Sicilian Inspired Seafood Couscous

The Recipe

Serves: 4 people
Preparation: 30 minutes
Baking Time: 1hr 30 minutes

This is a unique and flavourful dish that originates from the Sicilian city of Trapani in Italy. This dish is a fusion of Italian, North African, and Arab culinary traditions, reflecting the cultural influences that have shaped the region's history.

I have journeyed back to Sicily again to create this wonderfully full-flavoured seafood dish using all local seafood and vegetables. Trapani is known for their seafood couscous dishes and this is a little variation of it. The leftover broth can be added when serving this dish or you can simply freeze it and save it for another day. It is a fabulous communal dish that should be shared with friends and a delicious bottle of wine.

INGREDIENTS

PESTO
150 ml extra virgin olive oil
10g flat-leaf parsley leaves
60g almonds
1 tsp salt
10g/2-3 cloves garlic

FISH STOCK BROTH
4tblsp good olive oil
120g/1 small onion, roughly chopped
80g/1 stick celery, roughly chopped
100g/1 small carrot, roughly chopped
2-4 stalks of parsley (reserve the leaves
2tsp salt
2 bay leaves
250mls passata
1 tsp chilli flakes
100mls white wine
1L water
Seabass head and bones
Half of the prawn heads and shells

COUSCOUS
200g couscous
300g fish stock broth
¼ tsp cinnamon powder

SEAFOOD
400g seabass, whole
400g prawns
250g clams
Chopped parsley leaves

METHOD

Blend all ingredients and season to taste. I like to keep the pesto a little bit chunky but you can blend until smooth if your heart desires. Set aside

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan

Cook onions until soft, add in parsley stalks, chopped celery, carrot, fish scraps and prawn shells
Add in bay leaves, salt, white wine, passata, chilli flakes and water
Bring this mixture to the boil and then allow it to simmer for a good 45mins – 1 hour, covered. Halfway through the simmer, add half of the pesto. When the broth is done, check and taste for seasoning. Add a little cracked pepper.
Finely strain the stock and keep warm

Mix the cinnamon powder through the couscous. Add it to the warm stock and cover for 8-10 minutes then fluff up nicely with a fork

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium fry pan
Add in clams, fish and prawns with a dash of white wine, chopped parsley leaves and 150 ml of the stock. Toss and cover and allow to steam until clams have opened and the fish is cooked through.

TO SERVE
Mix fish, shelled prawns and clams through the couscous and spoon onto a large serving plate.
Top the couscous off with the whole cooked prawns and the remaining pesto.

Rocket & Macadamia Pesto Seabass

The Recipe

Serves: 5 people
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 Minutes

Pesto actually comes form the Genoese word "pestare" meaning to pound or crush. The original pesto that we know, made from pine nuts, garlic, basil, parmigiano reggiano and pecorino sardo (sheeps milk cheese) came from Genoa

So I had a little bit of rocket leftover from a shoot I did the other week...

I love a good rocket salad but I just wasn’t feeling in a salady mood so I decided to make a rocket type of pesto paste thing.

Pesto actually comes form the Genoese word "pestare" meaning to pound or crush. The original pesto that we know, made from pine nuts, garlic, basil, parmigiano reggiano and pecorino sardo (sheeps milk cheese) came from Genoa. Apparantly this tremendous Ligurian concoction was developed around the 16th Century.

The Romans once made a paste called 'moretom' which was a mixture of crushed cheese, garlic and herbs. In Provence, the French do their own version called "Pistou" (sounds so posh!) which is made from olive oil, garlic and basil.

On the basis that pesto does not necessarily have to have basil, I can safey say this is my little rendition of pesto that goes with a meaty white fish and a crunchy light salad.

INGREDIENTS

Pesto
60g rocket
15 g flat leaf parsley leaves
4g garlic
100g good olive oil
6g or 3/4 tsp lemon juice
40g toasted macadamias
2g or 1/2 tsp salt
2g or 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Salad
250g red radishes (two generous handfuls)
250g Japanese cucumbers (2-3 pieces)
250g yellow capsicum (1-2 pieces)
10g dill (small handful), chopped finely.
10g mint (small handful), chopped finely.
zest of 1 orange

Dressing
Juice of 1 orange
pinch of sugar
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
15g/ 1-2tsp good balsamic vinegar
6g/1tsp lemon juice

Fish
About 900g of meaty white fish, skin on, divided into 5 prtions.
I used palla but seabass would also work quite well

Garnish
About 20g extra roasted macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

METHOD

Pesto
Combine rocket, parsley, garlic, nuts, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a blender.
Slowly add in the olive oil and blitz until a nice smooth paste. Add extra salt to taste if you wish!

