Hi there!
Yesterday I found myself in an abrupt need for fish. I not only craved it, but every part of my being screamed for it. So I pushed through the wintry darkness that’s already fallen over Sweden, and the crushing tiredness that comes with it, all the way to the freezer in a hunt for fish. I was hoping to find salmon fillets that I could just put in a pan with lemon juice, some pepper and herbamare and leave it in the oven to take care of itself. But, alas, no salmon was to be found. Instead I found cod, lots and lots of cod. So, I went online in hunt for an equally simple, taking care of itself recipe for cod. And I found one! Wohoo! In a happy daze I whipped it up in my normal exact way of following the recipes to the letter… Eh, right. But almost, I followed the idea, the pillars, we just happened to be lacking one of the main ingredients and measuring stuff is not something I normally do when I’m full of energy and not driven by a consuming need for fish.
Anyways, lets get to it! Okay, so I relieved our fridge of a packet with four cod fillets, but you could use any white fish, I’d suggest hoki or alaska pollock, that’s what I normally use as a substitute. The recipe called for 4 dl (0,4l) crème fraiche but we only had a bit of garlic crème fraiche that had expired and wasn’t that appetizing anymore. So, sadly I chucked the crème fraiche remains and instead took a bit of cream cheese a smidge of double cream and a bit of milk and created a crème fraiche substitute! Well, maybe it’s not the most optimal or crème fraiche-y but it worked fine, so there.
To your crème fraiche or your crème fraiche-y substance add dill, lots and lots of it, the recipe calls for 2 tbsp of dill, but I used more. Then in goes a squish and a half and a smidge more (yet again the recipe calls for 2 tbsp) of Swedish kaviar. (If your not in Sweden then you can definitely find it at IKEA, and possibly somewhere else, here’s a link to the wikipedia article explaining it all for you, possibly.) Okay, to season it all, add lemonpepper and herbamare, or lemon zest, pepper, and herbamare if you prefer. Pour it over the cod fillets which you have placed in an oven safe dish, did I mention that? And you should have already turned on the oven to 200*c as well, because now you’re putting the dish into the oven. The recipe claims that it takes 25 min, I didn’t take note of the time so I’ll leave it at that.
I served it with some potato mash seasoned with lemon juice: boil potatoes and mash them. Add a smidge of cream, a bit of lemon juice, accidentally pouring a bit more lemon juice than you originally intended but ignoring that and pretending that it was the exact amount that you had originally intended. Season with lemonpepper and herbamare. Mix it all together and serve!
My mom fixed some pomegranate seeds to serve with and I quickly chopped up some carrot coins, because carrots are made to be served with this dish. Then we devoured! It was delicious. Fish need fulfilled.
I guess if you can’t get a hold of kaviar you could get sort of the same kind of salty-ness with a fish stock cube that you chop up and disperse in your crème fraiche and I’d season it a bit more with the dill and pepper and more herbamare as the stock cube is more bland.
I found the recipe on the Swedish blog Linnéas Skafferi, she adds in her recipe that if you have the energy you could put the mash in the fish dish and make a fish gratin, and she’s not wrong. It does make real sense, is mouthwatering and looks nice, but serving it separate is just fine.
‘Til next time, have some simple and delicious fish 🙂
GardenBookCook 