the backyard invasion…zucchini anyone?

 

do you have a glut of zucchinis viewers? are you a beginner farmer or do you happen to live next door to some neighbours who could possibly be growing them illegally or are part of some kind of zucchini worshipping cult?

i think my neighbours are part of a cult. seriously their backyard looks like it has been invaded, so much so, the zucchinis are beginning to infiltrate. they are making their way through the fence and i am wondering what they are going to plant next. in any case i have been one of their recipients and not being the type who likes things to go to waste i decided to test a few recipes and use up the box of jars in my cupboard.

and travelling back through childhood memories mrs. roberts is my cooking inspiration for this post. growing up we lived next door to the lovely mrs.roberts who was of the country women association type. and one of the things that i distinctly remember (apart from her sewing my angel costume for school) were her home-made mustard pickles that were simply delicious. mind you hers were made with cauliflower and as a young child i wondered how she made them so yellow. and being of the ethnic variety this was the first time i had ever encountered the mustard pickle. and i liked it, sweet, vinegary with a slight crunch. i could have eaten the whole jar by myself.

i figured i could find something that might come close and use up the 20kgs of zucchini my neighbours had off loaded, hee-hee, of course that might be a slight exaggeration but we won't let that get in the way of a good story. besides i  could tell my neighbours were suffering from zucchini exhaustion.

the zucchinis they were growing were the light green coloured ones. using my best friend the internet i started to research some recipes and ended up testing two. the first one was a zucchini mustard pickle presented by bonita’s kitchen, the link is below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkfGp9OjKjY&ab_channel=Bonita%27sKitchen

this recipe was reasonably good, i rate it a 7 out of 10 but out of the two i personally prefer the zucchini relish, it is thicker and reminds me of mrs.roberts cauliflower pickles the most. they are both easy to make. however, my mustard is on the relish which i have made twice, it really doesn’t take that long at all. the most time-consuming part is making sure your jars are sterilised.

https://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipes/zucchini-pickles-2/t77nkebq

 

zucchini relish pickles from link above

Ingredients

• 1 kg zucchini deseeded and grated
• 2 tbs salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups white vinegar
• 1 brown onion large, diced finely
• 2 tbspns cornflour
• 2 tspns ground turmeric
• 2 tspns mustard powder
• 1 tspn curry powder

 Method

1.  grate zucchini into a container, add salt and cover with water. soak for 15 minutes

2.  drain and squeeze excess moisture out of zucchini and place in a saucepan

3.  add finely chopped brown onion, sugar and 1 cup vinegar and bring to the boil and then simmer for 15 mins

4.  add dry ingredients to the other cup of white vinegar and mix. add to saucepan and simmer slowly for a further 15 mins until thickened

5.  bottle in clean, sterilised jars

*you can use gluten free flour for thickening also

 

on show…foolproof recipe

 

hey viewers have you ever experienced that feeling of being under pressure when you have to cook for a someone or a special occasion? ever fudged it up? like totally? that it was a complete disaster, beyond culinary redemption that even jamie oliver couldn’t resurrect it? lol. and what culinary advice did the experts or maybe even your mama recommend? don’t cook something you haven’t tried before…mm is that always a given?

well I suppose if i return to my days in the home economics kitchen when a bunch of year 10 girls were given the task to plan and cook a 3-course lunch (on a pretty miserly budget might i add) that probably rings true. especially in the case of francine, nolene and cheryl. i think my move to team up with a fellow ethnic, effie gianacropolis was a masterstroke. after all she could identify a kalamata and a piece of haloumi with her eyes closed and detect oregano from 500m. and as for me let’s just say, vegeta is its own food group, hee-hee. as far as the trio were concerned i doubt they had ever tasted an olive, let alone seen one, not an ounce of ethnic blood in their veins. but hey i won’t turn my nose up at a good tuna mornay or shepherd’s pie or a pavlova for that matter.

