Does anyone have any recipe ideas for Gurnard?

[n00dles]

Bought a couple of Gurnard today from the seafront fishermen. A couple of weeks ago pan-fried them (sweet firm flesh), but would like any ideas on diff method of cooking or sauce etc. I'm very adventurous with food (eat anything + everything), always trying new recipes. Saw earlier posting on chillies - love em!!! but too late to comment>

Thanks in (hopeful) advance.xXx

[howdy]

http://www.cookitsimply.com/recipe-0010-0f1320.html

The following recipe can be made with equal success with 2 generous portion size fillets of any of the following: gurnard, red mullet, red snapper or red fish

To make the provencale sauce you will need:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium - large onion chopped
4 - 5 sticks celery chopped
1 garlic clove crushed
1 small red or green pepper chopped
400g tin chopped plum tomatoes
1 small courgette chopped
Dessert spoon soup bouillon or a stock cube
Dash tomato ketchup
Teaspoon mixed herbs
Teaspoon sugar or honey
Seasoning to taste


To bake your fish, rinse the fillets and pat them dry with kitchen roll.
Grease an ovenproof dish with butter. Lay the fillets in the dish and top with a knob of butter.
Season with herb salt or sea salt and ground black pepper.
Cover and place in a pre-heated oven on medium for around 30 minutes or until cooked.
To make the provencale sauce, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan.
On a medium heat, add the chopped onion, celery, pepper and the crushed garlic clove.
Stir well, cover and sweat the vegetables for 5 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally.
Add the tomatoes, bouillon or stock, tomato ketchup, herbs, seasoning and honey or sugar.
Stir well and simmer for a few minutes.
Add the courgette and simmer for a further 20 - 30 minutes.

Serve with your lovely, tender baked fish fillets and enjoy!

[chiswickk]

Gurnard Tomato & Potato Stew

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1/2 cup black olives
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
400 g small waxy potatoes, cooked whole until tender in boiling water, well drained, peeled and broken in half
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup white wine
400 g Italian tomatoes, mashed
1/2 cup fish stock
salt & freshly ground black pepper
600 g fish fillets, skinned and boned
flat leaf parsley (to garnish)

Heat the oil over moderate heat in a wide saucepan. Add the onion, olives and garlic and saut� until the onion is soft. Add the potatoes, tomato paste, wine, tomatoes and stock, and mix well.Bring to the boil, simmer 5 minutes, taste and season with salt and pepper. Add the fish, mix carefully, and simmer 4 minutes until the fish is cooked through. Serve with some crusty bread or toast. Serves 4-6.

[n00dles]

Many thanks howdy + chiswick.....

Sounds delicious!!! Download looks good too.

Will try one out tomorrow....:-} Yum Yum !!

[nickmo]

Mrs Beeton classic here: http://thefoody.com/mrsbfish/gurnet.html and as it is quite a firm fish - cook for maybe 30 mins - you can stuff it successfully, poach it, use in bouillabaise, use strong flavours like ginger & lime, fennel and orange, etc. Use in salads - samphire is great as a salty fresh addition in one.

Serve with red pepper coulis with chillies and pak choi and udon noodles, or on red rice - nice nutty texture & flavour. Pan fry and add a fresh pesto, olives and serve on pea puree with olive oil. Make a peperoncino and serve with sauteed wild garlic and fennel, clams and mussels to dress. Dust fillets with flour and cook a la Spanish hake - in a cider sauce and serve as tapas - very Gallician, or use in a ttoro - Basque fish stew.

If the recipe says monkfish, or basically 'firm white..' use gurnard if avilable. Red and Grey gurnard are two different types. Generally the red is the one in recipes but the grey is sometimes available -

Seasonaly, the gurnard is best in the Autumn.

http://www.fishonline.org/search/simple/?fish_id=36 if you've never seen a grey one..

Happy cooking...

[n00dles]

Cheers nickmo...

Guessed I would get some input from you!! :o) and very informative too.... thanks for that. Surprised to see recipe from Ma Beeton, cos when I visited Waitrose magazine web and keyed in gurnard it asked me if I had the correct spelling!! like they had never heard of it.

I only bought 2, so will have to get some more to try out all the above recipes. Wondered if you had ever tackled skinning the little b*****s?, the fisherman did them for me.....They should come with a government health and safety sticker!!

As you probably guessed I got the red variety....

[n00dles]

Sorry nickmo

There should have been a thankyou at the end.....

n00dles xXx

[nickmo]

Hi n00dles ; tough little 'so and so's' aren't they - botttom feeders spending their time crawling about on the sea bed so suppoes they have to be thick skinned.

My fave site Astray has no recipes nor does chef2chef or chefs.com - and epicurious has none either and the font of all knowledge, gourmetsleuth.com has nil points from me on this as well - talk about lack of info about a good eating, seasonal fish...

These guys always seem to have good seafood selection in case you want to try again: http://www.martins-seafresh.co.uk/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=72 and as its is more well known in Europe, Spanish and French/Mediterrenean ideas are useful starting points.

If you are filleting at home - mind the spikey fins - wrap the fish in a tea towel to hold it to protect the fingers, I think you only get a small fillet from the fish, so whole fish baked/steamed look better if you are showng off with a meal and want to impress.

[n00dles]

Don't think I would venture to prepare them myself nickmo...watched the f'man cut its head then tear it back over its body to skin it...not squeamish about any food prep but end up at casualty with lacerations!! (infact he did stab himself-through his industrial type gloves-on the spines!!).

Also purchased cuttlefish... forgot how long to cook them in water before battering (non violent type!) and deep frying...but although slightly chewy delicious lunch for mum and I...and my husband enjoyed the roes that they yeilded...nothing discarded!! we ate the whole thing....except the bone - shame we haven't got a budgie!

Many thanks for last post. Nighty-night...QQ

[nickmo]

Oh so now we're having uove di seppie. Very posh. Served with caviar and a litle fizzy white no doubt, eh n00dles?

Should have kept the bone - powder, and mix with cream of tartar, lake and clove oil to make a toothpaste...19th C recipe..

[n00dles]

No need to swear nickmo!!

Wished I'd known that about the bone tho - then I could have dazzled everyone with a smile!!

Cheers *^*

[mikko]

boil the eyes