Herb and Feta Topped Cod

I've been seeing recommendations to eat fish 2 or 3 times per week.  That's a lot of fish.  I'm not sure we are up to it.

But fish is high in omega fatty acids, offers reduced risk of heart disease, blood pressure and cholesterol concerns, and contains vitamins and essential minerals.  Clearly, it is part of a good diet.  

When I see Pacific Cod at my price point, I have them wrap 2 or 3 packages for me and freeze it for week night meals.  Some nights, all I've got in me is to season it on both sides with salt and pepper and cook it in my big flat skillet with a little good oil.  And that's perfectly fine, but I'm looking for more flavor and Husband thought this topping was delicious. 

A big handful of fresh oregano, cleaned and finely chopped. It grows easily at my house, but use whatever fresh herbs you have.  Drizzle with olive oil.  A big spoonful of capers, chopped.  Another big spoonful of feta.  Mix it into almost a paste.  Top the cooked fish with it before serving.  It's really good.     

Green Chili Sauce and Pacific Cod

I'm a big believer in keeping projects.  There are lots of advantages to staying busy and no advantages to being a couch potato.  I've almost always got a few half finished projects.  Right now, I've determined to learn to make green chili sauce using those green tomatillos. 

So off I go to Gateway Produce yesterday afternoon to buy tomatillos and jalapenos.  I'm standing in front of the tomatillos examining and selecting.  I don't have a lot of experience with tomatillos.  Besides me is a lady, clearly Hispanic, putting jalapenos in a bag.  Literally, she must have had a dozen of those things!  I wondered what on earth was she going to do with them and why can't I go home with her to watch.  Most people would have talked to her, asked her what she was making.  I have trouble talking to strangers so I wondered and decided to double my efforts to learn some new things.

I'm cooking from The Complete Book of Year-Round Small-Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howards.  A beautiful little book.




 Tomatillo Mexican Salsa:

1/2 lb tomatillos, husk removed, cleaned and quartered

2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red bell pepper
1/4 large white onion
1 carrot
1/4 c. each:  apple juice and cider vinegar
1/4 t. pickling salt
1/2 t. each ground cumin and dried oregano
1 T. granulated sugar. 

Chop the vegetables coarsely in preparation for the food processor.  Into the food processor and puree the vegetables, then add remaining ingredients. Of course, I had to stop to taste.  Cleared my sinuses right out, but in a good way.  Uncooked, the vinegar was strong, but the jalapenos was right there talking to me.  Into a pot and bring to a gentle simmer.  Maintain for 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile prepare hot water canner with boiling water.  Previously, I ran several 1/2 pint canning jars through the dishwasher.  They sat on my counter most of a day.  They heated in the hot water canner while I made this sauce.  I heated and sterilized the lids in another pan, also.  This recipe made 2 1/2 pints plus most of another cup.  I filled the jars to within a 1/2 inch of head space, added the lids and bands and processed for 20 minutes.  If you need more detail about canning, start with a basic canning book.   

Meanwhile I started some Pacific Cod to cooking in a little olive oil and a good hard shake of salt and pepper.  Dinner was Pacific Cod with Green Chili Sauce.   For lunch, I used it as a spread on my sandwich bread then added tuna salad, lettuce from the greenhouse and a tomato slice.  Pretty tasty.  Remember to just get started. 

Asian Pacific Cod

They are gone, so it's just us for tonight.  They'll be back after dinner.  The Pacific Cod looked good at the store.  At $6.99, not a bad price.  I bought .631 lbs.  The total price for fish for the two of us - $4.41 ($2.20 per serving.) 

My marinade

1 1/2 T. rice vinegar

1/2 c. soy sauce

1/2 c. white wine

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T. fresh ginger, peeled and shredded (Put the left over in a baggy and back in the freezer)

1 T. local honey

Here is the garlic I've been buying at Diane's Produce.  Diane says it was grown locally, which is nice.  It's not beautiful or white and it's hard as a rock.  But it tastes awesome.  Thank's Diane. 

