Creamy Trout and Spinach Pasta

This is a real 'store cupboard'  and 'no waste' recipe.  I had two Scottish trout fillets in the freezer,  in the fridge there was half a lemon,  a bag of 'reduced by the supermarket to 45p' spinach, half a carton of soured cream from the Fish Tacos we had at the weekend, and an onion, Add to that some pasta and seasonings from the larder and hey presto...

Creamy Trout and Spinach Pasta 
Serves 4

10g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 Knorr Herb Flavour Pot (or tsp dried mixed herbs)
150ml Soured Cream
240g baby spinach
220g Scottish Loch Trout
Juice of half a lemon
250g pasta of your choice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and gently saute the onion.  It should start to soften and become translucent and not brown.
2. Put on a pan of water and heat until boiling, add a little sea salt and then the pasta, cook for around 10-12 minutes until just cooked.
3. While the pasta is cooking, either poach the trout in a little stock in a pan or cook for 3-4 minutes on medium in the microwave until the salmon is opaque. Flake the fish.




4. The onion should now be soft, so add the soured cream and the Knorr Herb Flavour pot (or dried herbs), then add the lemon juice.  If it looks like the cream is going to split keep stirring, because it's soured cream it's more stable and should hold together, season with sea salt (I use Skye Sea Salt) and freshly ground black pepper to taste.


5. Drain the pasta and place in a warmed, oiled serving dish.
6. Place the spinach into the pasta pan with a a tbsp of water, put on the lid and cook over a medium heat until the spinach starts to wilt.  This will only take a couple of minutes.
7. Add the spinach and the flaked trout to the sauce and mix gently, then add to the pasta and mix through with two forks.


Serve as it is or with a salad. You can find more Omega 3 filled fish recipes at the Fish is the Dish website.

I'm entering this dish for the 'No Waste Food Challenge' the blog event run by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary and hosted this month by Slice Off Me

Labels: fish, Fish is the Dish, Omega 3, pasta, soured cream, spinach, trout

posted by Janice @ 07:00 8 Comments

Danish Open Sandwich with Roll Mop Herring

I really love Scandanavian food, it goes back to a fabulous restaurant my parents used to take me to as a teen where they served incredible seafood smorgasbord, then on to the much missed Danish Food Centre in St Vincent Street in Glasgow, which I used to visit in the late 70's and early 80's.

I do love a roll mop herring, you can't easily get the sweet cured Danish herrings near me, so I use British version.

This open sandwich couldn't be simpler, take two slices of crusty white bread, spread lightly with butter and then more generously with mustard (I used hot dog mustard, but if you have a hot mustard spread less generously!).  Top that with some little gem lettuce leaves, take one roll mop herring and open it out, slice into bite sized pieces and place on top of the lettuce, cover with the onions from inside the roll mop and, just for an added kick, you can add some sliced chilli.




Number 1
Top of the pile, king of the hill, head honcho, big cheese, numbero uno when it comes to the best level of Omega-3... with 2817mg per 140g portion........... it's Herring!

So there it is - Herring comes out on top when it comes to delivering some serious Omega-3 goodness! Read about the rest of the top 30 Omega 3 fish on the Fish is the Dish website.

Labels: Fish is the Dish, herring, Omega 3, Open Sandwich, roll mops

posted by Janice @ 16:34 1 Comments

Smoked Trout and Scrambled Eggs- Fish, Feed our Future

Do you like to have a special breakfast or brunch at the weekend?  On Sundays we usually have bacon on a roll with our sauce of choice, it's not very exciting but a change from the Bircher Muesli we eat the rest of the time.

We recently had to be out of our house for the weekend and stayed with a friend, so I thought that I would make Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Trout as a special treat for us all.   If you know how to make scrambled eggs you won't need a recipe for this dish, just add in the finely chopped Smoked Trout when the eggs start to clump and once cooked serve on toast.

However, if you would prefer to follow a recipe then just follow the Smoked Salmon and Scrambled Eggs recipe on the Fish is the Dish website.


