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Friday 17 July 2009

Misguided about exotic drinks and spices...



Just last week, I was looking through some food blogs when I realised I hadn't visited my friend Judy at No Fear Entertaining for a while. When I got there, I found her post on Tilapia with Cilantro and Lime. I was intrigued to say the least and decided I was going to do something similar.

For many years, I thought Cilantro was some exotic drink akin to Campari. Then, when I wisened up a little, I thought it was some exotic spice only available in the western world.

Imagine my surprise when I learnt that Cilantro was nothing other than Coriander Leaves! Silly misguided me...


Anyway, enough of my misguidance on exotic drinks and spices!

When the weekend came and it was time to do the groceries, I told The Lovely Wife that I wanted to get some fish. My initial plan was to use some mackerel but as we were shopping in one of the hypermarkets, I noticed there was a special for frozen Dory Fish fillets. No where as nice as Mackerel for sure but so, so, SO much cheaper!



I would never have thought of using Coriander Leaves with fish so this is truly inspired by Judy's post. I also decided on using lemon instead of lime for this. This is what I did.

Baked Dory Fish with Coriander Leaves and Lemon
Ingredients
500g Dory Fish fillets (about two large pieces)
1 large bunch Coriander, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic - chopped
Salt
Black Pepper
1/2 a lemon

Method
Cut dory into large pieces. Combine cilantro, oil, garlic and salt and spread over the fish. Leave to marinate for at least 1/2 hour.
Preheat oven to 190C. Line a tray with aluminium foil and place marinated fish on top of the foil. Sprinkle top of fish with black pepper. Fold the foil over the fish and seal it like an parcel, making sure the fish is covered.
Bake for about 20 mins and then open the parcel carefully as the steam will be very hot. Transfer the fish together with its juices to a serving platter. Squeeze the lemon over the fish and garnish with lemon slices.




The fish was really very tasty and the two flavours complemented each other very nicely. Who would have thought that something this easy could be so tasty? I served it with rice and it was enjoyed by everyone. I was only sad that there wasn't any left over when my princess asked for seconds...

13 comments:

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

Love this adaptation Dharm and how cool that I "inspired" someone. So glad you all liked it!!!

David T. Macknet said...

So simple, yet it sounds so delicious!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Sounds delicious Dharm:D

maybelles mom said...

I had the same confusion about Cilantro years ago. Looks great.

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

How many of us have had similar confusions. It was a long time before I learned that (at least here) cilantro referred to the fresh green and coriander was the dried in a bottle and like you then I felt silly and misguided.

Elle said...

I can almost smell that lovely fish with the tangy lemon and pungent cilantro...er coriander :)
Did not know that Dory and talipia were the same thing...learn something new every day :)

Dharm said...

Elle,
Tilapia is NOT the same as Dory... I just used Dory since it was cheaper.. and easier to get!!

Chipmunkrock said...

looks yummy!! guess you learn new things everyday. Cilantro and lollo bionda! haha!

Thistlemoon said...

This does look great! I love both yours and Judy's versions! YUM!

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

I love making dishes like this with herbs from my garden -- it's great fun to walk out the front door, snip a few coriander leaves, and make a beautiful fish dinner. Thanks for the inspiration.

jasmine said...

Coriander leaf - cilantro; rocket - arugula; aubergine - eggplant...Every once in a while I feel I need to write an aka for food when I talk to my nonfoodie friends...

j

Chefspiration said...

that soundslike a wonderful combination of flavors for fish! yumm!! gotta try this :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the recipe. Now that I am a stay home mom/wife, I feel I have to come up with delicious and a little bit of variety in our dinner meals. I like cooking and it is always easy to come up something with chicken. But then who wants to have chicken every day. I like fish, but for me preparing delicious fish dishes rarely works. This recipe looks easy and delicious. I will try it today. Thanks