Part Two

Cod wrapped in bacon, thyme, rosemary and lemon dressing with dauphinois potatoes

There are many things I would do differently if I cooked this dish again, so I'll add them in as I write, so yours might be an improved version!

Firstly, this is a combination of Jamie and myself. Jamie does a leek and white fish dish with streaky bacon, all in pieces, tossed together with the dressing and baked in the oven. I wanted to 'refine' the aesthetics of it, so instead of using 'loose' strips of bacon, used them as a wrap for the cod pieces. One thing I can say for the bacon, though, is that it is British. Although it took slightly longer to find than usual, the cost was fairly similar as there was an offer on two packs, and I didn't want to feel guilty about not buying British after the Food Fight series this week! Not that I'm easily influenced or anything!

cod fillets or any white fish
a lemon
sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme
olive oil
streaky bacon
baby leeks
potatoes - peeled and sliced thinly
milk
creme fraiche
knob of butter
grated nutmeg
salt and pepper

The potatoes take the longest so begin with them. Add your sliced potatoes to a pan and just cover with milk and a dollop of creme fraiche and butter. Grate over some nutmeg, add salt and pepper to taste and put on a medium heat.
As the milk starts to heat and thicken, don't forget to stir occasionally as the potatoes will stick.
When virtually cooked through, transfer the potatoes and cream mixture to an ovenproof casserole, or individual dishes if you prefer, and bake in a hot oven (180) until the potatoes have absorbed most of the cream mixture.
You can add finely chopped garlic to the pan at the beginning if desired.

For the fish, first make the dressing. Crush fresh thyme and rosemary with a little pepper. Add a couple of glugs of olive oil and the juice of a lemon. I suggest you don't add salt as the streaky bacon used to wrap the fish is salty enough.
Next, par boil the baby leeks for about 3 minutes, then drain. I used strips of normal leeks, but I would suggest these don't really need parboiling as the baby leeks would.
Toss the fish and leeks in the dressing.
Take the pieces of fish and wrap each one in a strip of streaky bacon. If you run the back of a knife along each strip first, they will stretch nicely to a good length.
Pan fry these for one minute to begin to crisp the bacon.
Transfer the fish and the leeks to an ovenproof tin / dish (or add the leeks to the frying pan if you have an oven-proof one), pour over any remaining dressing or add a touch more olive oil if needed, and put into the oven at about 170c for 15 minutes. I overcooked the fish, I think by panfrying for too long before-hand, so make sure you check the fish and remove if cooked, leaving the leeks to crisp up.

Serve the fish on a bed of the crispy leeks.