Stokes Sauces: Fish Fridays

Think fish, it's Friday !

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/ketchup-and-sauces

Setting a particular day of the week aside to eat fish rather than meat has many deep-rooted religious associations, particularly for the Catholic church.

It is widely held that the global fishing industry grew as a result of the increased demand for fish because of holy fasting from meat. When Christianity was banned, fish symbols were used as secret signs for Christians to identify each other.

Did you know: The McDonald’s Filet-o-Fish was invented by a franchise owner in Cincinnati, in a particularly Catholic area who struggled to sell his burgers every Friday. He created and offered Fillet-o-fish instead.

If you are going for an over-the-counter option on Friday, you can't beat good old fish & chips such as here in Aldeburgh. But if you want to try something different, you'll enjoy these tasty ideas below.

Gone fishing

Homemade Fish Fingers

These healthy homemade fish fingers are not a tricky as you might think, but of course frozen options are famously available. Try serving them in pitta pockets like this.

You'll need:

1 egg
75 g of breadcrumbs
A pinch of paprika
250 g of cod or haddock

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/mayo-range

Here's how:

Cut the fish into finger-sized slices. (If you've teeny hands make that two-finger slices.) In one bowl, beat the egg. In another, mix the paprika with the breadcrumbs and season.

Dip and coat the fingers of fish in the egg, then dip and coat them well in the seasoned breadcrumbs. Fry them gently for 2 minutes each side to crisp the breadcrumbs, leaving the fish cooked but still moist inside.

To serve: Pop them in a pitta with lettuce and a squeeze of lemon. These succulent little beauties were made to be eaten with Stokes Real Mayonnaise.

Or try them with a chipotle sauce by mixing 1 part Stokes Chipotle Ketchup with 4 parts Stokes Real Mayonnaise and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.

Baked Cod

Really really simple and very very tasty.

You'll need:

2 red pepper, seeds out and thickly sliced
2 red onions, sliced
Several stalks of fresh thyme
A 200 g punnet of cherry tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Olive oil
2 tbsp of Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard
A handful of black olives
4 fillets of skinless cod loin (2 large ones cut in half, about 550 g)

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/traditional-condiments

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 220°C/gas mark 7.

In a baking tray, spread out the onion, pepper, tomatoes, thyme and garlic and put them in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes or so. You are pre-roasting the vegetables to intensify the flavours before adding the fish.

Remove the tray. It should be juicy but if it's too dry add a little water. Now add the mustard and stir it around before adding the fish and the olives.

Put it back in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. The cooking time will depend on the thickness of the fish. Check it at 15 minutes, probing the flesh with a knife. You need to catch it when it's white right through and the flesh gives without falling apart.

A few buttery new potatoes with it and you're good to go.

Fish curry

This works well with salmon, cod, monkfish - any firm fish. The great thing about this simple dish it that you combine Fish Friday with curry night !

You'll need: