Roasted cod with a coriander crust

The cookbook I've probably cooked most from in the last couple of years is Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley's fabulous Falastin which is all about the food of Sami's Palestinian childhood together with some more contemporary recipes of which this is one.

"The combination of fish and tahini is one we find hard to resist, but this works just as well without the tahini sauce if you’re looking for a shortcut or want to keep the focus on the lemon. Either way, this is as close to fast food as you can get. It’s a 15-minute meal to make, beginning to end. Possibly even less time to eat.

If you are using the tahini sauce, make the whole quantity below. . It keeps in the fridge for about 4 days and is lovely to have around to drizzle over all sorts of roasted vegetables, meat, fish and salads."

Playing around: Any other meaty white fish works just as well here: sea bass and halibut, for example. Salmon also works well.

Roasted cod with a coriander crust
Samak mashew bil cozbara w al limon

Serves 4

60ml olive oil

4 garlic cloves, crushed

50g coriander, finely chopped

2 1/2 tsp fish spice mix (see below)

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

4 large cod loin (or another sustainably sourced white fish), skin on (about 700g)

4 large fresh bay leaves (optional)

2 lemons: cut one into 8 very thin slices, and quarter the other lengthways, into wedges, to serve

About 4 tbsp/65g tahini sauce (optional) (see below), to serve

Salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 250°C fan

Put 2 tablespoons of oil into a small saucepan and place on a medium-low heat. Add the crushed garlic and cook for 10 seconds, then add the coriander, fish spice mix, chilli flakes, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and a grind of black pepper.

Cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring frequently, for the garlic to really soften, then remove from the heat.

Place the cod in a parchment-lined roasting dish, skin side down, and brush with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper then spoon the coriander mix on top of each fillet. Spread it out so that the whole top is covered, then top each one with a bay leaf, if using, along with 2 slices of lemon. Roast for 7–8 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.

Serve at once, with about a tablespoon of tahini sauce drizzled over, if using, and a wedge of lemon alongside.

Fish spice mix

2 tsp ground cardamom

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp ground turmeric

Place all the spices in a bowl and mix well to combine. If making more than you need transfer to a sealed container where it will keep for a month

Tahini sauce

150g tahini

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 garlic clove, crushed

Salt

Mix together all the ingredients along with 120ml of water and 1/4 tsp salt. If it is too runny add a bit more tahini. If it is too thick, add a bit more lemon juice or water. You want the consistency to be like that of a smooth, runny nut butter. It will thicken up when left to sit around so just give it a stir and some more lemon juice or water every time you use it. It keeps in the fridge for 3-4 days.

What to drink: Any crisp dry white such as Picpoul de Pinet or an albarino will work

Extracted from FALASTIN: A COOKBOOK by Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley (Ebury Press, £27) Photography by Jenny Zarins.

I paired one of Sami and Tara's other recipes - lamb koftas with tahini - in my Match of the Week slot

Salted Salmon with Tarragon Butter

This recipe comes from a fascinating book by award-winning food writer Sybil Kapoor called Sight Smell Touch Taste Sound which reveals the role our senses can play in the way we cook and eat.

This simple delicious recipe from a chapter on taste shows how salt can highlight taste and texture of fish like salmon.

Sybil writes: "Fish and meat in European cooking are traditionally salted to help preserve them – for example, smoked salmon or duck confit. In countries such as China and Japan, salting is also used to change the texture of food and, equally importantly, to remove fishy or meaty odours, partly by extracting blood and bitter juices.

Dry salting, such as here, is used for oily fish such as mackerel, herring and salmon. The longer any ingredient is salted, the more liquid is extracted and the saltier the ingredient will taste. The art is to allow just enough salt to develop the umami tastes, but not so much that all the tastes are submerged beneath the salt. The tarragon butter adds a tempting rich texture and depth of flavour."

Serves 6

6 x 175 g/6 oz salmon fillets with skin

3 tsp fine sea salt

2–3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

For the tarragon butter

1 tbsp finely chopped tarragon leaves

1 lemon, finely grated, plus 1 tsp juice

55 g/2 oz/scant 4 tbsp

unsalted butter, softened

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place a plate or tray large enough to hold the fish on the work surface. Evenly sprinkle the surface of the plate/tray with half the salt. Lay the fillets skin-side down on the plate/tray, then sprinkle the remaining salt over the fish. Chill for 40 minutes.

Make the tarragon butter by beating together the chopped tarragon, lemon zest and juice and butter in a small bowl. Very lightly season to taste, as the fish is already salty. Spoon the butter onto some greaseproof (wax) paper to roughly form a sausage shape – roll up the paper and gently roll it under your fingers until it forms a smooth cylinder.

Chill until needed.

Preheat 2 non-stick frying pans (skillets) over a medium-high heat. Once hot, add 1–1½ tbsp olive oil to each pan, then add 3 salmon fillets, flesh-side down, to each pan. Fry briskly for 3 minutes, or until seared and golden, then turn and cook for 3–4 minutes, or until the skin is crisp and the salmon is just cooked through. Plate the salmon, topping each fillet with a round slice of tarragon butter. Serve immediately.

What to drink:

I particularly like chardonnay with tarragon (see What wine should you pair with herbs) so I'd probably go for a Chablis or other subtly oaked chardonnay but a crisp sauvignon blanc from the Loire such as a Sancerre or Pouilly Fumé would also work well.

