Category Archives: Fish

Forbidden black rice, vongole & tomato risotto

November 14, 2013 4:54 pm / Leave a Comment /

SAM_0376

My friends at Forbidden Foods have sent me a box of samples to test in the steam oven.  What fun this is going to be!  I thought I would start with the Black Rice which is their original product (they now also have Red Rice and the new amazing Green Rice).  It is not long grain black rice as we know it here (which is actually Wild Rice) but a short grain, par-boiled rice from China.

This is a recipe for the Black rice in a risotto as everyone who knows about a steam oven can confirm that risotto cooked in this appliance is absolutely fabulous.  No stirring, just sauté off your ingredients add the dry rice before adding the stock and placing it in the steam oven.  Some people don’t even do that, just choosing to put everything into the solid stainless steel tray to begin with but I think the flavour is better using this method.  I also cooked it in this shallow casserole which looked stunning for serving and only one pan to wash up!

Ingredients: Serves 4

1¼ cups Forbidden black rice
1-2tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
2 birdseye chilli, seeded and finely diced or to your taste
1½ cups fish stock
1kg Vongole, soaked in fresh water for 1 hour, scrubbed then drained
1 vine ripened tomato, diced
fresh coriander to serve

Method:

  1. Sauté onion and garlic in the olive oil on low heat until soft.
  2. Add the black rice and chilli and stir to coat.
  3. Now add the stock.
  4. Place into the solid steamer tray @ 100°C for 30 minutes, stir
  5. Now change the cooking temperature to 85°C, add Vongole and cook another 10 minutes to open the shells.
  6. Remove from the steam oven and open any shells that are partially open with a sharp knife.  Discard any that are unopened.
  7. Leaving the Vongole on the top, scatter the tomato around the shells and top with coriander.
  8. Squeeze over half a lemon to serve 🙂

Photograph was using 500g Vongole and 1 cup rice which would only serve 2-3 so I altered the quantities to Serve 4 as above.

Posted in: Fish, Gluten free, Rice, Steam Oven

Whole steamed ginger snapper

October 28, 2013 2:28 pm / Leave a Comment /

Steamed ginger snapper

I am extremely lucky as my partner, Simon is a fantastic cook!  He loves to get into the kitchen and create wonderful things, he particularly loves cooking Asian food.  Neil Perry is his favourite so this is the steam oven conversion of the whole fish recipe from his ‘Simply Asian’ book.  He reduced the oils a little from the original recipe.

My children (who also are mad about Asian food) enjoyed this with us on Saturday night.  He also cooked ‘Asparagus wok-tossed with Asian mushrooms’ from Luke Nguyen which you can find here.  Served with plain steamed rice it was easy to see why the steam oven has become such an important appliance in our home.

Simon cooked the rice for 10 minutes @ 100°C then it continued to cook it at the lower temperature with the fish for 15 minutes.  It was perfect and the whole meal was absolutely delicious!  Don’t be tempted to cook the fish at 100°C it is worth the effort to change the cooking temperatures which is how we got a perfectly cooked whole fish.

Ingredients:  Served 4 or 6 with another course.

1 x 1.2kg whole snapper cleaned and scaled
3-4 spring onions left whole
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp chicken stock
2 tbsp. light soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp. shao xing
1 tbsp. castor sugar
1 large knob of ginger, cut into very fine julienne
4 spring onions with some green left on, finely shredded
1½ tbsp. peanut oil
good handful of coriander leaves
few slices of red chilli for garnish

Method:

  1. Pat the fish dry with kitchen paper and put it on a chopping board
  2. With a sharp knife make three diagonal slits into the meatiest part of the fish, then repeat in the opposite direction to make a diamond pattern as this helps cook the fish more evenly.  Repeat on the other side of the fish.
  3. Put the whole spring onions on the bottom of the large stainless steel tray.
  4. Rub the fish well with salt and put on top of the spring onions
  5. Mix the stock, soy, sesame oil, shao xing and castor sugar and pour this over the fish, then top with the ginger
  6. Steam @ 90°C for 15 minutes.  Test, it should be pulling off the bones and the cuts in the skin will open up a little.
  7. Remove from the stainless steel tray 0nto a large serving platter and sprinkle with the spring onions, coriander and a little chilli
  8. Heat the peanut oil until it is smoking and douse the fish with the oil.  Be careful it will spit!

