Pan-grilled tuna steak with baby pechay puree and steamed diced potatoes

The puree

Puree is made by sauteeing garlic and onions with the baby pechay, add 1/2 cup of water and let it simmer for a few minutes.  Turn off the heat and set aside to cool down.  Once cooled pour it into the blender or food processor, add a handful of fresh baby spinach to make it more green. Blitz for a minute.  It is ready to serve on the side of any  main dish.

I love doing this puree because not only it is full of flavor, it also transforms it into paste form (almost liquid) and one good spoon means a lot of goodness in there for my daughter who doesnt like vegies, but she's always tricked with this.  I bet she cant even finish 5 leaves of pechay but with the puree, she finished what was on the plate.   Even myself i personally can eat more of it than chewing the leaves itself.

Tuna

Prepare the tuna by drying it with a kitchen paper, add a lot of freshly ground pepper and some salt.  Massage some oil on the fish and grill it on a preheated pan. 1 minute each side on high heat.

Steamed potatoes

Steamed the diced potatoes for 8-10 minutes, season with salt and pepper.  

Fish in a parcel

Opened, ready to eat

Serving Suggestion - Serve it piping hot from the oven straight to the plate.

This is one of my my favorite influences of "The Naked Chef" Jamie Oliver.  I like the way he does things in a quick and easy way with full of flavors.. lots of goodness!!!  This recipe has never failed me by far. Preparation can be done in advance, it gives time to prepare other goodness for the dining table and just pop it in the oven when everything is ready. 

There's nothing more surprising than opening a main course just like opening a present and the aroma just meets you straight away with steaming goodness. 

Here's a guide: there is nothing precise on the portion of the ingredients as long everything can fit and wrapped securely without any leak.  The ingredients is up to your liking as well. Others can be skipped or maybe substituted.  Keeping in mind the balance of its acidity of lemon and portion of butter/olive oil.  Lemon can be overpowering but it is necessary.

Ingredients: 

Fish fillet

peeled garlic 

chopped onions

chopped leeks

chopped spring onions

red capsicum

butter

lemon

olive oil

salt and pepper

Cut a portion of  baking paper (about 1 foot long) and lay it flat on a plate.  Place the fish fillet in the center and season with salt and pepper;  add onions, garlic, leeks, spring onions, capsicum on top of the fish add a knob of butter on top, squeeze a lemon and drizzle a little olive oil.  

Fold the ends lengthwise first, pressing the crease each fold and secure the sides.

To wrap everything, fold the baking paper lengthwise, make a crease each time by pressing it with your fingers, (make 3-4 folds), then secure the ends by creasing crosswise, making the last fold facing down.

Secure the ends by folding the ends, press the crease each fold

Lay it flat in a baking dish with the crease on the top side.

Bake for 30 minutes in the oven..  Make it the last thing you put on the plate so that it remains warm upon serving.

Just perfect for a weekend lunch.


BTW, I had posted one with a different variation long time back: fish in a parcel

BONELESS BANGUS (MILKFISH) COOKED OVER A BED OF SALT

This is one unforgettable dish for me which was taught by my late brother Roy, who passed away last year. He taught me the quickest, easiest, oil free of preparing bangus (milkfish) by cooking it over a bed of salt.

Bangus is the national fish of Philippines, known for its hundreds of tiny bones. I like the fish but I hate the bones but I'm not helpless at that because there is boneless bangus available. It is done by deboning the fish manually, I have seen it being done and it looked easy, but I wouldn't dare to do it myself not unless I want to test my patience.

If I am in Phil, I could easily get deboned milkfish from the super market or in the wet market, would just pay additional P10 for deboning which they do expertly for you. In KL, I saw milkfish in supermarkets but they don't sell deboned or they won't debone it for me either, so I didn't bother to buy until my friend Tess, offered me her boneless bangus. I didn't hesitate to get a couple of packs for the weekend's lunch. The first thing that came to my mind is to prepare it like my brother had taught me. It's healthier and quicker to prepare. Another alternative way of cooking without frying.



Here's how:

Prepare the fish by marinating it with soy sauce, calamansi and crushed garlic.

In a pan over high heat, spread a lot of rock salt enough to cover the base of the pan. The salt adds heat, while preventing the fish from sticking into the pan. The fish is literally cooked by its own steam from its moisture. You can tell when its done when the fish has turned completely pale and the skin is slightly burnt.



Place the fish skin side down over a bed of salt. Cover the pan and cook on high heat for about 10-15 minutes without opening. You will hear some popping sound, but that's the way it should be.

Serve it with rice and soy sauce with calamansi or lime.

The skin should look like slightly burned like the picture below.

Grilled Fish with Garlic Fried rice

Simple food is the best. Fresh fish grilled to perfection; juicy in the inside, that's how I like my fish to be. Tender and Juicy. I'm not a big fan of overcooked fish but my cousin is. He likes fish fried or grilled until almost crispy, I find it overcooked and dry and all the goodness had gone.

This is really quick, simple and straight forward dish. Preheat the pan (don't put oil in it) Season the fish with salt and pepper, oil the fish (not the pan) and straight to the preheated pan. Pan grill 5 minutes on each side. Here, I served it with GARLIC FRIED RICE, other option would be plain rice or ARROZ BRANCO.

Steamed Salmon with Broccoli Puree and Baby Potatoes

Steamed Salmon with broccoli puree and baby potatoes

This is one healthy meal. I don’t like broccoli very much when its whole but the puree was a trick! I incredibly love it! It was all mild flavors that needs some contrast to cut the mildness but a few freshly ground black pepper would do for me, but for hubby he added Tabasco sauce which was also great. The baby potatoes were quite a great substitute for rice for a change.