For other salmon pairings see 10 great wine pairings with salmon

Recipe from Sight, Smell, Touch, Taste, Sound: A New way to cook by Sybil Kapoor, published by Pavilion Books. Image © Keiko Oikawa

Rosemary and basil aubergines in za'atar

One of the books I'm most enjoying at the moment is Mark Diacono's Herb which is perfectly suited to a man who is a great gardener as well as a cook (and the most engaging writer as well as taking all his own photographs. Sickening, really!)

This recipe is for one of my favourite ingredients, aubergines, and is wonderfully simple.

Mark writes: This is my favourite way with aubergines, and one that shows how they take beautifully to so many herbs. The oregano in the za’atar and the rosemary lend flavour to the cooking aubergines, while the fresh basil scattered to serve completes the picture. Adding the rosemary for the last few minutes aromatizes the aubergines;

I know ‘aromatize’ sounds like the sort of unwelcome thing a garage unexpectedly does to your car when you’ve taken it for an MOT, but I promise it is the best word for it. It is as if resinous smoke has been blown through every pore of the aubergine, without a trace of the bitterness that comes with roasting rosemary sprigs until they resemble the skeletons of sparrows’ legs.

Try this with roast lamb, griddled courgettes, couscous and pretty much any cold cuts.

Rosemary and basil aubergines in za'atar

Serves 4

4 aubergines (eggplant), quartered lengthways

4 tbsp olive oil

a few good sprigs of rosemary, broken into 3cm (1in) pieces

4 tbsp za’atar (see below)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing

50g (2oz) tahini

1 tbsp yoghurt

juice of 1 lemon

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

To serve

pomegranate molasses

hot sauce or chilli flakes

handful of Greek basil leaves, or other basil finely shredded

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.

Lay the aubergine quarters in a single layer on baking sheets, brush with oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the oven, turn the heat down to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4, and cook for 20–25 minutes until tender and brown.

Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together with 2 tablespoons water; use a little more water if required, to reach a consistency of double (heavy) cream.

Mix the rosemary, za’atar and a heavy grinding of pepper in a bowl. Remove the aubergines from the oven, top with the za’atar mix, drizzle with more oil and return to the oven for 5 minutes.

Drizzle with the tahini dressing, pomegranate molasses, hot sauce or chilli flakes and scatter with basil.

*ZA’ATAR

Depending on your threshold for authenticity, you may be frustrated in searching for the one true herb at the heart of za’atar. Hyssop, wild oregano and savory are among the prime suspects; all create a wonderful version of this classic blend. I usually go with the lightly citrus zing of Mexican oregano in summer, and hyssop or winter savory in the colder months. As with chaat masala, once you start making and using this, you’ll find yourself sprinkling it on everything from oily flatbreads to eggs on toast.

Makes a small jarful

3 tbsp sesame seeds

1½ tbsp ground cumin

2 tbsp sumac

2 tbsp dried Mexican oregano, dried marjoram, oregano, savory or hyssop

1 tbsp salt

Lightly toast the sesame seeds in a pan over a medium heat, shuffling them around a bit to ensure they don’t turn too dark. Combine all the ingredients together with a mortar and pestle, as much as anything to encourage the flavours and scents to be released as they mix.

Store in a sealed jar, where it will keep for a few months, losing intensity over time.

What to drink: I'd be marginally inclined to go for a bright, fruity red like a young syrah or grenache with this but a herby Italian white like a verdicchio or a vernaccia or even an orange wine would work too. Or a strong dry rosé. Probably in the natural wine spectrum.

For other pairings with aubergines see here and wine matches for herbs here

Extracted from Herb by Mark Diacono (Quadrille, £26). You can read more about Mark - and indeed buy herbs from him - on his website Otter Farm.

Pot-roast chicken cooked in herby crème fraîche

A really lovely, summery way of cooking roast chicken from Olia Hercules beautiful new book Summer Kitchens.

Olia writes: "Chicken smothered and baked in cultured cream is an old classic, but sometimes I like to go one step further. I use a lot of herbs at home, and sometimes I am left with quite a few stalks: dill, parsley, basil and coriander stalks all work well when stirred into the crème fraîche. By the time the chicken is cooked, this turns into the most amazing sauce.

I like serving this with chunks of good bread and boiled cabbage or the cabbage and cucumber salad, but it would also be lovely with new potatoes or a buttery lemon rice pilau. Any leftovers are delicious stirred through hot stubby pasta."

SERVES 6

150ml crème fraîche
25g dill and/or parsley or their stalks, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 large chicken, about 1.4kg Sea salt and black pepper

Blitz the crème fraîche, herbs, garlic and a generous pinch of salt in a food processor until smooth. Taste, and add more salt if needed, and some pepper.

Pour the oil into a roasting tin, add the chicken and spread the herby crème fraîche all over it, inside and out. If you have time, cover and leave to marinate for a couple of hours at room temperature, or in the fridge overnight.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas Mark 6.

Cover the chicken loosely with foil and roast for 45 minutes, basting it a couple of times, if you remember. Take off the foil and cook for another 15–20 minutes, or until the legs come away from the body with ease and the juices run clear from the thickest part of the thigh when it is pierced with the tip of a knife.

Take the chicken out of the oven and let it rest for 5–10 minutes. Pull the tender meat from the bones with two forks and mix through the roasting juices, then serve.

What to drink: Although you could - and might well want to - drink a red wine with this (a Loire cabernet franc such as a Saumur-Champigny or Chinon would work well) with all these herbs I'd be inclined to drink a dry white. I'm thinking Hungarian Furmint or Austrian Grüner Veltliner but Italian white wines would work well to. As would a pale dry rosé.

What wine - or other drinks - should you pair with herbs?

Extract taken from Summer Kitchens by Olia Hercules (£26, Bloomsbury). Recipe photography © Joe Woodhouse