The juicy flesh of blue cod works so well here with the zingy, citrus flavoured fennel salad. 

As a stickler for pan-frying fish in butter, I have done so but you could use a little olive oil or a mixture of both butter and oil.

Recipe Created By Kathy Paterson.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

600 - 700g blue cod, cut into thick strips (like chicken tenderloins)

butter for pan-frying

Seasoning mix

2 teaspoons freshly ground coriander seed

2 teaspoons bittersweet smoked paprika

salt and pepper

finely grated zest of 1 lemon or large lime

Salad + Dressing

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

salt

350g small potatoes, scrubbed

2 small bulbs fennel with fennel fronds, trimmed

2-3 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

1 lemon or lime, peeled with a knife and cut into segments

METHOD

Combine the seasoning mix ingredients and set aside.

Make the dressing by shaking the oil, lemon or lime juice, sherry vinegar, mustard and a good few pinches of salt together in a jar. Taste and adjust acidity or if too sharp, add more salt.

Simmer the potatoes in a saucepan with enough salted water to cover them, cooking until tender. Drain and once cool enough to handle thickly slice, placing in a bowl as you go.  Drizzle over enough dressing to moisten and gently toss to coat. Set aside.

If you have a mandolin (otherwise use your favourite sharp knife), slice the fennel bulbs so they are paper thin and place onto a serving plate. Scatter over the spring onion slices, the potato slices and the lemon or lime segments. Roughly chop a few leafy fennel fronds and scatter over before drizzling with enough dressing to moisten.

Rub the seasoning mix into both sides of the blue cod strips.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add a good knob of butter and when it sizzles place in the blue cod strips, in batches, so not to overcrowd the pan. Pan-fry for about 4 minutes, turning once. Try not to get the pan too hot as you don’t want to burn the spices. If necessary, wipe out the pan with kitchen paper before adding a little more butter and the next batch. Place blue cod on top of the fennel salad. Drizzle with a little more dressing and a few more chopped leafy fennel fronds.

Tip –  when pan-frying fish, remove the fish from the pan just before it is completely cooked as it will continue to cook more in its own heat.

  

This recipe was created using our award-winning Chatham Island Blue Cod...