Another Good Dinner

Roast Cod with Potatoes and Tomatoes

Serves 6

6 cod fillets (each weighing 200-225 g), skin left on
Salt
1 kg new potatoes
500 g tomatoes, peeled
Extra virgin olive oil

For the Chermoula marinade and sauce
large bunch of coriander (about 75 g), chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground paprika
1/2 tsp ground chilli pepper
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon or 3 tbsp white wine vinegar

Sprinkle the fish with salt. Mix all the chermoula ingredients in a dish and marinate the fish in half the quantity for about 30 min.
Peel the potatoes if you wish and cut into slices about 7 mm thick, and the tomatoes into slices 1 cm thick. Brush the bottom of a baking dish with oil, put in the potatoes and tomatoes, and dribble a little oil on top. Sprinkle with salt, then turn the vegetables so they are well seasoned and lightly coated all over with oil. Put the dish in a very hot oven pre-heated to 240 C for 50 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. During the cooking, turn them over once so that the top ones bathe in the juice released by the tomatoes.
Take the potatoes and tomatoes out of the oven, place the fish fillets on top, skin side up and return to the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the fish is cooked through - it will be when the flesh flakes when you cut into the thickest part.
Just before serving, pour the remaining chermoula over the fish, letting it dribble on to the vegetables.


Roast Pepper, Tomato and Apple Salad

Serves 6

3 fleshy red bell peppers
1 large onion, sliced
3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
500 g tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 or 2 chilli peppers, left whole
Salt and black pepper
2 sweet apples

Place the peppers on a sheet of foil on an oven tray under a pre-heated grill,
6-9 cm from the grill. Turn them until their skins are black and blistered all over. Alternatively - and more easily - roast them in the hottest oven for about 30 minutes or until they are soft and their skins blistered and blackened, turning them once after 15 minutes.
To loosen the skins further, put them in to a plastic freezer bag, twist it shut and leave for 10-15 minutes. Another old way that has the same effect is to put them into a pan with a tight-fitting lid for the same length of time. When the peppers
are cool enough to handle, peel them and remove the stems and seeds. Now cut them into ribbons from the stem end.
In a wide pan, fry the onion in 2 tbsp of oil over a medium heat, stirring often until lightly coloured. Add the garlic and stir until it just begins to colour, then add the tomatoes and chilli peppers. Season with salt and pepper and cook gently for about 15-20 minutes.
Leaving the peel on, quarter and core the apples. Stir the red pepper ribbons into the onion mixture, then put in the apple quarters, cut side down. Cook gently until the apples are tender, adding a little water if the pan become too dry. Turn the apples skin side down towards the end. Serve cold, dribbling over the remaining oil.