This recipe is for me the ultimate quick and easy dinner. When I was growing up every Sunday in our house mum would prepare a traditional roast and a dessert, just like my granny before her.
The dessert was normally tinned mandarin oranges and cream, with sponge fingers soaked in the mandarin syrup, which to this day is my favourite dessert. There was always cream left over, so mum then used to make this cheesy cod on Mondays for my sister and me, like her mother also did for her.
I really enjoy this dish as it is so simple, and it is always popular with both adults and children. My son Aaron is three and a half, and he makes the creamy cheesy mixture with me and sets the timer for me.
I normally get my cod from Mary’s Fish in Galway, which sources only the best cod fresh from Castletownbere or Skibbereen in Co Cork. The cheese in this recipe is smoked Gubbeen, which works fantastically well here. But you can use cheddar too.
Alan McArdle is executive chef at Ballynahinch Castle.
Granny’s easy cheesy cod
Serves 2
Ingredients
400g fresh cod fillet
15g wholegrain mustard
150g whipping cream
100g smoked Gubbeen cheese, or Cheddar
Zest of one unwaxed lemon
Method
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
2. Remove the skin and any bones from the cod.
3. Cut the fish into two equal pieces and place in a non-stick ovenproof pan, or small roasting tray, and season with a pinch of salt. I use Maldon sea salt.
4. Put the whipping cream in a bowl.
5. Add a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard and the lemon zest.
6. Whisk the cream, mustard, and zest to soft peaks (do not overwhip).
7. Add the grated smoked Gubbeen cheese.
8. Using a tablespoon, put a good dollop of the cream mixture onto each piece of fish.
9. Cook in the oven for eight minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.
Tip: This can be prepped the night before you want to eat it. If cooking them straight from fridge add three minutes to the cooking time.
Kitchen Cabinet is a series of recipes from chefs who are members of Euro-toques Ireland who have come together during the coronavirus outbreak to share some of the easy, tasty things that they like to cook and eat at home #ChefsAtHome
