Roasted carrots and potatoes and herbed fish

I love cooking and having an alfresco kitchen is just one of the amazing things about this new place.
Last night I attempted to make fish with roasted root vegetables (carrots and potatoes). It's not a usual pairing but it turned out to be just as nice as if it was a roast chicken or steak.



ROASTED ROOTS (serves 2)

Ingredients
6 washed baby potatoes
1 large carrot
5-6 cloves of garlic
Rosemary (I used dried)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper.

Directions
1. Preheat the oven. In the meantime, cut the vegetables. I halved the potatoes and chopped the carrots into about an inch thick.
2. Bring a pot of water to boil, adding salt and the vegetables. Boil them for about 5-10 mins. I have a neat trick for roasting potatoes which is to partially cook them before roasting. This ensures that the flesh shrinks slightly away from the skin, allowing the skin to turn crisp in the oven.
3. Prepare a baking dish/tray. Drizzle some olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary. For the garlic, I chose not to peel or chop them as the skin helps to retain the moisture in the garlic better in the oven. Instead, using the side of your knife, smash the cloves slightly to release some of its fragrance.
4. Once the vegetables are ready, rinse them under cold water in a colander before adding them to the baking dish.
5. Make sure you coat all the vegetables with the seasoning well before putting it into the oven for 1 hour.

HERBED FISH

Ingredients
250g Red Snapper and 250g Grouper (or your fish of choice)
Parsley
Tarragon
Salt+ Pepper
White Wine
Olive Oil
Fresh orange/lemon juice

Directions

1. Cut the fish into fist-sized portions.
2. In a bowl, add the pepper, salt, tarragon and parsley, to taste. Drip in a few drops of olive oil and coat the   fish evenly.
3. Add a squeeze of lemon or orange. The citric acid gives it a little freshness and a slight tang that I like. In this recipe, I choose to use orange, just to change the flavour slightly and I think it worked.
4. Cover the bowl with aluminium foil and place the marinated fish in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes.
5. After 20-30 mins, take the bowl out and heat a pan to sear the fish.
6. Once the fish starts to turn white (from its original transparent-like colour), add in the white wine and reduce.
7. Take the fish out and serve together with the roasted vegetables.