Caravan holidays by the beach are one of our favourite pastimes, and that’s especially true if they include some successful fishing while we’re there.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have been asked to contribute some seafood recipes to Fishing SA magazine over the past couple of years, and they’ve evolved over years of trying to come up with different ways to eat the seafood we catch.

Here are a few of my favourite ways to serve up our catches, that have been in the magazine:

 Fish Tacos

Ingredients: (serves 4)

8 fish fillets (whiting or tommies), 1 cup flour and beer to make into thick batter consistency, Salt and pepper, 8 mini tortillas, shredded lettuce

For Salsa: 1 punnet cherry tomatoes quartered, ½ red onion finely diced, 2 spring onions finely chopped, 1 Tablespoon lime juice, ½ can sweetcorn kernels, 2 avocados diced, Dash of sweet chilli sauce

Dressing: ½ cup mayonnaise, 2 Tablespoons sour cream, ½ cup Greek yoghurt, 2 Tablespoons lime juice

Mix all the salsa ingredients together in a bowl and put aside in the fridge to marinate. For the batter, add beer to a cup of seasoned flour until the batter is a thick consistency. Cut fish fillets in half if large, and coat one at a time in batter, deep fry pieces in hot oil until browned and batter is crispy. Continue until all the fillets are cooked and drain on absorbent paper.

Stir all the dressing ingredients together to incorporate. Heat tortillas then place shredded lettuce, salsa, battered fish and dressing on top to serve.

(Store bought seafood dressing or tartare sauce also work well)

Sweet Potato Fish Patties

Ingredients:

2 medium sweet potatoes cut into large cubes, 300 grams sea perch (or firm fleshed fish) cubed, 1 Tablespoon butter, ½ cup frozen peas, finely grated zest of ½ lemon, 1 egg beaten, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, pepper, 1 cup fine breadcrumbs

For crumbing:

1 ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs, ½ cup flour, 2 eggs, 4 Tablespoons vegetable oil for frying

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add sweet potato and cook until tender. Drain and set aside to cool. Pan fry the fish in butter for a few minutes until cooked, then set aside to cool slightly.

Put the sweet potato in a large bowl and mash roughly with a fork, leaving the texture a bit chunky, then add the fish, thyme, lemon zest, egg, peas and breadcrumbs and mix together until combined. Form the mixture into patties, coating them one at a time in flour, then egg and finally pressing them firmly into the panko crumbs.

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the patties in batches for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden. Drain on paper towel and continue until all patties are cooked. Add a little more oil if needed and reduce heat a little with subsequent batches of patties.

The patties can be made in advance and then heated in the oven at 200 degrees for around 10 minutes or until crunchy and heated through.

Seasoned Fried Garfish

Ingredients:

10 garfish fillets butterflied, 1 cup plain flour, vegetable oil for frying, 2 teaspoon oregano, salt & cracked pepper to taste, 3 small zucchini sliced, 125 grams feta cheese, parsley flakes, lemon wedges

In a freezer bag add the flour, oregano, salt and pepper and shake to combine. Cut the butterflied garfish fillets down the centre and put in the flour mix, shaking to coat. Add oil to a pan and when hot, shallow fry the coated fillets, a few at a time. Remove and drain on paper towel and continue until all fillets are cooked.

Meanwhile drizzle olive oil on the zucchini slices and grill on a barbecue until softened slightly and grill marks appear.

Serve the garfish fillets on a platter to share, topped with grilled zucchini slices, crumbled feta and parsley flakes sprinkled over the top. Add a good squeeze of lemon juice and serve with lemon wedges.

Thai style fish curry

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon olive oil, ½ onion, 1 carrot and 1 celery stick all diced, 2 teaspoons minced ginger, 3 Tablespoons Thai yellow curry paste, 250ml coconut cream, 200ml vegetable stock, 250gr flathead diced into 3cm cubes, 100gr peas

Gently heat oil in a pot with a lid, add the onion, ginger, carrot and celery and sauté for a few minutes until vegetables have softened. Add the curry paste and stir through, then add the coconut cream and vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer with the lid on for about 10 minutes.

Add the fish and peas then simmer for another 5 minutes with the lid on, until the fish is cooked through. Serve with coriander or parsley, steamed brown rice and a wedge of lime.

Braised Squid with Spinach

Ingredients:

Olive oil, ½ red onion, 2 celery sticks, 2 garlic cloves, ½ cup dry white wine, 2 Tablespoons tomato paste with herbs, 2 squid tubes and wings cut into rings and slices, 12 large spinach leaves, chilli flakes, parsley

Heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat, then add finely chopped onion, celery and garlic, cooking until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the squid and stir fry for a few minutes to coat, then add the wine and simmer for a few minutes.  To this, add the tomato paste and chilli flakes to your taste and stir to combine.

Toss in the shredded spinach leaves and a dash of water, then reduce the heat to low and cover the pan to braise slowly for around 30 minutes. As the spinach leaves cook down, add a little more water if it’s needed and check the squid for tenderness. When the squid is tender, toss in some chopped parsley and stir through. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with a nice crusty bread.

Enjoy

Glenys