George Foreman Grill and some Delish Fish!

The George Foreman Grill and some Delicious Fish!

I’ve been sent a George Foreman Grill.  Now, hands up everyone, who has always secretly wanted one but been just a bit reluctant to get one because their parents had one.  And, cross your fingers if you might just have been a bit put off by all that healthy American advertising.

Maybe it’s just me.

My mum and dad DID have a very early model of the George Foreman Grill.  They were early adopters and brand advocates.  And they used the grill for all sorts of things, some more successful than others.  I remember that cleaning wasn’t that easy (I suspect the non-stick coating has improved over time) and that my dad had a habit of overcooking things.

My mother also had the most cluttered kitchen in the world.  I’m not an organised neat person, but, compared to my mum I’m a kitchen saint.  And the grill took up the last remaining square cm of kitchen worktop.

Anyway.  I’m a convert.  I saw the George Foreman Grill being demonstrated at a recent press event and tried some of the food that was being made.  And, I was also amazed at the range of models available, including the one I’ve been sent, which is for 2-3 people.  It’s very compact, but big enough to cook a couple of steaks simultaneously.

My grill arrived a few days ago…and I’m currently enjoying a box of fresh fish that has been sent to me by John at Delish Fish.   John ships his fish directly from Peterhead Fishmarket in Scotland, and everything arrives beautifully packaged and wonderfully fresh.   So, I decided to risk one piece of hake on the grill…a real test of how well the George Foreman Grill works for me, because I’ve found grilling fish can be quite tricky.  You can easily end up with dried out fish or with something that isn’t cooked through.  Hake is a firmish white fish which isn’t terribly popular in the UK.  It’s a shame, in my view, that most of our Hake ends up being shipped to Spain because it is easy to cook and eat. A bit like cod, but usually rather less boney (I think because it’s a much bigger fish so easier to fillet).

I decided that I’d make a spice crust for the hake…so, I ground up a few coriander seeds, a teaspoon of fennel seeds and a couple of black peppercorns.  Then, brushed the fish with olive oil before pressing the coating firmly into the fish.  You could do the same thing before pan frying your fish if you wanted – the spices should season the fish rather than overwhelming it.

On of the nice things about the George Foreman grill is that you don’t have to turn the fish or meat, just close the clamshell down.  And, it took about 5 minutes to cook.  I followed the method that Paul Ainsworth taught us at Boscastle Festival.  Fish that is cooked will be opaque and have protein rising through the surface – little white globules…and once you see that, your fish is cooked through.  You can of course, check by flaking the fish, but the catch with that is that you are breaking up the piece of fish you are about to serve and spoiling its appearance.  The picture below was the fish about a minute before it was ready to serve.  You can see it is almost completely opaque.

I served the fish drizzled with a little extra virgin olive oil and with a fresh tomato, lemon and basil salad.  And, I’m going to try some more ‘fish on the grill’ dishes, because for me good, fresh fish really works well cooked simply.

Many thanks to DelishFish for the Hake (click the link if you’d like to try some of the fish for yourself) and to George Foreman UK for sending me the grill to try.