March 2004

Baked Cod With Aubergine Relish And Onion Mash.

This is a recipe that uses a great piece of fresh fish along with all those bits and pieces that people seem to have in their fridges. The fish I have used is cod, but as usual this can be replaced by an alternative if you prefer.

We started with the onion mash. This is simply mash potato that has been finished with salt and pepper, a little butter and some gently cooked chopped spring onion. We didn't add cream or milk to the potato as this makes it a little too soft to serve in this way as it sags or collapses as soon as you put the fish on top.

The relish is an aubergine relish. This was made by chopping all the vegetables you would usually find in a ratatouille but with a lot more aubergine than anything else. So we gently cooked some onion, garlic and some fresh thyme. Into this I added just a bit of finely chopped chilli. This amount comes down to personal taste but too much spoils the taste of the fish. Into the mix we added some lime juice. This was left on the heat until the juice had nearly evaporated. Then we added some peppers, courgette and of course the aubergine. These had all been finely chopped. Don't leave the mix to cook too long at this point or the vegetables will go too soft and mushy. We finished it with salt and pepper and just enough tomato puree to bind it all together, cooking for just one or two more minutes.

To cook the fish we placed it onto a buttered tray and seasoned with salt and pepper. It was cooked in a medium hot oven for about six to seven minutes and then allowed to sit for two minutes. This time is of course variable depending on the size of your piece of fish; the piece I have used was about six ounces ( 170g).

To serve the dish we put the mash potato into a ring mould and placed onto placed on to a plate. On top we put a good amount of the relish. This is easier and a lot neater if done while the mould is still on the potato. The ring was removed and the fish gently put on top. Around the fish in this instance we have used a little melted butter with a lot of chopped parsley. This goes very well with both the fish and the potato.

This is a simple dish to make but looks very impressive if served well.

Enjoy

Paul Vincent, Head Chef.