How to make, Italian style Barramundi, with pine nuts, and Barramundi in a Lemonade batter.

Hello, and welcome to this my latest hub.

Each month I get a delivery of fish from the famous Yorkshire fishing town called Grimsby. It is usually a mixed box of fish caught in the North Sea and sometimes frozen from around the world. It means that I always have plenty of fish in my freezers, fish as diverse as red snapper, octopus, squid, monkfish, and this time barramundi, I knew very little about. So I have two interesting recipes for you, and if you are not lucky enough to be able to source some barramundi then you can use bass or perhaps even salmon. For my friends in the States, they are being farmed in Turner Falls Massachusetts.

Barramundi, is a very useful fish, and there are a whole load of reasons for using it; not least the fact that it is one of the healthiest fishes available in the market.

Firstly, it has a fantastic texture; it is a meaty fish very similar to salmon or bass.

Secondly barramundi is high in omega-3 and omega-6 which are important structural components of cell membranes. Omega-3 is required for the development and function of the brain and resting, it also plays an important part in brain function. Over the past few years it has been discovered that these fatty acids are vital for good health.

Barramundi live in the waters of Northern Australia and in the seas around India and Sri Lanka. It is also known as Asian bass, its scientific name is barramundi perch.

It can grow to 4 feet in length and weighing almost 90 pound, virtually all the fish are born masculine and after they have bred they change to feminine, which means that females can only breed with younger males in their prime. A large female will lay 32 million eggs in a season, and curiously they only spawn when it is a full moon.

Another health factor is that it is half the calories of salmon.

My Italian friend Fabio was here when I thawed out one of the fillets of barramundi, neither of us had cooked it before so we just used our cooking experience and instincts to guide us as to what would give us a really tasty meal.

Another health factor is that it is half the calories of salmon.

My Italian friend Fabio was here when I thawed out one of the fillets of barramundi, neither of us had cooked it before so we just used our cooking experience and instincts as to what would give us a really tasty meal.

Cook the fillet into suitable sized pieces and put aside.

Finely chop an onion, and two cloves of garlic.

Finely chop on stick of celery, and fresh fennel.

soak raisins in a mixture of sherry or wine and balsamic vinegar

chop up your pointy cabbage and wash the potatoes. I like a variety called 'Pink Fir' they are a bit of a strange shape, but they have a great flavour ideal hot or cold with salads as well as main courses.

Heat a tablespoon of ghee and a tablespoon of olive oil, and then gently cook with the onion, garlic and salary until they are soft. Add the raisings and stir together.

Now add the pine nuts and Italian herbs and mix everything together. Put these in a pan to keep warm ready for serving.

Place the pieces of barramundi in the pan flesh side down and cook on a very gentle heat for about five minutes until it begins to go white. Carefully turn the fish over onto its skin side and increase the heat you can cook on a heat strong enough to make the skin go crispy if you wish or again until it goes white; do not overcook or you will spoil its wonderful subtle flavours.

Meantime boil the potatoes in a little salted water, and with about 5 min to go add the cabbage. I hate cabbage that has been overcooked until it is completely soggy, I like it still nice and crunchy.

On this occasion I had my favourite tipple, a delicate French red, Corbieres. Luckily I have a friend with a house in France and when she does the journey there and back in her car she brings me a good supply of this wonderful French red.

St. Emilion would also be very nice, because it has a slightly peppery dryness to it.

A new world chardonnay, crisp and tangy with a hint of citrus would also be a wine I might choose.

We so enjoyed the Barramundi that I was determined to experiment with it and try something a little different. We all love fish and chips at our house so I thought I would try making a nice crispy batter by using a very simple flour mixed with a little salt and a tumbler of lemonade. Beer batters are very common these days, but not everyone likes beer, and so to keep the sugar down instead of using the beer used diet low cal. Lemonade; for the I used sweet potatoes cut into scallops as we call them here in Yorkshire, in other words thin slices rather than chips.

For the batter you need,

One cup of plain (all purpose) flour.

A good pinch of salt

A tumbler of fizzy lemonade.

Add the salt to the flour, and then gently pour in the lemonade so as not to lose all the bubbles.

Dip your fish in plain flour both sides and then into the batter, the flour helps the batter to stick to the fish.

Heat your deep fryer, and when up to temperature gently add the fish.

A useful tip.

I usually dip the fish holding it by the thin end, and then drop it into the oil away from me. So that if it splashes it won’t splash me.

When crispy, golden brown serve with your chips, and season with malt vinegar and salt, and maybe tomato ketchup.

I enjoyed this so much I forgot to photograph it until it was nearly all gone, I'm sure I will be making it again and then I'll have to add more photos here.

This turned out to be a really crispy cruchy batter, yum yum it was great.

Source of reference the Australis web site, where you can find lots of interesting facts about this fish,