Be a better human: miso-braised cod with soba salad

I love miso for it's patience. It's one of those ingredients that can sit in the back of the fridge and just wait until you remember it's there. It is quiet and strong all at once and I always feel that when I add it to a dish, I'm becoming a much better person because all of those qualities will be transfered onto me inside of a delicious little bundle of pure wholesome goodness.

Last night I had some cod that needed cookin' and some soba noodles that needed some spark. I whipped up my go-to stand by for fish but then changed my mind, added in some sugar and dumped the whole mess over the soba noodles instead. By George, this was delicious! Now that I had an instant salad (after adding in some carrots, peas and cilantro), I turned to the fish and figured that it was high time to pull out that ever-patient miso. Using very similar ingredients to a salad dressing I've made in the past, I just tightened things up and created a saucy paste to smear on the cod. I broiled it then baked it and placed it on top of the soba noodles for presentation points. The results were incredible. Not only did the fish and noodles look amazing and uber-gourmet, but it was super simple to make (no patience required) and healthy to boot.

Miso turning your crank? Check out some tasty miso recipes from my archives:
vegetable stir fry with lemon-miso sauce
curry & miso udon soup
miso gravy
udon soup with grilled salmon
miso soup with ramen noodles

soba salad
3 green onions, sliced thinly on the diagonal
2 T minced ginger
1 t toasted sesame oil
juice of 1 large lime
1 T sugar
1/2 t cayenne pepper
2 T soy sauce
4 T olive oil
1 pkg of soba noodles, cooked, drained and rinsed under cold water until cool
1 carrot, cut into thin matchsticks
1/2 c frozen peas, thawed
a large handful of cilantro, roughly chopped

Combine the first 8 ingredients in a bowl, mixing well. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Add noodles, carrots, peas and cilantro and toss. Serve cool or at room temperature.

miso-glazed cod
3 heaping spoonfuls of white or shiro miso (or any light tasting miso)
2 T cider vinegar
2 T white wine vinegar
2 T honey
1/2 t cayenne pepper
2 T minced fresh ginger
2 T soy sauce
3 cod fillets

In a shallow bowl, stir together the miso, vinegars, honey, ginger and soy sauce until you have a thick sauce. Schmear sauce over cod fillets with a back of a spoon and broil at high heat (500 degrees) until golden, about 5 minutes. Turn down the oven to 450 degree oven and put fish on a lower rack, baking until fish is flaky and cooked through, another 5-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Remove from oven and serve with soba salad.

a hail-storm of a dinner: braised cod with chickpeas & corn

After writing about breakfast items like poached eggs and biscuits, I figured a hearty dinner recipe was more than required. I had a good one all lined up too because last week I had a little dinner party and made a pretty amazing eggplant dish...and I don't even really like eggplant. But then last night rolled around and I ate one of the best meals I've had in a long while. The eggplant dish will come later, I promise.


Last night was a cold crisp night. Biking to my Monday night bowling league game I was a bit wary because there was frost on the ground and I diligently searched and stayed clear of any patches of black ice. My way home however, the clear skies turned cloudy and let loose a barrage of hail. After realizing that the hail actually helped improve my traction by making the streets extra crunchy (and pretty), I took off for home. The only downside was going down hills only because of all the stinging icy bits hitting me hard in the face. When I got home, getting dinner ready didn't seem like something I really wanted to pull off...especially since it was almost 10pm. But our rumbling tummies made it clear that something had to be done.