This size fish was a generous serving for 4 of us.  It would serve 6 with the addition of another course as part of a shared meal.

Posted in: Fish, Gluten free, Main Courses, Steam Oven

Steamed salmon in ginger broth

October 14, 2013 1:56 pm / Leave a Comment /

Steamed salmon in ginger broth

Our good friends, Anne & David from Manly finally buckled under the pressure and swapped their built in microwave for a steam oven.  They love it!  In order to prove to me just how much they love it they invited us for a lovely lunch where everything was not only cooked in the steam oven but was also delicious!

The main course was “Steamed Atlantic salmon with spring onions and coriander”, a recipe from Chong Liew.  I have adapted the original recipe a little to what Anne did for the lunch, the flavours were brilliant so I haven’t altered the ingredients a lot but played up the ‘broth’ aspect of the recipe with an Asian and ginger flavours.  Anne served it with my Chicken rice recipe that you can find here and green beans which I would also recommend.  You can also just serve it with plain Steamed rice.

Light but flavoursome, a perfect lunch!

Ingredients: Serves 4

Broth:
2 cups salt reduced chicken stock – better to make your own with no salt here
4 slices ginger
4 coriander roots and stems, sliced in half lengthways
1 garlic clove, peeled and halved

1tbsp shaosing Chinese cooking wine
1 clove garlic, crushed
2tsp grated ginger
4 spring onions, finely sliced with white and green parts separated
1-2tbsp Chinese light soy sauce or salt reduced light soy.  Add half then taste.
2tsp sugar
1/4 – 1/2 tsp sesame oil to taste
fresh coriander and green parts of spring onion & red chilli slices to serve

Method:

  1. Skin and bone salmon if required
  2. Simmer broth ingredients for 15 minutes on low heat, strain to remove solids and add 2tsp of the shaosing wine, soy, sugar and sesame oil. Stir to dissolve sugar and set aside.  Be careful with adding the soy as you don’t want it too salty.
  3. Mix remainder of the Chinese cooking wine with the extra grated ginger and garlic
  4. Spread over the salmon fillets in the perforated steamer tray which has been lined with baking paper and set aside at room temperature for 10 minutes. Top with the white part of the spring onion.
  5. Steam @ 95°C for 3-5 minutes depending on the size of the fillets and the way you like it cooked.
  6. Plate salmon onto individual shallow bowls.  Top with coriander, green parts of the spring onion and a few chilli slices.  Pour over boiling stock mixture.
  7. Serve with the Chicken rice that has been cooking in the steam oven before the salmon and some green beans or Asian vegetables.  I would suggest you start the rice for 12 minutes before reducing the temperature to 95° for the fish.  The vegetables will only take 2 minutes so they can be added with the fish.

 

Posted in: Fish, Gluten free, Healthy eating, Main Courses, Steam Oven

Salmon Nicoise salad

October 9, 2013 6:54 pm / 2 Comments /

Salmon nicoise salad

I have always loved the typical French Nicoise salad.  The combination of tuna, eggs, beans and anchovies in a salad is an all time favourite.  Everyone loves it but there are so many variations that it is almost impossible to pick an original.  Damien Pignolet states in his Salad book that there should never be any cooked vegetables in it as it is actually an hors d’oeuvre based on what the French call crudités or raw vegetables.  I don’t care, Nicoise salad to me has cooked potatoes and beans and I’m sticking to that story!

