I am not sure how many of you share my love of fish but I think it is safe to say, fish is my favorite food. Fish is what broke my 8 year vegetarian streak. I am always on the look out for new ways to prepare it so that it remains healthy but still tastes good. I have a new recipe and it is a hit! It literally takes 3 minutes to prepare the fish and the whole meal takes about 20 to 25 depending on the fish cut and oven. Most of that 20 minutes is spent watching tv or looking up recipes online while the food cooks itself.
What you will need:
- Fish (what ever kind you like. I used salmon this time but I have used smoked haddock as well. When something works it just works.)
- breadcrumbs (I make my own from older bread, waste not want not)
- parmesan cheese
- basil (preferably fresh)
- rosemary
- garlic salt
- olive oil
- lime or lemon juice
- a good baking dish to cook in
- Preheat the oven to 180c/350f
- Before I get started I get my stick blender, a tall tupperware container and all of my ingredients ready.
- Next I put the bread crumbs, cheese and spices in the container and whizz them up. I really make my mixture fine.
- Then I put about a splash of olive oil and a good squeeze of lime/lemon juice into the mix. I mix this up with a fork.
- Next I pour a little olive oil in the baking dish and make sure that it covers the bottom. I use my trusty basting brush to spread it evenly. I am sure a cooking spray would be fine as well but I use what I have. Once you have your dish ready place the fish in spaced apart.
- Finally, generously add the topping over the fish. You will already be able to smell how good this is.
Almost ready!
- Before you pop this into the oven add a few more splashes of lime/lemon juice around the fish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
It's cooking time!
See, it really is just that easy. Now go watch some tv or read a book while it cooks.
While I have a few minutes I thought I would tell you how easy it is to have fresh healthy bread crumbs made at home. I was watching one of my favorite tv chefs and seriously one of the most earth friendly chefs I have ever seen, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Hugh showed how he makes his bread crumbs from stale bread. After the bread he bakes starts to go a little hard he puts it in the freezer to save it for later. His bags are full of ends or bits that didn’t cut nicely etc. All he does is pull it out and put it in his food processor and give it a whizz. I have started to do this because I hated to waste bread. I have a lot of bread in my freezer and when I need some space in there or want to start my stash of crumbs, I take some bread out and whizz it up. I don’t add anything to them at this point, I just store them in the refrigerator to use when I need. Recently I have been using them a lot. I love having all natural bread crumbs made at home from natural whole meal bread that we usually buy fresh. There are bits of fresh baguettes and french bread stashed too and Hugh mixes his breads, I just haven’t yet. Jamie and I have started dabbling in bread making so soon I will be making bread crumbs from our own homemade bread. These crumbs are so versatile and can be used on anything and with so many things added to them. Give it a try.
Time’s Up! The fish is done… wasn’t that easy?
Time to eat!
So far I have made this fish with mashed sweet potatoes as well as roasted potatoes (Courtesy of my fab man. He is the roast-master) or couscous and a choice of vegetable. I really think this topping will go with anything. The topping is so tasty that Jamie wants me to try it on chicken. I think that will be coming up soon.
Let me know what you think about this one and how you used it. Remember I love my fish, tell me what fish you love this on. x heather