Gut, gill and wash your fish frames or heads. Place the fish in an oven bag. With whole frames you may need to fold the backbone. Use one oven bag per fish. We use a mixture of white wine and garlic in the oven bag – you can be creative here. Bake in a medium oven until fish is cooked through – timing varies according to the fish size. Serve on individual platters with lemon juice and seasonings – and your favourite drink. We eat fish frames with wedges or bread and a good Hawkes Bay Sauvignon Blanc. This is one of our favourite meals!

Make up a sugar/salt mixture using 2/3 brown sugar to 1/3 non-iodised salt. Rub mix into fillets (for 1 kahawai fillet, a small cupped handful is generally sufficient).  For something different, try some chopped garlic or ginger in your sugar/salt mix. Layer fillets in a large dish and refrigerate for the night. Hang prepared fillets to dry – we use a clothes rack in the garage with newspaper underneath and hooks fashioned from wire. Hang for a full day, or until they are dry to touch. Smoke in your usual fashion.  

Try this with your fish. This gives your fish a nice golden coating while adding a touch of  flavour.

      1kg of fish, cut into 1cm cubes 2 Tbsp green curry paste 2 Tbsp oil 2 med onions, finely diced 1 tsp garlic, crushed 1 tsp paprika 400ml coconut cream 2 cups chicken stock lemon rind, finely grated 6 kaffir lime leaves salt & pepper to taste garnish: sliced spring onions and 1/2 cup toasted cashew nuts Rub green curry into fish and set aside in the refrigerator. In a heavy saucepan heat oil and cook onions until tender. Add garlic and paprika and sizzle a few seconds more. Mix in the coconut cream, stock, lemon rind and lime leaves and simmer for 10 minutes (sauce can…