The other night The Hungry One and I had a finance summit.
It was scintillating. Really. Thrilling stuff.
When we have finance summits we get to do lots of fun things like check the balances on all the credit cards (in the UK and Australia) and analyse where all the money is going.
It was something we committed to on a monthly basis in a Cava sozzled state on New Year’s Eve. Yet, surprisingly for both of us it’s turned into one of the resolutions we’ve kept.
(Probably more out of necessity than anything else- having a tenant in a flat back home who refused to pay rent for thee and a half months doesn’t do fabulous things for the collective bottom line).
A dinner to accompany a finance summits needs to do the following three things.
1) Potter happily in the oven, while I sit and plug numbers into a spreadsheet.
2) Have minimal washing up- a one tray dish is ideal.
3) Go with pink wine. If I’m drinking pink I’m usually friendlier to be around. And there’s something about navigating online banking, remembering seven different log ons and deciphering UK tax obligations that makes me more inclined to pull on my cranky pants.
So that’s how we ended up eating roasted eschallots, tomatoes and white beans, crowned with a fillet of white fish with a punchy smoked paprika aioli.
It was light, yet sturdy. Confident, yet self contained. The tomatoes and aioli gave it zip and a little kick of spice. There were flaked almonds, crispy beans and some parsley for crunch.
We ate it with a simple green salad while musing over spreadsheets and looking at tax brackets.
If only everything was this simple.
Baked white fish with tomatoes, eschallots, white beans and almonds
Serves 2
Shopping/foraging
1 head of garlic
6 small eschallots, or one red onion, cut into 8ths
1 large fillet of white fish- around 600 grams (I used Arctic cod, but blue eye, kingfish, swordfish or monkfish would also be grand)
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes
1 tin of white beans, rinsed
2 tablespoons of flaked almonds
2 tablespoons of flat leaf parsley
4 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt
Smoked paprika aioli
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon of dijon mustard
150 ml of vegetable oil
50 ml of olive oil
2 teaspoons of hot smoked paprika
Equipment
1 lasagne dish or roasting dish. A whisk and a mixing bowl for the aioli.
Here’s how we roll
1. Preheat the oven to 15 0 degrees. Cut the top of a head of garlic, peel the eschallots and cut them in half. Add them, the rinsed white beans and the cherry tomatoes to a lasagne dish or baking tray. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and drizzle with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
2. Roast the beans, tomatoes,onions and garlic for 45 minutes until the tomatoes have puckered and the skins on the beans have blistered.
3. Drape the fish fillet over the top of the vegetables, skin side up.
4. Drizzle the fish a tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with salt, flaked almonds and parsley and put in the oven.
5. Make the aioli by mixing the egg yolk and the mustard together in a clean bowl. Slowly drizzle in the vegetable oil, whisking to incorporate it. Once it has become thick and glossy, add the olive oil. Check for seasoning. Stir in the two teaspoons of smoked hot paprika.
6. Bake the fish for around 15-20 minutes until the skin is crisp and the almonds are toasted.
7. Serve the fish on top of a base of tomatoes, beans and eschallots. Drizzle it all with the smoked paprika aioli.
I thought of you the other day when I made a one pot dish (I love my fire engine red chasseur casserole dish). Chicken thighs, butter beans, with heaps of herbs and cherry tomatoes from the garden.
And of course a glass of wine.
I think as long as you aren't doing the Finance Summits in a Cava-sozzled state, you'll be right 😉 Dinner looks wonderful!
Hmmm I think I need a finance summit as well – especially it is accompanied by lovely baked fish like this.