This is a version far removed from any idea of an original recipe anyway, adapted from the Miele steam oven recipe so I am using salmon instead of tuna.  This was actually the first thing I ever cooked in my first steam oven.  It was a great way to learn how to cook various items at different times and as cooking in the steam oven retains all the flavour and nutrients in the food everything just tastes so much better than boiled vegetables would.  Try it, I am sure it will become a favourite recipe of yours too.

Ingredients:  Serves 4

3-4 medium new potatoes, cut into halves or quarters or about 8 smaller ones, halved
3 eggs, rounded end pierced with a pin
2 salmon fillets, skinned and boned
300g baby salad leaves, washed
3 vine ripened tomatoes, cut into wedges
handful of baby green beans
1/2 Lebanese cucumber sliced
good quality anchovies in oil, drained and cut into long strips
1/2 cup black olives
2tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp tarragon vinegar
few basil leaves
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

  1. Cut potatoes into halves or quarters depending on their size and place into perforated tray.  Steam @ 100ºC for 8 minutes
  2. Place eggs in with the potatoes to also cook for 8 minutes
  3. Test the potatoes to see if they are cooked with a sharp knife and remove eggs.  Place in cold water
  4. If the potatoes need a little longer then place the salmon fillets on a piece of baking paper over the top of the potatoes and cook for 2 minutes.
  5. In another tray or at the side of the potatoes, whatever will fit, add the beans.  Cook the beans and salmon for 2 minutes extra @ 100ºC if you have large pieces of salmon otherwise 2 minutes is all I used for very thin fillets.
  6. Drain and flake the salmon, peel eggs and cut into quarters
  7. Gently combine potatoes, beans, tomatoes, cucumber, oil and vinegar and toss with salt & pepper.  Add the leaves.
  8. Finish with eggs, anchovies and olives and another ground of black pepper.

Tip:  When you remove the hot potatoes from the steam oven plunge them into the dressing, salt & pepper that you have mixed into a large bowl.  They will soak up the flavour and be even more delicious!  Once cooled then you can add the other ingredients and mix through.

 

Posted in: Fish, Gluten free, Healthy eating, Salads

Salmon with fennel & garlic bean salad

August 16, 2013 8:27 pm / 3 Comments /

Salmon with fennel & garlic bean salad

I am not sure if it’s the fact that I am trying to eat well on the Healthy eating program or the fact that it has been brilliant, spring like weather that I have an urge to cook and eat this type of food.  It may have something to do with the fact that the dinner out last night didn’t live up to expectations, or that I didn’t post or cook last night.  I am surprised that the weather has inspired me to eat and cook like this – even on a Friday night!

My son may have inspired me to do this today when I got a message from him on the way back from a lovely walk in the sunshine.  He works nearby and will drop over after work for dinner sometimes which is lovely considering I had years when either or both of them were living overseas.  I am definitely in the summer eating mode already and I haven’t even arrived in New York yet.  Only a week to go until I will be eating all sorts of amazing things!

Enjoy this at any time of the year, with or without the fish or perhaps with a different type of fish as I have done a lot of salmon recently.  The beans soak up the garlic dressing to make this just perfect!

Ingredients:  Serves 4

2-4 pieces of Salmon or fish of your choice.  If you want to serve as a buffet salad then cook the salmon @ 100°C so it will ‘flake’ over the salad.

Salad:

1-2 bulbs of fennel, thinly sliced with a mandolin.  Include thinly sliced stalks and tops
2 tablespoons of tiny, salted capers rinsed and drained
1 can drained and rinsed cannellini beans
good handful of green beans, trimmed and steamed in steam oven @ 100C 2 min then refreshed in iced water
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped dill
1 small clove garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons lemon juice & rind grated
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Method:

  1. Mix sliced fennel, parsley, lemon rind, washed capers and both beans in a large bowl
  2. Mix all other ingredients in a small jar, shake well.  Try to do this at least 10 minutes before so flavours will develop
  3. Stir most of the dressing into the fennel mixture and set aside.  About another 10 minutes, not any earlier.
  4. Steam the salmon or fish of your choice @ 95°C for 3-5 minutes depending on the size of the fillet and type of the fish.  This salmon pictured was 3 minutes and was perfectly cooked.
  5. Plate with salmon on the top and spoon over a little extra dressing.

