WAIST band still a little tight after Christmas and the New Year? The low fat recipes in this month’s Cooking Corner will help solve the problem. They are easy to prepare, low in fat and delicious. I used yellowbelly fillets in ‘Wrapped Fish’, and for a change of texture and flavour, flathead fillets in ‘Fish with Spicy Plum Sauce’. Any type of fish is suitable for these recipes.

WRAPPED YELLOWBELLY
In this recipe the fillet of fish is steamed in the baking paper with the vegetables. The quantities shown serve one person, so please adjust quantities for the number of mouths you are feeding.

1 fillet of yellowbelly per person
baking paper such as Glad Bake
3-4 baby spinach leaves per parcel
1/4 teaspoon grated fresh garlic or ginger
Shitake mushrooms, sliced
Kikkoman salt-reduced soy sauce

TO PREPARE
Three-quarter fill a frypan with water and bring to a simmer.
Cut enough baking paper to form a parcel around the fillet of yellowbelly. Lay the fillet in the centre of the baking paper. Wash the baby spinach leaves well and lay on top of the fish fillet. Sprinkle the grated garlic or ginger over the top of the spinach leaves and arrange the sliced mushrooms over the top of that. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of soy sauce over each fish fillet.
Fold and wrap the baking paper containing the ingredients to form a parcel, and tie with a little kitchen twine to stop the parcel opening up when cooking. Place the fish parcel in the frypan of simmering water and cook for about ten minutes or so, depending on the thickness of the fish fillet.

TO SERVE
To serve, place the parcel on a serving plate and let the guests unwrap their delicious, low fat meals.

GRILLED FLATHEAD WITH SPICY PLUM SAUCE

1-2 flathead fillets per person
Plum Sauce
1 large tin SPC plums
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 small red chilli, seeded and finely sliced
1 teaspoon grated ginger (optional)

TO PREPARE FILLETS
Place the flathead fillets under a preheated grill and cook until almost done - the fish will continue to cook for a while after it has been removed from under the grill.

TO PREPARE PLUM SAUCE
Remove the seeds from the plums and puree the plum flesh in a food processor. Place the plum puree in a saucepan and add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for about fifteen minutes or until the puree has a sauce-like consistency.

TO SERVE
To serve, place the grilled flathead fillets on a serving plate and spoon a generous amount of spicy plum sauce over the fillets.