White Roasted Fish w/ Lemony Asparagus

TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 2010

3.5 stars (out of 5 - with the possibility of 4.5 stars with said improvements!)

I decided to try out a Jamie Oliver recipe; my friends have made some of his things, and they've always been delicious. I also felt like being really adventurous, and cooking with fish (which I detest). I didn't really like cooking with fish, but in the end I did it (and it turned out well!) so I was proud of myself. His recipe was also a complete meal (fish and asparagus), which I liked (although I also added a side of green beans). Here is the link to the original recipe http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fish-recipes/delicious-roasted-white-fish-wrapped-in

Ingredients:

Fish:

200g white fish fillets*, cut 2.5cm thick, skinned/boned (how ever many you need to cook - I only used one -but they should all be around 200g)
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
Zest and juice of 2 lemons (juice is for asparagus)
Ground black pepper
2-3 slices bacon per fish fillet (or pancetta)
Olive oil

Asparagus & Sauce:

4 tablespoons mayonnaise
Large bunch of asparagus

{*Note. You want a "robust" white fish - either Haddock or Monkfish as they can handle to taste of the bacon. I used Haddock; however, since our groceries were delivered this week, I would have taken a bit thicker of a piece than is pictured}.

1. {Preheat oven to 400F) First, I combined the zest and the chopped rosemary in a small bowl.

2. Next, I needed thin slices of bacon, so I covered my bacon slices in wax paper and used a rolling pin to flatten them out. It was kinda gross/kinda satisfying in some weird way.

3. Next, I seasoned the fish fillet with pepper and the lemon/rosemary mixture...

4. ...and placed it on top of the bacon slices (I cut them all in half first). The bacon slices were slightly overlapping.

5. I then closed up the bacon slices over the fish. I consulted SB and he wanted a lot of bacon; however, if you look at the original recipe, you will see that the bacon is only wrapped around the middle section of the fish. I guess it can be up to you.

6. Here is where I made a mistake (actually 2), so please take note!

Mistake #1: You want to lightly heat an oven-proof frying pan, which I didn't think that I had. So, I thought: I'll fry it in this pan, and transfer it to an oven-proof (heated) dish to cook it. I recently found out that my pots are oven-proof, which would have worked better. Next time :)

In the end, I heated my frying pan, and cooked the fish for about 1 minute. You should have it over medium-low heat, and cook just the underside of the fish/bacon for 1-2 minutes.

Here is where I made Mistake #2: You need to place the fish bad-side down (i.e., where the bacon is fused, you want that to be on the bottom.. You'll see why in a few pics!).

7. I transferred it to the heated dish (don't do this! It's much better to cook the fish in the same pan as you fried it)

8. ... and placed it in the oven for 10-12 minutes (do not overcook!). You can see the bacon problem from this picture. While the fish was in the oven, I prepared the asparagus by steaming for about 5 minutes and mixing the lemon juice with some mayonnaise and pepper. I just added mayonnaise until I got the flavour I wanted.

9. I then served it with lightly steamed asparagus with lemony dressing.

10. I also added a side of home-made green beans (blog entry to follow).

Overall, SB really enjoyed this meal. However, I could really make some improvements to my technique by making sure the bacon was bad-side down and cooking it in the same pan. I would even recommend cooking it on the stove for 2 minutes because in the end the bacon needed to be a bit more cooked. I will definitely try this one again and post any updates!