This recipe is similar to the Mackerel Blackened Fish recipe but for white fish fillets, and uses fresh herbs for a slightly different taste. This recipe comes from Jamie Oliver, and the photo above uses bass tail fillets. Blackened Fish is a Cajun style of cooking where fish fillets are smeared in spices then fried briefly in a searingly hot frying pan. This makes the outside crispy and the inside stays succulent.

Takes 10 minutes, serves 2. You need:

  • 2 fish fillets, skinned and boned
  • Seasoning rub:
    • 1 teaspoon paprika
    • Two garlic cloves
    • Half a teaspoon cayenne pepper
    • Half a teaspoon salt
    • Half teaspoon black pepper
    • Half tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram
    • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
  • Two tablespoons olive oil
  • Juice from half a lemon
  • Glug of rape seed oil (rape seed oil doesn’t get as hot as vegetable oil so is good for frying)

Put all the seasoning mix into a pestle and mortar and grind to a paste. Use a rotating move, not an up-and-down pound. Coat the fillets in the the spice mix on both sides. Heat the rape seed oil in a pan until smoking hot. Put the fish in the frying pan, then after a minute or so, turn over and fry the other side. If the side you turned up is brown and crispy looking, a minute was fine. If not, give it a bit longer. Turn over and repeat.

That’s all! Serve with whatever you like. We had new potatoes rolled in olive oil, and a home made coleslaw. You could have rice ‘n beans; sweetcorn; fries; potato wedges….