Salt Fish Adventures at night [or salt fish fritters]

So, you get back home at 12:30 after an industry party – do you remove your make up and go to bed?  Nope you have the insane urge to get a head start on your 2015 project and spend 10 minutes rummaging through kitchen cupboards in the quest for salt fish [while being watched by two very judgemental cats].   Never said, sanity was my middle name!

I then plonked it in water to soak as Friday dinner was now going to be when I learn to make Salt Fish Fritters.  There are a variety of different recipes on the internet and I decided to approach it from the perspective of fish cakes so ……..

Ingredients:

250g salt fish [soaked for at least 24 hours with the water changed several times}

Three medium sized potatoes

One medium sized onion

1 tsp Thyme

1 tsp Smoked Paprika

3 cloves of garlic

1 lemon

2 spring onions

100g flour

• Cover the salt fish with water and simmer gently for 5 minutes then set aside;

• Peel the potatoes, chop and boil until right for mashed potato;
• Chop the onion and garlic before sautéing it in a little oil;
• Flake the fish and add the onion mixture;
• Add thyme and paprika [you can add more if fancy it] as well as finely chopped spring onion;
• Mash the potato when it is cooked and add to the fish mixture.

• Now add the beaten egg and mix before starting to add the flour
• The mixture should not be too sticky as you now need to roll it into balls.  The size depends on what you want, I like them bigger [but doesn’t everyone ( ;] but smaller makes them crisper;
• Put the balls onto a greased baking sheet and put them into the fridge for about an hour;

• Heat oil in a frying pan then pop in the balls and fry on both sides for about 5 minutes [obviously this will depend on the size].   They should be soft on the inside but nice and crispy on the outside.

Serve with lemon wedges and garlic mayonnaise or hot sauce and enjoy! 

BTW – it does help with a mild hangover, if I potentially had one so might be a good breakfast idea!

Lxx

P.S.  Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @littleofwhatyou

Harbour House

Before I climbed onto the plane for my 18-hour flight back to London, I needed not only food I would enjoy but a final glimpse at the scenery which is home.  So with it drizzling in Pinelands and the wind howling in Sea Point, we turned our attentions to Harbour House in Kalk Bay for lunch!

The restaurant whose decor is Mediterranean inspired [read – expensive Ibiza] overlooks the bay and Kalk Bay Harbour.  It is beautiful and the views are amazing but the service seemed to indicate that this establishment was something for well-off tourists who may never visit again.    Or perhaps, I’m just being picky as the hostess could not find our name as she had spelt it wrong and rather than seating us [in what was then a relatively empty restaurant] decided to argue.

After this unusual welcome, we were escorted to our table [which overlooked the harbour so was perfect] and then the waiter pulled a Houdini!   Something to drink and the menus?  Nope, blank stares until we finally found someone who realise that we were visiting the restaurant to eat – how novel, appeared to be the view on this departure from their norm!

 

 

Admittedly they do have to lug the world’s largest specials board around so I’m not surprised they are less interested in serving us.   I started with the West Coast Black Mussels steamed in white wine, garlic, onion, thyme and cream – served with a toasted ciabatta.   These were really good – lick the plate clean, use your fingers, get messy but don’t lose the juices good!

 

 

My mom went for Avocado Ritz which was as pretty [and apparently tasty] as a retro picture while Dad went for tuna tartar.  Sadly, he is allergic to all seafood except for fish so we had to be careful as a quick trip to Vincent Palloti was not on the cards prior to the airport.  

For mains I settled on the smoked paprika calamari with capers, olives, garlic and chilli while the parentals chose Cape Salmon with a Dill cream.   The calamari was lovely and fresh with just the right kick from the capers and olives but almost no hint of garlic or chilli.  Perhaps I am too bold in my flavours but if it’s on the list surely I should taste it?

 

The Cape Salmon [which admittedly would not have been my choice as it looked like it was all one texture] was ‘nice’!  To me saying my cooking is nice is likely to upset me but apparently nice is a serviceable word to describe a meal.

 

Desert was a yoghurt and amaretto panna cotta which arrived looking pretty as a picture and rounded off the meal well!   The panna cotta has that slightly sour taste of yoghurt which struck just the right cord.

And so we paid our bill and left the Harbour House mildly bemused, a little puzzled and full of ‘nice’ food!  Would I go back?  Possibly!  Potentially! Maybe! But I’m taking my chili powder and changing my name to smith to smooth the process!

 

L x

 

Don’t forget to follow me on twitter @littleofwhatyou