this was the 70’s folks and mrs. pony’s budget didn’t extend itself to vol-au-vent pastry cases or smoked salmon. of course i am also protecting her identity. however, i can tell you this, she had the hairiest arms i had ever seen, you could have run a brush through them. surely a hormonal imbalance? but before i get too smug, i confess to a menopause moustache myself. bless the modern laser that mother of a moustaki has left the building.

i must tell you mrs. pony did come with a few surprises, what she lacked in attractiveness she must have made up in other departments. what they exactly were, one couldn’t imagine at 15 years of age. but… if the rumours were true (she and the geography teacher were getting it on) i bet it wasn’t over her choux pastry either because that demo lesson was a complete flop…true story. and nothing better than to see a mean teacher fail miserably.

so back to the home economics kitchen and the 3-course lunch. mrs. pony was in full form, one could describe her as positively radiant that particular day (i was wondering why she was wearing that frilly apron with the lace). but francine, nolene and cheryl unbeknown had invited her favourite, mr. geography much to her inner delight. but then again when he turned his spoon upside down and the potato stuck to it like glue in the name of potato soup, well not even her frilly apron could save him. luckily for us we were allowed to bring some ingredients from home to save on budget of course. ( and back in those days there really wasn’t any quality control) effie managed to smuggle in her papou’s home made red wine for our spaghetti and during the course of our cooking test we took a few swigs to calm our nerves. and when we poured some into teacups for our guests and winked at them, the glowing culinary comments were coming thick and fast. girls could we have another cup of tea? sure thing, gee if i was a high school teacher, i would be drinking on the job too. and mrs. pony was too busy sauntering around in her frilly apron to notice, laughing and praising us which incidentally viewers we had never heard before. ha-ha-ha-ha, girls keep cooking. ha-ha-ha-ha girls remember table settings count too. ha-ha-ha-ha, girls what lovely flower arrangements. the last one viewers was a complete lie. (somehow semi-alive daffodils pinched from the school garden hardly qualifies as a floral arrangement). of course the story ends with the trio’s lunch being a complete disaster. nolene couldn’t remember her nan’s exact tuna mornay recipe which unlike the mashed potato soup resembled runny baby…i better stop there. i did want to offer their guests some sympathy tea but by that stage we had run out. and we laughed behind our tea towels to muffle our hysteria over their inept culinary skills, of course at that age it is easy to think of oneself as being a bit superior, especially when your own mother is a kitchen goddess.

but years and i mean many, many, many years later, karma would come back to bite me on my own ass big time and make me look like a complete culinary flop. talk about embarrassing. but then again, he took it in his stride. shame because those plump prawns went to waste. and even though my dish looked delectable and could have appeared on the cover of a magazine unless you can down a hundred habaneros eaten raw…well you get my drift? and to this day i still cannot figure out how i managed to do that but come to think of it i should have made that dish for crocodile dundee instead, hee-hee.

ok viewers so now that you have navigated my pre-story entertainment i bring you to a foolproof recipe that can be made to impress even if you have never made it before. so much for the expert’s advice but then again if you are considering auditioning for masterchef then stick to it.

this is the dish i served for a ladies lunch so i could show off my new kitchen and house renovation. i have two toilets, are you impressed? well with two young man-sons that is definitely a must! i spent a lot of time agonising about what i could cook. it is true we librans have a tendency to arrive at our decisions in a roundabout way but rest assured once we do, good luck trying to convince us otherwise.

