Okay, I’ve been off on a bit of a rant lately, so I figured it’s time to get back to the core of what this blog should be about. Not to mention that Valentine’s Day is soon upon us, and this works great as an easy dinner for 2. So today I give you another way to prepare pacific cod. I used cod for this, but any firm white fish, like halibut would do just as well.
Shopping list
12-16 oz cod filet
1 large pink grapefruit
2 limes
4 oz of a good tequila
1 large avocado, ripe but not overly so
1 ripe tomato
1 small sweet onion, like a Walla Walla
Cilantro
1 package frozen southwest veggie blend (usually has corn, peppers, onions and black beans)
Mexican style rice
Take a glass baking dish and spray with an olive oil type cooking spray. Cut the grapefruit into ½” slices and place in the dish. Top the slices with the cod, and using the end pieces of the grapefruit, drizzle the juice over the fish. Salt and pepper at this point. Slice up one of the limes and place on top of the fish. Add the tequila to the dish, and a splash of water. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes, or until the fish flakes but is still firm. The baking time really is dependent on how thick the filet is. Luckily, when you steam cod like this, it’s pretty darn forgiving.
While that is cooking, fine dice the tomato, avocado and onion, add about ½ tsp each of cumin and chili powder, salt and pepper and mix. Do not over mix or you will turn the avocado to mush. Add in some minced cilantro to taste, and the juice of ½ a lime. Mix lightly and stick in the fridge.
Prepare the rice and veggies according to the package directions. You could make these from scratch, but come on, this is supposed to be for a nice dinner, you don’t want to spend all your time in the kitchen, do you?
Plating: Make a bed out of some of the mexican rice on each plate. Cut the filet in 2, and place on the rice, slightly off to the side. Take the remaining half of the lime and drizzle some juice over the filet. You can also take a small spoon and place just a little of the remaining juice in the cooking dish over as well. Take the salsa you made and place some on the rice and the fish. To make it look nice, just go over some of the rice, and then onto half of the filet. Garnish with a few cilantro sprigs and add some of the veggies to the plate. Viola.
Serve with a chardonnay or sauvignon blanc. To be honest, this even tastes good with an ice cold Corona. Honest. For dessert I recommend a nice Key Lime pie. The tartness really comes through after this meal.
Enjoy, and I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!
Salud!
Gregor
