It’s beginning to dawn on me that entirely too many of my food posts are desserts. This reflects my natural predilection for baking (as well, I suppose, as a personal preference for anything sweet). Like Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation, I believe you can never eat too many waffles with whipped cream. To redress this imbalance, I want to share a recipe adapted from Country Life magazine. If you’re not familiar with Country Life, it’s a British magazine that celebrates Britain’s country life (shocking, I know), but there’s so much about it that makes it a fascinating read for anyone who loves food, flowers, travel, and history. Their garden articles are deeply specific and beautifully written. (A recent quote from an article about roses: “Old roses have a generosity which is as desirable in plants as in people.”) Ah, there will always be an England…
Country Life’s recipes are always a bit out of the ordinary, using wholesome ingredients in unlikely ways, and making use of exotic foods brought back to Britain during the days of empire. The vegetable flavors just burst out of this recipe – the eggplant (which the Brits call aubergine), onions and pomegranate seeds combine with the miso flavor in the cod in a way that makes the whole greater than the sum of the parts. You will want to use fewer pomegranate seeds if yours are very tart.
Serves 4
Prep time: one hour
Marinade:
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup white wine
- ½ cup mirin
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 2 Tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 pieces of cod, approximately 6 ounces each (salmon can also be used)
- 1 Tablespoon black sesame seeds for garnish, toasted
Salad:
Ingredients
- Seeds of one pomegranate
- 3 spring onions, thinly sliced
- 2 medium-sized eggplant, cubed into 1” pieces
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- zest of one lime
- handful of coriander leaves
- 6 Tablespoons canola oil for frying – (this will do for two batches of eggplant)
- Sea salt to taste
Dressing:
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ Tablespoon sugar
- 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 crushed clove of garlic
Directions
- Mix together ingredients for marinade.
- Put cod into marinade, covering fish so that it is fully coated, and allow to marinate in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
- Remove cod from marinade and sear on the grill for two minutes on each side.
- Transfer cod to an ovenproof dish, pour the marinade over them again and allow to cook at 375 degrees for ten minutes.
- Toast black sesame seeds in a pan on low to medium heat for four minutes, then set aside.
Salad:
Directions
- Cut the eggplant into half-inch cubes and fry them in two batches in the canola oil.
- Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel and allow eggplant to drain.
- Sprinkle with salt.
- Mix pomegranate seeds, 3 spring onions, ginger, lime zest and fresh coriander in a bowl, adding eggplant.
- Mix dressing ingredients and pour over salad.
- Place cod on top of salad.
- Sprinkle black sesame seeds and remaining spring onion over cod and serve.
Accompaniment:
