Jan 27, 2013

Fish Cake

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fish cake

My mother insisted on feeding us fish once a week when I was little, but my brother didn’t eat fish in any form. Frustrated after trying so many recipes and failing to get him to eat fish, my mother asked our neighbor, one of her best friends, who gave her this recipe to try. My little brother looked at them and decided they looked yummy, and had a few not knowing  that he was eating fish!

My daughter had the same problem with her baby boy, so I followed mother’s trick and made this fish cake and guess what? It worked like a charm; there’s nothing like your parents wisdom sometimes. If you have the same problem, try out this recipe and let me know if it worked out for you too.

Ingredients:

  • 500 grams fillet fish ( I used hammour/grouper; use what you prefer)
  • 2 medium size, boiled potatoes
  • 1 medium size onion, finely chopped
  • 1 red capsicum, finely diced
  • 2 leaves fennel, chopped
  • zest of one lemon
  • 2 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 1 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • one cup canola oil for frying

Preparation:

  • Preheat the oven to 180 C
  • Place the fish in a tray with a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper until cooked
  • In the meantime heat the olive oil in a saucepan and fry the onion until slightly colored
  • Mash the potatoes, mix with fennel, capsicum, onion
  • When the fish is grilled, chop it in small pieces and add it to the potato mixture, season with salt and pepper and add the lemon zest
  • Place the beaten eggs in a plate, and the breadcrumbs in another one
  • Make small balls from the fish mixture and flatten it with your hand, dip it in the eggs and then roll it in the breadcrumbs, until all the quantities are finished
  • Heat the canola oil and fry the fish caked until golden for few minutes, then turn them on the other side too

ET VOILA… C’EST TOUT! BON APPETIT 🙂

Filed Under: Lebanese food, Main dish · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,
Apr 6, 2012

Siyadieh

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It’s Good Friday today and in many parts of the world, it’s a meat-free day. Most people in the Levant Area will prepare something that includes fish. Today, I prepared a very popular dish with fish and rice called Siyadieh. It is an eastern meal, but each country has it’s own way of preparing it. Even in Lebanon each area has it’s own way of cooking it. this is the way I make it.

Ingredients:

  • 1000 grams of hamour fish fillet (or any other white fillet) cut into medium sized pieces, and the head of the fish
  • 4 onions
  • 2 cups of rice
  • 2 tablespoon of cumin
  • 2 tablespoon of salt, 2 teaspoon seven spices
  • 1 teaspoon of turmeric
  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • frying oil
  • handful of pine seeds, handful of boiled and peeled almonds
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • 4 tablespoons flour+1/2 cup to coat the fish fillet

Preparation:

  • Cut the onions in thin slices
  • Heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a pot, fry the head of the fish and remove it
  • Fry half of the cut onions in the same oil of the fish until dark brown color,cover with 1/2 cup of water cover the pot and let it simmer until the water evaporates and the onion get caramelized, remove half of the onions and put aside. We will use it for decoration of the plate
  • Put the head of the fish back, add about 6 cups of water, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon seven spices, 1 tablespoon cumin, let it boil, then let it simmer for about 20 minutes on a low heat, then drain it. We will use this water as a fish stock to cook the rice
  • In another pot, heat the remaining vegetable oil and fry the remaining onion until brown, then cover with 1/2 cup of water and caramelize it
  • Wash the rice, add it to the fried onion, cover it with 4 cups of the fish stock, add salt, seven spices, cumin and 1 teaspoon of turmeric, cover and let it cook on very low heat until done
  • To make the sauce of this meal, we will use the remaining water of the stock fish, put it on fire
  • Dissolve the flour with 1 cup of water and add it to the fish stock, stirring with a whisk until it gets thick
  • Rub the fish fillet with a bit of salt and seven spices, coat it with flour and fry it until nice light brown color
  • In a small saucepan melt the butter and fry the pine seeds, then the almonds, place them on a kitchen towel to absorb the excess of butter
  • To serve, place the rice on a plate, cover with the fried fish fillet, place over the fried onion and the pine seeds and the almonds. Place the sauce in a bowl, and just pour some over the rice when you’re about to eat.

ET VOILA..C’EST TOUT..BON APPETIT.

Filed Under: Lebanese food, Lent, Main dish, Uncategorized · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,