Fish Fight...

Did you know that half the fish caught in the North Sea is thrown back dead?  That's over 1.7 million tons of fish per year - discarded!  Strict fishing quotas, consumer choices,...the list of reasons is long. When you have a moment and want to find out a little more, please have a look at Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Fish Fight campaign - Hugh is of River Cottage fame and an avid campaigner on the subject.  What an eye-opener!

Fish gratin...

I love eating fish but now that I am more aware of what is going on, I am trying to make more ethical choices.  I guess the more consumers are happy to try other types of fish, the more these will become available.  And it's not about never eating cod, tuna or salmon again - that would just create another problem - for me, it's about variety and about us, the consumer, influencing legislation so that it makes sense, for us and the environment.

And because fish is a fabulous food I can't not give you this quick & simple recipe to try: fish gratin.  The recipe originally asked for smoked haddock but why not try another type of white fish such as coley?  Or use a mixture of fish, giving some new varieties a chance together with some old favourites?  Here, the fish is placed on a bed of spinach but as I didn't have enough, I also used some finely sliced gem lettuce...it worked a treat!  I have never cooked lettuce before but it certainly wasn't the last time.  I have also amended the amount of cream and cheese used as there was no way I would have been able to taste the fish - the star of the show - under all that fat.

I hope you'll enjoy this one!




Fish Gratin (serves 4)

Ingredients:
500g spinach - fresh or frozen
butter, for greasing
500g fish fillets, skinned and cut into 4 portions - use smoked haddock, coley or a mixture of fish
 2 large handfuls of cherry tomatoes (the original asked for 12 cherry tomatoes but let's not count them :-))
Optional: some leftover lettuce (to cook with the spinach)

100ml double cream or crème fraîche
a little lemon juice (1 - 2 tsp)
50g grated cheese
a little nutmeg
handful dried breadcrumbs

Method:

1. Heat oven to 180C (conventional oven) or 160C (fan).
2. In a pan, cook the spinach by wilting it with a little hot water - add the leftover finely sliced lettuce to this if using.  Leave all to cool, then squeeze out as much liquid as possible. 
3. Butter a medium ovenproof dish and place the spinach/lettuce in the bottom.
4. Season lightly with salt and pepper and lay the fish fillets on top, then scatter with tomatoes. 
5. In a small bowl, mix  the cream, grated cheese, lemon juice and nutmeg with some pepper and salt.  The texture will be similar to thick cottage cheese - it's supposed to be like that :-)
6. Dollop the mixture over the fish and spinach (it will melt over the fish & spinach in the hot oven)
7. Now top everything with the breadcrumbs and bake for 30 minutes until bubbling and golden.  

This is lovely served with crusty bread or a bowl of small new potatoes.


(recipe adapted from the BBC Good Food website)