One of my all-time favorite food combinations is banana and peanut butter. On a sandwich or by themselves? Yum!
Other folks love partnering ice cream with French fries, cheddar cheese with apple pie, pizza and ranch dressing. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, taste on his or her palate, I suppose.
I was thinking on all of that as I watched BBC chef Nadiya Hussain’s show Time to Eat recently. You may know Nadiya from her wide-eyed, winning performance on the Great British Bake-off, or from her rise to fame in the British culinary-entertainment world.
She’s charming to watch and a smart and resourceful cook in the kitchen. The premise of Time to Eat is that it offers “stress-free recipes designed to help us all save time and calm our hectic lives.” Who isn’t looking for that?
Nadiya also brings some interesting new flavors to the table — combining her British and Bangladeshi heritage in many of her recipes. Like her recipe for a Zesty Marmalade Haddock Traybake.
I know, I know. Marmalade and fish? But trust me…
The combination of sundried tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette liven up the potatoes. The marmalade and dill combine deliciously and make a palette-pleasing topping for the fish.
I actually did use “tinned potatoes” — a.k.a. canned — because it’s what the recipe called for, and they were not at all disappointing. I added asparagus with the potatoes for some green, and used a meaty cod filet instead of haddock.
The end result was super tasty – and not nearly as weird as ranch dressing on pizza, I can promise you. It’s one of those easy-to-prepare-but-feels-super-special kind of meals. Give it a try!
• CLICK HERE for the complete recipe.
You can find more of Nadiya on Netflix. The Big Family Cooking Showdown is not nearly as annoying as American food competitions, really, but you might prefer to settle into the 7 episodes of Time to Eat, or the 8 of Nadiya Bakes (Mango coconut cake anyone?)
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