All in favour of flavour

Baked blue-eye with anchovy crust

Blue-eye trevalla (also sold as blue-eye cod) carries intense flavours well and the typically thick fillets are perfect with a textural contrast such as this spicy, golden crumb.

3 large tomatoes, thinly sliced

Salt flakes

Freshly ground black pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

2 x 600g fillets blue-eye, boneless and skinless

5 thick slices stale sourdough bread, crusts removed

5 anchovies

1 clove garlic, finely grated

2 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp smoked paprika

2 handfuls parsley leaves, roughly chopped

100g butter, cubed

4 sprigs thyme, picked

1 lemon, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees fan-forced or 220 degrees conventional.

2. Lay the sliced tomato in a shallow baking tray, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with oil.

3. Place the fish on top of the tomato, season and place in the oven for about 10 minutes — the timing will depend on the thickness of the fillets, but it has another 10-15 minutes in the oven later to crisp up the crumbs, so don't leave it in too long.

4. In a food processor, add the bread, anchovies, garlic, fennel seeds, paprika and parsley, and blitz to a rough crumb. Add the cubed butter, season and quickly blitz again. Spread the crumbs evenly over the blue-eye, scatter over the thyme leaves and drizzle over a little oil.

5. Cook the fish for a further 10-15 minutes or until the crumb is golden and the fish cooked — if necessary, use the grill to help crisp up the crumbs. Serve with lemon and/or the egg and caper sauce (recipe opposite).

Serves 4-6

Drink Wooded chardonnay

Chopped egg and caper sauce

This is a great sauce for seafood and particularly delicious with baked or grilled fish, prawns and crayfish. It's also fantastic in a sandwich with cold roast pork or chicken.

4 eggs

3/4 cup quality mayonnaise

2 tbsp plain yoghurt

1 tbsp red-wine vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp tiny capers (also sold as lilliput capers)

2 spring onions, finely sliced

1. Boil the eggs for eight minutes in simmering water. Immerse in plenty of cold water for five minutes before peeling and roughly chopping into quite small dice.

2. In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise and yoghurt, then mix through the vinegar, mustard, capers and spring onions. Fold through the chopped egg.

Makes about 2 cups

Broccolini with smoked speck, garlic and chilli

This is a wintry way to dress up broccolini. The speck adds a robust smoky flavour and richness that really clicks for me on a chilly night.

3 bunches broccolini, trimmed

150g quality speck, cut into lardons, or use pancetta

100ml extra virgin olive oil

3-5 cloves garlic, sliced

3 eschalots (golden shallots), thickly sliced in half rounds

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

60g grana padano parmesan

1. Cook the broccolini in a large pot of salted water for four or five minutes or until cooked. Drain, reserving a little of the cooking water.

2. In a large frying pan, cook the speck over a high heat for three to four minutes until it starts to brown — you shouldn’t need oil at this stage as the fat will render out of the speck.

3. Add the oil, garlic and eschalots and cook for a further three minutes, or until the garlic is fragrant and the eschalots have softened and started to take on some colour.

4. Add the hot broccolini, the chilli flakes and a splash of the cooking water. Toss through over the heat for another minute or so, reducing any liquid and coating the broccolini well. Pile on to a serving plate, spoon over the pan liquid, grate over the parmesan and serve.

Serves 4