Light And Luscious Hake ~ Bargain Bastement Treat!

Hi dear food lovers!!!

 

Welcome to all my followers via Facebook and Blogger!!! I am thrilled to have you along for my kitchen antics....

 

It has been a very hot day and when the heat is on, you want to wiz in and out of the kitchen in a flash, and have something for the Monday meal!

 

Now, we all love a bargain! Especially if you are the one feeding the troops!

 

Our local Woolworths in Canal Walk has a fabulous fresh fish counter and when I am in Canal Walk, I always pop in to see what they have on "Special" They often have packets priced "two for the price of one" and I buy almost all my fish in this way!

The shop assistant always says "Madam, you have the luck of the devil, you always find the last packet of "Two for the price of one"!! She declared in a loud voice the one day... " When its the last packet, I know you are a coming"!!! She has on occasion even decided, that my choice was bad, removed hake from the trolley and pointed out that the Kingklip was on special and what do I want with hake?" Who am I to argue???

 

But this time, I snug away with the hake, very chuffed with self that I found two pieces for under R27-00!!

 

So hear goes....

 

 

Hake with Sauté Potatoes and Spinach Salad

 

Baby Spinach Leaves

Tomatoes

Hake

Potatoes (as many as you have to, to avoid complaints!)

Olive Oil

Fish Paste

Lemons

 

 

On the night I made this it happened to be raining!!!

 

I dashed outside and retrieved my pot with Spinach from the garden and brought it inside to "harvest"!

 

This particular variety of Spinach is actually called, "Dash" and grows like a weed! I snip and then it pops up again!

It is ideal in salads.

Wash and dry the leaves, and on a Monday night for two of us, there is no use for a salad bowl...

...it goes straight onto the plate with luscious ripe tomatoes!

 

Now, just a word about tomatoes...

 

please, only buy ripe ones or pick them straight of the vine.

Leave the anaemic ones on the shelf!!!

 Do not store them in the fridge! A cool place in the kitchen where they look gorgeous is ideal, and they will be eaten quickly! How can you resist, anyway?

 

Now, the saute potatoes is where I fall short, literally!!!

I am always to lazy to take out the huge paella pan to make enough for two, not that my pan is small, you understand, but my son always complains that I did not make enough!!!

 

So, make sure you have a large pan or two pans!

I use the waxy Mediterranean Potatoes and cut them in rounds.

Cover the bottom of the pan with olive oil, heat the oil, place a single (...sigh) layer of potatoes and saute until crisp, turning once!

Towards the end of cooking, I add Robertson's Dried Garlic Flakes and saute for a few minutes.

 



In a separate pan, heat a good splash of olive oil.

When the oil is heated, fry the hake.

Add a large squeeze (usually juice of a whole lemon) of lemon juice, 2 Tablespoons of Fish Paste and if necessary another splash of olive oil, to form the sauce. 

When fish is cooked, remove fish to plate and drizzle the remainder of the sauce over.

 

 

I usually do not bother with a salad dressing as the sauce from the fish is enough to coat the leaves.

 

On occasion, I have sprinkled, chopped anchovies over in lieu of salt, but if you need salt, so be it! Please your tastebuds!

 



 

Doing the dishes has the added advantage that you can pick all the bits of saute potato off the bottom of the pan....

 

Bon Appetite

 

Hope Monday behaved herself Well!

 

Veronica

xxx

 

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You can email me at ronnieclark@mweb.co.za

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