Competition Update

Well, it has taken a loooooooooooong time but I have now narrowed down the entries to THREE. The quality of the majority has been from the mundane to excellent, to the 'you just did not read the instructions properly, now did you'. All in all a most interesting and rewarding task.

I will post the winners (note the plural) in a short while once I have digested my most delicious evening meal... it really has been tough to narrow it down to just three.

Piece of white fish (one per person)
Couple of handfuls of spinach
Handful of fresh basil
Three cloves of garlic finely chopped
Red and green peppers
Two or three fresh tomatoes - chopped
Some strips off the top of a leek (the green bits - chopped)
IF you can, a couple of FRESH ginseng (who would have thought... Wisconsin of all places) roots - finely chopped. This stuff is good for more than just getting it up at 60!!!

Place the fish pieces into a deep frying pan with a lid. This is one dish where it is actually better to have frozen pieces that you cook from frozen - trust me on this one. Add a generous amount of olive oil (NOT fat or butter - bleh - but sunflower oil is a reasonable substitute) and place on a low heat with the lid on.

After about ten minutes (if the lid is glass, when there is a lot of water condensed on the inside of the lid) place the rest of the ingredients over the top and replace the lid. Leave for another ten minutes. Add a LITTLE fresh ground black pepper and sea salt. Sprinkle on some Lea & Perrins sauce and some thick soy sauce to taste (not too much of either though) and replace the lid for a further five minutes.

At this point you should carefully flip the fish piece/s over and mix the other ingredients around the pieces. These should be softening now from the steam. Replace the lid and check on the fish every now and again. There should now be liquid forming in the bottom of the pan which should mean it is about done at this point. Check the smell and the flavour of this!!!

Serve on a bed of bulgur (bulgar) wheat OR couscous OR quinoa. Any of these will do, although my personal faves are bulgur and quinoa). All are easy to prepare and they can be done the day before, refrigerated, and then nuked in the microwave). On their own, these can be fairly bland so... when any of these are cooked and still hot you can enhance the flavour by adding finely chopped vegetables (peppers, spring onion (scallions), herbs... whatever takes your fancy). Great served tabouli style with yoghurt and mint. I find the texture better for all of these if left overnight in the fridge. It also allows the flavours to meld (love that word)

De-lish!!!! And not a chili pepper in sight.

All served with a cold Grolsch ... even betterer!