 PS…if you are of the impatient variety then i wouldn’t recommend a libran girlfriend unless of course you are in the market for someone creative in more ways than one, hee-hee. yet again i digress but please forgive me i have never been a fan of bland cooking. back to recipe in hand which i had recommended to a friend searching for something to make with the pork neck she had in her fridge. previously I had made marion’s kitchen chinese bbque pork (highly recommend…google it) but seeing she didn’t have the time i did a quick internet scour and found this donna hay recipe to try. recognising the ingredients and being assured it was a winner from said friend i went with it too. here is the link below viewers. i served it with braised asian greens and rice. this cut of pork is not fatty and probably one that some households would not utilise. go to the butcher or better still the butcher at an asian grocer because pork is a pretty common meat source. i followed it exactly apart from throwing in a few extra star anise, my favourite.

and that’s it viewers you couldn’t really ask for anything simpler which will also be impressive. so next time you want to put some pork on your fork, consider this recipe. i promise you won’t be disappointed. just ask yiota, she will vouch for it, same as me.

https://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/dinner/pork/sticky-asian-pork-neck

 

INGREDIENTS

• 1.7KG PORK NECK
• 50G PIECE GINGER, SLICED 
• 4 CLOVES GARLIC 
• 1 LONG RED CHILLI, HALVED 
• 4 STAR ANISE 
• ½ CUP (90G) BROWN SUGAR 
• 1 CUP (250ML) SHAOXING (CHINESE COOKING WINE) 
• ½ CUP OYSTER SAUCE 
• 1 TEASPOON CHINESE FIVE-SPICE

METHOD

1.  Preheat oven to 180°C (355°F). Place the pork, ginger, garlic, chilli and star anise in a deep, heavy-based pan with a lid. 

2.  Place the sugar, Shaoxing, oyster sauce and five-spice in a bowl and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Pour over the pork and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Cook for 2 hours, turning half-way through. Increase the heat to 200°C (390°F) and cook for a further 30 minutes or until the pork is sticky and tender.

 

 

the Ćevapčići story...

 

i have to confess i am a former Ćevapčići free loader. true viewers at the expense of my dad papa joe who at the time probably held the record for the most Ćevapčići in a deep freeze. the deep freeze the size of a small garden shed in his man cave. well that might be a slight exaggeration but with papa joe it was go big or go home. the thing is he knew i was the Ćevapčići robber but having had my status changed to single parent he gave me a get out of Ćevapčići jail free card. just as well man responsible for status change in question lived interstate because i am sure his head would have ended up in papa joe's vice....personally it should have been his balls. but no need to feel alarmed viewers, are some of you clutching your balls now? lol. because i am only joking, although 10 years ago i probably would have clamped them there myself, hee, hee.

ok viewers i know this is not supposed to be about my romantic tragic past but a little context can sometimes paint the picture. thanks to my dad i had a fairly consistent supply of Ćevapčići until one day i came to visit and he was unloading 250 trays out of his landcruiser. jesus dad don't you think you might have gone overboard? i enquired. bloody bitch....has gone out of business ( i must keep his identity confidential) WHAT? yes…( to be fair her identity shall remain a secret too) has taken him to the cleaners, stolen his recipe and started a new business with the apprentice. what's he want with old bag like that? pička. (insert accent plus i don’t think i should translate that word for you viewers) i did want to inform my dad that even Ćevapčići have a freezer life of 3 months but of course in the circumstances i didn't think it wise. besides according to my calculations and my Ćevapčići pilfering, we could knock off those 6000 cevaps in no time. 

of course lovie came out to see what all the yelling was about. stara what are you doing? nothing just put these in the freezer.  so lovie and i helped him offload the cevaps while i got her up to speed on the cevap story. what a shame, he had the best in adelaide, tasty, fatty enough to remain juicy and his secret seasoning. and at a reasonable price why bother making your own?

well  x years later and bless you dad, i do miss those days when you caught me sneaking out of your shed with said cevaps under my arm. and we played this little game where you would be outraged and i would tug on your heart strings and say…didn’t pay child support ( his identity must also remain confidential viewers but the closest i can disclose is that he looks like crocodile dundee). i never forget the time we were on a plane flying in vietnam and this american woman got soooo excited and started pointing at him, yelling honey, honey look it’s crocodile dundee. and yes, it is a bit of a digression but i did warn you some of my former blog bittersweet might make it in here, hee-hee. and i have to admit that line came in very handy when we hated each other’s guts for a while.

