Haddock in Herb Crust

It's been some time since I last updated. Now that I am temporarely back in my parents' house, I don't have the opportunity to cook much. Unfortunately! But today I had the great task to cook for my dad, and he really liked it a lot. ;)
This is a very easy & fast recipe for many white fish, like codfish, haddock or whiting, but I guess you can even use salmon or other fish you like.
Now, on to the recipe (makes about 2 servings):


What you need:

*  400-500g haddock, whiting or any fish you want
* a handful of parsley
* 6 big leaves of fresh basil
* olive oil
* breadcrums
* tomatoes
* salt, pepper
* 1 tbsp ground parmesan

Wash the fish, then dab it off with kitchen paper. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Use a baking dish and grease it well with olive oil, then put the fish inside.
Wash and chop the parsley and the basil, then put it in a bowl with a handful of breadcrumbs, about 2-3 spoonfuls of olive oil and parmesan. Use a blender to get a paste. You can add more breadcrumbs or oil if needed. The important thing is that you receive a paste that's neither too dry, nor too wet.
Decorate the fish with the paste. Wash and dice the tomatoes and put them into the baking dish as well.
Preheat oven to 200°C and bake about 12-15 minutes.
The fish will be all juicy with a nice crust.
Enjoy!

~Vail~

White Fish In Filo Pastry

It's been a while since I last updated, which doesn't mean that I haven't been cooking lately, it either just means that the dishes I created were too boring to even take notice of or simply that I've been busy.

This recipe comes from a wonderful cooking book that I found in my mother's bookshelf and even though it needs a little preparation time (and patience), the result definitely is worth all the work.


You need:

* white fish (I used haddock)
* zucchini
* tomatoes
* filo pastry
* olive oil
* salt, pepper, oregano
* lemon juice

First, cut the fish filets in half, season with salt, pepper and oregano and fry them in a pan in a bit of olive oil. Cut the zucchini in thin slices and dice the tomatoes. Double the pastry layer and "glue" them together with a bit of olive oil. Place the fried fish in the middle, add some zucchini slices and tomatoes and wrap it up. Use more olive oil to make the edges stick together. Fry the fish packages in more olive oil but make sure the pan isn't too hot or else the pastry will burn. In a small bowl, mix olive oil, a tad of lemon juice, tomato dices, salt, pepper and oregano. Serve hot with rice and enjoy (:

~Vail~

Salad With Haddock And Apricot Mustard Dressing

Salad is boring. That's what, apparently, many people think, so they despise the green sumptuousness. Oh, but they are so wrong! Salad can be everything but boring; it's what you make out of it.

I've been craving fish and salad for a while now, so I thought "why not put both together?" And as you can see, it works perfectly fine. The biggest challenge was the dressing, though, my weakness, I admit. However, this dressing turned out to be the best I've ever tasted so far and that makes me proud, for sure. Now, on to the recipe.

What you need:

* 200g haddock
* 1 sour apple (Boskoop)
* 1 red pepper
* 200g saladmix
* 2 figs
* bread (optional)
* vegetable stock
* 3 tsp honey
* 2 tsp apricot jam
* 1 tbsp mustard
* 3 tbsp olive oil
* 2 tbsp balsamico vinegar
* salt, black pepper, paprika, oregan
* flour

Even though this is "only" a salad, the preparation needs some time, so I rather not consider it as a "quick meal". Allow some little extra time.

Start with the pepper. Cut it into slices, then heat a bit of olive oil in a frying pan and add the pepper slices. Season with salt, pepper and oregan. Leave them in the pan until they've soften a bit.
Make sure the fish isn't too wet, then season it with salt and pepper and coat with a little flour.
Peel and slice the apples. Heat a little bit of butter in a small pot, then put in the apples. Season with paprika. (This is optional; if you don't have paprika at home, don't bother to buy some) Make sure they don't get burned, then take the slices out and keep 'em warm.
Put in a little bit of water and vegetable stock and heat it. Add the honey, apricot jam, olive oil, balsamico vinegar and the mustard and stir with a whisk. Reduce heat. Season with pepper.
Fry the fish in a little oil until golden on each side.
In the meanwhile, place the washed salad onto a plate, add the pepper, apples and figs. Serve with the hot fish and the dressing and enjoy the not-so-boring salad.

EDIT: I forgot to add that this is enough for 2 people. If you're a hungry person and have it as a full meal like me, I suggest you eat it all x) Or if you serve it as a starter, take half of it for 1 person.

~Vail~

Haddock In A Breadcrumb Coat With Mustard Sauce

Today's recipe is an easy one and it is a dish that doesn't need much time.

Everyone knows and likes breaded fish with ketchup but why not make a few alterations?

To get started, it is not unimportant what fish you choose. As for me, I prefer using haddock, but you can choose any other white fish. It shouldn't have a taste that's too strong and it should be quite flat.

This time I chose zucchini and spaetzle as side dishes.

Against my decision, not to make this a recipe blog, I now decided to include the recipes nevertheless.

What you need:

* haddock
* 1 egg
* a little bit of flour
* breadcrumbs
* salt
* pepper
* vegetable stock
* mustard (I suggest you take Dijon mustard)
* cream (or the low-fat substitute)
* crème frâiche
* 1 zucchini
* spaetzle
* olive oil, rapeseed oil or sunflower oil, butter

Make sure the fish isn't too wet, cut it in half, season it with salt and pepper and coat it with a little flour. Make sure to season it well or it will have only a faint taste (but don't overdo it). Dip it into the whisked egg and into the breadcrumbs. (You can do it twice to have a thicker breadcrumb coat)

Heat rapeseed or sunflower oil in a pan.

In the meanwhile, cut the zucchini into thin slices and heat another pan with a bit of olive oil.
Put the fish into the first pan and let it fry well on both sides. Be careful that the pan isn't too hot or your breadcrumbs will be burned while the fish is still raw! Keep it warm.

Fry the zucchini slices in the olive oil.
In another pan, heat some butter and just a little oil, then fry the spaetzle until they're slightly brown.

For the sauce, heat 1/2 cup of water and add 1/2 teaspoon of vegetable stock. Reduce the heat after a short while and add 2-3 table spoons of cream and 1/2 tablespoon of mustard. Season with pepper and add 1-1+1/2 table spoons of crème frâiche.

(Please note that the amount of ingredients I used is for 1 person only.)

Enjoy :)

~Vail~