Dukkah-Crusted Fish with Cucumber Salad

Dukkah is an Egyptian nut and seed mixture. Eat on bread, sprinkle over salads and vegetables, or use to coat fish. It keeps well in an airtight jar, so mix a reasonable quantity at a time.

6 x 180 g portions filleted, firm white fish, skinned and sliced on the diagonal

freshy squeezed lemon juice, salt,

milled black pepper, butter

lemon wedges for squeezing

Dukkah

250 g sesame seeds

125 g coriander seeds

125 g hazelnuts, roasted and skinned

75 g cumin seeds

Cucumber Salad

1 English cucumber

salt

1 red onion, finely sliced

1 fresh red chilli, seeded and finely chopped 10 ml sugar

50 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

Dukkah: Roast all the ingredients separately in a dry frying pan. Grind in a hand mill or blender, keeping the mixture coarse (don't allow the nuts and seeds to become oily). Mix and store in a sealed bottle.

Cucumber Salad: Make ahead so that it can drain and chill; it is best within 2 hours of preparing. Finely slice the cucumber (a mandoline works best), sprinkle with salt and pile in a sieve. Set aside to drain for 10 minutes.

Rinse with cold water and spread on a cloth to dry. Mix in a bowl with the onion, chilli, sugar and lemon juice. Cover and chill.

To Serve: Sprinkle fish with lemon juice, season with salt and pepper, roll in dukkah and fry in sizzling butter in a non-stick frying pan, turning once. As it's thinly sliced, the fish cooks in a minute or two.

Place on warm plates and serve with cucumber salad and lemon wedges. Serves 6

Pomegranate's Pickled Fish

This is well worth making in large quantities, as it improves with keepin and has a fridge life of two weeks, if kep well covered.

1,5 kg yellowtail, kabeljou or geelbek (Cape salmon), filleted and skinned

200 ml vegetable oil

1 kg onions, finely sliced

15 ml fresh, well-made masala

5 ml fennel seeds

5 ml coriander seeds

5 ml black peppercorns

2 ml whole cloves

4-5 bay leaves, preferably fresh

125 g dried apricots

500 ml red or white wine

(red gives a deeper colour to the dish)

10 ml coarse salt 75 ml vinegar

30 ml brown sugar

Place fish in a baking dish which allows sufficient space for the sauce.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onions very slowly until they begin to colour; allow about 30 minutes, so the onion becomes nice and sweet.

Stir in the masala, fennel, coriander, peppercorns, cloves and bay leaves, fry for about 30 seconds, then add the apricots, wine and salt. Simmer very gently uncovered for about 20 minutes (or longer) until the flavour is just right; the wine reduces and the oil begins to thicken the sauce; don't rush things!

Add the vinegar and brown sugar. Check and adjust the flavour if necessary.

Set the oven at 200 °C. Pour sauce over the fish, cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Pierce with a fork to see if the fish is-nearly done; if not bake for 5 minutes more (cooking time depends on the oven and the baking dish, but remember that the fish will continue to cook as the sauce cools).

Cool completely, then cover and refrigerate for at least a day before serving.

To Serve: Offer as is, or serve on salad leaves with home-made mayonnaise. Serves 10 as a starter or light lunch

Fillet of Kabeljou with Stewed Onion and Chive Butter

4 x 200 g portions filleted kabeljou geelbek (Cape salmon)

500 g onions

250 g butter

3-4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

200 ml white wine

200 ml water

salt and milled black pepper

125 ml cream

1 bunch chives, finely chopped

Set the oven at 250'C. Grease a large baking dish. Finely slice 400 g of the onions; finely chop the rest.

Heat half the butter in a frying pan and cook the sliced onion for about 20 minutes until deep golden and richly caramelized. Stir often - constantly at the end - to prevent burning. Drain briefly on kitchen paper and keep warm.

Place the chopped onion in the baking dish, add the thyme, bay leaves, white wine and water, and season with salt and pepper. Place fish on top, cover with foil and bake for about 8 minutes until choked. Lift fish from the baking dish, place on warm plates and keep warm.

Strain all the juices into a small saucepanand boil uncovered for about 5 minutes until reduced by half. Add the cream and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes more until the sauce thickens to a coating consistency. Whisk in the remaining butter bit by bit. Add the chives.

To Serve: Spoon onion on top of the fish, pour a little sauce around and serve the rest separately. Serve with new potatoes. Serves 4

Panfried Linefish and Roasted Vegetables with Caper and Butter Sauce

4 x 200 g portions filleted linefish

500 g new potatoes

1 brinjal (about 300 g), cut in half and sliced about 5 mm thick

olive oil, salt, milled black pepper, butter
2 courgettes, sliced about 5 mm thick

2 ripe tomatoes, cut in half and sliced

15 ml finely chopped garlic

50 g drained capers

freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon

Cook the potatoes in their jackets in salted boiling water. Cool and peel.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan and stir-fry the brinjals, courgettes, and tomatoe until limp and golden. Add the garlic and season with salt and pepper. Set aside and keep warm.

Heat 50 g butter in a non-stick frying pan and gently fry the potatoes until golden. Remove from the pan and keep warm.

Add a little more butter to the pan an fry the fish until browned on both sides and cooked through. Place on warm serving plates with the vegetables.

Add another 80 g butter to the pan. When it foams, add the capers and lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the fish and serve immediately. Serves 4

Seafood Curry Le Med

Don't be put off by the list of ingredients in this famous curry, as it will undoubtedly become a favourite with your guests. The sauce can be made a day ahead or ozen for future use. Remember to add he seafood at the last minute to ensure hat it's not overdone.

