TV cooks’ best ever recipes: Rick Stein reveals his best-loved dishes  (2024)

All this week, to mark Weekend Magazine’s Silver Jubilee, we are featuring recipes by the most popular celebrity chefs from the past 25 years.

Today it’s the turn of Rick Stein, who first appeared on our screens in Floyd On Fish in 1985 and has since presented numerous TV cookery series from around the world.

Renowned for his seafood cuisine, he also runs seven restaurants and a pub in Cornwall.

Monkfish, mussel & prawn stew with chargrilled sourdough

The recipe for this cioppino, or fish stew, was given to me by Tadich Grill, the oldest restaurant in California.

I’ve cut out a few ingredients, mostly seafood, as the variety is too great for domestic shopping.

Remove the heads and shells from the prawns but leave the last tail segment of the shell in place.

Simmer the heads and shells in the stock or water for 20 minutes, then strain and discard them.

Set the stock aside and reserve the prawn meat to add to the stew later.

Bring the vinegar and sugar to the boil in a small pan and reduce to a couple of teaspoons.

Heat the olive oil and butter in a saucepan, add the garlic, onion, celery and green pepper and sweat for 6-8 minutes.

Add the white wine, salt, pepper, chilli flakes, tomatoes, then the fish stock and the vinegar reduction.

Simmer for 30 minutes, adding the oregano for the last 5 minutes.

You can make this base in advance if you like.

To finish, bring the stew base to the boil; add the raw prawns, monkfish and mussels, put a lid on the pan and cook for 5 minutes.

Toast the sourdough, then singe the slices slightly on a gas flame.

Rub the toast with the garlic and sprinkle with olive oil.

To serve, place a slice of toast in each bowl, ladle in some stew and sprinkle with parsley.

Steamed scallops in the shell with ginger, soy, sesame oil & spring onions

This is a favourite dish of mine from a good Chinese restaurant. I regard Chinese seafood cookery as among the best in the world.

Pour 2.5cm of water into the base of a wide, shallow pan and bring it up to the boil.

Loosen the scallops from their shells but leave them in place. Sprinkle each one with some of the ginger.

Arrange the scallops, in batches if necessary, on a petal steamer.

Lower them into the pan, reduce the heat to medium, cover and steam for about 4 minutes until just set.

Remove and keep warm while you cook the rest.

Put the sesame oil and soy sauce into a small pan and warm through.

Lift the scallops on to four warmed plates and pour over some of the warm soy sauce and sesame oil.

Sprinkle over the coriander and spring onions and serve immediately.

Rick’s Newlyn fish pie

This is not a classic fish pie in that it doesn’t have a topping of mashed potatoes: I use breadcrumbs and lots of Parmesan and pepper instead. It’s always been hugely popular in my restaurants. I regard it as a gift that just keeps on giving.

Preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan/gas 4. Slow-cook the onion in the butter in a saucepan for 10 minutes.

Make the veloute (see recipe below), adding the bay leaves, clove and nutmeg.

Pour the veloute through a sieve into the sauteed onions and add the Parmesan cheese, double cream and lemon juice, and a little salt if needed.

Cut the fish fillet into bite-size pieces, 3-4cm long.

Season with a little salt and turn over in the flour.

Fry for 2-3 minutes in a frying pan over a medium heat using the vegetable oil and butter.

Remove the fish to your pie dish.

Fry the mushrooms in the same pan adding a little salt; stir in the mustard and add to the pie dish.

Now add the shellfish or crustaceans to the pie dish.

They can be raw or cooked, but if raw scallops or prawns are large, slice them in half.

Drizzle the truffle oil over. Pour the sauce over the fish.

Mix the breadcrumbs with the melted butter, and spread over the top. Bake for 20 minutes.

Penang Road laksa

What makes this Malaysian soup particularly good is its base of intense laksa ‘gravy’: spiced, soured fish stock flavoured with galangal, chillies, shrimp paste, tamarind, sugar and Vietnamese mint (Persicaria odorata).

Bring 1.5 litres of water to the boil in a large pan.

Add the fish, lemongrass and salt, bring back to a simmer and cook the fish for just 10 minutes.

Then lift on to a plate and leave to cool slightly.

Add the spice paste, tamarind water, fish sauce and sugar to the pan, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Strain the laksa ‘gravy’ through a sieve into a bowl, pressing out as much flavour as you can, then return to a clean pan, bring to a simmer and keep hot.

Meanwhile, flake the flesh from the fish, discarding bones and skin.

Arrange the fish and all the topping ingredients on a serving plate.

Bring a pan of unsalted water to the boil.

If using dried noodles, cook them in unsalted boiling water for 3-4 minutes or until just tender, then drain.

If using fresh noodles, drop them into boiling water, leave for a few seconds to heat through, then drain.

Divide the noodles between 4 bowls and ladle over the hot laksa ‘gravy’.

