Roast Cod with a Mediterranean Vegetable Broth

The mention of a cod recipe is sure to cause controversy in some circles.  In the UK, cod is emblematic of unsustaibable fish.  Once (still?) our most popular fish, cod from the North Sea is so overfished as to appear to be in permenant decline.  Seemingly always under quota, it is often predicted that cod fishing will be completely banned.

I don't want to get into a debate as to whether banning the landing of a particular fish is a good thing or a bad thing.  I don't often cook cod, indeed this is the first time I've done so for several years, but when I do, I like a fat fillet from a large fish.  To me, cod is all about those big, fat, meaty flakes - and that's only something you can get from a mature fish.

Cod is a fabulous fish. I love the colour of the skin - a sort of grey/brown with yellow spots - and those flakes are what it's all about - slightly chewy, meaty and delicately tasty.  You'll note that I'm very lightly salting the fish here, for around 20 minutes.  This draws out some of the moisture and makes the fish better to roast (or grill).  It doesn't make the fish salty if it's well rinsed. 

You could use any other white fish for this recipe really -  though most of them (halibut, monkfish, haddock...) seem to be in a perilous state as well.

Like a few of the forthcoming recipes, this makes good use of my herb garden - the chervil and fennel arer doing particularly well at the moment! 

There are two key points to this dish: Good, fresh fish and a good, clear fish stock.  My current batch of stock is made with lemon sole and monkfish bones (the large monkfish bone being a freebie from my fishmonger).  The resulting broth is savoury and well-flavoured but light enough to not encroach on the cod.  And it really does demand being finished with a spoon.

Feel free to play around with the other ingredients - a few clams wouldn't go amiss for example, and as you can see in the image above, I also added a few roasted cherry tomatoes. 

Roast Cod with a Mediterranean Vegetable Broth
(serves 2)
2 fat pieces of cod fillet - at least an inch thick - weighing around 6-8 ounces each (needless to say, ours were closer to 8 than 6 ounces)
Sea salt
1 pint fish stock
1 sprig thyme
2 large sprigs oregano or marjoram
1 sprig fennel herb
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
3 tomatoes
1 bulb fennel
1 small onion
Olive oil to drizzle the cod and fry the peppers
1/3 each red, green, yellow pepper, sliced
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon chervil, roughly chopped.

Preheat the oven to around 200 degrees C. Sprinkle the cod liberally with salt and put aside for 20 minutes. Put the stock, thyme, fennel herb, coriander seeds, 1 sprig of oregano and 1 chopped tomato in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Allow to simmer for 10 minutes or so, until reduced by a third.  Strain, discarding the solids.

Rinse the fish well, dry on kitchen paper.  Put in a small, oiled, roasting tin, drizzle with olive oil and roast for 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish.  Don't be afraid to hoik it out and gently pull a couple of flakes from the middle apart slightly to see if the fish is cooked. 

Thinly slice the fennel and onion thinly and add to the stock.  Allow to simmer for 10 minutes or so until just cooked.

Fry the peppers and the garlic clove in olive oil until the peppers brown slightly at the edges.

Stir the remaining oregano/marjoram (leaves only, chopped) into the stock and vegetables. 

Skin, deseed and chop the remaining tomatoes and stir into the stock and vegetables.

Serve:  A large spoonful of the vegetables in bowls, place the cod on top and the peppers on top of the fish.  Pour the remaining broth around the fish and garnish with a little chopped chervil. 

Using Natalie MacLean's wine matching service , I see that for a 'rich fish in a light sauce' she recommends a Sauvignon Blanc.  Which is lucky, as I'd just stocked-up at Majestic ...

tags: fish  stock  wine  

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