A quick peek at Epicurious, a small bit of prep and tweaking to the original recipe, and dinner was in the oven. It was that quick. I even got together a simple green salad going that turned out to be the most perfect accompaniment for this meal. Letting the dressing mingle not only with the greens but with the rest of the ingredients on the plate took the entire meal over the edge into 'oh my god' territory. At first, I wasn't sure how cod and cumin-spiced chickpeas would work together, but the meal was delicious. Next time I'd sprinkle a bit of finely diced red onion over top before popping it in the oven just because I love onions so much and a bit of added crunch would be a nice touch.


braised cod with chickpeas & corn
1 can of chickpeas
1/4 c water
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 t red pepper flakes
1 T cumin
2 T olive oil
1/2 c frozen corn
3 cod fillets
salt
freshly ground black pepper
handful of parsley, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas. Add chickpeas to a pot along with water, garlic, red pepper flakes, cumin and the 2 T olive oil. Heat over medium heat until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add chickpea mixture and corn into a square baking dish.

2. Rinse cod fillets and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Lay fish on top of the chickpea mixture, sprinkle with parsley and lemon juice. Drizzle really good olive oil over top of the fish and put the whole shebang into a hot oven. 20 minutes later check on things and if fish flakes easily, remove from oven and serve with a green salad.

simple green salad with lemon vinaigrette
juice of 1 lemon
really good extra virgin olive oil
spoonful of tarragon mustard
pinch of kosher salt
dollop of honey
small head of romaine leaves, washed, dried and torn

Shake all ingredients in a small jar and drizzle over salad greens. I didn't give measurements here because going by taste is the only way I can get this dressing perfect. It's tart and just a bit sweet and it works so well clinging to the leaves as it is mingling with the braised chickpeas and fish.

eat fish and be merry

Last night I wasn't in the mood to cook. It's been a busy week catching up on all the work that had piled up since I went back to Ontario and I had inadvertently skipped lunch which left me at dinner time feeling all woozy and tired. Just thinking about dinner — let alone getting up the energy to make it happen seemed like too damn much. But being the frugal girl that I am, I didn't want to order in take-out since we're in "Get-Ready-Set-Europe!" savings mode. Instead, I did what most modern cooks do. I went online to epicurious and typed in a couple things I had in my fridge and out popped a couple super simple recipes.

The fish recipe seemed too simple to be good, but I read all the comments and decided to give it a go and I'm glad I did. How can you go wrong with crispy roasted rosemary scented potatoes and fish? I added parsley in addition to the rosemary since my balcony garden has been brimming with these 2 herbs and I just used cod since that's what I had on hand. The original recipe called for bread crumbs so I subbed in panko crumbs instead, but next time, I'll skip the breadcrumbs altogether (and I've omitted them from the recipe below). Trust me they added nothing. But what to do with the super fresh local wax beans I had just purchased? I could have just steamed them, but instead I decided to tamper with another epicurious recipe, using limes instead of lemons and adding the juice for extra zest. Yum!

This entire meal was so fresh tasting and simple to prepare. Add a pint or two of ice cold beers and it's pretty easy to forget that I was on the brink of calling for take-out. These recipes saved my day. Really.


baked fish with potatoes & rosemary
1 lb new baby potatoes, halved if needed
3 T olive oil
1 handful of fresh rosemary
1 handful of fresh parsley
4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
Fleur de sel
Black pepper
4 white fish fillets

1. Preheat to 400°F. Place the potatos in large baking dish, pour 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over them, add most of the rosemary & parsley (saving some for later), all the garlic cloves, and salt, and pepper. Toss thoroughly. Put the dish in the preheated oven. After 20 minutes, turn the potatoes over and put back in the oven. Cook until the potatoes feel tender when tested with a fork, another 15 minutes or so.

2. Remove the dish from the oven. Push the potatoes to the sides, making room in the center for the fish fillets to lie flat.

3. Rinse and pat dry the fish fillets, laying them flat in the dish. Scatter the remaining parlsey & rosemary over the fish, add salt and pepper, and the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the fillet. Return the dish to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on how thick your fillets are. Plate and serve with Lime & Honey Wax Beans and a couple of cold ones.

lime & honey wax beans
1 lb wax (yellow) beans, trimmed
1 T honey
zest and juice from 1 lime
salt

Cook beans in a pot of boiling salted water until just tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water to prevent further cooking. Immediately toss with honey, zest and juice, and salt in a large bowl.