Fish made simple: These wallet-friendly fish dishes are simple to put together

I’m often asked what my “death row” meal would be, that magical insight into people’s real thoughts on food the night before it’s all over. For most, it is almost always comfort food. There’s usually a nod to childhood, family, or a particular place or moment in time. What’s yours? You get a starter, main course, dessert and one drink.
My main course is simple, a nicely aged, thick cut striploin steak with skinny chips and Béarnaise sauce, a simple salad on the side. Dessert has to be a stupidly sweet and moist sticky toffee pudding with ice cream laced with vanilla seeds. I’ll have a glass of cola alongside it all, with a slightly squeezed wedge of lemon and ice left just long enough to slightly dilute the harsher bubbles. The starter is really simple: crab claws in garlic butter. For me, this is as good as it gets, with fresh crab claws being the gold standard in seafood. Unfortunately, they are becoming incredibly hard to find, due in part to stocks in Irish water and a collapse of the market in Europe for a variety of reasons.
For this reason I won’t be cooking crab claws this week, instead focusing on a more sustainable and cost-effective alternative: hake. This is a fearsome looking fish (google it) that can be found everywhere from the North African coast through the Mediterranean, and as far north as Iceland. Cooking it is really simple – the key point being to hold the skin side down in the pan when you first place it on, to prevent it curling.
After that, it’s about managing the temperature and allowing the butter to bubble away without browning, essentially poaching the fish as you spoon it across the top. The addition of the garlic cloves is there to scent the butter – if you heat it too much it goes brown and bitter. A squeeze of lemon juice, some salt and parsley, and we are laughing. I’ve also added some French beans, and crusty bread wouldn’t go amiss either, to mop up that garlicky goodness.
The second recipe is another cracker from my mother’s repertoire. I wouldn’t be a big fan of farmed salmon for cooking at home, but there are some really nice Irish smoked salmon products available. This is essentially turning leftovers into a new meal. You layer up some par-cooked potatoes with the salmon and create a type of gratin. The Parmesan crust on top is a lovely added touch.
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This can be served as a light lunch with a herb salad, as I’ve done here, or bulked up to feed the masses. The ratio of potato to smoked salmon also keeps costs down while incorporating more fish into our weekly meals. For those who aren’t mad into seafood, this is definitely a great introduction.
Recipe: Roast hake in garlic butter with French beans
Recipe: Smoked salmon and creamed potato bake with herb salad