03.09.08: Black bream with chermoula, kale, and panfried potatoes

Not your average fish 'n' chips: He slashed and stuffed some whole black bream with herbs, baked it with lemon, and whizzed up some decidedly sexy chermoula, all at the suggestion of Ramsay's Fast Food. Kale boiled with onion and a dab of liquid smoke, plus the ever-popular panfried potatoes added plenty in the way of substance, while salad of pear, avo, rocket and tomato rounded off the menu.

HE SAYS: Very yummy even if I do say so myself. This has been "try new recipes week" and I believe this one is maybe the best yet. The bream really didn't need much fussy dressing to shine but the chermoula brilliantly added an intense counterpoint to the mild yet fulfilling texture and taste of this fish.

We are suckers for citrus-infused dishes, it seems, and what with the sliced lemons and added juice, this recipe resembled our fav lemon chicken dish, but of the sea, see? It was tempting to add more liquid smoke to the greens but I held back, using only a few drops of the stuff, and glad I did as the true flava of the onions and kale were not overpowered by an artificial smoke taste. The potatoes took a long time to get crispy but perhaps I should have used peanut oil instead of olive? Nonetheless, with a few added sprigs of rosemary to the pan it was worth the wait.

I'm really enjoying the pears' run in this week's salad offerings. This time the pear was paired with avo and tomato, so it seems there's no veg it's met and hasn't got along with.

SHE SAYS: This would have been such a treat to sit down to on any evening, but it was esp effective to take the edge off an annoying day. The chermoula had an intensely zingy effect that only heightened the cumin and paprika notes. But even without the sassy sauce, the bream would have made me pause and give thanks for its delicate texture and clean, lemon-inflected taste. Crispy potatoes quickly disappeared from my plate, and the greens did their mild duty as virtuous veg quietly and well. Salad filled any little corner I had left - I think pears in salad will always be a fork magnet for me.