Oven baked fish

This lovely creamy oven baked fish is guaranteed to warm up a cold winter's evening, especially when served with fresh salad, a bottle of Riesling, and good company.

We found the original version of this recipe in a book called "Voortrekker Resepte", published in 1988 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the "Groot Trek" in South Africa. We adapted it a bit to suit our family, but this recipe is still fairly close to the original.

Makes 3 to 4 portions.

Ingredients

  • 1 large onion (chopped)
  • 500 gram firm white fish fillets such as South African hake, or New Zealand hoki or warehou
  • 2 to 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) oil
  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) white vinegar, lemon juice or white wine
  • 2 tablespoons parsley (finely chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 2 teaspoons dill (optional)
  • 1 cup (250 ml) grated Cheddar cheese
  • Salt and pepper to season to taste
  • A decent pinch of cayenne pepper

Method

  1. Fry onion until translucent.
  2. Grease an oven dish and place fish fillets in the dish.
  3. Sprinkle dill and chopped garlic over fish, and then the onion.
  4. Whisk together the eggs, oil, vinegar or lemon juice or wine, parsley, thyme, salt, and black and cayenne pepper. Add cheese and mix.
  5. Distribute mixture evenly over fish.
  6. Bake for 45 minutes at 200°C until lightly browned.
  7. Serve warm.