Baked fish with potatoes and onions

Super easy is one way to describe this. Delicious is another. I have very strong and fond memories of my mum making this when we lived in Puerto Rico when I was a child.  I heard a friend of mine who does not like fish, utter a soft "mmmmmm" when she ate this.

1-2 Potatoes (any at hand, I used Yukon) cut into rounds
Fish: white fish is best such as cod or sea bass, but use what is fresh and what you like. Cut the fish into the serving sizes. This is a great way to make a clean, de-boned side of fish go further too by cutting across and then in half.
1-2 yellow onions (red would work too) sliced into rounds
Bay leaf for each piece of fish being prepared
Optional: Tomato, sliced. Make sure at least one slice per serving

Pre-heat oven to 375. Butter a pyrex or ceramic baking dish. Line the bottom with potato rounds. Loosely scatter the onion rounds over the potatoes. If using tomato slices, layer them next. Place a bay leaf per fish piece on top. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Place each piece of fish on top. Salt again lightly. Drizzle with olive oil. Whack in oven for 20-25 minutes until fish is cooked or even starting to brown on top.  Potatoes should be cooked through from the moisture of the onion, tomato and fish juices being absorbed in.  Serve with salad or other veggies such as beans or peas.

You can be inventive with this dish: sprinkle fresh herbs such as oregano, chives, sage in the layers of potato and onion. You can add a dash of stock or milk to add flavour into the potatoes that will absorb the liquid. Or you can go balls out and make a bechamel sauce enough to just cover the potato layer.

Mushroom ragu with kick

I am actually not a fan of mushrooms, unless someone else prepares them. I just don't seem to have the knack to cook them well it seems, unless on a BBQ grill.  That is, until I turned my imagination to create this recipe which goes well with fresh pasta, I prefer tagliatelle, but knock yourself out with your preferred pasta shape.

4-5 tomatoes (I vary depending on what is fresh, Roma's are good)
olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
2-3 onions chopped coursely (red or yellow)
2 bay leaves
1 large sweet red pepper
2 red chili peppers
1 lb mushrooms  chopped ( I use a variety of them, but one variety works too, though try to avoid boring buttom mushrooms. I find them lacking in flavour.)
1-2 Tblps chipotle pepper (the sauce of the can) or smoked pepper flakes (optional)
1 cup red wine (any kind)
Feta cheese (optional)
salt to taste

Boil water i a sauc epan. When boiled, drop the tomatoes in and let blanch for 2 minutes (until you see the skins pucker). Drain and let cool down a bit to handle. Slip off the skins and with a potato masher in a bowl, roughly mash them into a course sauce.

In a sauce pan, heat olive oil and when hot add the onions. Lower heat and let the onions sweat until they are almost caramelized. Add the sweet red pepper, garlic and chile peppers.  Cook through stirring and until they start to reduce and thicken. Add the mushrooms and bay leaves, cooking through until starting to reduce and thicken.Add the tomatoes and chipotle pepper sauce, cook to reduce. Add the red wine and continue cooking over  a low heat until well thickened.  Optional: add broken bits of feta to add texture, colour and flavour. If using feta, taste first before adding more salt.

I find sauces, soups and stews taste better the next day or two, so this is good to prepare in advance. Re-heat and toss in cooked pasta to coat

Variation: at the point when you have the onion and red pepper base, you can add chopped bacon to add flavour.