The inspiration recipe below sounded delicious but, none the less, I have slightly adapted it. The amount of salt and cream that it required was scary, even to me, and I also felt that I could simplify the process slightly. I also skipped the slow cooked part of the recipe...
This made an indulgent dinner for four and an even more indulgent lunch for one the next day - just check out the soup idea at the end of this post!
4 6-8 oz cod fillets
2 bulbs fennel, fronds removed, halved and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 cups cream
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup white wine
2 Tbsps finely chopped fennel fronds
Juice and zest from 2 lemons
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt
Preheat oven to 400.
Put the fennel, garlic, butter and white wine in a large oven safe pan over low heat. Stir until butter has melted, cover and let the fennel sweat for 10 minutes until it is starting to soften. Stir from time to time. After 10 minutes, remove cover, salt well and remove from heat.
Salt the fillets on both sides and nestle them into the fennel as best you can. Pour over the cream.
Place the pan in the oven and bake for 8 minutes. Turn the cod over and bake for another 5 to 8 minutes, depending in the thickness of the cod.
While the cod is baking, mix the chopped fennel fronds, the lemon juice and zest and the olive oil together. Set aside to let the flavors marry.
To serve, place a cod fillet in a shallow bowl, add some of the fennel mixture and a few tablespoons of the garlic cream. Drizzle with a bit of the lemon-fennel frond mixture.
I served this dish with fondant turnips, which were delicious in their own right, but think this dish would be excellent with steamed new potatoes.
A tip for the cook: the next day, heat up the remaining fennel and garlic cream. As soon as it is hot, blitz it with an immersion blender. Add a couple of tablespoons of grated Parmesan and enough stock to get it to the thickness that you like a velouté soup and you have a lovely, creamy soup for one. Just saying...
Inspiration recipe, here.