Meals for under £10: Pollack with Orange & Dill

The lovely, white flesh of pollack goes really well with a citrus dressing and the earthiness of dill.

Use a bit of Douglas fir in this dish if you can get some, it goes brilliantly with the other ingredients.

Serves 4, 20 minutes preparation, Allow 10 minutes for cooking

What you’ll need:

● 4 pollack fillets, 250g each
● Vegetable oil, for frying
● Flaky sea salt
For the dressing
● 3 unwaxed oranges
● 100ml olive oil
● 150ml cider vinegar
● 75g caster sugar
● Small bunch dill, chopped, few sprigs saved for garnish
● 2 tbsp Douglas fir pine needles, chopped

For coating
● 175g coarse yellow cornmeal
● 40g plain flour
● 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder

For the garnish
● 1 orange, peeled, pith removed, segmented

Method:

1. For the dressing – pare the zest from 2 oranges, keeping a little pith on, and dice. Place in a small saucepan, cover with olive oil and heat gently over a low heat until the skin is just soft. Leave to cool.
2. Squeeze the juice from all the oranges into a small pan with cider vinegar and sugar. Bring to the boil, dissolving the sugar. Let it bubble to reduce by two-thirds until thick. Put in a bowl to cool.
3. Add the orange zest and olive oil mix to the orange juice reduction, whisk to combine. Stir in the chopped dill and pine needles. Set aside.
4. For the fish coating – mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Heat a 2cm depth of oil in a deep-sided frying pan until it reaches about 180°C. (Drop a cube of dry white bread into the oil – if the bread turns golden brown in just under a min, the oil is ready).
5. Dust the fillets on both sides with the cornmeal. Fry for 2–3 mins each side until the crust is crisp and golden brown. carefully transfer to a tray lined with kitchen paper to drain. Season lightly with salt.
6. Serve the fillets on warmed plates, garnished with the orange segments, dill, and dressing.

From Tom’s Table by Tom Kerridge, Absolute Press, £25.