Farmed Smoked Salmon and Smoked Trout are no longer the luxury items they used to be and if you look for the special offers they can be really reasonable.  I bought this pack of Smoked Trout and the pack of Gravadlax I used in the Gravadlax Potato Salad for £8.00.

Health experts recommend, that to  reduce the risks of heart attacks and strokes, we should eat two portions of fish every week, one of which should be an oil-rich fish such as sardines, mackerel, herring, fresh tuna, trout or salmon.

Labels: eggs, fish, Fish is the Dish, Scrambled Eggs, smoked salmon, smoked trout

posted by Janice @ 16:07 2 Comments

Bacon-wrapped Trout kebabs with Gravadlax Potato Salad

More fishy goodness for you today, We are eating two servings of oily fish such as salmon, trout, mackerel, sardines and herrings every week for four week.  This is no hardship for us as we love fish and I'm enjoying finding different ways to serve the fish.  It's good to know that it's also doing us good (okay perhaps bacon wasn't quite such a healthy choice) as oily fish is full of Omega 3 

There are loads more fish recipes on the Fish is the Dish website.

Bacon Wrapped Scottish Trout Kebabs
Serves 4

500g Scottish Trout Fillets
200g dry cured smoked streaky bacon rashers
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Gusto Peppercorn Balsamic (or balsamic with a good few grinds of black pepper)
wooden skewers soaked in water (to stop them burning)

1. Cut the trout fillets into 2 cm cubes.
2. Mix the oil and balsamic together, either shake in a jar or mix with a whisk, just like making salad dressing.  Pour the mixture over the trout and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours.
3. Remove the trout from the fridge.
4. Stretch the bacon rashers with the back of a blunt knife and then cut each in half.
5. Wrap each chunk of trout in half a bacon rasher and push onto a skewer.
6. Line your grill pan with foil and line up your kebabs.
7. Grill until the bacon is cooked and crispy, you can be guaranteed that the fish will be cooked inside.
8. Serve with  roasted vegetables and salad.


These kebabs would work well on a barbecue, griddle pan or electric grilling machine. 


Potato Salad with Gravadlax 
Serves 4

500g small new potatoes
50g Gravadlax (cured salmon)
2 tbsp Dill dressing (comes with the Gravadlax)
juice of half a lemon
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
small bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

1. Cook the potatoes in boiling water until just tender, drain and place in a large bowl or dish.
2. Make the dressing by adding the lemon juice and olive oil to the dill dressing and mix.
3. Add to the potatoes and mix well.
4. Cut the Gravadlax in to small pieces and add to the potato salad with the finely chopped parsley.
5. Serve at room temperature.


Fish is great for kids too, there are lots of fun dishes you can make with your children on the Fish is the Dish website too.

Labels: bacon, Fish is the Dish, gravadlax, kebabs, Omega 3, potato salad, trout

posted by Janice @ 20:47 4 Comments

Smoked Mackerel Kedgeree - Fish, Feed our Future

I do love smoked mackerel.  It's such versatile fish, you can eat it cold with salad, whizz it up with creme fraiche to make a Mackerel Pate  or serve on toast in a Mackerel Sun Dried Tomato and Cheese Toast or add it to all sorts of different dishes.

I also have a soft spot for kedgeree, my mum used to make it with leftover rice and cooked smoked haddock. The whole lot was re-fried in butter and was so luscious and fun with the added sweetness of peas and topped with hard boiled eggs.

My recipe does include a little curry flavouring it takes about 20 minutes to make and was a perfect Friday night supper.

Smoked Mackerel Kedgeree
Serves 2-3

1 tbsp oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 cup/195g basmati rice
2 tsp of korma paste
2 cups of stock or water
2 small smoked mackerel approx 200g (I used peppered mackerel as we love pepper)
50g frozen peas
small bunch of parsley
2 hard boiled eggs
salt to taste

1. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the garlic and onion and cook until soft.
2. Add the rice and stir around till covered in oil, add the korma paste and cook for a minute.
3. Add the stock or water and simmer until the rice is soft and all the liquid has been absorbed, about 10 minutes, add the peas.
4. Flake the smoked mackerel and add to the cooked rice, season to taste.
5. Finish by adding the chopped parsley and quartered hard boiled eggs.


