Fancy a piece of fish, Love?

We love fish. We have loads of books on how to get the most out of fish. But can we find decent fish at a decent price? Not any more. So when I saw Checkers was selling fresh (and pretty decent!) hake for R29.90 a kilo I simply had to get some!  (Hake is a firm white fleshed fish, super tasty when fresh. It lends itself to many cooking styles, taking on the flavours it is cooked with readily.)

We are still trying to lose those extra kilos gained from Christmas time so deep frying is not an option. As I had a little white wine hanging about, I decided to use a more interesting way of baking  the fish. I bought a decent sized hake, about 1.3 kgs so it got cut in half and I used the thicker belly section which I de-boned and butterflied open so it would cook more evenly. Half was coated with Harissa Paste (also the dregs of a bottle) for the hubby and the other half with Robertsons Thai spice for myself and Becky but as it’s all about personal taste you can sprinkle or coat it with just about anything. We've tried pesto, finely chopped fresh herbs, Sambal Oelek, Cajun spices, tomato-based pasta sauce (there was a bit left over the one day) and just plain salt and pepper. 

We didn't make the sauce this time round but it is delicious poured over some boiled potatoes or mash or back over the fish I served it with some carrot and pineapple salad and roasted parsnips which are super cheap at Fruit and Veg at the moment. Miss Fussy wasn’t too keen on the salad and parsnips…  I must say this was quite a filling meal, we couldn't quite finish it. I packed the leftovers for my hubby's lunch as it reheats really well and will make everyone in the office green with envy.... 

The other half of the hake has gone in the freezer, most properly  will be used for my sweet potato fish cakes!

The recipe:

Baked Hake

Roughly 400g fillet of hake, skin on

1 large lemon

70 ml white wine or stock or even sparkling wine if you feeling decedent...

Spice/coating of choice

Olive oil

Sauce Ingredients (optional)

2 tsp smooth plain cottage cheese  or cornflour at a pinch

1 tsp fresh thyme, leaves stripped off.

Preheat oven to 200 °C. Peel skin with pith away from lemons/limes and slice into rings of 5mm. Layer slices in a roasting pan and place fillet on top of slices, skin down. Drizzle a thin layer of oil olive over the fillet, then sprinkle or coat  fish with coating of choice. Pour wine/stock into tray, making sure the bottom is covered (dish sizes differ). Place roasting pan lid on or cover with tinfoil as tight as you can. Place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the fish flakes apart easily.

If you like, you can spoon the pan juices as is over the hake when serving or you can make a low fat creamy sauce from them. Otherwise, serve plain with lemon wedges.

 For the sauce:

Strain juices from the roasting pan into a small saucepan and add cream cheese/cornflour and thyme leaves. Bring to the boil till the sauce thickens.