Fish really is “brain food!”  Studies have found that two omega-3 fats, EPA and DHA are important for brain development.  In addition, they are important for keeping your eyes sharp.  Several researchers believe that eyes deteriorate with age due to a lack of omega-3 fats in the diet.    Omega-3 also helps your blood fight against heart and artery disease.  Fat tissue can store omega-3 only if you take in more than your body needs. Omega-3 fats reduce the size and number of colon tumors.

     The trick in locating really fresh fish takes just a few sniffs.  If the fish has no smell, then it is fresh.  A small market’s butcher can probably tell you which fish is fresh.  Wash the fish quickly just before cooking and dry it immediately so moisture doesn’t wash the flavorful juices and vitamins away.  Fish cooks faster than meat due to its low fat content.  Overcooking fish will probably ruin it.

Fillet of Sole

6 fillets of sole

dry bread crumbs

1/2 cup creamed spinach

dry bread crumbs

butter or margarine

Poach fillets in 1-1/2 cup water.  Bring almost to a simmer and maintain for 8-12 minutes.  Arrange the poached, drained fillets over creamed spinach.  Cover with a white sauce, sprinkle with bread crumbs, dot with butter and put under broiler to heat through. 

White Sauce for Fillet of Sole

2 tablespoons corn germ oil

1 tablespoon wholewheat flour

2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Mix flour with hot oil, add water, salt, and yolk.  Stir briskly over a low flame.  Remove just before boiling point, and add lemon juice.

Ingredients:

4 fish fillets

1 fresh lemon

A dash of salt

Enough pepper to season to taste

1 tbsp of butter

Cooking oil spray(with 0 calories)

First you will need to preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Next you will place the fish fillets onto a plate.  Cut the lemon in half, and squeeze one half of the lemon over the fillets.  Then you will season the fillets with a dash of salt and pepper to taste, remember to season both sides.  Make sure that you squeeze the lemon over the fillets before adding the seasonings because the lemon juice will remove the seasonings if this step is reversed.  Pour your cornmeal onto a another plate and very gently coat the fish by turning the fillets over.  Do not press the fillets firmly into the cornmeal.  If you do you’ll be adding unnecessary calories, and your fish will turn out with a heavy taste instead of the light and crispy taste that we’re going for.  Next, spray your pan with the nonstick cooking spray.  Place the fish onto the pan and squeeze the top of the fillets with the remaining half of the lemon.  Then you will lightly spray the top of your fish with the cooking oil.  After that you will cut the butter into 4 very thin pieces and place the pieces onto each fish.  Then sprinkle again with pepper.  Allow the fish to cook for about 25 minutes.  If you want your fillets extra crispy, put your oven broiler on high for the last 2 minutes of cooking or until you have the golden brown appearance that suits your taste.

The ingredients are:

¼ kg of squids, cleaned

1 lemon, cut into pieces, takes the juice, pour on to the cleaned squids

6 chilies, finely chopped

3 onions, finely chopped

2 pieces of garlic, finely chopped

1 tomato, finely chopped

1 teaspoon of salt

½ teaspoon of sugar

1 spoonful of cooking oil

The steps in cooking sweet and sour squids are:

1.       Pour the cooking oil in the pan.

2.       Pour chopped chilies, chopped onion, and chopped garlic in the pan.

3.       Pour salt in the pan.

4.       Pour the squids in the pan.

5.       Stir well.

6.       Add sugar to five tasty flavors.

7.       Cook for some minutes.

8.       Sweet and sour squids are ready to be served.

One of the yummiest things that i loved to eat at ASAMA a Thai restaurant that i used to work after my SPM exams is prawn cakes. Basically prawn cakes are prawn nuggets that has a tingly seafood taste. It is great for parties and book club meetings. Prawn cakes best served with ketchup or clear Tamarind sauce which they usually keep on high shelf in the restaurant (off limits to customers hehehe)

You’ll Need

 - Minced chicken meat

 - Prawns (around 500, shelled )

 - Aji-No-Moto (that’s what we Malaysians call it) in other words Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

 - Breadcrumbs

 - flour

 - some herbs for flavouring

Getting Started.

Collect the minced chicken meat and put it in a large mixing bowl, place a handful of prawns on a chopping block and mince them into small pieces, here’s an extra trick, you can also slap them with the flat side of your cleaver to further mush it into a paste. Mix your ‘mushed’ shrimp with the minced chicken until they are evenly mixed. Now you can add some herbs or spices in the mixture according to your own taste, you can add ground chili or some lime leaves or even bits of Garlic chives (the green part only). Time for the ” Aji-No-Moto”. Flatten your mixture and sprinkle the flaky sugar like substance before kneading it with both hands for even distribution of the MSG in your prawn cake. collect the paste in your hands, roll it into a little ball, ping-pong would do and flatten it into a disc (as shown in the illustration above). if your disc is too thick you can make a hole in it in the center like a doughnut or else the middle part wont cook thoroughly. The final stage before frying requires you to drop the disc in a plate full of breadcrumbs (you can buy a packet of it at the supermarket) once its evenly coated with the breadcrumbs, deep fry it to a crispy golden complexion.

Your Prawn Cake is now served.. you can dip it with ketchup, mayonnaise or even eat it with bread/rice.

Note: i learnt this recipe through observation as a waiter in the restaurant, my method may be accurate but it varies from other sources (http://www.wikihow.com/Cook-Prawn-Cake)

Feel free to try it and leave your comments below. Happy cooking !

