Fish

Butter Roasted Cod with Spring Onion Mash (Serves 1)

This recipe has wonderful light, bright flavours and is so easy! It’s a recipe that I picked up many years ago from Silvana Franco’s cookbook, ‘Family Food’.

250g floury potatoes (such as Maris Piper), peeled and cubed

1 skinless cod fillet piece (around 150g)

Knob of butter, plus extra to grease

Grated zest and juice of ½ lime

2 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Cook the potatoes in a large pan of boiling, salted water until tender (15-20 minutes).
2. Meanwhile, cut out a rectangle of greaseproof paper, just large enough for the piece of fish. Lightly butter the paper and place on a large baking tray. Place the fish on the paper and dot with butter. Sprinkle the lime zest over and season with salt and pepper.
3. Bake the fish in a preheated oven, 200’c fan, for 6-8 minutes until just cooked.
4. Drain the potatoes and roughly mash (they don’t have to be smooth), then stir in the spring onions, olive oil and lime juice (to taste). Season with salt and pepper.
5. Put the mash on a plate and gently ease the fish off the paper and slide on top of the mash. Serve immediately.

Fish with Lemon & Caper Butter Sauce (Serves 1)

This lemon & caper butter sauce will be ready in minutes. Here I have served it with lemon sole, but in all honesty, it would work with any fillet of fish you like. Serve with steamed new potatoes and a good green salad.

*You will have a jar of left over capers from this recipe – why not use them up by cooking ‘Lamb Fricasse’ (recipe here!)

25g unsalted butter

½ lemon, zest and juice

1 tablespoons capers, drained

1 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1 lemon sole fillet (*see note above)

1 large knob of butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil to fry the fish

1. To make the sauce, heat the butter and lemon zest in a small pan, stir until the butter has melted and turns a light nut-brown colour. Remove from the heat and stir in the capers, lemon juice and parsley. Keep warm whilst you cook the fish.
2. To cook the lemon sole, melt the knob of butter and olive oil over a medium-high heat, add the fillet, skin side down, cook for 3-4 minutes. Carefully turn the fish over and cook for a further 1-2 minutes.
3. Serve the fish with the warm lemon & caper butter sauce spooned over.

Cod with Spring Greens (Serves 1)

As with all the recipes that I share on MenuMistress@Uni, this recipe appears on the main pages of Menu Mistress, where I suggest that it is served with mashed potato, however I realise that cooking mash for one person can be a bit of a ‘faff’, so here I suggest you serve it with a jacket potato! It is quite an indulgent dish with the cream and butter (but very delicious!), if you prefer a lighter dish, simply leave out the cream and butter from the sauce so that it is more of a broth – depending on my mood, I sometimes cook it this way – it is still very tasty!

 1 skinless cod fillet

25g cubed pancetta

1-2 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked

½ clove garlic, chopped

100g spring greens, roughly chopped

40ml chicken stock (hot)

25ml double cream (optional – see note above)

15g butter (optional – see note above)

1. Fry the pancetta in a large saucepan until browned and crisped. Add the thyme leaves and garlic, and stir. Now add the spring greens, then the hot stock, cream and butter (if you making the recipe without the cream/butter, just add a knob of butter instead to bring the sauce together). Cover with a lid, allow to steam for a few minutes, shaking the pan a couple of times until cooked.
2. Meanwhile fry the fish until just cooked through (about 3-4 minutes on each side)
3. To serve, place the spring greens, with their sauce, on a plate and top with the fillet of fish (Serve with a jacket potato – recipe here).

Lemon Sole with Spring Onions and Peas (Serves 1)

This really is a very simple, quick supper – if you want you can omit the breadcrumbs, it will still be delicious, just sprinkle with some grated lemon zest and  juice. Serve with steamed new potatoes.

1 lemon sole, filleted and skinned

25g butter

Olive oil

3 spring onions, sliced

55g peas (defrosted if frozen)

4 basil leaves, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons vegetable stock (such as Marigold Swiss  Vegetable Boullion)

Plain flour for dusting (gluten free if required)

1 lemon wedges to serve

Sea salt and black pepper

For the Breadcrumbs (optional):

1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs

Zest of 1 lemon

Pinch of chilli flakes

1. If serving with the optional breadcrumbs: Firstly toast the breadcrumbs in a frying pan, with a drizzle of olive oil. Mix with the lemon zest and chilli flakes, and put to one side.
2. Place the butter, spring onions, peas, basil, stock and a little olive oil in a saucepan and season with salt. Cover the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes over a medium heat. Check the seasoning and keep warm whilst you cook the fish.
3. Dust the fish with the flour. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and fry the fish for about 3 minutes on each side.
4. Place the lemon sole on a plate, spoon over the pea mixture and, if using, sprinkle with the toasted breadcrumbs, serve with a wedge of lemon on the side and some steamed new potatoes.

Fish with Bacon, Peas and Cider (Serves 1)

This recipe, from Nigella Lawson’s cookbook ‘At My Table’, is a wonderfully quick dish all cooked in the same pan – an ideal supper dish. It is great simply served with some steamed new potatoes. I think it is one of those dishes which will appear on your weekly menu again and again!

1 White firm fish fillet, such as hake or cod, skin on – about 200g each

Olive oil

40g streaky bacon, snipped into 1cm strips

100g frozen petits pois

150ml dry cider

½ bunch of parsley, finely chopped

Sea salt and black pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan (with a lid), fry the bacon until crisped and golden, then add the frozen peas, give them a good stir.
2. Pour in the cider and bring to the boil, then turn it down to a simmer for about 5 minutes, until the peas are cooked. Add a little salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add the fish, skin side down, to the pan and cover with a lid (or with foil), allow to gently simmer for about 10 minutes until just cooked.
4. Place the fish fillet on a plate. Stir most of the parsley through the peas and bacon in the pan (check the seasoning), then spoon it around the fish along with the lovely cidery juices. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley and serve, simply steamed new potatoes are delicious with this dish!