Dinner party pleasers

This easy fish bake, and this elegant dessert, which looks more complicated than it is, are perfect for a winter dinner party, writes DOMINI KEMP

DECADES AGO, IN some horribly trendy Italian restaurant in New York, some friends and I were eating some insipid food that was perfectly matched by sniffy waiters who found themselves far more interesting than anything as dull as being good at one’s job.

A very bland pasta dish with prawns, tomatoes and chilli was not going down well and my friend, exasperated by the sloppy sauce that swilled around her plate, eventually put down her fork and admitted defeat.

In an effort to try and improve things, I asked for some Parmesan to help the prawns out, which is a big no-no in Italy. In fact, they would consider putting cheese and fish together as a heinous crime.

So, naturally, in this chichi Italian restaurant, I was met with the biggest sneer and a response I will never forget: “Cheese with fish?” at which point he sauntered off, returned with some Parmesan and a 3 ft grater, and proceeded to make us feel like the biggest hicks in all of New York, offering everyone at the table some Parmesan.

It was only once we’d got over the shame of it all that, suddenly, a few lightbulbs went off in my head. But we were lacking in confidence and didn’t feel sufficiently sophisticated to take him on with the necessary gusto. When he returned to clear our plates, we feebly started firing: What about tuna melts? Cod Mornay? Caesar salad? Lobster thermidor? And let us not forget the filet o’ fish in McDonald’s, eh?

But, of course, our references made him feel even more superior and his cackling over our childhood reverence for tuna melts makes me turn red to this day. Anyway, all of the above is a way of saying that the fish bake below was transformed by a good sprinkling of Parmesan, and even though it cooks for quite some time in the oven, the result was a delicious, sort-of fish casserole that is perfect for cold nights when you want something meaty, but without the meat.

The other dish is something that reminds me very much of the same era, the 1980s, when caramel oranges were the staple of many a dinner party. My sister and I got such a pang of nostalgia when we tasted them. They really are a classic. These sheets of filo are very easy, puff up nicely and are lovely and crisp.

I’m already looking forward to next summer when I can make this with Chantilly cream (sweetened, whipped cream with a splash of vanilla essence or a scrape of vanilla seeds) and tonnes of raspberries and strawberries. In the interim, enjoy them with the oranges of the 1980s.

Fish bake

I used some cod and hake. Haddock would also be great.

Serves 2-3

500g white fish, skinned and cut into big chunks

3-4 tbs olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 tin chopped tomatoes

Big bunch chopped parsley

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tbs capers

2 celery sticks, finely chopped

1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 tsp sugar

50-100g Parmesan

Preheat an oven to 170 degrees/gas mark 3. Put the fish in a gratin dish, drizzle it with the olive oil and season the fish well with plenty of salt and pepper. Mix all the other ingredients together in a bowl (except for the Parmesan) and then pour this over the fish. Bake, covered loosely with foil, for about 35 minutes. Check the fish after about 20 minutes and if it looks too watery, remove the foil so that the sauce can thicken up. After 35 minutes, top with the Parmesan and bake for another 10 minutes. I gave it a final blast under a really hot grill to crisp it up.

Serve with some bread and salad.

Orange cream crisp

Serves 8

Caramel oranges

4-6 oranges

200g caster sugar

125ml water, plus another 125ml boiling water

Peel and segment the oranges and leave them in a bowl. Meanwhile, put the caster sugar and water in a saucepan on a gentle heat – don’t stir or slosh it around. Have 125ml boiling water in a measuring jug on standby. Bring the contents of the pot up to a gentle simmer and swirl the sugar around if it’s stuck in a mound in the centre, but the bubbles should do the necessary shifting of the sugar. After about five minutes, you’ll see the caramel start to change from viscous and clear to shades of light caramel. Stay with it at this stage. When you see the bubbles starting to turn darker, it won’t take long. When it starts to show a dark amber colour in parts, take it off the heat and place the pot on a chopping board or something else heat proof. Get a tea towel to protect your hand and pour in the 125ml of hot water. It will bubble and spurt, which is why you need the tea towel. At this stage start whisking, and you should end up with a clear, dark, runny caramel liquid. Let this cool down and then pour it over the oranges and chill until you are ready to serve. This can be done 24 hours in advance.

Pastry

3 sheets filo pastry

60g melted butter

30g caster sugar

Preheat an oven to 180 degrees/gas mark 4. On a clean, dry surface, lay out a sheet of parchment paper and place a sheet of filo on top. Give the filo a good lick of melted butter with a pastry brush and sprinkle over a third of the sugar. Lay another sheet of filo on top, and do the same again with a good slosh of butter and sprinkle of sugar. Finish the process with the final sheet of filo. Cut the filo in half horizontally and then cut each rectangular sheet into six to eight rectangular strips. It all depends how big you want to make them, but you should end up with rectangular pieces of filo that are three layers thick. Put them on baking trays, lined with parchment paper, and bake until they are golden brown and crisp. I flipped them halfway through cooking and moved them around. They should be a lovely golden-brown colour and nice and crisp.

Crème pâtissière

This makes plenty, possibly double the amount you’ll use, but you can use it to fill shortcrust pastry cases and pile loads of fruit on top.

4 egg yolks

80g sugar

30g flour

300ml milk

Splash of vanilla extract

200ml softly whipped cream

Whisk the egg yolks and half the sugar until pale, thick and creamy. This will take about five minutes with an electric whisk. Whisk in the flour until the mixture is smooth. Meanwhile, heat the milk, the other 40g of sugar, and the vanilla extract and bring up to the boil. When it’s just coming up to the boil, remove from the heat and pour this over the whisked eggs and cream mixture. Whisk until smooth and then transfer back to the pan and boil for about two minutes, very gently, to help cook the flour. Allow it to cool down and then fold in the cream. Chill until ready to use.

To assemble, spoon some of the crème pâtissière on to the filo and layer up. Serve with the caramel oranges.

Domini recommends:

I’ve fallen back in love with cottage cheese, which I had written off as Dieter’s choice of cheese during the 1980s. It’s great with a baked potato for a humble but tasty dinner, and if you’re making hummus and want to add a bit of creaminess to it, add a spoonful of cottage cheese and blend.