BIG fish and a few garden notes

The one that didn't get away...!

Hubby caught his biggest fish ever, 18lbs (8kgs)!

We had lovely fresh snapper for dinner with homemade chips, and we now have some more delicious fish in the freezer.

It was nearly 2 1/2 ft (75cm)long!

Weighing in

75cm from tip to tail

The biggie compared with a normal sized catch

Other things that have been happening are, getting the garden planned - garlic going in soon. Have just harvested the last of the Topepo Rosso capsicums:

We had some BBQ'd tonight along with some pork chops and homemade kumara fries.

Other garden notes:

I still have some chillies on my Thai chilli plant, although they are taking a while to ripen.

I will be planting my garlic soon, have it in the fridge at present.

I also have some tulips in the fridge, must plant those in my flower garden - I am planting out a bank with all sorts of flowering plants, will take a photo once it's done.

Coriander is coming up everywhere!

Weeds are coming up everywhere too!

G has dug up more potatoes, Rua and the Maori potato Urenika.

We've eaten the last of the raspberries but I squirrelled some away in the freezer.

Broccoli and cauliflowers are growing well.

Carrots are coming along albeit slowly!

Scallops!

G went out on the boat yesterday and came back with these:

We had them simply sauteed in a little butter as a starter for our meal last night, yum!

All things citrusy..

..but mainly marmalade, marmalade, and more marmalade!

Over the last few weeks I've been preserving a large amount of citrus fruit. Further to our last citrus bonanza, we were given a big quantity of Meyer lemons (thanks L!). I made a double batch of my favourite lemon honey recipe but still had plenty left to use up before their 'best by' date. Some time ago I made a lemon pickle that we enjoyed, but I can't remember which recipe I used or where I found it..doh. I hate that!

Anyway, I have made several large batches of marmalade, which apart from a boiling-over incident on the stove....has been a very successful enterprise. I've now got several dozen jars of perfectly set (for once!) marmalade gracing my shelves. I first made a 4 fruit mix -  oranges, lemons, limes and lemonades - which was tart and zingy.

The rest is orange and lemon, with a stronger orange flavour. The lemons were mainly added for their setting power (although they were Meyer so not as sharp as Lisbon or other pure lemons).

And since purchasing my new candy thermometer, I've been getting a good set with all my preserves.

I also still have a few limes left in the fridge. Earlier in the week I made a Thai Jungle fish curry (no photos though sorry as the camera got misplaced for a few days!). But you can find the recipe here. It was definitely one of the better Thai curries I've made. I also added some grated galangal since I have lots!

Will keep you posted on the hunt for the lemon pickle recipe!

Fish!

G went out on our boat fishing today with a friend and came home with a good catch. Here are all our snapper fillets (about 3kgs). We ate some for dinner, gave some away and froze the rest. Delicious!

Fish fish the family dish

so the saying goes..

G came home after a day and a bit on a boat with a very good haul. This biggy Dylan's holding weighed in at 2kgs!

We gave a lot away, froze some, ate some - fillets simply fried (dipped in milk and flour first) on the BBQ; and a friend smoked some for us - delicious!

Lucky us, there's some good fishing to be had here in the Kaipara.

Cochin coconut fish curry

I saw this recipe on a DVD called Planet Food - A Taste of South India. I used a Kahawai fillet from the freezer.

Cube fish, put in a dish to marinate in lime or lemon juice, a little sea salt and about 1 Tbpsn turmeric. Leave for 30mins.

Slice x1 large red onion
Crush 5 or 6 cloves garlic
2 green chillies sliced length ways - I used red chillies chopped as was all I had on hand.
A small amount of ginger sliced into tiny sticks

Fry chilli, garlic, ginger and onion in a pan with some oil.
I used about 1/2 tsp curry powder but the recipe called for curry leaves.
Add 1/2 tsp turmeric, coconut cream (just the watery liquid to start). Add fish, some salt, reduce heat, cover and cook for 7 mins.
Add thicker liquid of coconut cream, some tomatoes (I used halved cherry), cook for a couple of mins longer.
Serve with rice. I added saffron threads with mine at the start of cooking, then some butter stirred in at the end.

The verdict: very nice. Perhaps I'll try a different species of fish next time, as the kahawai was fairly 'meaty' rather than melting in the mouth. Also probably much better with fresh fish rather than previously frozen.

Fish pie with kumara and pineapple

I made a kumara and smoked fish pie from the recipe posted here on Goings on at the Mad Bush Farm. I didn't have a tin of pineapple rings in the pantry, but I had crushed pineapple so used some of that instead. I also put some grated cheese on top of the kumara topping, before putting the pineapple on. It was very tasty and the pineapple really gave a lovely flavour. I think I prefer the taste of kumara to potato when combined with smoked fish like this in a pie. This was a real hit in our household. Sorry no photo as we ate it straight away! I will definitely be making it again. Thanks Liz.

Smoked fish

Here is a photo of the smoked fish. It was seasoned with sea salt and a little brown sugar before smoking. Tastes delicious.

G caught another 6 fish yesterday (5 grey mullet and 1 kahawai) when he took the net in and decided to buy our own fish smoker today. We'll be trying it out soon and I'll post the results.

Fish

G had a very successful time with the fishing net yesterday and hauled in 15 mullet! His friend is smoking them today and will divvy the fish up between him and us. Yum, haven't had smoked fish for ages. Does anyone have any good fish recipes to share (for smoked fish or plain)?

Fish

G put the net out for the first time last night and went back to take it in this morning. Success! 1 large kahawai (about 1kg flesh after filleting) and a medium sized mullet. Not a bad haul for first time, plenty for two of us for two or three dinners. This lot actually went into the freezer for later use as I'd already planned for a beef casserole tonight.
One of the benefits of living so close to the coast. Free fish dinner for a couple of hours 'work'.