05 June 2009
Recipes for Salt Baked Fish and Tomato Salad
What to do on a miserable summer's day in Northern England? Well we made these 2 meals that let us dream that it was summery weather outside. You could imagine that the you were on a glorious beach in the Bahamas and the red snapper had been roasted on a barbecue, rather than in the oven. Perhaps you could even drink a can of Red Stripe to make it feel even more like the Caribbean and turn on the heating for a few minutes to complete the pretence.
Salt-baked fish
4 400g red snapper, gutted
Pinch Coarse ground black pepper (ideally Steenbergs)
12 Sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
5kg Traditional sea salt (not normal table salt)
Pre-heat the oven to 220oC. Wash the fish and pat dry. Sprinkle the inside cavities of the fish well with the Steenbergs black pepper and stuff with parsley.
Spread on 2 baking trays with half the sea salt. Place the fish on the baking trays and cover with the remaining sea salt. Press the salt firmly around the fish and sprinkle with a little water. Bake for 15 minutes, then let the fish settle for 5 minutes.
To serve, remove the salt in large pieces and place the fish on plates. Serve with lemon wedges and new potatoes, tomato salad with balsamic vinaigrette.
Just before serving the new potatoes, season with sea salt and black pepper and pour on 1tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.
Tomato salad with balsamic vinaigrette
4 Fresh, ripe tomatoes
5 Fresh basil leaves
2tsp Balsamic vinegar
2tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
Pinch Coarse ground Steenbergs black pepper
Pinch Fleur de sel
Slice the tomatoes and place into a shallow salad bowl. Roughly chop the basil leaves (or tear with fingers) and place on top of the tomatoes. Sprinkle with the fleur de sel (or Maldon Sea Salt) and some of Steenbergs organic black pepper, coarsely ground. Mix the balsamic vinegar and olive oil in a jug and pour over the salad.
