Always looking for new ways to eat the same food, I decided on Friday evening, to surround white fish fillets with vegetables, lemon slices, salt, pepper, garlic, ginger and white wine, bake in a foil package for 30 minutes and see what happened. On the side I boiled and then mashed some potatoes with olive oil and salt.

What did happen? Fish cooked nicely, Nacho felt that it was slightly overcooked. The vegetables probably could have done with cooking a little longer. Carrots, it seems do not lend themselves to 30 minutes inside an oven. The mash potatoes were lovely, I kept the skin on so there was a rough and smooth textured mix. The ginger was overpowering made it’s presence known, but overall a tasty little dish.

So I just made this up, spur of the moment but perhaps I might, next time do a bit of research on what works well. I guess fish recipes are not really one of my ‘staples so not a surprise I have not got the hang of it yet. Well, I’ve plenty of time to learn.

A  little ‘internet’ research tells me that searing  the fish and sautéing the vegetables before placing in the oven might have been a better strategy. The vegetables and the fish  cook at different rates and the fish would be completely overcooked long before the vegetables become tender. Raw fish when cooked by placing straight in the oven is going to exude a lot of liquid and create a very watery dish. The best way to reduce this is to sear the fish before it goes into the oven. Sautéing the vegetables cause a  caramelisation, which brings out the natural sweetness of the vegetables and  cuts down on the cooking time. 

Any one else has any other tips for me, before my next attempt?