ROSEMARY INFUSED GRILLED RED SNAPPER

‘Can I have the Red Snapper, Barracuda and Sea Bass, please?’ 

I couldn’t control my excitement, when I discovered my local grocery shop had a  Fishmonger at the back of the shop. The Fishmonger had all the exotic Fishes, Seafood, live Crabs  etc. I was happy, cause the Red Snapper, Barracuda and Sea Bass, were the freshest I’ve seen in the UK.

The Fishmonger was welcoming, answered all my questions and followed my YouTube page immediately.

I decided to prepare  Shito (Black Chilli sauce from Ghana), infuse and grill the Red Snapper with Rosemary and have it with fried Yam chips. Yummy!

I reserved some of the Tomato sauce for the Shito; marinated the Red Snapper with the sauce, stuffed it with sprigs of Rosemary and grilled it for 18-25 minutes. Let’s start cooking;

Ingredients 

1 kg of cleaned and gutted Red Snapper 

4 tablespoonfuls of Smoky Salsa Sauce or spiced Tomato sauce for Shito

3 sprigs of Rosemary 

300g of peeled and cut Yam, lengthways into a chip shape

500ml of Vegetable Oil

Salt to taste

SMOKY SALSA SAUCE RECIPE 

Onion Salad

1 large Pink, White or Red Onion sliced thinly 

1 teaspoonful of Wine Vinegar

10g of finely chopped Parsley

Pinch of salt

Method 

Onion Salad

Mix everything together and serve immediately with the Grilled Snapper.

SHITO RECIPE 

Watch how to grill the Red Snapper and fry your Yam chips below;

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All photos, recipes and videos are by the owner of this blog.

PUY LENTILS & RED SNAPPER

'Puy Lentils', are from the French city of Le Puy-en-Velay,and they're the only lentils that hold their shape after cooking. They have a peppery taste and when combined with goats butter, it adds a nutty taste. Most Puy lentils are readily available as pre cooked packets, however try your local grocer for an uncooked one. They're easy to cook and taste much better when cooked from scratch. This is a quick and easy to follow recipe. Try the recipe, leave a comment , subscribe and share. This recipe will be available on my YouTube channel 'Ndudu by Fafa'.

Ingredients 

250g of Puy lentils

600ml of water

25g butter

Red Snapper

2 tablespoonfuls of olive oil 

15g of roughly chopped fresh rosemary

1 diced green chilli

15g of julienne ginger (sliced into thin long strips)

2 large sliced onions

2 roughly chopped large tomatoes 

2 medium Red Snappers (ask your fishmonger to gut and clean the fish)

Mushroom sauce

1 teaspoon of butter

1 tablespoon of olive oil

150ml of white wine

1 finely sliced banana shallot

50g of washed & chopped Shitake mushrooms 

10g of fresh thyme

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method;

Puy Lentils 

Place a saucepan with 600ml of water on a medium heat. 

Add the Puy Lentils and cook for 15-20 minutes or until soft with a bit of a bite. 

Once cooked, add the butter and stir.

Red Snapper 

Preheat your grill to 200*c

Score the fish into a diamond shape, by slashing it diagonally (in opposite directions).

Place the fish in a roasting dish

Sprinkle  the chopped rosemary, olive oil and ginger over the fish. 

Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Rub the fish with the rosemary and ginger mixture.

Add the tomatoes, chillies and onions to the roasting dish. (The tomatoes will lend their juice and taste to the sauce)

Sit the fish on top of the mixture and place under the grill for 15-18 minutes  

Take the fish out of the grill and leave to rest for 3 minutes 

Mushroom sauce

In a frying pan, melt the butter and add the olive oil (this will prevent the butter from burning)

Add the sliced shallots and fry on a gentle heat for 2 minutes.

Add the mushroom and stir till well mixed.

Fry for another 2 minutes and increase the heat

Add the wine ( taking care not to splash on you).

Cook for 2 minutes and turn the heat down. 

Add the thyme and stir. 

Add salt and pepper to taste and stir.

Remove from the heat and set aside for later.

To serve

Scoop a ladle of the Puy Lentils to a pasta bowl and drizzle some of the fish juices over it.

Top it with a portion of the the mushroom sauce and a portion of fish. 

Sprinkle with either parsley or Greek basil

Best served with White Rioja . Enjoy!

All photos and recipes are by the owner of this blog

HOW TO FRY THE PERFECT FISH

Red snapper, Tilapia, Herrings,'one man thousand' to mention but a few are types of fishes I love eating (particularly in Ghana), especially when fried.

On my last visit to Ghana, I kept hunting for freshly fried fish to have as a snack (a slight obsession, that won't  go away).

Freshly caught and fried fish is the best thing you could ever have. In Ghana freshly fried fish is readily available all day, from the Kenkey and Waakye sellers. 

My local fishmonger serves me perfectly well with the varied choices he has available. 

