Salmon and Coley Egg Bake with Cheese and Herb Crust

This is a recipe comprised of two different types of sustainable fish. Coley is a lesser known member of the cod family which remains plentiful in our seas, while the salmon used in this recipe is farmed. This dish is very easy and fairly quick to make and should serve two people. I have served it with some new potatoes, simmered for half an hour in lightly salted water, and Brussels sprouts, simmered for ten minutes.

Salmon and Coley Egg Bake Ingredients

1/4lb fillet of salmon
1/4lb fillet of coley
2 eggs
2 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
2oz cheddar cheese
1/4 red bell pepper
1 tsp freshly chopped basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Sunflower oil for frying fish
Butter for greasing baking dish

Method

The salmon and coley fillets firstly have to be cooked by frying them gently in a little sunflower oil in a non-stick frying pan. Depending on the thickness of the fillets, they should take two to four minutes each side. When the fillets are cooked, they should be removed to a plate, covered and left for around ten minutes to cool. They can then be carefully flaked by hand and this is also a good way of removing and discarding any remaining bones.

The fish flakes should be spread evenly in an ovenproof dish, 6" in diameter and 1" deep, which has been liberally greased with butter. The eggs should be broken in to a bowl, seasoned with salt and pepper and beaten to combine. The egg mix should be poured over the fish and the dish placed in to the oven, preheated to 375F/190C/Gas Mark 5, until the egg can be seen to have set. This should take fifteen to twenty minutes.

While the egg and fish is cooking, the cheese and herb crust should be prepared. The cheese should be grated/shredded and the bell pepper finely diced, before being mixed thoroughly with the breadcrumbs and basil in a bowl. When the egg and fish bake is ready, it should be removed from the oven and the topping spread evenly on top. The dish is now finished under a hot grill for three or four minutes, until the topping begins to bubble and brown.

Running a blunt knife around the edges of the coley and salmon bake should free it easily from the baking dish and allow it to be carefully lifted to a plate with a plastic spatula or fish turner. It can then be halved and served with the potatoes and sprouts.

Remember, you can find lots more recipes for salmon, coley and other sustainable fish via the links in the right hand column of this blog and do your bit to help preserve our declining fish stocks.

Pan Fried Coley Fillet with Spicy Salsa and New Potatoes

Coley, coalfish, saithe - all are different names for the same fish, a member of the cod family. Coley does not enjoy the same culinary reputation as its cousin, the cod, which is a shame, as it can be an excellent eating fish, provided it is cooked appropriately. It also retails at a fraction of the price of cod and is in much more plentiful supply than the seriously endangered cod.

The salsa for this recipe should be prepared first.

Salsa Ingredients (Serves Two)

2 medium tomatoes
3 spring/salad onions (scallions)
1 clove of garlic
1 small red chilli pepper
2 large basil leaves
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice of quarter of a lemon
Salt and pepper

Method

The tomatoes should be halved and a teaspoon used to scoop out and discard the seeds and watery core. They should then be moderately finely chopped and added to a mixing bowl. The garlic clove should be peeled and finely chopped, while the seeds and membrane should be removed from the chilli before it too is finely chopped. (The salsa should not be so hot as to overpower the fish.) The spring onions should be finely sliced and the basil leaves finely torn before both are added. The lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil should be poured in, the salsa stirred well and seasoned to taste. It should then be covered with clingfilm and refrigerated until required.

When the salsa is in the fridge, the potatoes should be washed but not peeled and added to a pan of cold, slightly salted water. They should then be put on a high heat to reach a boil, before the heat is reduced to let them simmer for thirty minutes.

This is approximately a half pound fillet of coley. It is important that you purchase it with the skin still on. It will take five or six minutes only to pan fry, so it should start being prepared for the pan around ten minutes before the potatoes are ready.

An ounce of butter should be melted in a non-stick pan. The coley fillet should then be patted on the skin side only in some flour seasoned with salt and pepper, before being placed in to what should be the slightly browning butter, skin side down. The flesh side should then be seasoned with salt. It should be fried on a fairly high heat for three or four minutes until it can be seen from the side to have cooked most of the way through. The heat should then be reduced and the fillet turned on to the flesh side for the final couple of minutes.

The potatoes should be drained and returned to the pot with a little butter. The coley fillet should be added to the plate skin side up. Some salsa should be spooned on the side and the potatoes also presented. Whether the coley fillet is served with the skin on, or it is carefully removed with a knife beforehand, is entirely a matter of personal preference.