If you’re in a new relationship, the aim is to appear interesting to your partner. One way to fake interesting is to cook exotic food. The Three Pee Curry is just your ticket. If you’re very desperate, get some leis and drape them around your living room and you could get some paper umbrellas and whip up some cocktails.

This is a fusion curry, it’s part Indian, part Thai and part Tropical (insert whichever tropical country takes your fancy - personally I always call it the Tropical Hawaiian Curry).

Ingredients
400gm raw green prawns, leave tails on
1/2 small pumpkin, skinned cut into 2cm cubes
1/2 pineapple or small tin of pineapple pieces
1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic crushed
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp ground corinader
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp red curry paste
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp palm sugar
1 tsp lemongrass, chopped
1 can coconut cream
Jasmine rice
Coriander to serve

Heat roughly 1 tbsp of oil over low heat in a pan and add your onions. Cook until soft and starting to change colour. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Add all of the spices and red curry paste, stir and cook for another minute. Add the can of coconut cream then add the fish sauce, palm sugar and lemongrass and stir. Add in your pumpkin cubes and reduce heat to a simmer for roughly 10-15 mins. If your curry sauce starts to dry out at some water. Meanwhile you can get the rice ready by steaming or boiling or whatever method you use.

Test the pumpkin to see if it’s cooked. If it is add the prawns and pineapple with any pineapple juice and turn up the heat. You want to cook the prawns quickly, so mid- high heat is best. Stir and watch. When they have changed colour and curled up they are cooked - it should take around three minutes.

Serve the three pee curry on top of the jasmine rice and top with coriander. Sitting it next to your tropical Hawaiian punch and you’re exotic!

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This is my “Burgh…it’s really cold and I want to snuggle up to someone sexy when I’m finished”… Cheesy au gratin is dead sexy, it’s a warm and comforting dish that should put anyone at ease, especially those of you who think fennel is pretentious.

So on the menu tonight we have redfish, which I think is also known as red emporer in the UK, in a dill and fennel marinade with cauliflower and broccoli gratin and roast pumpkin and potatoes.

Ingredients
400g redfish fillets
bunch of dill, chopped
1 small fennel bulb, chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon
roughly 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 heaped teaspoon dijionaise (spell!)
2 large potatoes peeled and cut into small chunks
1/4 whole pumpkin peeled and cut into chunks
1/4 head cauliflower
1/2 head broccoli
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup grated tasty cheddar

Method
Heat oven to 180. Put the potatoes on to boil in a pot of water, once boiling leave them for 5 mins then drain really well. Once drained shake the potatoes in the pot to “rough them up” - yes you want them to look disshelved. Heat an oven tray in your oven with a dash of olive oil for about 3 mins then add your roughed up potatoes and pumpkin.

Meanwhile boil some water in another pot for your cauliflower and broccoli and prepare your marinade for the fish. Mix fennel, dill, dijionaise, olive oil, lemon juice and a good bit of ground pepper and salt. Add fish fillets and put in the fridge. I know, you’re saying “lemon juice cooks fish” but the redfish seems to cope with it, and the olive oil does water it down. Just make sure you don’t leave it marinating longer than an hour.

OK, after that mouthful, your broccoli and cauliflower should now be cooked. They only take a few minutes after your water has started boiling. Drain and put into an oven dish. Melt butter in a small pot, add flour and stir like there is no tomorrow. I cheat and use a whisk. When these have made a nice roux, add the milk and keep whisking over heat (mid-heat). This will thicken after about 5 mins then add cheese until it melts. Pour over cauliflower and broccoli and add to the oven.

You should also add the marinated fish to the oven now too in its own tray…if you are so lucky to have an oven that can fit three shelves…give it all 10-15 mins and that’s it. A yummy hot cool night meal…since it’s a cold night I give you permission to serve with a nice bottle of red, even though it goes against the rules, something like a Merlot would be yummy, then you can cuddle your loved one in front of the fire…

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This recipe is a real treat. I also knew fennel was great with fish (usually salmon), but in this simple dish it just picks it up. It’s a great meal if you’re feeling a bit sluggish.

I usually use ordinary spaghetti, but my brother gave me some of this whole wheat spaghetti and I have to say it wasn’t bad. It takes longer to cook than bleached spaghetti, but the nerd couldn’t taste the difference and it’s a slightly rougher texture which just seemed to work.

Ingredients
400g blue eye cod, cut into chunks
1 small bulb fennel, sliced thinly - keep the dill looking bits too
1 clove crushed garlic
1 can tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
olive oil
juice half lemon
handful of spaghetti

Method
Cook your spaghetti in boiling water - I usually bring the water to boil whilst I’m preparing the rest of the meal.