2 Tablespoons peanut oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 onion, finely chopped

2 shallots, finely chopped

1 clove garlic finely chopped

1 cup peeled chopped fresh tomatoes

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1 bat leaf broken in half

1 cup dry white wine

2 Tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

juice of one lemon

A. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

B. Wipe the fish with a damp cloth

C. Rub the bottom of a metal baking dish with oil and arrange the fillets in it. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Scatter the onion, shallots, and garlic over the fish and cover with the tomatoes, Add the thyme , bay leaf and white wine. Add more salt and pepper to taste and bring the dish to a boil on the top of the stove. Place in the oven and bake 30 minutes.

D. Carefully transfer the fish to a serving dish and let cool. Pour the sauce into a saucepan and cook over high heat until the sauce is quite thick and almost completely reduced. Let cool. Spoon the sauce over the fish and let stand until ready to serve *a half hour or so* serve sprinkled with parsley and lemon juice.

www.valdosta.com

Cooking spray

6 oz Jerk-seasoned marinade

New Orleans seafood seasoning (to taste)

Lemon pepper (to taste)

Garlic powder (to taste)

Parsley flakes (for garnish)

From frozen state, wash fillets in cool water.  Preheat oven to 450 d. F.  Completely line a 13X9 pan with heavy duty foil.  Saturate with cooking spray.  Mix together jerk-seasoned marinade, seafood seasoning, lemon pepper, and garlic powder until well-blended.  Place 2 lbs fillets in pan, skin side up.  Baste with half the marinade/spice mixture.  Sprinkle with parsley flakes.  Lightly cover with foil, leaving enough air to vent. 

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until done, whichever occurs first.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Repeat basting, sprinkling, baking procedure for remaining fillets. 

Serving suggestion:  For a scrumptious meal, try serving with your favorite leafy vegetable, pasta and cornbread patties.

1/2 cup margarine or utter melted

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

2 teaspoons lemon juice

3 pounds fresh salmon steaks 3/4 inch thick

Mix all ingredients except salon steaks. Brush grill lightly with vegetable oil. Grill salmon 4 inches from medium coal r-9 minutes on each side, brushing frequently with margarine mixture, until fish flakes easily with fork. Garnish with lemon wedges.

www.squeakygourmet.com

The Greeks use both the fruit and the leaves of their large grape crop. A portion of the fruit is used to make wine which is the common beverage at meals for Greeks from poor to rich. The tender grape leaves, stuffed with ground meat or other stuffings, make a delectable main dish.

Another indispensable ingredient in the Greek cuisine is lemon. Lemon halves or wedges or lemon juice are used as a matter of fact when cooking meats, fish, vegetables, and poultry. A lemon half impaled on a fork is used as a basting brush for roasted and broiled foods, and lemon wedges are always on the table at mealtime to be squeezed over foods at will.

Besides lemons, Greek cooks use herbs generously. Garlic and oregano are used in lamb dishes, thyme or oregano with fish, dill with eggplant and in spinach pie, marjoram and thyme with a bay leaf in tomato sauce. Baked fish, stuffed grape leaves, and rice stuffing for poultry are all, by Greek standards, improved with mint.

Lamb is the most popular meat of Greece. Traditionally at Easter, the Greeks roast a whole lamb over an open fire pit. Other favorite ways of serving lamb include stuffed, in casseroles, and in stews. Ground lamb and herbs are often mixed and used as a stuffing for grape leaves.

The Greeks are extremely fond of sauces. The most famous Greek sauce is an egg lemon sauce called avgolemono sauce. This all purpose sauce is used over meat, fish, vegetables, and in soups. Other basic Greek sauces include a tomato sauce and a very strong garlic sauce that is relished by garlic lovers but served only in the presence of understanding friends.

The Greeks love vegetables of all types. In fact, mixtures of vegetables layered in a baking dish then topped with crumbs are often used as a main dish with cheese and a salad. Tomatoes and green peppers are stuffed with a rice and meat mixture for baking. Artichoke hearts soaked in lemon water may be baked with onions and a lemon oil sauce, or crumbed and deep fat fried. Vegetable salads are another important part of this cuisine. Tossed salads often include wild chicory or dandelion greens as well as the standard lettuce, romaine, and tomatoes.

Eggplant is probably the most popular vegetable in Greece. It is served fried, stewed, and stuffed. Eggplant slices are also used in several moussakas with ground lamb or beef, white sauce, and cheese. On other occasions, eggplant halves are stuffed with a meat and cheese mixture, then topped with avgolemono sauce.

The Greeks are known for their rich sweet breads and pastries. Most of these mouth watering delicacies are too rich to eat as dessert, so they are reserved for visitors and special occasions. In fact, most holidays are celebrated with a bread or pastry.

Although Greece has a cuisine dating from antiquity, Americans have not been aware of many Greek specialties until quite recently. Now, increased tourism to this land of the Spartans and Athenians has sparked an interest in Greek cooking. Since most Greek dishes use ingredients readily available in the United States, Americans can enjoy this cuisine, too.

8 medium potato’s boiled with skins on.

4 hard boiled eggs.

3 chopped celery stalks.

3 finely chopped green onions.

3 radishes grated.

1 small cucumber sliced thin

1/4 to 1/2 cup of kraft miracle whip ( mayonaise can be used)

salt and pepper to taste

paprika

When the potato’s and eggs are cool,

peel by hand cut potato’s in cubes or quarters.

slice peeled hard boiled eggs, ( a egg slicer is best)

put potato’s and miracle whip in the dish,

add the cut up vegetables and most of the eggs.

mix until the dressing covers most of the salad,

smooth the top down with a spoon,

place the remaining eggs on top.

sprinkle with paprika.

keep in refrigerator or cooler until served.