In today's Bite: Scrummy summer seafood

Seafood barbecue. Photo / Bite magazine

Find all your favourite bits from today's Bite magazine online. Follow the hyperlinks in Jo Elwin's editor's letter and lose yourself in bite.co.nz.

Former restaurateur and chef Jimmy Gerard's fish and and chips are fast becoming the stuff of legend at Auckland's Ponsonby Central, but there's way more on offer from his stall and he would like us all to get a little more adventurous in the seafood we eat. Read more from Jimmy here and be sure to try his Montpellier butter next time you're frying up some fish fillets or steaks. He also shares a recipe for baked turbot fillets, tomato, thyme and panko that I know will be a popular addition to the weeknight menu in many homes.

Montpellier butter on fish steaks. Photo / Bite magazine

Kingfish, or kingies as we affectionately call them, are highly celebrated up North at the beach where my parents live (perhaps even more than the crays!) and, knowing what our divers have to go through in order to get one of these beauties in the boat, I am always shocked when I see kingfish steaks for crazy-low prices in the shops. On the other hand, I am also disappointed that I cannot plan to make a dish using kingfish steaks as they are never in-store when I want them. I am sure Jimmy the Fish would concur that this is because the demand isn't there - people are still buying their perfectly skinned and boned fillets - "averse to bones" he says. So be sure to call in to Jimmy the Fish or start talking to your local fish monger about options outside of the usual skinned and boned fillets, you'll be amazed at what you can do, and for a lot less money too!

Jimmy the Fish at Ponsonby Central. Photo / Bite magazine

Aaron uses snapper fillets for his lemongrass-cured snapper bites (but of course we are encouraging you to use any other fresh fish too) and Hospobaby is wrapping up some fresh Vietnamese rolls using prawns, her favourite seafood.

Aaron Brunet's lemongrass-cured snapper. Photo / Bite magazine

Americans love a clam bake (Elvis fans would know this) and Warren's seafood barbecue is based on this concept. It's bulked out by sausage and sweetcorn, so you don't necessarily have to use a lot of seafood, and it can be whatever it is that you catch or find for a good price on the day. It's my new paella - the one-dish meal with some wow factor that everyone sits around and digs in to - mopping up all the juices with crusty bread.

Fish and green bean tagine. Photo / Bite magazine

Rounding out our scrummy summer seafood issue is a fish and green bean tagine which I made last week using trevally, because it was a good $10 cheaper than the more usual suspects, and it was absolutely perfect for it.