I've been buying local honey from Diane also.  Honey House Farms in Battleground.  I want honey bees.  There's room at our business property.  But I can't have them for the same reason I can't have a few chickens.  (1)  Taking care of a 110 pound golden retriever is about all the responsibility I can take, and (2) I can't buy cut flowers because I feel bad when they die, and they are going to die.  The first chicken to die or the first bad honey year and I'd be sad and I'm trying hard not to be sad. 

I don't think marinading fish for very long is needed. Maybe a total of an hour, 1/2 hr on both sides.  The flesh starts to darken.  

Heat good oil in a skillet.  Put the fish into the skillet.  Then pour the marinade in with it.  I guess the cooking method here is more like poaching.  Just a few minutes on both sides until the fish is just opaque all the way through. 

I'll eat anything raw, any sushi they make, oyster shooters on the beach pried open with a screw driver.  You name it; I'm an adventurous eater.  But when I go to cook fish, I cook it through.  Just saying.  That's where I'm at.

After the fish is out of the pan, bring the heat up to a boil, reduce heat to a steady simmer and simmer the sauce a few minutes. 

White rice on the plate.  Spoon a little of the sauce over the rice.  The fish on top.  A little more sauce over that.  Husband says it's delicious.  A salad to round it out.  I'm into blue cheese right now.  Husband is into Paul Newman's Oil and Vinegar.

Remember to have fun.  And are they back yet?  Please come back. 

Linked with Full Plate Thursday at Miz Helen's Country Cottage  http://mizhelenscountrycottage.blogspot.com/2011/01/full-plate-thursday-1-20-11.html

Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi

Oh, and here was our Sunday night dinner after the cookies were delivered and everyone went home.

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/Ginger-Glazed-Mahi-Mahi/Detail.aspx

Obsolutely yummy, but I really like fresh ginger.  A restaurant quality entre and very easy to make.

The fish was the lost leader at Safeway one weekend several weeks ago.  I bought a couple packages and put them in the freezer, so it's cheap and good.

Try this, Richard Osborne.  Vel would love it.

With brocolli and rice and a movie. 

I've got lots to be thankful for.

Remember to cook with fresh ginger.

Baked Fish with Herbs

I come from a family with a shared trait of dealing with problems by micromanaging and controlling our environment.  By the way, I don't consider this a bad thing.  Many problems can be solved by careful organization and a methodical approach.  Micromanaging a checking account, for example, means you are never overdrawn.  Micromanaging the laundry means that you have clean clothes nicely put away. 

Unfortunately, such an approach to life does not guarantee happiness.  And I married a free spirit with a wild side.  His way can get us into trouble and worse than trouble.  Somewhere in the middle is probably best.

So when my mother gained a little weight when I was in my early teens, what happened was not not out of character in the family I grew up in.  She put us all on a very strict diet.  None of us were overweight or ever have been.  I remember each day she had a certain number of vegetable and fruit servings, and a maximum number of bread, rice and potatoe servings for each of us.  I remember we went to skim milk and desert was out of the question for some time.   We ate a lot of broiled skinless, boneless chicken breast, which is bland when not seasoned well.  I remember Dad complaining.  "Now, Cathy!"  But once she lost the weight she wanted to, we all got to eat again.

One good thing from that time was baked fish.  She'd put the fish in foil with little pieces of butter and fresh herbs over top, then wrap it up and bake until flaky.  This with a mountain of fresh green beans is a great meal. 

It's still early in the season, but I do have hebs in the yard and the greenhouse.  I went about with scissors collecting a big handful which included parsley, chives, and oregano, taking the time to smell them and feel them.  Washed and inspected carefully.  Anything I don't want to eat was pinched off.

Chopped well.  Add a couple of cloves of garlic minced.  I am nearing the end of my precious stash of garlic from my garden.
Pieces of firm white fish go on a big piece of foil.  A good dose of olive oil and salt.  I'm really into coarse sea salt right now.  The herbs on top, then fold the foil around the fish to form a packet. 

Now into the oven to bake until the fish flakes when pricked with a fork.  Scrap most of the herbs off before serving.  They've done the job of flavoring the fish.  Steaming it in the foil left it moist.  Yum.  And good for you. 

Together with roast potatoes,  a good meal.  Remember to eat your fish and remember that a little control isn't a bad thing.