy. So, when I saw this while reading the latest issue of NZ Healthy Food Guide mag, I was quick to give it a try.

Nothing much to wash as everything is prepared using just one big bowl. Just stir everything together and bung it into the oven.


Ingredients
½ cup flour
¼ tsp baking powder

4 eggs, beaten
2 cups low fat milk
75g reduced-fat spread/butter, melted

Read more »

Thai 3 Flavoured Fish ~ Pla Lat

It has been a while since I cooked a fish dish. Fish not being Mr Redneck's idea of a good feed, I have to be particularly picky when trying out a new recipe . The dish has to be strong flavoured and with plenty of sauce to mask the fish smell.

I used Trevally for this recipe. Spicy, sweet and tartiness - that fits Mr Redneck's criteria of a good fish dish. The original recipe deep fries the fish but I prefer to do the healthier version of just frying with a little oil on the cast iron pan.

Ingredients
800gm whole fish, clean

Grind together
1-2 Tbsp chilli paste
3 clove garlic
½ onion

Sauce
25gm tamarind paste + ½ cup hot water
25gm palm sugar, shaved
3 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
6 Tbsp water

1 Tbsp oil

Read more »

South Indian Fish Curry

I remember as a young kid being sent to the Indian shop to buy fish curry whenever my aunt had a cold....the hotter and spicier the better. It was supposed to bring her some relief and I guess it must have worked.

The fragrance from this curry brings back those memories. This is not a sweet curry as it has no coconut milk but definitely a much healthier dish. It is tangy and very fragrant from the different types of spices.

Ingredients
500 gm fish steaks
2 Tbsp tamarind paste
415 ml water

Read more »

Yee Sang ~ Chinese New Year Raw Fish Salad

This Chinese New Year I was determined not to miss out on this 'lucky' dish. After scrutinising several recipes to work out the main criteria for the dish I went on a scouting mission in the asian vegetable shops. Being overseas means having to substitute unavailable ingredients without changing the essence of the dish too much. If you are living in Malaysia or Singapore then you will have more choice of vegetables to use.

Yee Sang is a salad of raw fish surrounded by different types of colourful vegetables with a dressing of plum sauce. It is usually eaten on the 7th day of Chinese New Year with the salad tossed high with chopsticks as a symbol to mark the start of a prosperous new year.

Yue Sang is not that difficult a dish to prepare. It just needs a small amount of different vegetables shredded into long strips. I haven't included the quantity of vegetables as this is a very versatile dish. I have only bought one of each type of vegetable and in most cases only used half of it.

Ingredients

Vegetables (long shreds):
Daikon white radish (jicama or sar kok if available is best)
Green papaya (I bought this too early and it started getting ripe)
Carrot
Red capsicum
Green chilli
2 lime leaves
2 Tbsp pickled ginger
1 pickled onions/leeks
1 sprig coriander

3 Tbsp jelly fish (cut into strips and marinate with 1 Tbsp lemon juice)

Read more »

Pla Rad Prig ~ Crispy Fried Snapper in tamarind sauce with spicy chilli topping

The first time we ate this fish was at a food court. The sweet, sour and slightly spicy sauce makes you want to eat more rice. Pla Rad Prig is very easy to prepare and a good dish to tempt fussy eaters.


Ingredients
1 600g whole snapper
½ Tbsp tamarind soaked to sieve out 1 Tbsp juice
1½-2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp fish sauce
4 Tbsp water
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 capsicum, green or red
3 sprigs coriander

oil for frying

Method
1. Clean and score the fish in a diamond cut style. Rub lightly with some salt and dust with a light coating of flour (I find this give the fish a crispier skin and does not stick so much to the pan when frying).

2. Fry the fish with a thin layer of oil in your pan until golden. Do not attempt to flip the fish too early or the skin will break up.

3. Leave the cooked fish in a warm oven while getting the sauce ready.

Read more »

Fish Head Curry

This fish head curry is the closest to what I can remember eating in Malaysia. The texture of the flesh from the fish head is so smooth and surprisingly there was quite a lot of flesh to eat.
As Mr Redneck did not like the idea of eating the head, I added fish fillet so he can enjoy the dish as well. Currently salmon fish head only cost me $4/kg - which is really cheap.


Ingredients
1 (500g) salmon or snapper fish head
200 g fish fillet (optional)
5 okra (ladies finger), halved
2 long slender brinjal, cut into 2" pieces
1 tomato quartered

1-2 Tbsp oil
2-3 sprig curry leaves
3 Tbsp Baba curry powder mix with 1 Tbsp water
2 cup water
1 Tbsp tamarind pulp soak in ½ cup water
½ cup thick coconut milk
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar

Spice paste (grind together)
5 garlic cloves
1 big onion
2 red chillies
1 piece (1") ginger root
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 stalk lemon grass

Optional
½ tsp ginger powder
½ tsp chilli powder
¼ tsp mustard seed
¼ tsp fenugreek

Read more »

Fried Curry Flounder

The flounder is lightly seasoned with salt and curry powder and fried with a little oil. Simple way of cooking fish. The flounder requires little cooking time as it is a slim fish.


Ingredients

Seasoning
2 flounders
3 tsp Baba fish curry powder
1 tsp salt

cornflour for dusting
3 Tbsp oil

Read more »

Sweet & Sour Fish

This sweet and sour sauce taste superb. It has just the right balance of sweet and sour and goes very well with fried fish or pork.


Ingredients for sweet sour sauce :
5 Tbsp tomato sauce
4 Tbsp water
3 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp Chinese Rice Vinegar
1 white onion (sliced)
2 red tomatoes (quartered)
2 tsp Cornflour mixed with 4 tbsp of water

Read more »

Smoked Fish Rolls

This is one of my favorite workday lunches and I try to keep a stock of them in the freezer. They are taken out in the morning and cooked at lunchtime. Healthier than the Kiwi meat pie!

Ingredients
400g smoked fish
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs flour
1 cup of milk (will probably require a little more)
Salt & ground black pepper
Approx. 24 slices of white white sandwich bread

Read more »

Salmon Fish Cake

These fish cakes are crusty and crunchy on the outside with a very soft centre. The beauty of this recipe is that you do not have to be accurate with the ingredients but for those who prefer to follow some measurements, I have noted everything down.

I hope you enjoy making, as much as I have always enjoyed eating them !

Makes 12

Ingredients :
430 gm potato
3 tbsp milk
1 can 210g smoked or plain salmon, drained
60 gm onions, finely chopped
2 eggs, well beaten
½ tsp fish sauce (optional)
¼ tsp salt
some grated carrots, chives or spring onions
dash of black pepper
breadcrumbs, preferably fresh for coating

Read more »