March 29, 2024

Smoked Snoek and Mussel Parcels – memories of a West Coast weekend!

Posted on July 3, 2014 by in seafood

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smoked snoek

Smoked Snoek  and mussel Parcels – my attempt at holding on to a weekend of utter bliss on our beautiful West Coast!

Smoked Snoek or just fresh snoek and mussels – two of the West Coast’s abundant offers. I love cooking mussels  in a Fragrant tomato Sauce, but a typical West Coast paella will not be the same without  fresh mussels. The purists of course will tell you to eat them fresh off the rocks, but I am not brave enough for that! Smoked Snoek on the other hand is used in my Smoorsnoek recipe and it is one of our favorite suppers. You could also try my easy Smoked Snoek Paté, delicious with thin slices of toast! The truth is, I spent an entire weekend at in this beautiful part of our country and never touched a morsel of seafood!

After my book launch earlier on the year, my days became a blur of events and appearances for which I am extremely grateful, but it has taken it’s toll on our family life and time to spent together became less and less. We needed a break, we needed rest and we needed to recharge our batteries. I could not think of a better place than the west Coast. I convinced my husband that the children should each take a friend, which turned out to be a brilliant plan as they entertained themselves while I could really just rest, sleep and read a book! Not much happened on the cooking side, I made the basics, but bulk, because the teenagers can eat……oh my word!

smoked snoek

Usually when we go on a weekend retreat, I have a whole page of places to visit and things to see, which of course cause major stress in the family! This weekend I had nothing planned, except my visit to Bella’s stoep! I have heard so much about her “lang tafel” (long table), yet I have never had the privilege to sit and enjoy a meal at her “lang Tafel”! Well, Isabella heard I was coming to Langebaan and she insisted we visit on Sunday. You know the saying “good things come to those who wait”? Well, I waited and last Sunday I got to sit around that table by myself, well with my family of course. There on the stoep (porch) we chatted until the sun settled for the night. I learned againthat food does not have to be all pretentious and fancy, it can be simple and uncomplicated, but served with love. At that long table I felt at home – it is true what my gran told me…. it is not WHAT you feed people, but HOW you make them feel that will always bring them back to your table – thank you Bella!

On Monday, we reluctantly made our way back to Cape Town and on the way, I got the idea to make these Smoked Snoek and Mussel parcels, at least my family could hang on to the memories of our lovely weekend just a little longer! Seafood needs little more than butter, salt, pepper and lemon juice and in this case, the phylo pastry is just there to keep everything together! Try it, you will be amazed!

smoked snoek

Smoked Snoek and Mussel Parcels

serves 6 ( 2 per person)

Ingredients

1 large onion – finely chopped

1 clove garlic- finely chopped

45 – 50 ml butter

750 g smoked snoek – flaked and bones removed

1 kg fresh or frozen mussel meat

juice and zest of 1 lemon

100 ml chopped parsley

salt and pepper to taste

To make the parcels

4 sheets phyllo

80 g butter – melted

smoked snoek

Method

Heat a big pan on the stove and add the butter. Saute the onion and garlic on low heat until it is soft and almost translucent. Add the flaked snoek and the mussels and cook for about 3 – 5 minutes the frozen mussels will release some water, so cook until it has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper, add the lemon juice and zest as well as the parsley.

On a clean work space, lay out one sheet of phyllo and butter it with a pastry brush. lay another sheet on top of that one. Cut each double-layered phyllo sheet in 4. Use a muffin pan and line with one of the double-layered squares. Spoon some of the seafood mix in the pastry case and fold pastry over to close the parcel. Repeat the process and make 12 parcels. Heat oven to 180C and bake parcels until golden brown. Serve with mebos chutney or moskonfyt.

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