Please note all photos belong to the author of this blog. Please enjoy looking through them but do not use without permission.

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Spring herbs in a fish supper

The garden is bursting with herbs that have overwintered and are really coming back to life. These are the perfect way to enhance the British classic of fish supper. We served it with home-made chips but it would be equally tasty with a couple of slices of bread and butter. 


Preheat the oven to 210 degrees (190 degrees for a fan oven)
Serves 2 (although easily doubled)


Ingredients:
2 cloves of garlic
Rind and juice of half a lemon
3 slices of bread
2 fillets of white fish (we used haddock but you could use pollack)
8 sprigs of fresh mint
A handful of soft herbs (we used parsley and chives)
Frozen garden peas
2 tomatoes
Olive oil


1. Blend the herbs with the rind and juice of half a lemon and 2 cloves of garlic in a food processor. Add three slices of bread (crusts removed) and a tablespoon of olive oil and continue to blend until well mixed and chopped.
4. Put your fish fillets on a plate and spread over your herby breadcrumbs. Drizzle with olive oil, this will stop the fish drying out. Rinse the food processor out because you will need it in a minute.
3. Cut the tomatoes in half and put in a pyrex dish or baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and put in the oven.
2. Boil some water in a saucepan and then add the peas (about half a cereal bowl) along with the mint leaves. Boil for three minutes and drain. Put the peas, mint leaves and a little oil in the food processor and blitz. Season with some black pepper.
5. Once the tomatoes have had 15 minutes put the fish on the same tray as the tomatoes and put back in the oven. 
6. Once the breadcrumbs on the fish have started to brown (approx 10-15 minutes) put the mushy peas in a frying pan and heat over a medium heat. 
7. Serve the fish, tomatoes, and mushy peas with some chips or a couple of slices of bread a butter. 


Variation: The breadcrumbs also work well baked on large mushrooms. Ideal if you have a vegetarian in the family or simply fancy something different. Put the mushrooms in with the tomatoes and add the breadcrumbs when the fish would have gone in!