The finest fish in Coventry can be found in the Market - the natural home of the budget-conscious foodie. I asked Clive Miller, a fabulously knowledgeable fishmonger and supplier to Blue Bistro, what he'd recommend based on price and taste and he didn't hesitate: coley steaks.
Coley is, despite the efforts of many great chefs, seen as a poor-mans cod. Well, great - if ignorance keeps this tasty fish in our price range.
Clive, whose knowledge of how to cook fish is second to none, recommended a Thai curry. Delicious as this sounded I didn't have all the ingredients I needed. So, keen to stick to my budget but with my taste buds tuned to spicy, I went over to the Nut Stall on a mission.
If you don't know already, the Nut Stall has a great selection of spices and dried herbs, including exactly what I was looking for: a Cajun spice mix. Of course, I could produce a Cajun spice mix myself, but I'd be a muppet to design a dish on a budget that requires eight ingredients just for the flavouring. Their excellent Cajun mix cost just 60p and will be used for all sorts of delicious treats.
Ingredients
Coley steaks
A good knob of butter
Three garlic cloves
Cajun spice mix
Melt the butter in a pan. Crush the garlic cloves and add them to the butter. Give it a minute or so to infuse the flavour of the garlic.
Coat the steaks in the garlicky butter. This provides a deliciously sticky base for the Cajun spice - which you should apply liberally. I used a frying pan, but a griddle would do the trick. I reckon about 3 minutes on each side. The fish should be, as the title says, blackened.
I dressed the fish with roasted sweet red peppers and served with a curry fried rice, a variety of which will be featured on the blog soon. If I'd not run out of potatoes I'd probably have been tempted by smoked paprika roast potatoes as an alternative.
The fish was delicious - we'll be seeing more Coley in the blog before too long.
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