Jason and the Argonauts
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White fish steaks braised with leeks in blood orange juice and sweetened wine.
This dish uses ingredients and a simple technique that would be relevant in the days of the Greek myths. It was inspired by Susanna Hoffman’s book, “The Olive and the Caper, Adventures in Greek Cooking”.
Ingredients
Method
Preparation
In the morning, juice the lemon and liberally sprinkle lemon juice and salt all over the fish. Put the fish in the refrigerator to absorb the flavours for 2 hours or more.
Trim unwanted parts off the leeks keeping as much green as possible. Wash and cut across and along to give 5 cm long sheets.
Slice the kumquats (or limes) into thin rounds.
Juice the blood oranges (or substitutes) to make about 80 ml. liquid.
Pick, wash and chop the chives.
Cooking
Preheat the oven to gas mark 6 (200 °C; 400 °F).
Lightly oil a casserole dish and put in the fish steaks, skin side down.
Warm the oil in a pan and gently fry the leeks and kumquats until wilting (about 1 min).
Mix the orange juice, wine, honey and add to the leeks with the bay leaf, and cook over medium heat until the leeks are well wilted (about 2 minutes once hot).
Pour this sauce over the fish spreading the leeks out evenly.
Cover with foil and bake until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily, 15 – 25 mins. depending on the size of the steaks.
Serve:
Season with the fresh herbs, salt and pepper and serve hot.
Notes:
Delicious, but the blood orange and kumquat season is very short in UK.
Substituting Fairtrade orange for the blood orange plus Fairtrade limes in place of the kumquat is less authentic to the origins of this dish, but extends the season when it can be enjoyed, and increases the Fairtrade content dramatically.
The variations have been tested by the Fairtrade Cookbook team and found to be quite “scrummy”.