Serve with crusty bread to wipe up the dressing 🙂

Note: If you have a large fennel and a lot of salad you will need to double the quantity of the dressing. 

 

 

 

Posted in: Dinner parties, Fish, Gluten free, Healthy eating, Main Courses, Salads, Steam Oven, Vegetarian

Salmon with sumac, quinoa & beetroot salad

August 7, 2013 7:17 pm / Leave a Comment /

Salmon with sumac, quinoa & beetroot salad

Now this is healthy!  We keep being told how quinoa is an ancient grain that has great health benefits.  It does lend itself to needing a lot of flavour so cooking it in the steam oven in chicken or vegetable stock is my recommendation.  You get a lovely, fluffy result that is perfect for adding to all sorts of dishes.

I am going to cook all of this in the steam oven for different times.  The beetroot, being a root vegetable will take a while but I will add the quinoa about half way through that cooking time.  That will only take 20 minutes.

I am serving this with steamed salmon but you could also use any other fish or leave out the fish completely.  The sumac is really delicious with the salmon and cuts the richness of the fish.   If you are serving as a vegetarian dish top with some fetta.

Would also be nice served with steamed chicken see here.  Keep a little of the dressing aside so you can drizzle it over the top.  It does need this to blend with the sumac.

Ingredients: Serves 4

1 cup quinoa washed
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
4 small to medium size fresh beetroot
Rind and juice 1 lemon (reserve 2 tsp for salmon mix)
1 cup drained and washed chickpeas
¼ cup each of chopped parsley and mint
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. pomegranate molasses
handful of baby spinach
¼ cup toasted pine nuts

Salmon fillets or 200g Fetta, crumbled
1tsp sumac mixed with 2 tsp lemon juice for salmon (this was enough for 2 fillets)

Method:

  1. Cut beetroot into similar size pieces and put into the solid steamer tray.
  2. Cook @ 100°C for 30-45 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.  Peel when cool.
  3. Add the quinoa to the steam oven while the beetroot is cooking.  Cook for 20 minutes. Remove from the steam oven.  Add the lemon rind.
  4. When cold, fluff up with a fork, add the chickpeas, herbs, baby spinach and pine nuts
  5. Mix all the other ingredients together for the dressing
  6. Add dressing, reserving a little for serving.
  7. Mix together the sumac with 2 tsp of lemon juice and a pinch of salt.  Spoon over the salmon fillets.
  8. Steam salmon for 3-5 min @ 95° depending on size of fillets or until done to your liking.

Plate with salmon or feta on top and spoon over a little reserved dressing.  Enjoy!

 

Posted in: Fish, Healthy eating, Main Courses, Salads, Steam Oven, Vegetarian

Steamed Fish Ratatouille

July 25, 2013 9:51 am / 2 Comments /

Steamed fish ratatoille

It’s winter so I want a warm, hearty but healthy fish recipe.  I am cutting back on my fat intake so instead of cooking this ratatouille in oil on the cooktop I am going to steam it in the steam oven.  I am going to cook it for a longer time than I usually cook vegetables so that the flavours mingle together.  I always dislike zucchini when they turn that horrible over-cooked green colour so I will add them at the end and then the fish will only take five minutes longer.  That way I should retain those beautiful, vibrant colours that make a classic dish like this even more appetising.

The dish is a ‘soupy’ recipe just like a mussel dish.  If you don’t want this then remove the vegetables and fish with a slotted spoon and serve over your rice.  You could always keep this warm and reduce the sauce if you wish but I prefer it soupy….

