Even though whitebait seems in short supply this spring, make sure you have your fill of new season's produce.
It was a tough week. A reporter caught me stealing broad beans from someone’s garden. It was my first broad bean of the season, and although I wasn’t technically stealing, I felt a little like Peter Rabbit in Mr McGregor’s garden, standing amid the richly coloured lettuces and carrots. As it happens, I was meant to be picking a few herbs for the evening’s dinner menu, but I could not resist the broad-bean flowers. Among them were small pods so tender they could be eaten as they were, and larger ones containing beans that were wonderfully sweet.
Standing in the middle of the garden bed, I turned around, my fist full of empty pods and my mouth full of beans, to see a photographer taking shots and a reporter taking notes. Pathetically, I offered them some, hoping to make them complicit in my crime. For those of us who like to cook with fresh seasonal produce, spring offers such fabulous opportunities that it would be a crime to pass them up.
Although the beans and peas are prolific, what has been lacking this season is whitebait. I should have had my fill by now, as well as a book full of river stories from my mother-in-law, the mad whitebaiter of Waikanae. Maybe it’s the weather. Maybe it’s urban development. Who really knows? But so far, it has been a disappointing season.
With the little I have had, I tried something new. As much as I have waxed lyrical in the past about the purity of whitebait simply dusted in flour and quickly fried in hot butter, there is something special about using hot spices to season these small fish. I based this recipe on a blackened-fish spice mix I used to make years ago when it was all the rage. Serve with a wedge of lemon.
Spiced Sautéed Whitebait
200g whitebait
sea salt
juice of a lime
a pinch of turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
a pinch of ground cumin
a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp flour
4 tbsp vegetable oil
Place the whitebait in a bowl and season with a touch of salt. Sprinkle with the lime juice, turmeric, chilli powder and cumin. Peel the ginger and garlic and finely chop. Heat a large frying pan until very hot. Place the whitebait in a wide sieve over a roasting dish or tray and liberally dust with flour, shaking the sieve to ensure the fish are evenly coated. Keep scooping the excess flour from the pan and shaking it back over the fish. Do not be tempted to use your fingers to stir the fish, as this results in a sticky mess.
Once all the fish are lightly coated, add the oil to the pan with the chopped ginger and garlic. When the oil is hot, quickly and carefully sprinkle the whitebait evenly into the pan. Let it sit for 30 seconds before starting to gently shake the pan while using kitchen tongs to move the whitebait around. You want the flour to form a toasted crust around the seasoned fish. Season the fish with salt, then lift out and drain on absorbent paper. Divide the fish between 2 plates.
Serves 2.
Serve this dish with potatoes roasted with lemon and anchovies. Simply cut waxy potatoes into chunks and allow them to colour in a little olive oil heated in a roasting tin. Cut a lemon into thick segments, add to the pan with a few anchovies and pour in a cup or two of chicken stock. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until the potatoes are soft.
Stuffed Fillet of Fish wrapped in Bacon, with Lemon and Caper Sauce
2 x 200g fillets of fish
1 bunch of spinach
olive oil 1 small onion
a clove of garlic, finely chopped
juice and freshly grated zest of a lemon
salt and black pepper
6 rashers of streaky bacon
Sauce
leaves from a small bunch of flat-leaf parsley
2 tsp capers
juice of a large lemon
2 tbsp unsalted butter
salt and black pepper
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Using a sharp knife, cut into the side of each fillet and create a cavity in the centre. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and strip the spinach leaves from the stems. Drop the leaves into the boiling water then almost immediately remove them, using a sieve, to a bowl of iced water. Drain then squeeze dry using paper towels. Place the spinach in a bowl.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan. Meanwhile, finely chop the onion and add with the garlic to the pan. Cook until soft and translucent, then add the spinach. Stir in the lemon juice and zest. Season with salt and pepper. Stuff as much spinach mix into the fish as possible without tearing the flesh. Any remaining stuffing can be served alongside the fish. Season the fish with a little salt and wrap each fillet in 3 rashers of bacon. Brush with a little oil and bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.
To make the sauce, chop the parsley and rinse the capers, then place in a small frying pan. Squeeze in the lemon juice, then bring to the boil and briskly beat in the butter using a wire whisk. Season with a grinding of pepper and a little salt.
Serves 2.
I know pears are better suited to autumn, but this dessert, with pears fragrant with basil and coated in heavy syrup, is sumptuous. For something completely decadent, serve with hokey-pokey ice cream. The syrup can be reused several times for poaching other fruit such as apples or peaches.
Pears Poached in Red Wine with Basil
250ml red wine
100ml cooking port
1 tsp black peppercorns
zest of 1 lemon
6 basil leaves
2 tbsp honey
2 pears
Put the wine, port, peppercorns, zest, basil and honey into a deep saucepan. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat. Peel the pears, leaving the stems on, and scoop out the cores. Drop the pears into the warm syrup, return to the heat and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Remove from the heat, cover and leave the pears in the syrup to cool. Arrange them on plates. Pour the red wine syrup through a sieve, discarding the solids and spoon a little over the pears.
Serves 2.