Fish and Chips

Diana Henry is one of my favourite cookery authors and when I saw her book Cook Simple I just had to buy it. The recipes in this book are wonderful and Diana Henry shows how it is easy to cook a fabulous meal with a few simple ingredients. The chaptes in the book are based on ingredients such as fish, chicken, pasta and sausages and these simple ingredients are transformed into something special. I have some cookery books that I have looked through but never cooked from but I only got this one at the weekend and have cooked from it already. The book is beautifully written with stunning photographs yet the recipes look simple and delicious. This is the first recipe I have made from the book and I am looking forward to trying some more.

I had some cod in the fridge that I had bought when I was out shopping at the weekend. There are several recipes in the book which use cod but I was tempted by one for roast cod with smoked bacon. As I had all the ingredients at home this is what we had for dinner tonight. Frying the cod to start with gives it a wonderful golden colour. It is then roasted in the oven to finish it off. This was a delicious meal and so simple to make. We will definately be having it again I'm sure. I served this with homemade potato wedges but I think it would be delicious with the pea puree from the book which is what Diana herself suggests. I also think it would be nice to BBQ the cod in the summer and have it outside with some salad. Now for the recipe...

Serves 2

3tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
2 cod fillets
200g smoked bacon lardons
35g unsalted butter
a squeeze of lemon juice
1tbsp finely chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 220C/Gas Mark 7. Heat 2tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan that can go in the oven. Season the cod and then place it in the pan, flesh side down. Cook for about 1 and a half minutes until slightly browned. Turn it over and place the pan in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes. I don't have a frying pan that can go in the oven so I transferred the fish to a small roasting tin and it was fine.

While the fish is roasting heat the rest of the olive oil in a small frying pan and cook the bacon until it is browned on all sides. Add the butter and melt until foaming. Then add the lemon juice and parsley. Pour the butter bacon and parsley over the cod and serve immediately.