Roasted Whole Fish and Fennel with Crushed Potatoes, Perserved Lemon, and Charmoula
4.1
(7)
Charmoula is a tangy, spicy sauce—in this case, made with cumin, cilantro, garlic, and lemon—that's traditionally served with meat in Morocco.
Ingredients
Makes 6 servings
Step 1
Mix yogurt, chopped cilantro, and lime juice in small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill.
Step 2
Cut 2-inch-long, 1/2-inch-deep slits into outside of both sides of fish, spacing 2 inches apart. Sprinkle fish inside and out with salt and pepper. Place parsley sprigs, thyme sprigs, fennel fronds, and lemon slices in fish cavity. Sprinkle top side of fish with chopped parsley and 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped thyme. Cover and chill at least 1 hour.Do aheadLime yogurt and fish can be made 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.
Step 3
Preheat oven to 400°F. Stir fennel seeds in small dry skillet over medium heat until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Mix fennel wedges, 2 tablespoons olive oil, toasted fennel seeds, and 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped thyme on rimmed baking sheet; toss. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until fennel is tender and beginning to brown, stirring often, about 30 minutes.Do aheadCan be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Rewarm in 400°F oven until heated through, about 10 minutes.
Step 4
Place potatoes in large saucepan; fill with enough cold salted water to cover. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer just until potatoes are tender, about 12 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Transfer potatoes to baking sheet and cool slightly. Using heel of hand, smash potatoes coarsely. Return potatoes to same saucepan. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil and preserved lemon.Do aheadCan be made 1 hour ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
Step 5
Preheat oven to 400°F. Drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil over fish. Roast fish just until opaque in center, about 30 minutes. Let fish rest 5 minutes.
Step 6
波塔加1/4杯保留土豆烹饪液体to mixture; stir gently over medium heat until heated through, adding more cooking liquid by tablespoonfuls if mixture is dry, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 7
Using 2 large metal spatulas, transfer fish to platter. Arrange fennel and potato mixture around. Spoon someCharmoula, then some lime yogurt atop fish. Garnish with cilantro sprigs. Serve with remaining Charmoula and lime yogurt.
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Reviews (7)
Back to TopAt mochaalmond. I had to mention that your low rating is unfair as you gave low rating mostly because of the daunting task of deboning the fish. You do realize that whole fish usually have bone in and once you cook, you can eat around it or remove it after eating one side like in 3 seconds. The descaling etc can be asked to be done at the ine of buying the fish if you are not a veteran. In fact you can ask then to debone in situ also. Anyway, just want to let you know for next whole fish experience as I doubt any recipe would detail out how to do this as of course it is understood.
Anonymous
4/27/2012
This was my first experience preparing a whole fish. While the fennel-potato-fish combo was tasty, the difficulty of preparing and serving this dish were exceptionally daunting, even for an Epicurious veteran. Steps, such as de-boning a whole fish, were assumed and missing from the recipe, which made dinner a bit of a disaster.
mochaalmondfudge
10/8/2010
Like monirun, we couldn't find black bass either and used tilapia. We ended up using four small tilapia. The recipe was fantastic - time-consuming (of course), but as usual with such things, absolutely worth it. I think my favorite was the roasted fennel flavor combined with the fennel seeds and potatoes. My husband & I thought this dish was remarkable.
tsvietok
1/31/2010
I could not find black bass, so I used 2 tilapia, about 1# each, which worked fine. I've been wanting to make whole fish, and this was my first time making it. Made it for my husband (I don't eat fish) and he loved the fish!! He didn't eat the yogurt. I roasted my potatoes with the fennel (didn't mash them). Will make it again!
monirun
Prairie Village, KS
12/22/2008
This was an amazing meal! Someone mentioned it has several steps. It is perfect for a cooking club because you can assign different tasks to people, or you could do much of ahead of time. Served with moroccan carrots (a Gourmet recipe) and a salad with roasted cherry tomatoes, arugula, goat cheese, and mint.
jaspew
brussels, belgium
11/4/2008
I used trout (bass not available when I made this) and it was delicious. My boyfriend is still talking about it. You have to like cilantro, which we do. Yummy!
Anonymous
Seattle
8/30/2008
Really Tasty. The Charmoula and lime yogurt add a lot to the fish. The whole menu was good, although it has a lot of parts.
MaryCook1
New York, NY
3/3/2008
