Scallop and calamari soup

Serves approx 6
Cooking Time: 3 hours
Preparation Time : 10 minutes

500ml Shellfish or Fish Stock ( I used Moredoughs)
200g squid tubes
250g scallops cleaned
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion chopped finely
1 celery stalk chopped finely
1 carrot chopped finely
2 small garlic cloves diced finely
1 fennel bulb trimmed and sliced thinly
250g chopped tomatoes
handful of italian parsley chopped finely
1/2 cup of dry white wine
pinch of cayenne pepper

2 cups of white rice


Heat oil in a medium sized casserole pot over the stove top.  Add the onion, celery, carrot, fennel, garlic, tomatoes and cayenne pepper and stir through.  Then add slowly the shellfish/fish stock.  Add the white wine and the parsley and cook on a medium heat slowly for 2-3 hours stirring occasionally. Top up with water if the stock gets too low.

Cook the rice for ten minutes in boiling water when ready to serve.  Place the rice in small bowls for ten minutes and flatten the top then you can flip them over when ready into a bowl and spoon the soup around the rice mound.  

In a fry pan place some oil and a little butter and cook the scallops and calamari for around 3 minutes on each side.  Then turn heat off.

Place a few scallops and calamari onto the top of the rice mounds in little bowls and ladle extra soup around the top of each.

Serve with crusty ciabatta bread.

Red Snapper with carrot and spring onion and a hint of chilli

 Red Snapper is delicious!

Serves 6

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

I used a large cast iron baker which can be used on the stove top on the fish burner which is long (or you can use any good quality stove top fry pan which is flat based)

Lemon Olive oil

Virgin Olive oil 

6 pieces of fresh Red Snapper boned and scaled (best quality fish monger)

1 cup of rice flour

1 cup of corn flower

shake of peppercorn

shake of chilli flakes (alter to your liking or omit)

freshly grounded pink rock salt

2 Spring onions sliced thinly white end only up to light green area

1 carrot peeled then curl into large slithers

Prepare your fish by placing in a large mixing bowl the rice flour, corn flower, peppercorn, chilli flakes and a little rock salt.  Blend through and coat each piece of fish in the flour rolling on both sides thoroughly. Place each piece on a large plate and set aside.

In a large cast iron baker or stove top fry pan place around 1 cm deep of a mixture of the olive oils 50/50 and a handful of the carrot and spring onion.  Turn the heat up to medium heat and when it starts to sizzle place the fish into the baker skin side down first.  Turn heat up a little more as fish in cast iron cooks beautifully and fairly quickly.  Around 6 minutes turn over and cook other side. 

 Place the carrot and spring onion pieces on top of the fish so not to burn and the flavors of the onion and carrot melts into the fish.  Cook for around 6 minutes til perfection white and firmness and then add to your serving plates with a side salad of your choice.  

Shake some freshly ground pink salt onto the fish and enjoy!