Fried fish accompanies dishes like Kenkey, Waakye, Jollof rice, Banku etc (all local Ghanaian dishes).

Ingredients; 

8 medium sized (Sea Bream/Red Snapper/Sea Bass, Red Mullet) cleaned, gutted and cut in half, by your fishmonger. 

Flour

1 litre of Sunflower oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Tip 

For a crispy skinned, fried fish, wipe the fish with a kitchen paper towel (to get rid of any moisture) , add salt to the skin and leave to rest for 5 minutes before frying. Using flour also helps with achieving a crispy skinned, fried fish 

Method

Add the oil to a frying pan or wok and place on a medium heat. 

Add the flour to a bowl and set aside. 

Test the oil is hot, by adding a tiny cube of bread, if it sizzles, the oil is ready. 

Toss each fish into the flour, till it's completely covered (shake off any excess flour) and carefully drop it into the hot oil. 

Tip;

(Please take all necessary precautions, when dealing with hot oil). 

Fry on each side for 3 minutes and remove it from the oil . Place the fish on a Kitchen blotting paper (to absorb any excess oil). 

Tip

Ensure the oil is hot at (180*c or 350 degrees farenheit) for a crispy, perfectly fried fish. If the oil is too hot the fish will burn and if it's not hot enough it will absorb the oil.

All photos and recipes are by the owner of this blog. Please seek permission and always reference back to my blog. 

Find more inspiring recipes on my Youtube page,like this Masa recipe, 'Ndudu by Fafa'. 

GRILLED RED SNAPPER & ROSEMARY

Freshly caught Red Snapper, fried and served with a Tomato and Onion salad is my idea of  bliss on earth , especially when polished  off with a glass of chilled Palm wine or White wine. 

 

Most evenings in Ghana, freshly fried Red snappers are displayed amongst other fishes by Kenkey sellers across the country. 

 Kenkey is made from milled fermented corn which is wrapped in corn husks and steamed to form a pliable dumpling.

KENKEY

Kenkey is best eaten with fried Fish or Seafood with a spicy tomato salsa (raw pepper) and black chilli sauce (Shito) in Ghana. 

My obsession with this fish is evident especially when I visit Ghana as I'm guaranteed a freshly caught fish. I tend to buy fried Red Snappers in bulk and enjoy it as a snack, much to my Mums annoyance (as she insisted I cut down on the quantity and leave some for cooking later). 

I vividly remember on a holiday to Barbados, I saw a lady clean and gut a large Red snapper (which was freshly caught) , no sooner had I alighted from the car, run to ask how much it was, was I back in the car embarrassed, as she was preparing her dinner and it wasn't for sale. 

However in Khao Lak (Thailand) deeply fried, crisp skinned Red Snapper was the only thing I ordered pretty much everyday with a Ginger dressing.

I'm looking forward to visiting Ghana again this year to indulge in my fish eating habit. 

With my 'slight' obsession you can imagine my 

excitement when I saw this Red snapper at my local fishmongers (knowing it was definitely for sale) and I could indulge myself (without any interruptions).

FRIED RED SNAPPER

After purchasing a few, frying some (all safely eaten), I decided to grill the last one  and incorporate some Rosemary (which pairs perfectly with Red Snapper) and Aniseed for an aromatic flavour. 

Adding the roasted ripened Plantain to this dish is incredible as it lends its sweetness to the Fish. Please ensure the Plantain is not over ripened. The Plantain should have an even yellow colour as shown below;

RIPENED PLANTAIN

Ingredients 

1 large cleaned and gutted fresh Red Snapper

The zest of 1 large Lime.

Slice the remaining Lime into little discs. 

1 teaspoon of Aniseed

20g peeled and chopped fresh Ginger 

3 sprigs of fresh Rosemary

1 medium sized Onion

2 finely diced Green Chillies (optional)

Salt to taste

2 ripened Plantains

 

Method 

Blend the Ginger, Onion, Aniseed and Chilli together to a smooth paste.

Remove the Rosemary leaves from their stalks and finely chop them.

Marinade the fish with the Ginger mix, Rosemary, the zest of the Lime in a baking tray. 

Arrange the Lime discs on top of the fish, as shown above. 

Pre heat your grill to 200*c

Peel your ripened Plantain and cut each in half or lengthways.

Place your fish in the grill together with the Plantain and grill for 23-25 minutes.

ROASTED RIPENED PLANTAIN

 

15 minutes into the cooking time, turn the Plantain on its opposite side for an even cook and grilled marks (for aesthetic purposes).

 

Serve the grilled Red Snapper and Plantain immediately with either the famous Ghanaian black chilli sauce known as Shito or a tomato stew.

Find various stew recipes on my blog and YouTube page. 
This recipe will work well with some hot Amokple (Banku), which is available on my YouTube channel below;

 I love to hear from you, hence try the recipe and leave comments with your feedback. This encourages me to create more recipes as I know you like them. 

 

All photos and recipes are by the owner of this blog.