Ingredients:

2 slices of salmon

2 bouquet of Broccoli

½ kg baby potatoes

Salt and pepper

Procedure:

Season broccoli and salmon with salt and pepper. Steam broccoli together with the salmon for 10 minutes.

While steaming the fish, boil baby potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes.

Strain the baby potatoes and cut in half. In a very hot non-stick pan, pan roast the potatoes until the sides turn dark brown. Add finely chopped parsley at the last minute.

Place the broccoli in a blender or food processor, add a little bit of water used to steam the fish and broccoli (the drippings from the fish adds flavor), blitz until fine.

Assemble the dish by placing the fish on top of the bed of green puree, alongside the baby potatoes.

Pan-fried fish with oatmeal

An easy nutritious meal indeed! Been trying to incorporate some fibers in our diet and this just popped out in my mind. I’ve tried making this before but I used batter to coat the fish with oatmeal. This time, its just plain oatmeal and very little flour.

For the mashed potatoes, I used to make it creamy and yummy by adding a knob of butter while it’s still hot and a little hot milk to make it soft and fluffy, but this time, I made it simpler, just to cut some fat. It was still great and I’m pretty satisfied with it.

Ingredients:

2 slices of Fish

4 Tbsp. Oats

Salt & Pepper

Oil to pan fry

Procedure:

Wash slices of fish and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Season the fish with salt and pepper and coat with whole grain oats. In a heated pad, add about 2 Tablespoons of oil, pan-fry for about 2-3 minutes each side over medium heat until golden brown. Do not over cook, otherwise the fish will be dry inside.

Mash Potatoes:

Peel Potatoes and slice into quarts, boil in salted water until done. Mash with a potato masher or fork. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve in a bed of mashed potatoes.

Fish 'n Eggplant wrap

Fish 'n Eggplant wrap

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. butter

1 large Eggplant

6 slices of fish fillet (skinned)

parsley

Salt & pepper to taste Carrots Bell Pepper How to: Slice eggplant lengthwise into thin long slices. Brush with butter unto the surface of the eggplant. In a very hot grill pan or flat pan, pan roast the eggplant until soft and sides turn slightly brown. (with a grilled pan, a horizontal marking can easily be seen as shown in the picture) The eggplant must be soft at this stage. Season with more salt & pepper to taste.Set aside. Season fish with salt & pepper, drizzle with olive oil and place in a very hot pan. Pan-fry the fish until slightly brown and turn over the other side. Remove from pan and set aside. With the roasted eggplant, wrap the fish tightly and tuck the end with toothpick at the end of one side. Bake for 5 – 10 minutes more to enhance flavor. Pan roast slices of carrots and bell peppers to garnish.

Fish Cake

Fish Cake

Cooking oil for frying
2 Fish Fillets (medium size)
4 potatoes (medium size)
2 Cups water
½ Cup flour
½ Cup Milk
1 egg (slightly beaten)
salt & pepper

How to:

Peel potatoes and bring to boil with water until tender. While the cooking the potatoes, in another saucepan put the fish and milk, bring to boil with low fire, season with salt to taste, continue cooking until fish is well done. When the potatoes are done, drain them and mash with potato masher or fork while still hot. Drain fish and mash in with potatoes until fish is flaky but not so fine. Season with salt and pepper, (more peppers tastes good and smells good as well). Shape this mixture into round or squares using the hands and set aside. In separate plates, place slightly beaten egg and in another plate place flour for coating (as shown in the photo)

Heat oil in a shallow pan. Dip each shaped potato mixture into each plate with egg first, then flour and fry until golden brown. Remember that the mixture is already cooked, no need to fry too long. Serve immediately.

This recipe is quite messy but its worth it! To enhance your coating with whatever you fry with coating, add breadcrumbs, salt & pepper to the flour. It adds flavor and smells great too. With this recipe, you can use leftover of fish instead of fresh fillet and use the same procedure. Could be a good treat too! And for those who doesn’t like fish very much, this is a good alternative way of cooking… It doesn’t tastes so fishy as it is well blended with the potato. I saw the method of cooking on a TV show but the cook used green peas and potato and mint jelly, which I honestly haven’t encountered yet. It was a bit complicated but it looks nice because the color inside is green and yellow on the outside. But I can’t get fresh green peas here, so I made something similar with different ingredients, but less complicated. Here it is!!!!

Inon - Onan

Inon-unang Isda

Ingredients:

6 pcs. Fish (any kind of fish will do, less bony the better)

½ Cup oil

¼ Cup lemon juice

2 Tbsp. Oyster sauce

2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar

1 onion

3 cloves garlic

bay leaves
salt to taste

How to:

Clean fishes, free of gills and intestines, season with salt, set aside. In a sauce pan, arrange bay leaves at the bottom, add onion and garlic. Add fish by arranging them on top of the spices, add oil, lemon juice and white wine vinegar. Bring to boil and continue cooking with low-medium fire for 20 minutes, add oyster sauce and continue cooking for 5 minutes more. Serve with garlic rice or plain rice. Tip : Avoid using water to keep the flesh of the fish firm and full of flavor. You may be tempted to add water if you wish but do it after the fish is done.

This kind of inon-onan smells less fishy than the traditional inon-onan cooked with vinegar & spices. I lessened the amount of vinegar and used a lot more of lemon juice, so to improve the aroma. The sauce is thicker than usual and its one of my favorite fish preparations.