In the legendary words of Hannibal Smith “I love it when a plan comes together”.  Dinner tonight was inspired by Mexican flavours and the discovery of an amazing marinade for our chicken and fish barbecues.  Anna had some left over pickled chipotle peppers in the fridge and I decided to try it out in a marinade for some cod fillets.  The corn salad that accompanied the fish was an experiment to avoid wasting some unripened heritage tomatoes that fell off the vine when moving pots.  End result is one kick ass marinade (literally not for the faint hearted – I didn’t realise chipotle peppers packed that much of a punch) and a fresh corn salad with green tomato salsa as the dressing.  What made making the salsa most enjoyable was having our little son in tow in the kitchen with his plastic knife (courtesy of his Dubai aunt).  He wanted to help out and I must say he makes one helluva sous chef.

Chipotle Fish

What do I need to make it?

• 4 cod fillets (tends to take on different flavours well)
• 5-6 pickled chipotle peppers
• 2 cloves of garlic minced finely
• 1 tbsp Manuka honey
• 1 tsp roasted cumin seeds
• Handful chopped coriander
• Juice of half a lime
• Salt and pepper to taste

How much will I make?

Serves 4

How do I make it.?

Place peppers in a blender and puree to a fine paste.  Then add the remaining ingredients and give it a good stir.   Clean and pat dry the fish fillets and coat both sides with the marinade and refrigerate for a couple of hours.   Take the fish out of the fridge and let it get to room temperature before baking in a pre-heated 200 degree Centigrade oven for 20-25 minutes (the last five minutes switch the oven to grill to char the top of the fish).  Serve with fresh tomato salsa and corn salad.

Corn salad

What do I need to make it?

• 3 ears of fresh corn – roast on open flame
• 3 small heritage tomatoes finely chopped
• 2 small shallots finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 Apache green chillies (use jalapenos or any other fiery green variety) – picke fresh from our garden
• Juice of a lime
• Handful of chopped coriander
• Salt and pepper to taste

How much will I make?

Serves 4

How do I make it?

First roast the corn, then shuck it and keep aside.   Mix all the salsa ingredients in a bowl and then add the corn to the mix.