Back in May I was glad to discover that my favourite food writer Nigel Slater cooks the fish almost the same way my Mum does, with creme fraiche (soured cream) and herbs.
You can find his recipe for Lemon Tarragon Cod on the Observer site. And while I haven't followed his recipe exactly, that short feature made me revisit my old memories and cook something in between his and my Mum's recipes.
Place 350g of cod fillet (two biggish chunky pieces) into a deep frying pan or wok.
Add the juice of one lemon (or two, like Nigel suggests, if you prefer a more distinct lemon flavour, but one is plenty), 1tbsp of butter and half a handful of chopped herbs. Nigel Slater suggests using the tarragon.
Add a bay leaf and a few black peppercorns. Add 5 heaped tablespoons of the plain thick Greek yogurt (for example, Total Greek or supermarket own) or soured cream and more chopped herbs (coriander and chives).
Once the sauce starts to boil, cover the pan with the lid and lower the heat. It has to be simmering for about 10 minutes. The fish is ready when it goes opaque.
Maestro himself is very flexible with the ingredients and mentioned that you could try the same recipe but use a different fish, for example, salmon instead of cod, as well as use the chervil instead of tarragon. Or keep it plain and simple by using flat-leaf parsley.
My Mum would most likely make this recipe with hake or pollock, rather than cod.
I couldn't find any fresh tarragon or chervil, and used a mix of fresh coriander and chives that grow in pots in my garden.
Serve with the mashed potatoes and green beans.
