Last bite of summer Add a tropical flair to your dinner table

BY NOEL CUNNINGHAM

While this summer may have looked quite different from the others due to the pandemic, the end of summer blues can get us all down. As we soak up these last days of sunshine and if we’re lucky to sneak in a few more patio or backyard dining I have a recipe this week just for that. Before we get to the recipe let’s take some time to savour the past few months. Over the last couple of months, I have shared some of my favourite foodie moments from cooking on the virtual Grace Jerk Fest to celebrating Caribbean Carnival month with Sweet and Nice Ice Cream.  I have also shared hearty and light recipes from that rich beef stew, penne pasta with jerk marinated meatballs, spicy fish sandwich, coconut marinated Jerk chicken and festival waffle, ackee and saltfish with plantain cups, corned tacos, peppered shrimp, sweet and sour chicken to name a few including some cool cocktails.

In saying goodbye to the warm days of summer, allow this tropical dish to warm up your spirit before we dig into our flavours of fall and fall recipes. This week I‘m serving you a coconut-crusted fish fillet with mango, avocado pineapple and scotch bonnet salsa with tomato basil rice. This tomato basil rice is a hot pick from my debut cookbook Cuisine by Noel. The coconut fried fish is a quick and easy way to add some tropical flair to your dinner table. This dish is perfect for any weeknight meal. Easy to put together with only use a few basic ingredients and under 20 minutes dinner is ready!

In this recipe, I have used haddock which is a member of the cod family. Haddock has a mild flavour, firm flesh and moist texture. It is used interchangeably with cod but does have a slightly sweeter taste, which makes it the best white fish for smoking. Haddock is commonly sold fresh, frozen or smoked It literally melts in your mouth and is incredibly easy to cook.

Ingredients

• 6 fish fillets
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tsp lime juice

Breading

• 1 egg
• ¼ cup of coconut milk
• ¼ cup flour
• ½ cup sweetened coconut flakes
• 1 tsp salt and pepper
• 1 tsp parsley flakes

Salsa

• 1 mango, small diced
• ½ cup pineapple, small diced
• 1 avocado, small diced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Scotch bonnet pepper

Directions
Beat together in a shallow bowl the egg and coconut milk. Add the flour and the coconut in a separate bowl suitable for dredging. Add ¼ cup vegetable oil to a sauté pan set over medium heat. Dry the fish fillets off as much as possible then season with garlic, lime juice salt and pepper then dredge first in the egg and coconut milk mixture then flour mixture and coconut mixture.

Working with 2-3 fillets at a time, add the fish to the frying pan. When coconut starts to get golden, carefully turn over. When fish is cooked, remove from the pan. Add more oil to the pan if necessary and repeat with the remaining fish.

For the salsa combine all ingredients in a bowl together and serve over the fish with rice

Tomato Basil Rice
Ingredients

• 3 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 3 cloves garlic
• ½ small yellow onion
• 1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 cups of rice
• 3 cups of water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• ⅓ cup basil, finely chopped

Directions
Heat the unsalted butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, and ginger to cook until translucent, 2 – 3 minutes (stir frequently). Add basil and cook for 20 seconds – don’t let it burn. Add tomato paste, and rice mix until tomato paste is dissolved about 2 minutes. Add water, salt to taste and thyme. Stir to combine then cover and bring to simmer, then immediately turn down the heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes or until liquid is fully absorbed. Fluff with a fork, taste for salt. Stir through fresh basil and serve.