The Tropical Treat

Fish

Prawn, coriander and cod cakes

By

Prawn, coriander and cod cakes

A very easy king prawn starter. These prawn, coriander and cod cakes with mango chutney make a very flavoursome lunch with salad, starter for a dinner party or just a great snack.

Not only that but it’s really easy to put together – just blitz large king prawns, fresh cod, breadcrumbs, ginger, coriander, spring onions and chilli in a food processor. Shape the mixture into small patties, chill in the fridge overnight (or for a few hours) and then shallow fry in sunflower oil.

Prawn, coriander and cod cakes

With warmer weather fast approaching these prawn and cod cakes would be ideal for barbecues and picnics, for instance. Pair it with a watermelon salad, sweetcorn fritters and plantain tacos. Enjoy!

Serves 4
Prep 15 mins
Cook 15 mins
Total 30 mins + chilling overnight

Ingredients

160g large king prawns 
160g cod fillets, cut into chunks
150g soft white breadcrumbs
30g fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 cm piece of ginger, finely grated
1 red chilli, finely chopped
4 spring onions, finely sliced, plus extra to serve
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 lime, zest and juice
Sunflower oil, to fry 
Mango chutney, to serve 

Method

First season the prawns and cod with salt and pepper, place half in a food processor. Put in the remainder of the ingredients except the oil and chutney.

Pulse until the mixture comes together, then add the rest of the prawns and cod. Blitz until mixed through but still in chunks. 

Shape the mixture into 12 small patties. Put on a plate and chill overnight (or for a few hours).

Place a large frying pan over a medium heat and pour sunflower oil until 1cm deep. Once hot, fry the cakes for a few minutes on each side or until golden brown and any chunks of prawn are pink.

Drain any excess oil on kitchen paper. Serve the prawn cakes with the extra spring onions and chutney for dipping.

Jerk salmon with avocado quinoa

By

Jerk salmon with avocado quinoa

A very easy jerk salmon with avocado quinoa – a pretty healthy dish that’s full of so much flavour.

Jerk really needs no introduction as one of Jamaica’s greatest exports.

Firstly, have you ever made jerk from scratch? It’s game changing. I found a jerk paste recipe by Levi Roots, ‘reggae reggae sauce anyone’? on the BBC food website and it worked a treat.

So after blitzing all the ingredients (see below) and making the paste, I let it marinate over the salmon fillets for about an hour (would be even better overnight) and pan fried it in a little butter.

Jerk salmon with avocado quinoa

Another thing to note is that this easy jerk salmon is very versatile, it can be served with some rice and peas, roasted veggies or perhaps even a Buddha bowl for instance.

However, for this recipe, I’ve made the pan-fried jerk salmon with a fresh avocado quinoa salad which is from The Avocado Cookbook by Heather Thomas. To make it, just dice some avocado, spring onions, chives, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of fresh lemon and little sea salt and pepper.

To sum up, it’s something super bright and summery perfect for a quick lunch and make sure to take a look at my Tik Tok video to see how I made it!

Serves 2
Prep 15 mins
Cook 25 mins
Total 40 mins

Ingredients

For the jerk salmon

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2cm/1 inch piece fresh root ginger, roughly chopped
1 yellow scotch bonnet chilli, chopped 
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 cloves
1/2 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp curry powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
480g salmon fillets (2x 240g )
25g butter
Lemon wedge, to serve

For the avocado quinoa 
 
100g quinoa
240ml vegetable stock
1 large ripe avocado, diced
1-2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 spring onions, diced
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
A few chives, snipped
Salt and freshly black pepper

Method

Make the jerk marinade – put all the ingredients in the blender and blitz to a paste. Place the salmon on a plate and cover with the jerk paste ensuring it is evenly coated. Cover and chill for at least 30 mins (overnight is best if you can).

Meanwhile, rinse the quinoa under cold water, then drain. Bring the stock to the boil in a pan and add the quinoa. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently for about 15 mins until tender and most of the stock is absorbed. Remove from the heat and leave to steam in the pan, drain off any excess liquid. Fluff up the quinoa with a fork.

