a fish i know

Today's soundtrack:
"Wrong Side of the Country" by Old Man Luedecke

Continuing my not so secret plan to use food to convince each and every one of you to come and visit, I give you last night's dinner.  Or supper.  Possibly tea.  Even after reading this article in the Guardian the other day, I still have no idea what I just ate.  Anyway, here's my take on the haddock, spinach and cheese melt I found on BBC's Good Food website.

So rather than using two rather processed looking supermarket haddock fillets (going by the Good Food photo), I used fresh haddock fillets from St. Monan's (courtesy of Le Petit Epicerie).  Usually I go up to Doig's for fish, but I forgot they're closed on Monday afternoons.  

Tangential aside, if you're coming to Anstruther for a self-catered visit, you simply must go to Doig's on East Forth Street (just up from the Cellardyke harbour) for your fish.  Not only are the fish fresh (unlike the frozen fish sold in the grocery stores), the fish is from local fishers and expertly cut up by two rather dashing fellows with great Scottish accents.  So not only does the fish from Doig's taste better than that from the local grocery stores, it's generally a bit cheaper as well.  Plus, the fellows up there are incredibly friendly and full of suggestions.*

Anyway, I used much more than two tablespoons of grated Parmesan.  More like a good 1/4 cup.  I have justification other than I love cheese about as much as I love potatoes.  And chocolate.  Also beer.  There's just a lot of love.

Some things not covered in the Good Food recipe (but should be):  
- Season the fish with sea salt and fresh ground pepper, and don't be stingy with the tomatoes.  Or cheese.  
- I don't know if you North Americans can even get haddock, because I don't remember ever seeing it at Thrifty's in Nanaimo.  You might have to use cod instead.  Whatever you do use, just make sure it's fresh.  
- Also, use a bit of olive oil when wilting the spinach down... but don't wilt it down too much.  Remember, it'll be in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Take that, Kraft Dinner with ketchup!

* All of this is, of course, if you're unlucky enough not to have neighbours like ours, who dropped off two beautiful mackerel the other day (along with Louis Jr for Miguel).