Kim’s Murray Cod with Tapenade, Potato, and Fennel Salad

21st June 2023 | by nicolepbruno

An unexpected winter dish

When you think of winter dishes, many minds go immediately to hearty meats and roasts. Kim’s Murray Cod recipe, however, ticks all the boxes for a comforting, yet light, winter-inspired dish. Showcasing seasonal ingredients, this recipe is always a stand-out of the season.

Kim recommends making the tapenade and aioli ahead of time and sotring in the fridge until you are ready to serve. Prepare the potato and fennel salad, then cook the fish and dress the salad at the last minute.

Ingredients

Tapenade

1 cup (200g) pitted black olives
1⁄4 small red onion
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon parsley
2 anchovy fillets, in oil
1 teaspoon baby capers, drained
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Aioli

2 egg yolks
Juice 1⁄2 lemon
1 teaspoon mustard
small clove of garlic
2 cups of olive oil
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pan Roasted Potatoes

50 ml extra virgin olive oil
5 small potatoes, or chats, washed, cut in half and ends removed 1 bulb
garlic, halved horizontally
5 fresh bay leaves
50 ml vegetable stock or water
Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Fennel Salad

1 fennel, finely sliced
Large handful of mixed salad greens, such as rocket, watercress, flatleaf parsley or other small salad leaves, per person, washed and dried
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Murray Cod

2 x 170g fillets Murray cod, or other firm white fish, such as blue eye cod
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Tapenade

Place half the olives, the onion, garlic, and rosemary in a food process and blitz together until finely chopped. Add the rest of the olives, parsley, anchovy, capers and oil and pulse until combined, keeping a nice chunky texture and consistency. This quantity makes more than you need for this recipe, so store the balance of the tapenade in a jar and keep in the fridge.

Aoili

Put egg yolks, lemon, mustard and garlic into a food processor and process until well combined. With the processor on, gradually add the olive oil in a thin stream till the mix comes together. Season with salt and pepper.

Pan Roasted Potatoes

Heat a cast iron skillet or other heavy based frying pan over a medium high heat on the stove.
Add oil to pan and when hot, arrange potato disks and garlic halves face down in the oil.
Fry until golden then carefully turn potatoes over.
When golden on this side, pour over stock, scatter over bay leaves, season and cover with a lid. Turn heat down to medium and cook until liquid has evaporated and potatoes are done. Keep warm while the fish is cooking.

Fennel Salad

Toss fennel and prepared salad greens together with olive oil, lemon juice and seasoning when you are ready to serve.

Prepare fish

Preheat oven to 200°C.
Pat the fish dry with kitchen paper and season each fillet on both sides with salt and pepper. Place a large non-stick frypan on a high heat and allow to get searingly hot. The pan needs to be big enough that the fish isn’t overcrowded and has plenty of room of its own to cook.
Add oil to the pan and place fish in skin side down. Allow each piece to cook for 7 minutes, flip each fillet over to the flesh side and put the pan into the oven for a further 3 minutes to finish cooking.
Remove the pan from the oven, check that the fish is done to your liking and allow to rest for a minute while you plate up. Keep in mind that the fish will continue to cook as you are getting potatoes and sauces together and dressing the salad.
To serve, arrange a few disks of potato on the plate and top with a dollop each of aioli and tapenade. Serve the fish on top and the fennel and herb salad on the side.