Baked Haddock with a Butter & Chilli Salt Breadcrumb Coating & Asparagus
A super simple & extremely versatile way to cook fish with seasonal vegetables
Welcome to Issue 14 of Weekend Wonders: One Meal Endless Flavours.
Things are a little pared back & simple this week. I have been cooking for one in the absence of the other 3 members of my family, and sticking things in a tray and shoving them in the oven has become a regular thing. I love to cook fish with vegetables this way, as they cook in similar times. Pop over to Instagram to see an earlier recipe share on this theme by hopping on this link here.
You need to make up my chilli salt recipe first - this can be used in so many different ways, I encourage you to use it with abandon! I love it on fried eggs, potato wedges, roast chicken….If chilli is not your thing you can flavour the breadcrumbs in many other ways - see the simplify & substitute section for these and vegan and vegetarian variations…
Happy cooking!
Chloe x
Make the chilli salt
Pre heat the oven to 200c (180c fan)
Make the recipe!
Chilli Salt
Ingredients
50g Maldon Sea Salt
5g dried chilli flakes
25g smoked paprika
50g sesame seeds
10g black pepper
10g cumin
15g coriander
Equipment
Cast iron frying pan & wooden spoon
Pestle & mortar or spice grinder
Jar with a lid for storage
Heat a cast iron pan over a medium heat and add the peppercorns. Toast for 3-4 minutes and transfer into a bowl to cool.
Add the cumin and coriander seed to the hot pan and toast for 3-4 minutes until aromatic and lightly coloured. Remove from the heat and put in a clean bowl to cool.
Finally toast the sesame seeds in the same way.
Put the cooled black pepper into a spice grinder or pestle and mortar and grind to a fine/coarse powder. Put into a bowl large enough to accommodate all of the other ingredients.
Put the cooled cumin and coriander in the spice grinder or pestle and mortar and grind to a course powder, add to the bowl.
Put the dried chilli into the spice grinder and grind until coarse chilli flakes are made. Add these and all the other ingredients to the bowl and mix well together.
Store in a cool dark place for 6 months.
Baked Cod with a Butter & Chilli Salt Breadcrumb Coating & Asparagus
Ingredients
Serves 2
400g Cod Loin or and fish fillets that you like
20g butter, melted
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1/2 tablespoon chilli salt
Bunch of asparagus
Half a lemon
Equipment
Shallow wide bowl
Roasting tray
Pre heat the oven to 200c (180c fan)
Mix the breadcrumbs & chilli salt together in the shallow bowl - the bowl needs to be large enough to accommodate the fish while it is being rolled in the breadcrumbs.
Brush the fish all over with the melted butter - any that is left in the pan will be used on the asparagus.
When the fish is coated in butter, put the clean asparagus (tough lower end of stalks removed) into the tray, drizzle with the remaining butter & season well with salt & pepper.
Press the buttered fish down into the breadcrumbs, turning it to ensure it is well coated. Transfer into the roasting tray and continue to sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture onto any exposed bits of fish.
Pop in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, check that the fish is done to your liking, depending on the thickness of the fillets you might need to give it another 5 minutes or so.
Once ready, serve! I had mine with a sliced tomato on the side.
Instead of chilli salt, use the same quantity of:
Fresh chopped tarragon
Grated parmesan
Sesame seeds
A favourite spice blend
Instead of fish you can bread vegetables & tofu - most vegetables will benefit from being lightly cooked before being coated and roasted off, just to ensure that they cook through without burning the breadcrumbs.
You can also bake chicken breasts or pork loin in this coating - increase the cooking time to 25 minutes, again checking to ensure the meat is cooked through before serving.