Heat olive oil over low heat, add fennel. Cook for a few minutes until very soft. Add garlic and cook for about a minute. Add can of tomatoes and increase heat to medium. I usually add a teaspoon of sugar when I use can tomatoes and in this recipe it works. Bring to the boil and then turn down to simmer. If you have thrown your spaghetti in to cook excellent. You want your spaghetti in for about three minutes before you add the fish to the tomato sauce. So when you are at this stage add the fish to the simmering tomatoes. The fish will take about 4 minutes to cook and you should turn the heat to low. Just before serving add your lemon juice to the tomato sauce.

Drain your spaghetti and serve on plates topped with the tomato fish sauce and then top with the dill-like fennel bits. I know it’s a really simple recipe, but I was pleasantly surprised!

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I can’t remember what this fish is. I got it last week and put it in the freezer, but I’ve got no idea what it is. I’m guessing… actually I’m not guessing, for the life of me I can’t remember and a quick search has revealed nothing, so come on - please tell me!

Ingredients
2 small pieces of fish (similar to the lame picture on the right)
grapeseed oil
1/2 zucchini, peeled (I mean keep peeling with a peeler to get the slices thin)
1/2 cucumber, peeled
1/2 shallot, cut into strips
6 chives, cut in half
lemon juice
Dressing
teaspoon mirin
teaspoon soy sauce
tablespoon grapeseed oil

Method
Combine zucchini, cucumber, shallots and chives in bowl and squeeze a good bit of lemon juice and one drop of grapeseed oil.

Heat some more grapseed oil in a fry pan and add the fish and a few grains of rock salt. Cook quickly for about 1 1/2 mins on each side. Now, the nerd thinks the dish would taste better if it was all cold and I agree with him. So, leave the fish to cool for about 20 mins.

Then place the greens in the bottom of the bowl add the fish and dress with the ‘dressing’. A super lite entree that leaves you wanting more, just like foreplay.

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I’m going through a Japanese phase at the moment. After reading a book about their diet and all the health benefits, I went on a bit of a shopping spree and got some japanese cookbooks. So we’re eating Japanese around twice a week. As I’m just starting out, it usually only means two to three courses. I can’t quite manage five, even though everything I’ve cooked so far is pretty quick. So tonight was trout followed soup. The trout was great and really took under 30 mins, the soup not so tasty. So I’ve altered the ingredients to what I’m pretty sure will taste much better.

BTW the fish is excellent…

Ingredients
1 Ocean trout - sliced in half
1/2 cup bamboo shoots, cut thinly
1 carrot, cut in half and sliced thinly
a few strips ginger sliced thinly
4 shallots, sliced thinly in strips
oil (I’ve been using Rapeseed Oil)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon soy
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups dashi*
1 tablespoon cornflour

Method
Stir fry vegetables (minus the shallots) in a little oil for a couple of minutes. You don’t want to let them get soft. Add dashi, sugar, soy and rice wine vinegar. Bring to boil and then simmer. Whilst this is simmering fry your fish. Dust lightly in flour and then put in a pot of hot oil (about 5 cm’s worth). The fish will only take three minutes so you if your timing is skillful you can go straight from simmering sauce to fish. When fish is cooked, transfer to paper towels. Mix cornflour with one tablespoon of water, add to simmering sauce - now do you see where the gooey came from? Cook sauce for another minute or so and you’re done.

Don’t forget for the Japanese presentation is just as important as the food, so transfer the fish to a sexy dish and top gently with the vegetables in simmering sauce.

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It’s summer and as I live near the beach I often feel a bit tropical and Hawaiian. As my moods are reflected in my cooking and today was a beautiful Bondi day, I felt the urge to create a tropical curry with the fruit of the moment, mango.

Ingredients
200g red snapper, cut into bite sizes
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
oil
half pumpkin cut into little bite size pieces
1 can 400ml coconut milk
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons fish sauce
4 lime leaves, cut into slivers
1 mango cut into slices
coriander
1 1/2 cups jasmine rice

Instructions
Put a bit of oil in a heavy based pan, add the curry paste and fry for roughly a minute until the paste has released it’s fragrance. Add turmeric and ground coriander, stir for a few seconds to release more fragrance. Add coconut milk and stir for a minute. Add water, fish sauce, lime leaves, mango and pumpkin. Slowly bring to the boil and then simmer for 15 mins until pumpkin is cooked through.

At this time start to cook some rice in boiling water. The rice should only take you 10 mins if the water is already boiling. A tip I learned from the geek is to wash the rice in boiling water (or hot water from the tap) in a sieve once it’s finished cooked. It always delivers great rice.

When pumpkin is cooked, add fish and cook for under 5 minutes.

Serve on rice with coriander sprinkled over the top.

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