In a medium sized bowl, mix the avocado, a drizzle of olive oil, spring onions, lemon juice and herbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

In a large pan, heat butter and pan fry the salmon for roughly 10 mins or until golden and crisp, occasionally spooning the butter over the fish. 

Divide the avocado quinoa between two plates and place the salmon on top. Enjoy!

Citrus sea bass with avocado

By

Fresh zesty pan fried sea bass with tangerines and avocado. The sea bass fillets are seasoned with salt and pepper then marinated in the zest and juice of tangerines (can use clementines or oranges too), lemon juice and spring onion. A very quick, colourful and easy dish to make : )

Serves 2
Prep 15 mins + 30 mins to marinate
Cook 10 mins
Total 55 mins

Ingredients

2 sea bass fillets 
1/4 tsp salt and peppery @cornishsea_salt 
1/2 avocado, finely chopped
1/2 cucumber, de-seeded and finely chopped
A few mint leaves (optional)

Dressing

Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tangerines, zest and juice of 1 and the other thinly sliced into rounds
A couple of spring onions, finely chopped
A drizzle of extra-virgin olive o

Method

Make the dressing first. In a small bowl whisk lemon juice, the juice of 1 tangerine, zest and spring onion.

Season the sea bass with salt and pepper and cover with the dressing ensuring it is all coated evenly. Put in the fridge for 30 minutes to marinate.

Meanwhile, assemble the tangerine slices onto a plate. Finely dice the avocado and cucumber and sprinkle over a little salt.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Once the pan is fairly hot put in the sea bass  fillets and cover with the dressing. Turn them over once after a couple of minutes and cook for 5 -10 minutes.

Place the sea bass on top of the sliced tangerines and pour over the dressing from the pan. Spoon the avocado and cucumber onto the sea bass and scatter over some mint leaves. Enjoy!

Crab, tomato and cayenne palmiers

By

An easy little canapé – crab, tomato and cayenne palmiers. Slightly tweaked from a recipe I found on Delicious here.

Palmier is French for ‘palm’, the leaf of this tropical tree is where these delightful pastries take their name from. Interestingly, they seem to have some sort of sweet or savoury variation across the world whether that’s glazed with honey in Puerto Rico or in Spain topped with coconut.

I have opted for a savoury version here with a little cayenne…

And it’s super easy to make, just mix some crabmeat, plum cherry tomatoes, cayenne pepper, mustard and grated cheddar and season with a little salt and pepper.  

Spread the mixture onto a puff pastry sheet, slice thinly, roll like a scroll and pop into the oven. Et voila

Serves 6
Prep 15 mins + 30 mins of chilling time
Cook 25 mins
Total 40 mins

Ingredients

100g plum cherry tomatoes, deseeded and finely chopped
100g white crabmeat 
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp mustard powder
50g mild cheddar cheese, grated
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
320g ready rolled all butter puff pastry
1 medium free range egg, beaten

Method

In a medium sized bowl mix cherry tomatoes, crabmeat, cayenne, mustard and cheddar. Squeeze over lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

Spread the mixture evenly over the puff pastry sheet leaving 1cm around the edges. Roll the pastry up to the middle, place the widest side of the pastry in front of you and roll to the middle then flip it round and repeat (it should look like a long scroll). 

Gently push the scrolls together, turn over and cover in cling film. Put in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Bring the pastry log out of the freezer and brush all over with the beaten egg. 

Slice thinly with a sharp thin knife dusted with flour (roughly 0.5cm per slice) and place on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Glaze and brush each palmier again with the beaten egg. Bake for 20-25 or until golden brown, it’s best served warm : )

Chipotle salmon with pineapple salsa

By

A vibrant and lovely dish. There are lots of flavours at play here but it works really well.

The hardest part is the chopping. To be fair there is a lot of chopping in this recipe but it’s worth it. Make sure to marinate the fish over night, you can definitely taste the difference. 

You could definitely use this recipe for tacos. Flake the salmon into bits, top with the pineapple salsa and finish off with sour cream or crumbled feta. Enjoy!

