RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Christmas is now less than a month away, as if anyone needs reminding. Food is a crucial aspect of the Christmas experience, so I thought I would start a short series on “What the Bible says about food.” I’ll get going with it in the next day or two, but today thought I’d share my recipe of the week with you.

Monday is my day off and Grace and I normally try to eat something nicer than normal on a Monday evening. A couple of weeks back my friends Tony and Pete went fishing and delivered several trout to us. I like fish, and am hoping that when we get to Poole we will be able to eat more fresh-caught stuff. (My friend Roger tells me that Hengistbury Head is famous for its bass fishing.) Normally we just bake or grill trout, and serve it with potato and some veg or salad. Last night I felt like experimenting, and it worked really well. Here is the recipe:

1 large trout – filleted
Finely chop a de-seeded chilli, half an onion and a clove of garlic. Sprinkle this on the trout fillets, along with seasoning and a lump of butter. Add half a lemon. Wrap in foil and place in a reasonably hot oven (180 deg C).
Dice the other half of onion, some more garlic and a leek. Put these in a pan along with some puy lentils. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Then simmer for about 25 minutes.
The fish and lentils should be ready at about the same time. Pile a good helping of lentils on a plate and place a fillet of fish on top.

Enjoy!

I thought the chilli might overwhelm the rather delicate trout, but it didn’t seem to (it would have been too much with the seeds left in though). I’ve eaten highly spiced fish in Singapore which was delicious. This is less hardcore, but made a tasty change from my normally more cautious approach with trout. And the lentils make a great alternative to potato or rice.