The weekend I turned 30.....{Fish Pie Stew}

Well I made it to 30. Amazing! I had a fantastic weekend with lots of fun and laughter and I can honestly say I feel very blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.

So now that the celebrating is over its time for me to put my head down and overhaul my lifestyle a bit. I have been trying to loose weight for so long and I always put it off or had an excuse. Time to get focused and get exercising!

This is a new-ish recipe that has become a really nice staple evening meal. I started off by making the original but I've changed it around a bit to make it a really nice alternative to fish pie, It's also much less time consuming so there's that as well...

Fish Pie Stew 

Inspired from the recipe here 

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 onion, chopped

3 sticks of celery, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

175ml white wine

300ml chicken stock or vegetable stock if you prefer

1 tbsp cornflour, mixed to a paste with 1 tbsp cold water

200g raw prawns 

300g fish pie selection (the one I used had smoked haddock, cod and salmon)

small bunch flat leave parsley, chopped

300ml half-fat crème fraîche

150g new potatoes, already boiled and slightly squashed with a fork

heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion and celery until soft. add the garlic and cook for another minute them pour in the wine and simmer until most has disappeared. p

our in the stock and cornflour mix and simmer for 5-10 mins, stirring often until thickened. season, then add the fish, new potatoes and most of the parsley. simmer for a few mins until piping hot, then stir in the crème fraîche. serve with a sprinkling of parsley. you could have this with some bread, but I find that the addition of potatoes makes this plenty filling. 

Healthy Weekday Meal #11..........{Fish Tacos with Avocado and Mango Salsa)

Sometimes it's really hard to get back into the swing of things after a holiday and this blog has probably been the biggest casualty of my holiday blues. Oh how I miss the sun and sea and food of Italy. At some point I will actually get round to doing a post on our time there but until then i have a lovely healthy fish taco recipe for you which is perfect after a week of eating a lot of pasta!

Fish Tacos with Avocado and Mango Salsa

selection of fish - I used a piece of cod and a couple of handfuls of raw prawns 

2 limes

2 large tomatoes, diced 

1 medium avocado, diced

1 red onion, diced

1/2 red chilli, finely diced

1 tbsp coriander, finely chopped 

1/2 mango, cubed

lettuce leaves

mini tortillas 

season the fish and squeeze over juice of 1/2 lime, cook of in the coconut oil and leave aside to cool. in separate bowl mix together the tomatoes, avocado, onion, chilli, coriander and mango. season and squeeze over the juice of 1 lime. warm the tortillas in a dry pan. take the tortilla wrap, add a handful of lettuce leaves, a couple of spoonfuls of the salsa and then top with the fish (which i shredded up a bit). Serve 

A taste of Italy from Whitstable.......{Spaghetti alla Vongole}

I wax lyrical about Whitstable so much on this blog but then I love it so much. Last Saturday we wondered down to the fish market and I decided against mussels and instead opted for some fresh clams - a bit pricier but then you need less to make a rather wonderful Italian meal. This took me right back to summer holidays in Italy although it was March on the Kentish coast. I don't eat pasta very much at all these days but when I do, it has to be worth it - full of flavour and not to heavy. Don't be scared of shellfish when you are cooking clams they tell you when they are ready to eat as their shells open - makes it so simple!

Spaghetti alla Vongole

750g fresh clams (approx)

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 red chilli, finely chopped

20g butter

olive oil

150ml white wine

zest and juice 1/2 lemon

handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped

enough spaghetti / linguine for 2 people

cook the spaghetti according to instructions, you want it slightly al-dente. warm the butter and olive oil in a pan and add the garlic and chilli. once it has softened add in the wine, when it starts to simmer, ramp up the heat, add in the clams and put the lid on the pan. shake a few times as it cooks. the clams will take around 4-5 minutes, once the shells have opened. discard all clams that haven't opened. add in the pasta, parsley, lemon juice and zest and toss them all together. season and serve. It's really that simple but tastes a million dollars!

Linking up with Vicky at Honest Mum

When fish is this fresh........{Grilled Prawns)

We spent my birthday weekend in one of my favourite places - Whitstable. One of the things I love about it is the fresh seafood market. Often one of the evenings of the weekend we will forgo the many places to eat and just buy some fresh fish from the market and go home and cook it.

We were spoilt for choice at the market this week and after a lot of umming and ahhing I picked up some lovely fresh large prawns. You could do so much with these BUT I can't help thinking when fish is this fresh you are best keeping it really simple. I went for a really simple but fragrant butter made with juicy garlic and lots of fresh parsley which soaked into the prawns under the grill. We lingered over them with a fresh glass of prosecco and some fresh baked bread from one of the deli's. There's nothing better in life really.  

Grilled Prawns with Garlic & Parsley Butter

10 large raw prawns 

50g good quality butter

1/2 shallot, finely chopped 

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 

handful parsley, finely chopped 

1 tbsp olive oil

if you wish take the heads of the prawns and then de-vein them and then butterfly them so they lie flat on the grill. mix all of the other ingredients together and then dollop it in the prawns. place under the grill for around 10-15 minutes until the prawns are nice and pink and cooked through. How easy is that?!

Valentines Day Starter.........{Prawn and Crayfish Cocktail boats}

Valentines Day is fast approaching and today I share with you an old classic which makes a great starter! It's a old favourite of mine - a twist on a classic, and whilst it's not the healthiest, omitting the bread makes it that much healthier!

Prawn and Crayfish Cocktail Boats

250g large peeled prawns
120g crayfish tails 
3 tbsp good quality mayonnaise 
1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
Couple of drops of Tabasco 
Squeeze lemon juice 
Half a cucumber, shredded into ribbons (I use a peeler to do this)
Little Gem lettuce, remove the outer leaves you will need around three depending on size

take the mayonnaise and ketchup and mix them together. add the Tabasco and lemon juice and season. have a try and adjust to taste (I usually end up adding a bit more lemon and black pepper). add in the prawns and crayfish tails (reserving some of the tails for garnish). take your lettuce leaves and use them as “boats";  first add a couple of ribbons of cucumber and then the prawn cocktail and finish with a garnish of a couple of crayfish tails. Serve on a lovely wooden platter and let people just help themselves. 

 

Linking up with Vicky at Honest Mum