Invite your guests to add their desired toppings and some flaked fish.

Madras fish curry of snapper, tomatoes and tamarind

In my India book, I nominated this as my favourite curry. I can still remember the slightly oily flavour of the exquisite snapper because fish oil, when perfectly fresh, is very nice to eat.

I always think oily fish goes well with curry anyway — particularly with the tomatoes, tamarind and curry leaves. Serve with plain rice. SERVES 6

Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan over a medium heat.

When hot, add the mustard seeds and fry for 30 seconds, then stir in the onion and garlic and fry gently for about 10 minutes until softened and lightly golden.

Add the curry leaves, chilli powder, coriander and turmeric then fry for 2 minutes, then stir in the tomatoes, tamarind water, green chillies and salt and simmer for about 10 minutes until rich and reduced.

Add the fish, cook for a further 5 minutes or until just cooked through, and serve.

How to make tamarind water:

Take some tamarind pulp the size of a tangerine and place in a bowl with 150ml warm water.

Work paste into the water with your fingers until it has broken down and seed have been released.

Now strain through a fine sieve into another bowl and discard the fibrous material that is left in the sieve.

That water is ready to use. Keep in the fridge for 24 hours.

Ensenada fish tacos with chilli and coriander

We serve these delicious tacos at my fish and chip restaurants.

They were inspired by my late Australian friend, Rudi, and a trip he made to Ensenada — a city on the Baja California coast of Mexico, where they make fabulous fish tacos.

Warm the tortillas in a dry frying pan, in a microwave or in the oven.

Get your toppings — shredded cabbage, diced avocado, pico de gallo salsa and hot chilli sauce — ready.

Mix the ingredients for the crema and set aside.

To make the batter, sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a roomy bowl.

Using a balloon whisk, incorporate the beer until you have a smooth batter. Set aside.

Cut the fish into fingers about 1cm thick. Heat the oil in a large pan to 190c.

Dip a few pieces of fish into the seasoned flour, shake off excess, then dip them into the batter.

Fry for 2-2½ minutes until crisp and golden.

Repeat until you’ve cooked all the fish, draining each batch briefly on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.

Sprinkle lightly with salt.

Serve the fish immediately in warm tortillas, with the toppings on the table for guests to help themselves.

Ensenada fish tacos with chilli and coriander

Salmon en croute with currants& ginger

No fish cookery book would be complete without a recipe for salmon cooked in puff pastry. It’s a rich and filling dish, and you don’t need a lot per person.

Season the salmon fillets well on both sides with salt.

Mix the softened butter with the stem ginger, currants, mace, ½ teaspoon of salt and some black pepper.

Spread the inner face of 1 salmon fillet evenly with the butter mixture and then lay the second fillet on top

Roll out one sheet of puff pastry and place the fish in the centre.

Brush a band of beaten egg around the fish.

Roll out a second piece of pastry into a rectangle roughly 5cm larger than the first one and lift it on top.

Press the pastry tightly around the outside of the salmon, taking care not to stretch it or trap in too much air; this might cause the pastry to shrink and the parcel to pop open when it’s cooking.

Press the edges together very firmly, then trim them neatly.

Mark all the way round with a fork — this ensures an even better seal. Then decorate the top of the pastry with ‘scales’ using an upturned teaspoon.

Chill the salmon en croûte for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 200c/180c fan/gas 6 and put in a large baking sheet to heat up.

Remove the salmon en croûte from the fridge and brush all over with beaten egg. Take the hot baking sheet out of the oven and carefully transfer the salmon parcel on to it.

Return it to the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the core temperature reaches 55c, use a thermometer to check. Remove the salmon en croûte and leave to rest for 5 minutes.

Transfer it to a warmed serving plate and take it to the table whole. Cut across into slices to serve.

Ragout of sautéed turbot, serrano ham, vegetables & pea shoots

Turbot is possibly the best-tasting fish in the world.

However, it can be expensive, so you can use any firm-textured fish instead.

Blanch the vegetables in boiling salted water as follows: peas 30 seconds; courgettes 30 seconds; asparagus 60 seconds.

Season the turbot pieces with a little salt and fry over a moderate heat using the vegetable oil and ½ tsp of the butter.

Put the ham, preserved lemon, stock and miso paste into a small pan.

Bring to the boil, add the rest of the butter and boil rapidly for 1 minute to emulsify the butter and reduce the volume a little.

Stir in the vegetables and pea shoots, warm through and pour into 4 warmed soup plates.

Top with the turbot pieces.

Fish And Shellfish by Rick Stein ©Rick Stein 2001, photography James Murphy 2014, and The Road To Mexico by Rick Stein ©Rick Stein 2017, photography James Murphy 2017, are both published by BBC Books at £26. To order a copy for £20.80 (20 per cent discount, valid to November 6), visit www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 0844 571 0640. P&P is free on orders over £15. Spend £30 on books and get FREE premium delivery.