Whole Rock Cod, In a Asian Coconut, Peanut Sauce

Celebrating my 10,000 hit on my cooking blog!

And doing it with a wonderful and easy to cook whole rock cod, that's baked in the oven with coconut milk, lime, tumeric, and peanut sauce, with sweet potatoes.  YUM!

I ordered a beautiful little 3 1/2 pound rock cod, from Brenda and Eric at the fish barge in Friday Harbor.  Ask your fish monger to clean the fish and to de-scale it!


Recipe for four:

1 yellow onion, chopped
2 c sweet potato, cubed
1 red bell pepper, sliced
juice of 1 lime
3 T peanut butter
1 can coconut milk
1 c fish or veggie stock
1 T lemon grass, finely chopped
1 t tumeric
6 cardomon seed, whole
1 T tomato paste
1 t ginger, finely chopped
2 T garlic, finely chopped
2 T olive oil
1 T butter

Serve with jasmine rice

Turn the oven on and set it to 325* - Wash the whole fish under cold running water, and pat dry with paper towels.  Place the fish into roasting pan.

Add the oil and butter to a saute pan, and place on medium high heat.  When the pans good and hot and the butter is foaming, add the onion and sweet potatoes.  Cook until almost soft, then add the ginger, garlic, bell pepper, lemon grass and the tumaric.  Stir and season with salt and pepper, cook for about 1 minute.

Now you can add everything else and stir to combine.  Pour the mixture over the fish and cover with foil.  Place it in the hot oven for 1 1/2 hours, or until done, checking after about 45 minutes, add more liquid if needed.

Serve onto warm plates with jasmine rice.

Bon Appetit!  Chef Hobbes

Rock Cod with a White Wine Butter Caper Sauce

Don't be afraid of cooking fish -- the secret is having a good, heavy, shallow pan, and having the oil or butter hot!


Recipe for two:
Two 1/3 pound pieces of fresh rock cod, skin removed
A good pinch or two of salt and pepper
1/2 cup all purpose flour
About two tablespoons olive oil for cooking

Sauce:
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup vegetable, chicken or fish stock
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and dried
1 tablespoon butter

With fish already cut, cleaned, floured and seasoned, get your pan and oil nice and hot. Then add the fish, presentation (nice) side down, and shake it back and forth to keep it from sticking. Once it's seared the chances of it sticking are slight.

When it's cooked half way though, turn the fish with a good, wide, steel spatula and cook until it's almost done, then remove from pan, place on an oven plate, and finish in the oven.

Now wipe and/or scrape out your pan so it's free from bits of cooked fish, return pan to high heat. When pan is hot, add wine and cook until liquid is reduced by half, then add the stock and repeat the same steps. When you're happy with the amount of liquid, turn the heat off and add capers and butter, once again shaking the pan back and forth until the sauce has a nice shine. Do not add any heat otherwise the sauce will break.

Bon Appetit!