Today an unexpected trip to Llandudno threw the cooking plans sideways a bit. We never miss a chance to visit the wonderful Mermaid fishmongers when up that way, so the veg had to adapt to the catch of the day. Buying locally caught fish is important to me - and today the local choice was limited to grey mullet - huge fillets of it. We have to use up some of the celeriac in the box (we got 2 small heads) which goes well with fish, and is absolutely yummy with mashed potato, so...
We'll have fish cooked in a foil parcel (it will beautifully steam in his own juices) with celeriac-potato mash and raw beetroot salad. Possibly involves a bit more cooking than I would normally want to do on a week night, but I just can't resist the chance for a fresh piece of fish!
Ingredients:
From the box: potatoes, celeriac, beetroot, carrots
From the cupboard: garlic, lemon, parsley and/or dill (or any fresh herb), olive oil, white wine
Optional: walnuts, sauerkraut, ume seasoning, fresh coriander
(I also had some celery sticks and a few tomatoes in the fridge to use up)
Other: fresh fish (as a fillet, or whole), kitchen foil (recycled foil is a good option)
How to:
Sit the fish in an oven proof dish on a big piece of foil, enough to fold over and make a parcel.
Season the fish with salt and pepper, add garlic, lemon juice and herbs inside and around the fish (lemon slices are even better, if you have an untreated lemon). Add any extra veg, celery and tomato go very well here. Add a glug of olive oil and a couple of glugs of white wine. Set the oven to 200C, seal the parcel carefully and cook in the oven for about 30 mins (less if you have small fillets, a bit more if you have a whole fish).
In the meantime peel the celeriac (we used a whole small one, or use half of a bigger one), scrub the potatoes, cut all in rough pieces. Just cover with water in a pot, add a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon and boil until tender (maybe 20 mins). Drain (but keep the cooking water, it's delicious as stock or just a healthy drink!). Mash roughly with olive oil, salt and plenty fresh pepper, adding a bit of the cooking water to make it as smooth as you like.
Scrub the beetroot and carrots, peel if you like, and grate into a bowl - you want about half orange half purple. Dress with olive oil, lemon juice and a dash of Japanese ume seasoning (love this stuff!), sprinkle with crushed walnuts. Fresh coriander goes well here too, if you have some.
When the fish is ready, remove carefully from the foil parcel, spoon over the juices and vegetable bits.
Serve with the mash, and the ruby salad on the side.
