Baked Cod in a Buttery Parsley Sauce

I had a rather indulgent weekend; my birthday celebrations having started with a bottle of champagne with breakfast at 11am on Saturday, I rolled home from a night out at 3am on the Sunday morning. Needless to say, Sunday was a struggle, and Monday wasn't an easy ride either. Dinner on Monday called for something simple, light, tasty and, possibly most importantly, easy to prepare. I had a giant bunch of parsley in and, looking towards it for inspiration, white fish seemed to fit the bill perfectly, so this is a really simple way to cook a couple of nice cod steaks or fillets; it takes no time at all and tastes delicious, too.

Serves two

Two cod steaks or fillets
A glass of dry white wine
75g of unsalted butter
A large bunch of parsley
Juice of half a lemon

Set the oven to 220C, and meanwhile get the fish ready. Place the steaks in a small roasting pan (If they're fillets, skin side down), pour over the glass of wine, and dot the fish with half of the butter, cut into small cubes. When the oven's hot, put the fish in; it should take 10-15 minutes to cook through, but give it a baste half way through. While this cooks, remove the stalks from your bunch of parsley, and roughly chop the remaining leaves. When the fish is cooked, pour out the juices into a sauce pan and return the fish to the now-turned-off oven to keep warm. Throw the remaining butter and the lemon juice into the pan, and whisk for a minute or so until the sauce thickens slightly. At this point, add the chopped parsley, and stir in. Serve the cod on warmed plates, the sauce poured over, with some boiled new potatoes on the side.