 so back to the cevaps. why bother making your own, well viewers do you recognise any of these? acidity regulators, 262,331,451, dextrose, preservative 223, sulphites, oleoresins, carrot fibre, soy flavour enhancer 635, wheat flour, sugar. no wonder there is a diabetes crisis. these are just a few of the ingredients, does that sit well with you? and why did …(name withheld) have to spoil it for the whole of adelaide when she ruthlessly dethroned the  Ćevapčići king, sending him into the carnivore abyss? srum te bilo to her... which loosely translated means shame on you.

the beauty of the internet folks is that you can just about find anything, so what is a former  Ćevapčići robber supposed to do? use her investigative skills and report back with a foolproof recipe that you can make for yourself to be enjoyed with family and friends, and no you don’t need to be a slav to get your  Ćevapčići making license. although i have to admit it does make one appear seemingly more authentic. so here it goes, the recipe with some tweaking from me in my new test kitchen. why buy a new car when you can design your new kitchen instead?

before i divulge this recipe, i would like to give you my top tips to ensure that everything goes smoothly:

   you do not want the leanest cuts of meat, yes you can go to the butcher but if you are buying from the supermarket ( no mince shaming here) make sure you get the regular beef and regular pork which will have the highest fat content but will still be surprisingly lean and juicy. and with the left-over mince just make a quick pasta sauce

   get yourself some food handling gloves for mixing unless you want your hands to smell of garlic and be paprika stained

   onion must be finely grated so use the smallest holes ( not the ones for zesting, don’t worry i shall provide some visual cues)

   the mixture and i repeat is best made the day before and left in the fridge. i made mine in the morning and made them the next afternoon

   the cevaps will shrink during cooking so you may want to make them a little longer, i like to make them compact for rolls

Ćevapčići recipe

500gms of pork mince

1 kg of beef mince

1 large onion finely grated

9 cloves of garlic

3 tspns of sweet paprika

3 tspns of salt

2 tspn of white pepper

1 tspn of vegeta

2 tspn of bicarbonate soda

200ml of mineral water

1 egg

method

in a bowl mix minces thoroughly, add onion and garlic and mix thoroughly again with hands. add all dry ingredients and mix thoroughly again. then add the egg, mix thoroughly and then add the mineral water about a third at a time and mix thoroughly. the consistency should be pasty. i fried off a bit to check for seasoning and was happy with it. then cover with plastic and leave in the fridge overnight. some say to shape them into cevaps but i prefer to do it the next day as the mince is easier to handle. fry or barbeque, serve how you like but we like to make them into rolls with Turkish bread but if you know how to make lepinja (that could be for another blog post) kudos to you because home-made lepinja is da bomb. and I know one lady who makes the best.

i butter the rolls and then slather with my homemade tomato relish ( yes, another blog post) or you can be a bit more traditional and use ajvar. plus i dollop some sour cream, throw a few cevaps on, cover with traditional cabbage coleslaw.

these are certainly worth the time and effort because they not only taste good but contain no rubbish ingredients. they may not be as perfect as the former  Ćevapčići king but hey they are better than the fake, carrot fibre extender version.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

wedding cake...four layered dark chocolate with aromatic poached spiced semi- dried plums and dark choclate ganache

that recipe...

the not so secret seafood cocktail sauce...