I'm entering this for Credit Crunch Munch, the thrifty blog challenge run by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla at Fab Food 4 All, this month the challenge is being hosted at A New Addition.   I feel that this dish qualifies because smoked mackerel is really good value as well as being really good for you,  read about the health benefits of oily fish at Fish is the Dish.

Labels: Credit Crunch Munch, eggs, fish, Fish is the Dish, Kedgeree, Omega 3, rice, smoked mackerel, supper

posted by Janice @ 20:47 2 Comments

Baked Salmon with Herbs - Fish, Feed our Future

Salmon isn't just for summer, it's one of the easiest fish to cook and very popular with the whole family all year round.

Omega-3 also helps to significantly reduce the chances of cancer and heart disease and boosts sporting performance and concentration. Seafood has long been recognised as the best dietary source of Omega-3.

It's also a myth that fish is expensive, there are some really good deals in fish if you look out for them, I got this side of salmon for £10 and you could feed 6 adults generously which I think is a bit of a bargain.

Baked Salmon with Herbs
Serves 6

Labels: Fish is the Dish, herbs, Omega 3, salmon

posted by Janice @ 19:28 8 Comments

Cod poached in Merrydown Cider

Merrydown cider, the premium cider made from juicy eating apples, has just launched its new Great Summer Celebrations recipes featuring nine delicious seasonal dishes.

The easy-to-make recipes are designed to help us all make the most of summer entertaining as the dishes combine classic British recipes with the quintessential English drink, cider.
When the sun doesn’t shine, the toad in the hole with cider red onion gravy is a great choice, whilst the delicious crispy cod with cider batter recipe is sure to impress any discerning diner.
I received a couple of bottles of Merrydown Cider as part of the Great Summer Celebration and decided to combine the cider with some of the lovely cod I received as part of the Fish is the Dish, Healthy Happy Hearts challenge to eat fish twice a week to increase Omega 3.  There are lots of recipes for poaching fish in cider online and in the Great Summer Celebration there is a recipe for "Devonshire Cod with mushrooms". The new recipes and many more favourites are available to download online now at www.greatsummercelebrations.co.uk in a handy recipe book.

Labels: Fish is the Dish, Healthy Happy Hearts, Merrydown Cider, Omega 3, Summer Celebrations

posted by Janice @ 19:30 5 Comments

Seared Scallops with Leek Tagliatelle and Chilli Jam

I love scallops, they are a real treat and ideal to serve when you have friends or family round for supper. I found a recipe for Seared Scallops with leeks and lemon chilli butter on the BBC Good Food website and used that as the basis for my meal.

I'm eating fish twice a week for a Healthy, Happy Heart.  You can find out more about how you can increase your Omega 3 levels and improve your health at the Fish is the Dish website.

I've never made a leek tagliatelle but it was really easy to do and very tasty indeed and, as it is steamed, you don't lose the vitamins either.
I really liked this recipe, but I already had some wild garlic butter in the freezer, and wanted to use that instead of the lemon chilli butter.
 

Wild Garlic

I added a teaspoon of Galloway Chilli Lime and Ginger Jam to the pan with the wild garlic butter after the scallops had been seared and caramelised.

This is Sheena, our local Chilli Queen from Galloway Chillies,  at the Farmers Market where I bought a couple of jars of her lovely Chilli Jam.


I felt that the dish,  as described on the website, wouldn't be substantial enough for a main meal, so I made some buttery mashed potatoes topped them with the leek tagliatelli, the scallops and the garlicky, buttery, chilli juices.  The whole dish was an absolute delight.

I'm entering this recipe for Herbs on Saturday a recipe sharing blog event hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage.

Labels: Chilli Lime and Ginger Jam, Fish is the Dish, Leeks, scallops, seared scallops, Wild Garlic

posted by Janice @ 21:00 13 Comments

Posh Hake in a Hurry!

One of the things I love about fish is how quickly it cooks.  You need do very little to your fish fillets and have meal on the table in a very short time.

