My idea of weekend cooking is cooking the freshest seafood I can find early in the morning at my town’s seafood market. I’m mostly a healthy eater, but when that craving for something fried and greasy strikes, I go for beer-battered fish.
Cream Dory is the best fish for me to deep-fry. Just a brush of lemon juice and a sprinkle of salt and pepper is enough to make this fish taste good. Using a beer batter would definitely make it taste even better. For the beer batter, you’ll need: 1 ¼ cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, 1 egg, 1 egg white, 1 ¼ cups beer (I use Heineken) and flour for dusting fish. For the sauce, I recommend Caper-Dill Sauce since it compliment any fried seafood and even makes for a great dip for vegetables. So, for the Caper-Dill sauce, you will need: ½ cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon pickle relish, 4 teaspoons chopped fresh dill, 1 tablespoon chopped capers, 1 ¼ teaspoons lemon juice, 1 tablespoon cream, salt and pepper to taste.
On Sundays, my folks bring home the freshest seafood from the market. I like to make this hearty soup from the day’s catch. It’s great with bread. You will need: 1 cubed fish fillet, 250grams shrimp (peeled; reserve heads for stock),4 medium squid (peeled and sliced into rings), ¼ cup butter, 2 tablespoons oil, 3 tablespoons chopped garlic, 1 medium onion (chopped), ½ cup flour, 2 cups milk, ¾ cup heavy cream and salt and pepper for seasoning.
For the stock, you will need: 4 cups water, 1 cup white wine, 1 medium onion (diced), half a carrot (cut in small cubes), and 1 bunch leeks (sliced). First you should make the stock by combining water, white wine, onions, carrots, leeks, and shrimp heads in a saucepot and bring it to a boil. Then after the stock is made, you should blanch fish, shrimp, and squid in the stock then set aside. Simmer stock until carrots soften, about 15 to 20 minutes, then pass through a strainer. Discard shrimp heads and vegetables. Heat the butter and oil in a saucepot. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent. Add the flour to make a roux and cook for 5 minutes. Whisk in milk and seafood stock and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the blanched sea foods then stir in cream. Serve hot.
Since weekend is usually spent with family, these recipes would surely attract your kid’s attention. You can also include sliced veggies with beer-battered fish since Caper-Dill sauce would also taste good with it.