that recipe folks is akin to the holy quail (the quail you can taste at the vietnam restaurant and is on my last supper list)...unbelievable to think that after all these years i have finally been granted access! and yes thanks to my bestie in port lincoln i can finally reveal and share with you the secret of the prawn dip. and what makes this now even more outrageous is that all these years (which amount to over twenty, i know scary) i have found out this...the said witholder of this culinary secret (i will not mention names coz she is croatian and well take it from me, you dont want to be messing with the croatian gospodjas!!!) isn't even the original creator of this dip i came to know as a young woman living in port lincoln. how very dare she!!! indeed not even the creator of this dip and she had the audacity to keep this a secret from us all this time. but culinary karma has now come to bite her on her bum to set this recipe free...go prawn dip and make yourself at home on all the dining tables of australia!!! go global if you have to!!!
     seriously viewers i know how it is sometimes. you go to someones house and your tastebuds come alive. you think OMG this is sensational. you think OMG i need to have this recipe. you think OMG she said a big fat NO! what do you mean NO? i have to confess i am not one for giving away all my recipes either but i think a few basic rules can be applied here. if it is a secret family recipe that has been handed down for centuries and you are a single woman in need of a husband well then yes, no handing down of the recipe until you are married, hee,hee. (you know what they say? the way to a mans heart is through his stomach, believe it or not) but if someone has been kind enough to share their winning formula by all means take it but do not, i repeat DO NOT claim it as your own. culinary integrity must remain intact and culinary credit must be given where it is due; otherwise you are nothing but a culinary fraud. and take it from me viewers i have experienced it personally. someone who takes credit for your recipe and even worse wins a prize for it is nothing more than a stinking rotten egg in my books!
     so back to the prawn dip. originating from port lincoln (which is no surprise considering that some call it the seafood capital of australia) my bestie and i yearned for this recipe upon our first taste. we wanted it and we wanted it badly but...(insert name here) wasn't going to give it up. she was too busy receiving accolades for her marvellous prawn pate. OH (insert name here) that is amazing!holy prawns (insert name here) you should enter your pate in the royal show! cleverly disguised sneer (insert name here)you will never have this recipe while i walk the earth, just call me queen prawn pate if you don't mind. we had many a tactic, forensic testing, nope that didn't work coz the lady in question certainly made sure there were no scrapes left. and if there were they never saw our tupperware containers. we tried asking politely, you know, kind of casually, that kind of casual where you are trying to be cool but really you are soooooo desperate. we attempted to ply her with alcohol and then hypnotise her with my watch. but alas she was speaking in hrvatski and when i gave the recording to my mum for translation she told us it said, good try losers (insert evil laugh here) so then we just gave up and over time we forgot about it. and now we have it, in our red hot little hands.
     so to put it to the test my bestie made it for our dinner party in lincoln. i looked at the recipe list and thought really? mm, something tells me that perhaps it may have been tweaked by ( insert name here) after all. damn you! none the less it is still delicious but it does require seasoning to taste. so here it goes and while i am at it i will also reveal my secret seafood cocktail sauce which i have to confess isn't such a secret since it is not my own. boy do i feel better now!
ps this is the full recipe it was halved which was still plenty enough for starters and some left over because there were also other things on offer.
the infamous prawn dip ( the full quota)
1 kg of green prawns
2 tubs of phildaelphia cream cheese
1 small jar of praise free mayonaise
1 tbspn of flora margarine
1 large clove of garlic crushed
4 drops of tabasco but more may be required depending on taste
juice 1 lemon
nutmeg to taste
method
cook prawns and chop into chunks, squeeze the juice of one lemon over top when finished
soften cream cheeese and beat with butter until smooth
add mayonaise and garlic and mix thoroughly, then add prawns, tabasco drops and nutmeg to taste, (perhaps 1/4 tspn first), add extra lemon juice if required and adjust seasoning accordingly to your preferred taste.
and that's it viewers try and it and see if you like it, serve with wafer thin crackers. and so to finish off the seafood cocktail sauce is all yours too! bon appetit.
the not so secret seafood cocktail sauce
1 cup of norganic soy mayonaise
juice of 1 lemon
2 tbspns of berenberg takatala sauce
mix through and enjoy

sashimi saturday folks...