As part of the Fish is the Dish, Healthy Happy Hearts  I am eating two portions of fish a week to raise my levels of omega 3.  I was looking for a quickie recipe for Hake, I searched on the Fish is the Dish recipes  and found this super easy Hake in a Hurry recipe provided by my friend Karen from Lavender and Lovage.

This recipe is very adaptable as, if you have enough time, you can add whatever you have to hand to the breadcrumbs.  I added chopped parsley, black garlic and spring onions.  I just blitzed them with the bread when making the breadcrumbs and it added a lovely herby flavour to the topping.


Karen covers both sides of her Hake but, as there was skin on the bottom of the Hake fillets, I simply placed the fish skin side down in an oiled roasting tin and topped with the breadcrumb mixture.

 Then all that is required is to pop it in the oven for 15- 20 minutes while you prep the vegetables or salad, sipping from a chilled glass of white wine or the aperitif of your choice!

I made this last Friday when I came home from work and tweeted to Karen that I had made Hake in a Hurry and what I had added, it was she who decided that this was 'Posh' Hake in a Hurry!

Labels: breadcrumbs, Fish is the Dish, Hake, Hake in a Hurry, Healthy Happy Hearts

posted by Janice @ 20:40 3 Comments

Fish Pie with Scallops

I can't remember when Fish Pie became our Good Friday tradition, well that's the thing about traditions, isn't it?  You don't really plan them, they just grow from good ideas.  Over the years I've made a variety of different versions and, as I am taking part in the the Fish is the Dish, Healthy Happy Hearts campaign, eating two portions of fish for six weeks, it was an ideal way to get one of my fish portions.
Fish Pie with Scallops (Serves 6)
Printable Recipe

1 fillet of Haddock
1 fillet of Salmon
1 fillet of Saithe
12 scallops
Fish can be varied according to availability and personal preference2 hard-boiled eggs, shelled and sliced
Fish stock powder (I used Essential Cuisine) optional

For the sauce:
500ml milk
2 tsp cornflour
seasoning

For the topping:
6 large potatoes, peeled, quartered, boiled and mashed with a little milk and butter

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Poach the fish in 300ml milk with a tsp of fish stock powder. Poach for 15 mins until fish is cooked.
3. Lift out the fish and place on a plate to cool a little.





4. Flake the fish removing any bones.
5. Measure the warm milk used to poach the fish and top up to 500ml.
6. Mix cornflour with a little cold milk and add the cornflour mixture to the warm milk.
7. Cook until the sauce starts to thicken, season to taste.
8. Place the flaked fish in an ovenproof dish add the sliced hard boiled eggs and  top with the raw scallops. As they don't take long to cook its better to put them in raw and they will be cooked in the oven.

9. Pour over the white sauce.


10. Cover the sauce with the mashed potatoes and fork up the potato to create crispy bits.


11. Place the dish on an oven tray and place in the oven for 15 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the potato topping is golden brown and crisp.





The fish was tender with the delicious, plump scallops adding a touch of luxury to this comforting fish dish.

Find out more about the Healthy Happy Hearts 6 week plan.

Labels: aspargus, fish, Fish is the Dish, haddock, mashed potato, saithe, salmon, scallops

posted by Janice @ 17:08 6 Comments

Fish and Chips: the healthier takeaway option

We all know that fish and chips is a healthier takeaway option than other choices like pizzas, burgers or kebabs. If you live in the countryside like me, it's not easy to access takeaways, they don't deliver you have to go and collect!

That's why I prefer to keep some breaded cod or haddock in my freezer along with some oven chips and frozen peas.  In 30 minutes you can have a comforting plate of Fish and Chips ready and on the table.

If you have more time and want to make your own, you might want to check out some of the recipes on the Fish and chip style fish recipes on the Fish is the Dish website:
Fish n Chips  Jubilee Fish and Chips by Nick Coffer  Spooky Witch Fingers



Fish is the Dish has been educating people across the UK about the health benefits of eating fish for over a year now, and they are delighted to announce that after months of hard work, their Healthy Happy Hearts Challenge is finally complete and underway!

Labels: cod, Fish and Chips, Fish is the Dish, haddock, Healthy Happy Hearts, peas

posted by Janice @ 10:00 2 Comments