Fish with Maple Syrup & mustard marinade

2 -tablespoons maple syrup

1-tablespoon seeded mustard

1-tablespoon soy sauce

500g white-fleshed or oily fish fillets, skinned

Combine maple syrup, mustard and soy sauce in bowl and mix well. Add fillets and marinate, covered, 30 minutes, or longer if time allows in refrigerator. Drain well, reserving marinade. Panfry, barbecue or grill fish 2 to 3 minutes per side or until fish is opaque and beginning to flake when tested, basting frequently with marinade. Serve immediately.

Beer batter

1-cup (125g) plain flour

1-teaspoon salt

1 egg, baton

1-cup (250ml) beer

Sift flour and salt into bowl. Make well in middle and gradually mix in egg and beer (beer will froth up; keep mixing to allow bubbles to subside). Mix well to form smooth batter. Dip seafood into batter, allowing excess to drip away. Plunge into hot oil to deep fry. Cook until golden. Drain on paper towels before serving.

Barbequed tuna with garlic dressing

¼ cup (60ml) olive oil

1-tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 -cloves garlic, chopped (more if you prefer)

1-teaspoon Dijon mustard

1-tablespoon olive oil, for cooking

4 white-fleshed or oily fish cutlets, about 250g each

Salt and freshly ground pepper.

Combine ¼ cup oil, vinegar, garlic, mustard and parsley in small saucepan, and stir over medium heat 1 to 2 minutes to infuse garlic flavour into oil. Preheat barbeque or grill and brush with oil to prevent fish from sticking. Brush fish with oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook 3 to 4 minutes per side or until fish is opaque and beginning to flake when tested. Place on plates and spoon dressing over. Serve at once.

Wok-cooked Fragrant Mussels

Serves 4-6

2kg / 4½ lb best live Mussels
Olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
3 sticks of Lemon grass, outer leaves removed, finely sliced
2 fresh chillies, red, green or both
3 tablespoons finely sliced ginger
2 handfuls of fresh coriander, pounded or finely chopped
1 tablespoons sesame oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 Spring onions
Juice of 3 limes
1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk

Place your mussels with a couple of lugs of olive oil in a large, very hot wok or pot. Shake around and add the rest of the ingredients, apart from the lime juice and coconut milk. Keep turning over until all the mussels have opened - throw away any that remain closed. Squeeze in your lime juice and add your coconut milk. Bring to the boil and serve immediately.

Monkfish Wrapped in Banana leaves with Ginger, Cilantro, Chile, and Coconut Milk

You just can't go wrong with this combination of flavors. It's open to all white-fleshed fish. Banana leaves are very easy to buy from Asian or Latino markets. Get nice big ones to wrap your fish up in. Failing banana leaves, you can use vine leaves, which you can get in the supermarkets, somewhat smaller, but no less tasty for that. If you really can't get hold of any leaves then kitchen foil will do.

4 large banana leaves or vine leaves
A little olive oil
2 fresh red chiles
2 sticks lemon grass, outer leaves removed, centers finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 good handfuls fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
2 limes, juiced and zested
1 (400 milliliter) can coconut milk
2 tablespoons sesame seed oil
A drizzle fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 heaped tablespoons finely sliced fresh ginger
4 (6 to 8 ounce /170 to 225 gram) pieces monkfish (can use other more abundant white-fleshed fish, such as Pacific mahi mahi, farmed striped bass, or farmed catfish)
4 rosemary sprigs or bay leaf sticks, to secure

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C/gas 8).  
To make the banana leaves more pliable, hold for a few seconds over a gas flame. Leaving aside the fish and herb sticks, pound the rest of the ingredients in a pestle and mortar to make a thick paste and spoon a little onto each banana leaf. Place the fish on top and then spoon the rest of the paste on the top. Bringing the sides in and spiking it with a rosemary sprig or bay leaf stick to secure it. This will look lovely and it is natural, but I have been known to use a clothes peg or string to hold it all together. It won't be a perfect seal but this allows it to breath and steam, letting the flavours infuse, so gutsy and tasty. Put the parcels on a tray and bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven, and allow to rest for 5 minutes.  
I serve the individual parcels on plates at the table and let my friends dissect them. When opened, the fragrant steam wafts up and smells fantastic. Serve with plain boiled rice to mop up the juices, that's all it has to be. End of story, done, lovely.

Yield: 4 servings                                                    Prep Time: 20 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 5 minutes                                 Cook Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: Medium

Fish and Chips

For the chips:
3 3/4 pints (2 litres) vegetable oil
2 pounds (950 grams) floury potatoes, like russets, peeled and cut into large chips

For the batter:
1 cup plain flour
1 cup beer
2 egg whites, whipped to soft peaks
Salt

4 (9 ounce/250 gram) fillets haddock or cod, skin on, and pin boned

Pour all the vegetable oil into a deep pan or deep fat fryer, and heat to 300 degrees F (160 degrees C.) Blanch the cut potatoes in the oil until soft, but not coloured, about 4 minutes. Remove and drain.

Mix together the flour and the beer, and then fold in the egg whites. Turn up the heat of the oil to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Dip the fish in the batter and fry for a few minutes with the chips until golden brown.

Drain on kitchen paper and serve with bread and butter, wally's (battered, deep fried pickles served with ranch dressing), and pickled eggs.

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Difficulty: Easy