Ingredients:  Serves 4
1 red onion, sliced
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 red capsicum, seeded and diced
1 large eggplant, diced
2 medium zucchini, diced
2 strips lemon rind
125g swiss brown mushrooms, cut into chunks
400g tin chopped tomatoes
salt & pepper
600g white fish fillets, trimmed and cut into large pieces
Fresh dill or parsley to serve

Method:

  1. Put all the chopped vegetables, except for the zucchini in the large solid steamer tray.
  2. Add the tin of tomatoes, lemon rind, a little salt & pepper
  3. Place into the steam oven @ 100°C for 40 minutes
  4. IF you are adding steamed rice, add it after 20 minutes
  5. Remove carefully from the steam oven, add sliced zucchini and cook for 5 minutes
  6. Toss the fish pieces in a little sea salt
  7. Add fish to the top of the vegetables and cook @ 90°C for another 5 minutes
  8. Squeeze a little lemon juice over the fish pieces.

This quantity filled the large, edged solid steamer tray.  If you have Miele’s small steamer you will need to use two trays.

Serve with steamed rice or crusty bread to dip – so healthy it’s ridiculous, easy and delicious!

Posted in: Entrees, Fish, Main Courses, Steam Oven

Mussels Provencale

July 18, 2013 7:46 pm / Leave a Comment /

This is the first time I have cooked mussels in the steam oven.  I did have them cooked for me once in a steam oven, at a Smeg trade night a while ago.  We went there after work one night and they had set up the warehouse to resemble their factory in Italy.  It was a really entertaining evening and we learnt quite a lot.  We had to put on overalls and were given torches so we could ‘discover’ how their ovens are built.  We then had a great meal which they cooked in the warehouse too.  I remember that the mussels were lovely cooked in their steam oven.  Juicy, delicious and so easy to do.

Smeg has a massive 35 litre steam oven with the water container at the top, so it is wider inside than the models with the water container at the side.  Some other brands also have this feature.  This means you can cook larger quantities than I can in my steam oven.  You can also fit in a much wider dish which would definitely be a bonus.

Mussels provencale

I want a rich, well reduced sauce so I am going to cook that on the cooktop first.

Ingredients:

1kg mussels, soaked in cold water for at least 1/2 hour, cleaned with beard removed
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp tomato paste
1 small tin of crushed, good quality tomatoes
1/2 small fennel, sliced thinly
1/4 cup white wine
black pepper
a few nicoise or black olives
lots of chopped dill or parsley to serve

Method:

  1. Heat olive oil in a heavy based pan.
  2. Add the onion and garlic and sauté on a low heat until soft.  About 5 minutes
  3. Add tomato paste and wine and cook this for another 2 minutes
  4. Now mix in the tinned tomatoes and thinly sliced fennel
  5. Bring to boil, add pepper but no salt as the mussels will probably be salty enough.
  6. Simmer for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  It should be thick, the liquid from the mussels will thin it down.
  7. Now drain the mussels and place into the solid steam oven tray.
  8. Pour over the tomato sauce, add the olives and cook @ 85°C  for 6-8 minutes until all the mussels open.
  9. Sprinkle over fresh herbs, stir well and tip into large bowl.

Serve with lots of fresh crusty bread – delicious!

No extra salt was needed, it was perfect!

If you don’t have a steam oven then cook the sauce in a deep frying pan or wok with a lid.  When the sauce is ready, tip in the mussels, cover and simmer only until they have just opened.  Serve as above.

 

Posted in: Entrees, Fish, Main Courses, Steam Oven

Thai Fish Skewers

July 10, 2013 7:41 pm / 1 Comment /

I have an abundance of Kaffir Lime leaves so I need to do a few more recipes with them.  I did the Lindt chocolate the other day which was different, I just love the aroma and flavour they give to all sorts of things.  As you can see from clicking on the chocolate recipe it doesn’t just have to be Thai.

My partner Simon needs to lower his cholesterol so what a perfect appliance the Steam Oven is going to be to try to conquer this!  We are going to increase our intake of fish, cut back on the bad fats (which sadly means no Thai curries for a while) and eat lots of grains.  We already eat heaps of fruit and vegetables but I have to admit to cooking and eating too many puddings in this chilly weather….

