Merluzzo al Forno

I never knew what this fish was called in English until I had to find a translation for this post. Hake or whiting, thats what I found on the world wide web. Not sure if that helps, but if you go to any fish monger, they will know what it is for sure.

Merluzzo is sooo good! It's a nice flakey, mild tasting fish. I'm not going to lie here, I buy it from my fish monger already clean and frozen. I hate cleaning fish. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever cleaned fish, except shrimp. That's easy.

So anyway, I took out the fish fillets a couple of hours before I wanted to cook them. They don't need that long to defrost.

Preheat oven to 375F.
Brush a baking dish with some olive oil.
Place the fillets in the pan and season with salt and pepper.
Add a sliced garlic clove.
Sprinkle with herbes de provence.
Dust with some ground almonds.
Add a splash of dry vermouth.
Top with a few cherry tomatoes.
Drizzle with a little more olive oil.
Bake for 15 minutes.

This was really tasty! You must try it.

m xo

Steamed Mussels

I was watching my local morning show, Breakfast Television, this morning and their live eye, Jennifer Valentyne was at our local fish market, giving away mussels. I couldn't resist free mussels…so I called my sister Sandra. She lives just down the street from the market and could pick them up and drop them off to me on the way to work.
I don't cook fish and seafood as often as I would like because John is not a fan but I forgot how much I love mussels. They are so easy and quick to make. The only thing missing tonight was a loaf of crusty bread, to sop up all the flavourful liquor the mussels give off.

I'm definitely making these for Good Friday again.

 Steamed Mussels with Vermouth 

2 lbs. mussels, scrubbed, beards removed and rinsed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon ghee or butter
1 leek, white part only, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/3 cup dry vermouth
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

Heat a pot, big enough to hold the mussels and with a tight fitting lid over medium-high heat. Add the leeks and sauté until soft. Add the garlic and sauté a few more minutes. Pour in the vermouth and bring to a boil. Drop in the mussels in and cover with a lid. They should take about 7 minutes to cook. They are ready when the mussels open. Discard the ones that don't open. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve hot with crusty bread, if you have.

Tuna Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

I need rehab...from Costco! I'm there practically every other day. I can't help myself. I don't even know if I'm saving money. Probably not but I know I'll never run out of toilet paper...and tuna steaks! Hence this recipe. It's adapted from a recipe of Jamie Oliver's that I came across awhile ago. The only thing I would do different with this recipe is maybe soak the breadcrumbs in milk to give them a little moisture. I served these with steamed broccoli but of course they would be really good with any pasta.

Tomato Sauce

olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 small red chili or chili flakes
crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper

For tomato sauce, saute onion, garlic and chili's in olive oil until soft. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.

Tuna Meatballs

15oz fresh tuna steaks
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs
zest of a lemon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
handful parsley, chopped

In the meantime, make the tuna meatballs. Chop tuna steaks into half inch cubes. Combine with the rest of the ingredients and let the mixture sit for half an hour. Form into 2 inch balls. Heat a little olive oil in a skillet and brown the meatballs. This might have to be done in batches because you don't want to crowd the pan.  Place the tuna meatballs in the tomato sauce, simmer for 10 minutes and serve.

m xo