croatian brodet – fish stew (like french bouillabaise)
Made a 6pax Croatian dinner for my RI friends & spouses this evening on 14.5.2018.^^
- croatian grilled fish (sailfish steak, treadfin tail, tiger garoupa)
- croatian brodet (Croatian style bouillabaisse) fish stew (treadfin head, whole seabream, prawns, littleneck clams aka la la)
- 16th century Dubrovnik honey orange capon (castrated rooster) – i used the sheng shiong variety
😜
- grilled veg (red & yellow peppers, zucchini, pumpkin, jap sweet potatoes)
- seafood tagliatelle
KF & wife A are traveling to croatia in aug2018. CH & wife SW may also go in future so they were interested in the food & to look at our recent croatia trip photos. 🙂
the croatian brodet was the best dish of the evening, everyone’s favourite!
i fried red onions, chopped scallions, sliced ginger, whole coriander till fragrant then added chopped garlic. i used intense chicken stock, so broth was very tasty. the fish i cooked for about 4-5mins. when serving i heat up covered, added the prawns & the littleneck clams (la la) to cook, then served.
grilled fish – tiger garoupa, treadfin tail, sailfish loin
i used tiger garoupa, treadfin tail, & sailfish loin for the grilled fish dish. 🙂
sailfish akin to tuna & swordfish in texture (firm), and lighter in flavour. bought it from phoon huat delicatessen. for the sailfish steak, i seasoned with sea salt & pepper & charred over high heat on all sides first before over grill.
stuffed with sliced ginger, chopped scallions & garlic, a bit of salt and some coriander, oven grilled at 250degC for 9mins with 2-3tbsp light soy sauce & 2 tbsp olive oil. then drizzle 1 tbsp lemon juice.
the sailfish steak was excellent in falvour & texture!.
dish was very tasty, fish was fresh ok, treadfin was good, though tiger garoupa not quite comparable to the seabass & seabream we had in croatia.
honey orange chicken
we had a nice capon dish at kapun in dubrovnik during our recent croatia tour.
capon is a castrated rooster, the use seemed to date back to as early as 162BC. apparently castrated rooster double in size, have small crown & tender meat. the honey orange capon we had in dubrovnik claimed a 16th century recipe.
anyway i used the sheng shion variety & fashioned my own sauce.
basically just deboned 1/2 chicken, cut into 2 – breast & thigh pieces, seasoned with fish sauce & white pepper & fried skin down to brown the skin for 3-4mins, then turned over added fresh orange juice & honey, covered, cooked chicken while reducing to a thickened sauce. chicken must not be overcooked, so i thickened the sauce further separately.
i think my chicken was more tender, moist & tasty standalone than what we had in dubrovnik actually, the sauce though could not replicate the unique taste & of course the kapun dish was served with barley risotto, and overall experience was quite different.
grilled vege-red pepper,yellow pepper,zucchini, portobello mushrooms
grilled vege – pumpkin, sweet corn, jap sweet potatoes
the grilled vegetables were very good this evening. ^^
i pan seared the red pepper,yellow pepper,zucchini, portobello mushrooms in little oil, sprinkling sea salt.
for the pumpkin (drizzle of honey), jap sweet potato & sweet corn (coated with gourmet butter), i added olive oil & sea salt & roasted 20mins in 250degC oven…pumpkin & sweet corn were especially tasty.
seafood tagliatelle
for the seafood tagliatelle, i browned garlic cloves in olive oil, added red & yellow pepper, then white wine & a tasty chicken stock, and reduced to a very tasty stock.
when serving i added the prawns & littleneck clams, then squid & covered, the added tagliatelle & tossed. wife felt that the tagliatelle was not al dente enough. otherwise the pasta was tasty & prawns & squid & clams were just right, not overcooked..
fishes for brodet & croatian grilled fish
only 6pax, so i used only 1 small seabream, 1 small garoupa, 1 large treadfin cut in 2 for the 2 dishes – brodet & grilled fish.
sailfish loin
sailfish loin
the sailfish loin was my first try, and it was quite excellent!
grilled fish – tiger garoupa, treadfin tail, sailfish loin
grilled fish – tiger garoupa, treadfin tail, sailfish loin
the grilled fish was pretty good, not as good as the seabass & seabream in croatia, and not as good as the brodet dish this evening, which was quite perfect…
deboned half chicken
i used 1/2 deboned chicken, seasoned with fish sauce & pepper & pan-grilled.
honey orange chicken
then cooked with orange juice & honey, and thickened to a drizzle sauce.
grilled vege-red pepper,yellow pepper,zucchini, portobello mushrroms
the grilled vegetables were in fact the second favourite dish for this evening after brodet.
prawns
squid
i prepared fresh prawns (for both brodet & pasta) & squid.
seafood tagliatelle
seafood tagliatelle
made a nice pasta.
fruits – cut pineapples, rock melons, cherries & blueberries
fruits – cut pineapples, rock melons, cherries & blueberries
CH brought very sweet cherries & cut pineapples & rock melons..& KF brought a red wine.
we viewed our recent crotian photos after dinner..the sceneries & food…haha!
a great evening with good friends & nice food.
c.h.e.f andy
c.h.e.f 