welcome to sashimi saturday...yes raw fish but before you recoil in horror at the thought of ingesting raw fish just hear me out. mm...sashimi tuna, apart from being barbequed with garlic, olive oil, lemon and parsley i would say eating tuna raw is a favourite when it comes to this particular fish of the sea. yes i do eat it out of a can...did you hear that food police? the food choice of dieters it seems but no diets here viewers, not after all that chocolate today,thankyou jesus, hee,hee.

     i have to confess i am rather new at the whole sashimi thing. once upon a time if someone had mentioned eating raw fish or had offered it to me i would have thought i don't think so. but when you have eaten quality tuna make that bluefin and have sampled it in its natural state really i gotta admit it is the best way of eating it. sashimi? tartare? are they the same thing? i think so but correct me if i am wrong tuna patrol. sliced finely it can be eaten with a splash of soy and wasabi. i have had friends coat it in sesame seeds before sealing the outside and then slicing it finely for consumption. ( thankyou buddies in port lincoln) and yes that was yum. i have even been aboard a real tuna fishing boat ( thanks tuna man) and have witnessed the tuna harvest myself but surprisingly no tuna was on offer there. interesting experience to see what is actually involved. i did write about that some time ago and will search my archives for those who might like a closer insight into the manly business of fishing.

     so today for those of you who are keen to try some tuna in the raw, i have the perfect recipe that first came to my attention when dining at cumulus in melbourne. it can be found in their signature recipe book or if you google tuna tartare or right here in this blog. i have made this countless times now. i must admit whern i first perused the ingredient list i was curious to see how the flavour combination would pan out. when one thinks of tuna one wouldn't normally associate it with goats curd or minted smashed peas but it works. it really works and if you would like something that is still relatively light, flavoursome and still showcases the quality of fresh tuna then this is a recipe for you to try. it is also rather simple and can be made relatively quickly. it is best prepared just before serving time. we had this today for sashimi/seafood saturday.not a scrape of it was left.

tuna tartare with minted peas and goats curd... from the cumulus cookbook

250gms sashimi grade tuna

2tbspns olive oil

1 ortiz anchovy fillet ( you can substitute with another brand)

1/2 clove of garlic finely crushed

1 tspn balsamic vinegar

1 tbspn light soy sauce ( use tamari if you are allergic to wheat)

1/4 lemon zested finely

1/2 tspn of castor sugar

crush garlic and anchovy fillet, add soy, vinegar, lemon zest and sugar, mix and set aside...

slice tuna and cube into 1 cm squares, add marinade, mix thoroughly and refrigerate for 15 mins

minted pea salad

1 cup of blanched baby peas

20 mint leaves chopped very finely

3 tbspns of extra virgin olive oil

2 spring onions ( white part) sliced very finely

crush peas, add mint, oil, spring onions and mix through, season with sea salt

spread a couple of tablespoons ( i did use more) of goats curd on a medium sized platter, add pea salad on top and then the tuna tartare on top of the peas

serve with thin watercrackers ( i use the rice thins, delicate and do not compete with the flavours)

and there you have it folks, not word by worrd but a pretty good account of the recipe and as you can see below that is what you will finish up with. so for you raw tuna enthusiasts go ahead and enjoy yourselves with this one. you will be sure to impress.

oh fish in the sea...tales of fishing and cooking

snapper soup...hvala gospodja lutza

hello viewers today is fish friday! 

if someone told me that i was only allowed to eat fish for the rest of my life i for one could probably handle that imposition although some of you might consider that torture. (personally i believe that eating marzipan is torture in itself...a big yucko from me but lovie she can inhale that stuff, she must have tastebuds of steel!!). nothing better than freshly caught fish i say and a spot of fishing for fun. being of croatian descent (although not many would select that as their first choice, just call me the chameleon of the multicultural world, sometimes it pays to be venezuelan...tee hee)  it seems as though some of us were born with a filleting knife in our hands. it is not surprising to find that a high proportion of croatian immigrants who found their way to australian shores headed straight for the coastline and into a boat. my dad was not one of those but probably would have been happier if he had. dreamer of the sea he certainly was never without a boat of his own. from the very first wooden boat that he and my uncles went out in, to the eighteen foot fibreglass one he designed and outfitted himself. and lastly the one he fantasises about when he wins x-lotto,...mm, i know that tale well but good luck with that one anyway. still i have fond memories and maybe not so fond memories of family fishing expeditions plus a few personal ones; my favourite being catching baracuda on the cocos keeling islands. (apparently not good eating but certainly exciting to catch). if game fishing is your style then cocos just might be the place for you.