Serves 2
Prep 15 mins + overnight marinating
Cook 30 mins
Total 45 mins

Ingredients

For the salmon

1 tsp chipotle chill flakes or paste
2 tbsp olive oil
Juice of one lime and zest 
2x 240g skinless salmon fillets
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
A handful of coriander leaves
Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the pineapple salsa

350g fresh pineapple, cut into slices
2 fresh chillies, finely diced 
1 medium sized pointed red pepper, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
Juice of one lime and zest
Extra-virgin olive oil

Method

Marinate the salmon overnight. In a small bowl, mix chipotle chilli, olive oil, lime juice and zest. Add the salmon fillets. Put in the fridge overnight or for at least a few hours. 

Preheat the oven to 180C fan / 200C / Gas Mark 6. Cut two large squares of baking paper and place one salmon fillet on a sheet. Top with sliced red onion and coriander leaves, season well with salt and pepper. Fold the sheet over and tightly fold and pinch the edges in to create a square parcel. Repeat with the second salmon fillet and place on a baking tray. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the salmon is tender and flakes easily.

Heat a large frying pan over a high heat. Place the sliced pineapple in the pan and turn over occasionally until charred. Leave aside to cool.

Finely chop the slices of pineapple and add to a medium sized bowl. Add finely chopped chillies, red onion and red pepper. Squeeze over lime juice and drizzle olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper.

Spoon over the juices from the baking sheet parcel onto the salmon and then place on a plate. Serve with the pineapple salsa. Eat straightaway!

Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa

By

These fish tacos are a little bit spicy, kinda sweet with a hint of smokiness. Inspired by the Mexican staple and the deliciousness of Californian Baja fish tacos I decided to make my own healthier version with spiced haddock, mango salsa, shredded iceberg lettuce topped off with sour cream and a sprinkling of chipotle chilli flakes.

They are pretty easy to prepare and make the perfect tropical starter for 4 or a main for 2 with some green plantain crisps (see my recipe here) on the side.

I think you could make this at anytime of the week as it’s so easy and quick. If possible try not to substitute any core ingredients (except my vegan/veggie/fish hating people) in this one especially the corn tacos (buy here if you’re UK based) and chipotle chilli flakes. They really make a difference to the overall flavour! If you are one of the above try using potatoes instead of the fish and coconut yogurt instead of sour cream. Parboil the potatoes, season and then fry in some olive oil. A very good alternative I reckon.

I love using the (naturally) deep blue corn tacos here and the contrast of flavours and colours in this recipe are so striking. It makes for a very satisfying meal even if you’re not the best in the kitchen. 

If you are super organised you could prepare the fish (put in the fridge so the flavours to get to know each other) and mango salsa the day before and just put together on the day of cooking. Enjoy!

Serves 2 ( Makes 10 street food tacos)
Prep 45 mins
Cook 15 mins
Total 60 mins

Ingredients

For the fish tacos

260g skinless and boneless firm white fish (such as haddock or cod), cut into 2cm pieces
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 
1/2 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1 lime and zest
10 small blue corn tacos, buy here
80g iceberg lettuce, shredded
A little olive oil
150ml sour cream, to serve
Chipotle chilli flakes, to serve 
Green chillies, thinly sliced and de-seeded (optional)

For the mango salsa

1 medium ripe mango, finely diced
1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
1 small red pepper, finely diced
Handful of fresh coriander, chopped
Juice of 1 lime and zest 
Sea Salt, to taste 

Method

Prepare the fish first (you can do this part the day before if you like). Cut the fillets into 2 cm pieces and place in a medium size bowl. Season with cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, lime juice and zest. Toss to coat evenly and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

For the mango salsa, slice the mango away from the stone. Finely dice the mango, red onion, red pepper and chop the coriander leaves. Mix together in a bowl and squeeze over lime juice and season with salt. Leave to one side.

Heat the corn tacos in a dry hot pan, wrap first in foil and then a tea towel to keep them warm.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Once the pan is fairly hot put in the fish pieces turning them over after a couple of minutes (cook for 5 -10 minutes). 

Assemble the tacos by putting the shredded lettuce on first, followed by the mango salsa, spiced fish, sour cream, chilli flakes and green chilli to serve.