The Hungry Girls - Cherry Tomato, Herb and Chilli Fish

Leah, Rachel and Katherine are back today sharing their first delicious recipe with us- YUM! As part of their Guest Blog this week the Girls are giving away a set of all 3 editions of The Hungry Girls' Cookbooks. To go into the draw, simply leave a comment on any of this weeks HG posts before 10pm on Thursday the 19th. The winner will be drawn at random and announced on Friday- good luck! -Jenny x

I don’t have much luck with fishing. I love the idea of it – casting in, sitting around on the shore, then reeling in something beautiful and glistening from the deep. But this last bit never happens! At least not in the last few years of fishing attempts over summer.

As a fisherwoman I started out with a bang on a camping trip to the Glenelg River near the South Australian border. There was a group of us sitting on a small jetty tucked into the reeds, a line of craggy limestone cliffs facing us on the other side of the river. Somehow I managed to be the one catching all the fish! I think I got two bream, which isn’t exactly a huge haul, but was at least more than anyone else caught. I thought, this fishing caper is fantastic! So easy! The seasoned fishermen wanted to throw me in after I said this a few too many times.

My husband likes fishing even more than I do but we share the same current tide of bad luck. His purchases of fishing licenses and bait go a-wasted. On Boxing Day he was fishing in Portland with my brother, who’s been catching decent whitings, snappers and even a 1.1 metre gummy shark in the region lately, but nothing while we were there!

Ah well. I can content myself with purchasing a nice fresh snapper from a fishmonger and getting it filleted. This is a delicious way of cooking it – in a pan on a bed of buttery cherry tomatoes, herbs, garlic and chilli. The fish gets cooked quite gently, and the tomatoes taste so delicious and caramelised you could eat them by themselves on toast. While I wouldn’t normally cook with skinless fish fillets, skinless actually works best for this recipe because of the gentle cooking, and so the fish absorbs the flavours. The recipe comes from The Hungry Girls’ Cookbook.

Cherry tomato, herb and chilli fish

Serves 4 1 whole white-fleshed fish weighing around 1.5 kg, filleted and skinned, each fillet cut into two pieces or 4 x 150–200 g white fish fillets salt and pepper 75 g butter 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil 2–3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1–2 red bird’s eye chillies (depending on their heat), finely chopped 2 punnets cherry tomatoes, halved 2 tablespoons chopped basil 2 tablespoons chopped parsley 2 tablespoons chopped chives Pat the fish fillets dry and rub with a little salt. Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan over medium–high heat until the butter foams, then add the garlic and chilli, frying until the garlic begins to colour. Add the tomatoes and fry for 30 seconds, then add the herbs and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine, and make sure the tomatoes cover the base of the pan fairly evenly. Lay the fish fillets on top and gently press them into the tomatoes. After 2–3 minutes, when you can see the fish turning opaque up the sides, turn the fillets. Try to pick up some of the tomatoes underneath so they end up on top. Cook for another 2 minutes. Take the pan to the table and serve. The fish is great served on top of green beans or with a green salad, and with some crusty bread. - Rachel, Leah and Katherine x