Try to marinade for about 1/2 hour.  Don’t leave it too much longer than this because the lime juice will start to cook the fish.

Thai fish skewersIngredients:

600g firm white fish fillets
1 tablespoon of chopped coriander roots, leaves and stalks
1 teaspoon of grated ginger
1 finely chopped small chilli, seeds removed
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
1 tablespoon of low salt soy sauce
1 tablespoon of lime juice + a little of the rind grated finely
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoons of palm sugar, grated or 1 tsp brown sugar
Black pepper

Method:

Trim fish and cut into 2cm cubes
Place all the other ingredients into a bowl, add fish, cover and refrigerate 1/2 hour.
Thread a Kaffir lime leaf onto a skewer, followed by some fish until you have required number of skewers.

SAM_0114Pictured above is only 450g of fish

Steam @ 90°C for 5 minutes or until fish is cooked when tested.  5 minutes was perfect, it just melted in your mouth.
Serve with Steamed Jasmine rice (or Brown rice if your being good), a lime cheek to squeeze over and some steamed green vegetables.  The fish gives you some nice juices which are fairly salty because of the marinade so don’t salt the rice for this dish.

So healthy!

Recipe adapted from Miele

 

 

Posted in: Fish, Main Courses, Steam Oven, Thai

3 Minute Salmon & Udon Noodles

July 4, 2013 7:45 pm / Leave a Comment /

 

We all have those nights where we are home late, had a shocking day or been to a movie or function after work.  Those nights where we just want something quick and healthy to eat that’s not too heavy and won’t weigh us down, especially if we are eating late.

Apart from an omelette (which I still think is a great, quick dinner) this is the next best thing.  A steam oven will cook all this perfectly in about 5 minutes.  It will reach temperature in about 2 minutes, then in just another 3 minutes will cook everything gently with steam so it’s not going to dry out the food, over-cook it or transfer any flavours.  That’s all that’s required for juicy and moist fish that’s pink in the middle with soft, silky Udon noodles and crisp Asian vegetables.  It’s nights like this is when you realise just how fantastic a steam oven is and how lucky it was that you decided to buy one!

3 minute salmon & udon noodles

Ingredients:

2 small pieces of fresh Salmon fillet (like the size you see in the packet in a few good food stores)  Weight is 250-280g total.
2 small packets of Udon Noodles, 200g each.  Available in the Supermarket or Chinese shops.
1 tablespoon of Sweet Chilli Sauce
1 knob of Ginger, grated
Splash of Soy Sauce
Sliced Spring Onion or Coriander to serve
A handful or so of a few Chinese vegetables such as Bok Choy, Snow Peas, Sliced Red Capsicum or similar

Method:

  1. Grate ginger and mix with Sweet Chilli Sauce.
  2. Cut open the Udon Noodle packets and put into the Solid Steamer Tray – as is, no need to cook them or place them in boiling water, just splash a little tap water over to break them up.
  3. Put the Salmon fillets on the top, cover the fish with the sauce mixture.
  4. Arrange vegetables around the sides of the fish.  Splash a little Soy Sauce over everything.
  5. Cook in Steam Oven @ 100°C for exactly 3 minutes.  This time is for perfectly cooked, pink in the middle fish.  If your Salmon is larger or you prefer well done then you will need to increase the time.  Any longer will be too long for the vegetables so be aware of this.

Pile into a warm bowl and enjoy – you will be grateful you didn’t get that Take-Away!

Or try the Teriyaki version: 

Grate a small knob of ginger, 1 crushed clove of garlic, 2tbsp Teriyaki sauce & ¼ tsp sesame oil.

Spoon over the salmon and cook as above.  Also really nice served on brown rice that has been pre-cooked instead of the noodles.  I always cook 2 cups of brown rice at a time so I have plenty for quick meals and salads in a hurry.

Posted in: Fish, Main Courses, Steam Oven