oven-fried fish with fennel crust

Continuing on my addiction on fish lately, I did another hunt through my recipe books and found this fabulous fish recipe with crunchy breadcrumbs crust. It's so easy to make, yet so satisfying. It's as good as KFC, yeah, I said it. Unlike the chicken, this is most definitely healthier. And it's fast become one of my regulars.


Oven-fried fish with fennel crust
Adapted from Julia Della Croce's Italian Comfort Food

Ingredients:

• Breadcrumbs from 3 slices of good quality white bread, or 60g of panko
• 2 tsp freshly ground fennel seeds
• 1 tsp finely chopped dried thyme
• 100mL extra virgin olive oil
• 500-750g fish fillets (I bought two medium-to-large snapper fillets, I cut each into three pieces)
• 4 tbsp dijon mustard

Method:

1. I used this method I found from the internet to make the breadcrumbs. But, if you don't have time, buy a packet of panko.
2. Preheat oven to 90°C. Spread the breadcrumbs on a baking tray. On the middle rack, bake the breadcrumbs until coloured and crunchy, but not brown. About 7 minutes, depending on your oven. Remove to cool.
3. Increase oven temperature to 180°C.
4. Line your baking tray with aluminium foil, coat foil with thin film of oil.
5. In a bowl, combine breadcrumbs, herbs and olive. Paint the fish with dijon mustard and coat each fish with the breadcrumbs mix. Place snapper pieces on the baking tray, with a lot of space between the pieces.
6. Bake in oven until fish is cooked through and the crust is crunchy again, about 10 minutes, again the actual time would depend on your oven. Serve with a wedge of lemon.