Baked Cod Fillets with Fennel and Orange

Things have been a little hectic since school started Monday. We're finding ourselves needing to come up with quick and simple things to cook that don't sacrifice on flavor. I would have liked to use bream here, but the store was out so we used cod instead. Any white fish would do here, honestly.

Citrus, fennel and fish are always going to work, pretty much no matter what. This dish highlights this pairing and worked out rather nicely.

4x150 g cod (or bream or sea bass) fillets, (with skin, if bream or sea bass)
2 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed (fronds reserved if intact)
2 large oranges
75-100 ml dry white wine
2 teaspoons caster sugar
sea salt and black pepper
few basil sprigs, leaves only
olive oil, to rub and drizzle
small handful of thyme sprigs

Preheat the oven to 200C. Trim the bream fillets to neaten, and remove any pinbones with kitchen tweezers. Score the skin of each fillet at 5mm intervals. Chill until ready to cook.

Halve each fennel bulb and slice finely, using a mandoline if possible. Scatter the fennel over the base of two lightly-oiled, deep baking trays. To segment the oranges, slice off the top and bottom to just expose the flesh. Stand on a board and cut along the curve of the fruit to remove the peel and white pith . Now, holding the fruit over a sieve set on top of a bowl, cut along the membranes to release each segment. Finally, squeeze the core to extract the juices before discarding.

Scatter the orange segments over the fennel. Trickle over the reserved orange juice, then add the wine. Sprinkle with the sugar and some salt and pepper. Cover each tray with foil it and place in the oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the fennel is just tender.

Remove the foil and scatter the basil leaves over the oranges and fennel. Rub the bream fillets with a little olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Lay them on top of the oranges and fennel. Drizzle over a little more olive oil and sprinkle with more salt and pepper. Scatter over the thyme sprigs.

Bake for 8-10 minutes until the fish is opaque and feels slightly firm when pressed. Divide the fennel and orange between warm plates and top with the fish fillets. Serve at once.