It's a sunny Saturday afternoon and, rather than our regular Saturday evening 15 minute meal, I decided to make an impromptu lunch before we head to the park to catch some rays and drink some ale. You may remember that my last attempt at a fish dish was a bit of a disaster so, rather than let that memory linger and cloud my views on the 15 minute meals fish section which has, on the whole, been excellent, I decided to dive right back in and tackle the issue head on. (How many fishing puns can you spot there!)
Remembering where I went wrong with the crab briks, my priority this time was to get the ingredients right. Now as all of us Jamie Oliver fans know, it's quite trendy at the moment (not to mention environmentally responsible) to be down with your sustainable seafood and to buy fish because it is in season and responsibly farmed rather than just because it is conveniently packaged on your supermarket shelf. Jamie helpfully suggests a range of fish which could be used for this dish, including dab and megrim. Amused by the fact that I thought it sounded like a character out of Lord of the Rings, I decided I would go on the hunt for megrim and so, undeterred by the soggy crab they sold me the previous weekend, I headed to my trusty local fishmonger. So I was quite disappointed to learn that not only did they not stock megrim (or dab) but they sounded like they had never heard of them before. Something may have been lost in translation but the point is it's all very well preaching about buying sustainably, but how much effort must we go to to do this? Do I have go to Billingsgate Market at 4am? Anyway, I ended up going for lemon sole, which was conveniently packaged on my supermarket shelf.
Except for the process of skinning the sole, which took me around 15 minutes alone, it's a straightforward meal to cook. I thought the tartare sauce was lacking a bit in flavour so ended up piling more cornichons and capers in before realising I had forgotten the parsley. Overall this was a return to form. The fish was fantastic and something I will definitely do again. The sauce and the peas were both good and probably cheaper and less wasteful than buying them in a jar/tin.
Lolz gave the dish 8/10. Difficulty rating 2/10.
I hear you on the hunt for sustainable fish! Especially over here, hard to find any of the types Jamie suggests.
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