Sunday, June 04, 2006
Poached Smoked Cod
This morning, my mum and I wanted to celebrate the end of
a great weekend with a big, lazy brunch. I defrosted the last of the German bread I had in the freezer, fried up some Caherbeg free range bacon and eggs, made some tea and loaded the table with anything that looked remotely breakfasty: jam, Nutella, cheese, salami, ham, yoghurt and fruit. I also wanted to serve some of the directly squeezed orange juice we had bought at Dunnes on Friday, but Irish love for quality made it quite difficult. The first carton I pulled out of the fridge had no pouring nozzle at all. I know it was my fault for not paying attention when I bought it, but how can a faulty item like this not just leave the factory, but actually make the shelves of a large supermarket? Have they never heard of quality control? This was a rhetorical question. After a year in this country I am finally coming to terms with its weaknesses and have learned to focus solely on its many strengths. But even rhetorical questions are sometimes answered, in this case by the second carton of juice that we luckily had bought. And the answer was a big fat NO. That one may have had a nozzle while it was still untouched in the fridge, but when I tried to unscrew the cap, the whole thing jus came off and I had what I had tried to avoid earlier: a juice carton with a hole in it. But at least we had something to laugh about.The afternoon was a quiet affair. I spent it reworking my doctoral dissertation and Lofty was playing with the computer. Dinner was equally unspectacular. Lofty had a bit of an upset stomach - too much food in too little time we reckon - so it had to be something soothing and easy to digest. Steak was out of the question, which left the remainder of the smoked cod. I opted for the traditional way of preparing it - gently poached in milk - and served it on a bed of spinach with some boiled baby potatoes and a creamy sauce made of the poaching milk and the spinach juices. It wasn't much to look at, but certainly very tasty.
For the fish:This is not the tastiest recipe for poached smoked fish, but, as it doesn't contain any garlic, or onions and you can chose the amount of pepper, it is definitely very stomach-friendly. For a more flavoursome version - the one I would have served had Lofty been OK - check out my recipe for poached cod with creamy potatoes here.
300ml milk
¼ onion, sliced
1 small bay leaf
350g to 400g undyed smoked cod
For the spinach:
400g spinach, cleaned
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste
To serve:
boiled baby potatoes
salt and pepper to taste
Bring the milk, onion and bay leaf to the boil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When it is boiling, remove from the stove, cover with a lid and leave to infuse for about 15 minutes. Return the pan to the heat and bring the milk to a simmer. Add the fish, turn off the heat and cover again. Leave it sitting on the stove until the fish is cooked, about 10 to 12 minutes.
In the meantime, melt the butter in a saucepan large enough to hold the spinach over medium low heat. When it is sizzling, add the spinach, cover and steam, stirring occasionally, until it is collapsed and tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
When you are ready to dish up, remove the spinach from the saucepan, squeeze out the juices and arrange at the centre of a plate. Bring the spinach juices to a boil and reduce to 1 tablespoon. Arrange the potatoes around the spinach. Lift the fish out of the milk and put it on top of the spinach. Strain the milk through a sieve and add it to the spinach juice. Continue to simmer until the sauce has thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper and drizzle over the fish and spuds.
Christine at 9:00 pm