Salad
Using a mandolin or if you have the patience, a nice sharp knife, slice the radishes and cucumbers in discs about 2mm thick
De seed and slice out pith (white bits) of the capsicum and slice into ribbons about 3mm thick.
Throw the rest of the salad ingredients into a bowl and mix until colours are dispersed evenly

Dressing
For the dressing, mix salt and vinegar together until salt has dissolved slightly, add other ingredients and set aside.

Fish
Preheat oven to 160' Celsius. Lightly season the fish on both sides. Heat oil in a saucepan and carefully place the fish, skin side down, cook until the skin is crispy. Remove from pan and place on a lined baking tray, meat side down.
Scoop 2 generous tablespoons of pesto onto the skin of the fish and smooth out, covering the whole topside.
Bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes until the fish is cooked through. You can test if the fish is cooked by inserting a thermometer or metal skewer into the thickest part and see if it is hot. Depending on your oven, you may need to bake the fish for a little longer.

Plating
When the fish is cooked, take it out of the oven and allow it to rest slightly, pour the dressing over the salad and mix through. Arrange salad and fish on a plate (however you want) and top the fish with roughly chopped macadamia nuts.

Dig in and enjoy!!!

Gumbo. The Ultimate Comfort Food.

The Recipe

Serves: 4 people
Preparation: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 2.5 hours

The first gumbo was documented in 1803 and in The Creole Cookery Book (1885), New Orleans gumbo is simply described as “made from scraps of meat or fowl, a few oysters, crabs or shrimp with a couple of spoonfuls of well-cooked rice.

A lifetime ago while travelling through the USA, I was amazed by the extreme diversity the country had and it was as though each state I visited was a country within a country. My naïve belly and mind travelled through South and North Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Texas and Louisiana. The city that really took my breath away for mostly good reasons was New Orleans and it is not until recently, when learning more about Southern food, just how wonderful and diverse the city’s cuisine was, is and has become. From a stew of jambalaya, a muffuletta stuffed with Italian meats and cheeses to oysters Rockefeller or the vast array of shellfish – in particular, crawfish, New Orleans is a wonderful mixture of tradition, culture and innovation.

When was Gumbo Invented?

The first gumbo was documented in 1803 and in The Creole Cookery Book (1885), New Orleans gumbo is simply described as “made from scraps of meat or fowl, a few oysters, crabs or shrimp with a couple of spoonfuls of well-cooked rice”.

Who exactly invented Gumbo is and will forever be unknown. With the inclusion of meat such as pork there is a Spanish influence, the use of roux to encourage the brown colour of a good gumbo could be from the French, the use of okra from Africans and the inclusion of file (“fee-lay”), sassafras leaf powder is undeniably Native American.

Gumbo can be thickened with okra or file, but never both and roux can also be included. It consists of a hearty beef or chicken stock, tomatoes may or may not be added and it will most definitely always contain garlic and onions.

Through my research of history and recipes of gumbo – not one is the same and who is to say what style (Creole or Cajun) is the original or most traditional. However, what is apparent, is that this hearty stew tells a thousand tales of history and the people who came to live in Southern Louisiana. I hope you enjoy my little version of gumbo and eat it by the bowlful.

INGREDIENTS

70g bacon drippings OR unsalted butter
50g plain flour
80g/1 medium green capsicum
80g/2 celery sticks
100g/1 small white onion
120g okra, topped and tailed
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
200g Andouille sausage*
300g uncooked medium prawns (shelled and deveined)
2L good quality chicken stock
1 can chopped tomatoes (425g)
2tblsp Worcestershire sauce
3 old bay leaves
3tsp paprika
½ tsp smoked paprika
1-2 tsp cracked black pepper
1tsp dried thyme
1-2tsp cayenne pepper (more if you like it extra spicy)
Sea salt to taste
5-10g Flat leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
Spring onions, finely chopped
*you can also use Mexican chorizo, Polish kielbasa or German smoked sausages. Anything to impart a smokier flavour

METHOD

1. Roughly chop celery, onion, and green capsicum.

2. Cut okra into 1cm rounds

3. Cut the sausage into 5mm rounds and fry until brown and crispy on both sides. Take out the sausage and cook the okra for about 1 minute in the same pan. Set aside.

4. Place flour and butter or baking drippings in a heavy crockpot on low heat. Whisk constantly until the roux is a dark cinnamon colour (this will take about 15 minutes)

5. On low heat still, add in the onion, celery, and green capsicum to the roux until the vegetables have softened. Lastly, add garlic.

6. Add in half the chicken stock slowly while constantly mixing. Throw in bay leaves, spices, Worcestershire sauce and tomatoes. Pour in the rest of the chicken stock and allow the gumbo to simmer for 1hour.

7. Add in the okra and cook for a further 30 minutes.

8. Add the cooked sausage and simmer for 40 minutes

9. When the stew has nicely thickened (thick honey consistency), lastly toss through the prawns until cooked. Turn off the heat and add chopped parsley.

10. Serve with fluffy white rice with spring onions tossed through it