Eye for a Recipe

We are now back at our Toronto apartment for the fall and winter, so have sadly bid farewell to our barbecue. However, the good news is that we are now able to get fresh fish. For our first meal here, I made Roasted Halibut Tagine from Lucy Waverman’s Matter of Taste cookbook. The fish is coated with a paste of herbs, garlic, lemon juice and spices, placed on top of a sauce of tomatoes and preserved lemons, and roasted. The fish is flavourful, moist and delicious.

To avoid additives and preservatives in this recipe, use fresh lemon juice and preserved lemons, canned tomatoes and green olives that do not contain artificial ingredients. Preserved lemons are easy to make, and they add an incredible flavour. However, if you do make them yourself, the process takes about six weeks. I was able to find some at Pusateri’s that contained only lemons and salt.

Ingredients:

¼ cup coarsely chopped coriander

¼ cup coarsely chopped parsley

1 tbsp coarsely chopped garlic

¼ cup lemon juice

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp paprika

¼ tsp cayenne

Pinch ground cinnamon

Salt and freshly ground pepper

4 halibut fillets (about 6 oz. each)

3 fresh or canned tomatoes, pureed

¼ cup sliced preserved lemon rind

½ cup green olives

Fresh coriander sprigs

Preparation:

Combine coriander, parsley and garlic in food processor and process until chunky.

Add lemon juice, oil cumin, paprika, cayenne and cinnamon and process until combined. Season with salt and pepper.

Reserve 2 tbsp spice mixture for sauce. Spread remaining mixture over fish fillets and marinate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine tomatoes, preserved lemon rind and reserved spice mixture.

Spread tomato mixture in baking dish just large enough to hold fish in a single layer. Top with marinated fish.

Bake fish for 12 to 15 minutes, or until white juices appear at edges. Serve fish with sauce and garnish with olives and coriander sprigs. Serves 4.

From Lucy Waverman’s Matter of Taste