Fish is the Dish

April 18, 2013

Fish is the Dish: Whole Wheat Penne with Prawns

It’s always a treat when staying near, or on the coast, to pop into a local fishmonger to pick up some of the freshest fish that you can get your hands on. We spent the second week of our Easter holidays staying near the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales. On our last day, we fancied picking up some fresh prawns from Llyn Seafoods for a simple supper. Had the spring weather been a little kinder, we would have most likely made some prawn skewers to throw on the barbecue. As it happens, it was a little rainy, so I made a big plate of whole wheat penne with prawns instead.

This recipe is very adaptable – if you don’t like mushrooms, don’t add them. You can swap the courgette for peas, or perhaps some asparagus, which should be coming into season in the UK towards the end of April. I added a tiny hint of chilli, but you could add more heat and also some fresh cream; it was our last day, after all. We’ve also switched to whole wheat pasta over white pasta, but any pasta works fine in this dish. Prawns take just a minute or two to cook in a hot pan – don’t forget the garlic and a little lemon zest to pick up the flavours.

As part of the Fish is the Dish #HealthyHappyHearts campaign, we’ve been making an effort to eat at least two portions of fish a week. Adding a handful of king prawns to a dish, such as pasta, a stir-fry or even a risotto is a great way to add extra protein and omega-3 to your diet and they are a great standby for the freezer as they are quick to defrost.

Here’s the recipe

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I’m adding this to Simple and in Season, as the prawns were fresh and in season – hosted here this month.

Don’t forget to join in!

With thanks to Fish is the Dish for a voucher towards our fish for the week as part of the #HealthyHappyHearts campaign. You can also find some of the Healthy Happy Hearts Menus here and follow @FishistheDish on Twitter for more tips.

How were your Easter holidays?

March 29, 2013

Fish is the Dish – Smoked Mackerel Omelette

The Easter weekend is upon us and I am reminded of how, growing up, we would always eat fish on a Friday, not just on Good Friday. And before the chocolate frenzy begins, there is still time to eat simply. We’re starting our day with a Hot Smoked Mackerel Omelette, for a quick and easy omega-3 boost.

For the last few weeks, I’ve been roughly following a plan and a challenge called Healthy Happy Hearts, encouraging us to eat two portions of fish a week. It isn’t a big change for us, as we already try and eat fish once a week, but upping our intake to two portions means that I’ve enjoyed experimenting a little more with fish at different mealtimes. I’ve written about the Fish is the Dish campaign before and was lucky to have had one of my recipes featured in their free family cookbook along with lots of other bloggers.

Dowload the cookbook in the Fish is the Dish site

This time, Fish is the Dish have been working with one family specifically to help them to eat two portions of fish a week, encouraging us all along with extra hints, tips, menus and recipes. There is research to show that eating fish twice a week will help to raise levels of omega-3 in the body. As a ‘good’ fat that is essential to our diets, Omega-3 helps with brain development, joint function, healthy skin and eyes as well as better mental health.

The hardest part of any cooking-based challenge is to find ways of getting the children to eat more healthily, so I came up with this quick and easy recipe, which the kids, to my surprise, devoured. I did think that smoked mackerel would be too strong a flavour for them, but then, they do like smoked salmon and actually tolerate ‘big’ flavours, such as fresh olives, better than I do. So sometimes, kids will surprise us. Mine were even picking the mackerel out of the bowl before we got it in the pan!

Getting them involved in the cooking or preparation process also helps, too and I find that my kids are more likely to try something new if they’ve helped to make it. I came across this infographic this week whilst writing about Cooking with Kids for Great British Chefs, backing up my theory. A survey showed that 84% of parents said that cooking with their children made them more likely to try new food types. Since the Easter holidays are now upon us, we’ll definitely be spending plenty of time cooking together in the kitchen – we’ll have lots of chocolate Easter eggs to use up (great for crispy cakes or fridge cakes) but we’ll also be making some healthy fishy dishes together, too!

Cooking with Kids – find the full infographic here

How to make a Smoked Mackerel Omelette

Making this omelette is quick and simple. We used some ‘responsibly sourced’ Smoked Mackerel fillets, on offer at the supermarket, too. They were in a vacuum sealed packet. Start with one, or even half a fillet if mackerel is a new flavour for your family. Using your fingers, pull the mackerel away from the skin (it will flake up) and put it in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk up two eggs, add an (optional) little swirl of fresh double cream for a little extra decadence. Next, grate up some cheese, Parmesan or Gruyere work well. Switch on the grill and leave it to heat up. Add a small drizzle of olive oil or rapseed oil (extra omega-3) into a small frying pan, pour in the eggs and put the pan on a medium heat on the hob. The egg will start to set, you can give it a little stir at the beginning, then leave it to start setting on a low heat. After a minute or two, add the flakes of mackerel to the pan and sprinkle over some of the cheese. Cook for one minute and then put the frying pan under the hot grill so that the top of the omelette cooks and puffs up a bit. Once it looks golden on the top, take it out and add an extra sprinkle of cheese. Serve and eat straight away.

I hope you have time to try this over the long and lazy Easter weekend. I’ll be back tomorrow with an Easter sweet treat!

With many thanks to Fish is the Dish for sending my family some fish to try as part of the Healthy Happy Hearts challenge. No additional payment was received.

Follow @FishistheDish on Twitter for extra hints and tips or search for the #HealthyHappyHearts challenge.

March 23, 2012

Fish is the Dish: Pan-Fried Coley (Wild Saithe) with Quick Cheesy Mash

More fish! This time, coley, which I have to say is a new one for us at home. What can I say about coley? Well, I was very pleasantly surprised. Coley is a white fish and is also known as saithe. The fillets I was sent to try by John at Delish Fish were marked at ‘Wild Saithe Fillets’ and they were individually packed in sealed pouches and sent in a well packaged cool box. I signed for the box at 4pm and they were still cold to the touch on arrival. I popped them straight into the freezer and de-frosted two fillets by putting them (still in their pouches) into a bowl of cold water for an hour or so, until I was ready to cook them.

Fishy Facts:

Coley is in the cod family, but is less expensive and it is a very good alternative to cod and haddock.

Honest opinion: I thought the coley fillets tasted nicer than cod or haddock. They were very mild in flavour, the kids wolfed their food down and crucially, even pan-frying the fish, it didn’t make the kitchen smell. Some of the fillets looked pink/grey, but when I cooked them, they turned white. The fillets were very flaky, took just a couple of minutes to cook on each side and I didn’t get the sense that they were ‘meaty’ – in the way that cod can be, they just simply fell apart and almost melted in the mouth.

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There is definitely something very comforting about eating fish with mashed potatoes. I think it is because we used to eat cod in parsely sauce with mash growing up. In this recipe, the mash is ‘quick’ because I bunged two potatoes into the microwave to bake them and then scooped out the insides and mashed them.

N.B Review/Sample Thank you once again to Fish is the Dish for their ongoing campaign to encourage us all to eat more fish and to John at Delish Fish for sending me the fillets to try.

I received the Wild Saithe Fillets for free in the hope that I would mention them on my blog. I only recommend food/products or services I use personally and believe my readers may be interested in.

Fish is the Dish

Here’s the recipe

How were your Easter holidays?

How to make a Smoked Mackerel Omelette

What do you think about lesser known species of fish? Have you tried coley?!

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