     so to fish friday viewers. do you like eating fish? is that a big yes? a big no? or perhaps you don't mind? do you have a favourite? and if so, what is it? i have a few personal favourites which remind me of my childhood as well as some favourite ways in which i like to eat particular ones. number one on my list is flathead. this once humble fish has now sky rocketed to the realm of expensive. why i can't tell you, unless there is some fishing expert who can enlighten me. flathead in my books is not only delicious but versatile when it comes to cooking. simply pan fried, fish cakes, fish curry, you name it and you can do it. flounder reminds me of when i was a girl as well as the humble leather jacket. can't say i have eaten flounder in some time but leather jackets, lovie often cooks these for us for our customary tuesday night dinner at her place. barbequed or pan fried with olive oil, parsley and lemon...simple folks. sometimes simple is best as you want to taste the flavour not mask it. besides leather jackets are rather inexpensive on the fish scale of price. so why not buy some and give them a go. 
     whiting of course who does not like it? whiting seemed to be the jewel of the sea when it came to eating fish during our childhood days. haven't had it for a while unless someone is being generous and offering it fresh off the boat and that folks hasn't happened for  quite some time. next fish to surface is the very versatile snapper. mm, snapper conjures up many tasty memories, from teta wiesa's snapper salad to my favourite soup which incidentally we enjoyed today. the soup has been a long standing favourite in our family and compliments of gospodja lutza, a big thanks to her for teaching lovie how to make it. this soup is exquisite in flavour and as simple as it gets. however, you will have to rely on your culinary senses to get the flavour just right. i asked lovie for the recipe today. i will personally road test this for you viewers and report back with a standard recipe for you to try. (btw my dad's mate brought around a 4kg snapper yesterday caught fresh). once filleted, the head and carcass will be kept to form the body of this deliciously tasty soup. so no need to waste a thing readers. and yes the fillets are going to be used for a madras snapper curry for sunday. i have made this several times. so if you fancy some fish with a bit of spice this recipe from rick steins india is also easy to make and surprisingly quick for a curry.
     and lastly another favourite from childhood days which has become a bit of a staple in our household is of course prawns. cooked and eaten as is with a zesty cocktail sauce (which is another one of my culinary secrets), hee, hee...seriously you won't believe what goes into it, three ingredients and you will have someone asking you for the recipe i guarantee you that. i can't claim this to be one of my own but discovered this from someone who wrote the encyclopedia called catering shortcuts!!! lovie can lay claim to her infamous prawn curry which is a big winner. i have tweaked the recipe for prawn busara which is a croatian recipe that personally lends itself to sexy. so viewers that is my spiel for fish friday. i shall leave you with a few snaps and will continue the seafood theme tomorrow where i will introduce you to raw tuna and a recipe from cumulus for tuna tartare, followed by a personal favourite...paella. ole!!!

       so i will finish with a childhood recollection...oh fish in the sea come listen to me, my wife begs a wish from the magic fish. ever heard of that story viewers? the magic fish? as much as fishing has painted certain pictures of my childhood, this story left an idelible impression upon my young mind. not wanting to admit to my age but hey there were no smartboards or computers in my school days. we had to listen and we had to imagine. in some respects our brains had to exercise their way through making meaning and sense of the world. but i loved this story because the moral of the story just seemed to resonate with me.  and really it is still a lesson for today and always...

fish friday...salmon asian style, calamari and leather jackets cooked by lovie of course!