52 Cookbook Challenge, Week 1 Part 3

We were really gripped with enthusiasm this week so Sunday supper was another Experimental offering from Feed Me Now. This time, Baked Whole Fish and Lemon Potatoes.

We opted to use fillets of plaice rather than a whole fish, on account of the number of us vs. the size of whole fish and also the bones - it is far less faff to check a fillet for bones before giving it to the little one than it is to debone a whole fish. This was another really easy make.

The style of cooking the potatoes was interesting and new for me: add them to a roasting tin with olive oil, garlic, stock and lemon juice and then cook in the oven for about an hour.  The result is part roasted, part steamed and very, very lemony. Olives and herbs are stirred through at the end, cutting through the lemon and giving a pleasant, flavoursome punch.  I think this would be a great addition to a summer BBQ in place of a more traditional mayonnaise-based potato salad.

 The fish was similarly easy.  Coriander, spring onions and chilli flakes (dialled down a little as Hubby doesn't like too much spice and Baby Bird is interested in spice but i didnt want to put her off by going too nuts) are blended with a little olive oil and then rubbed all over the fish.  I put some of the paste between the fillets, which I rested on top of each other, skin-sides out. Then pop the lot in the oven and bake until just cooked.We added some steamed broccoli and then both adults happily tucked in.

Baby Bird was more sceptical. I had expected her to like the potatoes (she usually adores roasties) but I think she found the lemony flavour, which thanks to the style of cooking permeates each chunk completely, a bit over-powering. She did eat some of the fish and seemed to quite enjoy that, but mostly ended up with cheese and breadsticks again.Overall, this one was less popular than the previous night's filo pie, but I will definitely make the potatoes again and will be experimenting with different fish.