Salt & Pepper Fish

If you go into any bistro style cafe or pub in Australia you’re bound to find Salt & Pepper Calamari (or otherwise known as Squid) on the menu. I had one lonely old piece of raw fish in the fridge and wanted to make it a bit interesting so decided to make Salt & Pepper Fish.

This really is a quick and delicious way to serve fish. One piece goes a long way, as you can see in the photos. Two large pieces of fish would definitely feed a family of four with ease or you could cut into long goujons and serve as canapes for a party. It’s salty and a little bit spicy but you can control just how much pepper you use.

First cut your fish into pieces.

Add flour, salt, cracked black pepper, garlic powder and paprika.

You can use a plastic ziplock bag to put all the flour in and toss the fish that way. There’s less mess but my fish was a little fragile so I decided to do it in a bowl. Just make sure the fish is completely coated with the spiced flour mixture.

Heat olive oil in a shallow pan over moderate heat and fry fish until golden and cooked through. Be careful not to have the oil too hot or the outside will burn and the fish won’t be cooked inside.

Drain on absorbent paper and keep warm in a low oven or serve immediately.

 

Cooking the fish this way is quick, the fish stays moist and the pepper gives it a real bite. You can of course do this with calamari (squid), chicken, prawns or just about any other kind of meat. Serve with traditional hot chips and a side salad if desired.

Recipe

• 1 fresh fish fillet (this served 2 adults)
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1 tbs cracked black pepper (more or less to taste)
• 1 tbs salt flakes
• 1 tbs garlic powder
• 1 tbs paprika
• olive oil for deep frying

1. Cut fish into smaller pieces.
2. In a bowl, combine flour, black pepper, salt flakes, garlic powder and paprika and mix well.
3. Add fish and toss well to coat.
4. Heat oil in a pan and over moderate heat, fry fish each side until golden brown and cooked through (approx 5 mins depending on the thickness of the fish).
5. Drain well on absorbent paper.
6. Keep warm in a low oven or serve immediately with a chips and a side salad or Asian style vegetables and noodles.

Herb fried pork steaks

Nothing gives me a bigger buzz than if someone compliments my cooking. Except when its one of my kids. My daughter (the fussy one) has complimented me on my baking or sweets (sometimes) but its my son who is the good eater and is always saying how much he likes my food. He doesn’t see food as a ‘currency’ to manipulate me or to avoid eating. He is just hungry and loves what I cook.

I had planned on cooking these pork fillet steaks Panko crumbed like a schnitzel but time was getting on and I remembered the Chicken Fried Steak that is so popular in the States. When I first heard of it when I was there I was thinking “is it chicken or is it steak?”. What is this “chicken fried steak” everyone speaks of? When I tried it, I couldn’t quite get my head around it nor the white ‘gravy’ but it was pretty good. To save me a bit of time, I decided not to crumb the pork this night but dip the steaks in beaten eggs flavoured with herbs and then dredged in flour, then repeat.

The result was a delicious, crunchy flavoursome pork steak which made my son say that if I was ever in a cooking competition again, I have to cook this. Can’t get better than that. And I’m dying to try this again with chicken (or is that beef)?

Herb Fried Pork Steaks

• pork fillet or leg steaks, flattened
• eggs, beaten
• selection of herbs (eg parsley, basil, sage, thyme, oregano or whatever else you have on hand)
• plain flour
• salt and pepper
• oil for frying

1. Add the finely chopped (or herbs in a tube) to the beaten eggs.
2. Add salt and pepper to flour.
3. Dust steak in flour and then dip in egg.
4. Dust in flour again.
5. Heat oil in pan for shallow frying to a medium heat. 
6. Fry steaks until golden on both sides. 
7. Drain on absorbent paper.
8. Serve with mashed potato and vegetables.