300 g calamari tubes, well cleanedand cut into rings

300g large prawns, shelled and deveined

300 g filleted firm fish (for example gamefish Ike tuna or yellowtail), skinned and cut into 2 cm cubes

500 g black mussels on the half shell

Curry Sauce

45ml vegetable oil

3 onions, chopped

1 red pepper, seeded and chopped green pepper, seeded and chopped nil crushed garlic

15 ml crushed green ginger

15ml commercial green curry paste

10ml finely grated lemon rind

5 ml chopped fresh fennel

10 ml Chinese five spice powder

2ml cumin seeds, crushed

5 ml paprika 4 bay leaves 60 ml tomato paste

60 ml chutney 15 ml honey

500 ml chicken or Fish Stock (page 209) 400 g can coconut cream

30 ml corn flour mixed with

60 ml water salt

45 ml finely shredded fresh basil leaves

Curry Sauce: Heat the oil in a wide saucepan and fry the onion and red and green pepper until softened.

Add the garlic, ginger and curry paste and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the lemon rind, fennel, five-spice powder, cumin seeds, paprika, bay leaves, tomato paste, chutney, honey, stock and coconut cream, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Add the cornflour and water and simmer for a further 5 minutes until the sauce thickens. Check the flavour and add salt to taste.

Bring the sauce to the boil. Add the prepared calamari, prawns and fish and simmer for 5-6 minutes until done. Add the mussels and basil and heat through.

Serve curry on rice with a selection of assorted sambals like bowls of toasted coconut, chopped onion and tomato and chutney.

Serves 6

Easy to Become a Calorie Conscious Cook

Standard cooking methods need some reworking to make them lowfat and low calorie, and some foods can be used as substitutes, making them great, healthy stand-ins for others. Every calorie-conscious cook should use the following tricks:

Sauté onion and garlic the low-fat way: When a recipe calls for onion and garlic to be cooked in oil, use a nonstick pan and 2 tablespoons of water in place of the oil. Use low heat and cover the pan to coax the natural juices out of the onion and garlic while they tenderize.

Make and use yogurt cheese: Spoon a 16-ounce container of plain, lowfat yogurt (made without gelatin) into a colander lined with cheesecloth or into a paper filter-lined coffee cone. Place it over a bowl in the refrigerator and allow the yogurt to drain for 8 to 24 hours, depending on how firm you want the "cheese" to be. Use well-drained yogurt as a cream cheese substitute; when softer, you can use it in place of sour cream or heavy cream.

Make your own vinaigrette salad dressing: The standard vinaigrette dressing (3 parts oil to I part vinegar) weighs in at about 90 calories a tablespoon. If you used more vinegar than oil, the calorie count would be great, but your salad would be unbearably pungent. Instead, use 1 part oil; 1 part flavorful yet mellow vinegar, such as balsamic; and I part strong black tea or citrus juice, such as orange or grapefruit.

Roast garlic: When roasted, garlic is transformed into a rich, buttery, nonbiting, nonodorous spread that you can substitute for mayonnaise in potato, pasta, and chicken salads. It's also delicious when spread on bread in place of butter or oil. Bake a head of garlic, trimmed to expose the cloves and sealed in foil with a scant tablespoon of water, for 45 minutes in a 400 degree F oven. Unwrap and cool it until it's easy to handle and then simply squeeze the garlic from its skin.

Use aged cheese: The stronger the flavor, the less you need. When a recipe calls for a mild cheese, such as mozzarella or Monterey Jack, whose flavor often disappears when cooked, substitute aged cheddar, Asiago, imported Parmesan, or an aged and smoked cheese, such as smoked Gouda. For the greatest bang for the bite, use these cheeses only where you see them, like on top of a dish, or when the recipe would suffer without the taste of cheese.

Roast vegetables: You know that you need to eat more vegetables, but you may be bored by plain steamed ones. Roast them instead in a hot oven, and you'll caramelize the natural sugars that they contain and add a depth of flavor that naked veggies lack. Set the oven to 450 degrees F. Slice large vegetables in half or cut them into %z-inch thick slices and arrange in a single layer. Lightly spritz them using a pump bottle filled with olive oil to prevent them from drying. Cook them according to the following suggested guidelines:

Beet halves: Roast for 1 to 11/2 hours.

Winter squash slices: Roast for 8 to 12 minutes.

Carrots: Roast for 15 to 20 minutes.

Green beans and red pepper strips: Roast for about 12 minutes.

Onion halves: Roast for about 30 minutes.

Sweet potato slices: Roast for 15 minutes.

Summer squash or zucchini slices: Roast for 5 to 8 minutes.

Eggplant slices: Roast for 10 to 15 minutes.

To lightly and evenly coat vegetables before roasting or to lightly dress a salad, drizzle a bit of oil or vinaigrette in an empty bowl. Then add the ingredients and toss.

Use sun-dried tomatoes in place of bacon: You can easily duplicate the mellow richness and smokiness that fatty pork adds to soups, stews, and pizzas with chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Don't use the oil-packed ones unless you drain them well and blot them dry. You can soften up the dried ones in a bit of hot water.

Brown butter to use less: Heat a bit of butter in a skillet until it becomes fragrant and begins to turn nutty brown. You'll punch up its flavor, so you can use less. A tiny bit drizzled over corn on the cob, eggs, or vegetables tastes like you're using much more.

Toast nuts for greater flavor bang: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and toast nuts - on a cookie sheet in a single layer - for five minutes or until fragrant. Stir them to prevent scorching. Treat toasted nuts in a recipe as you would cheese: Use them only where the flavor really counts or where they'll be seen, such as on the top of a bread.

Switch from chocolate to cocoa powder: You can replace one ounce of chocolate (135 calories) with 3 tablespoons of cocoa (35 calories). Dutch-processed cocoa is richer and more intense than the American varieties; dutching neutralizes the natural acidity in cocoa powder, making the flavor mellower and the color darker.