This is one of those dishes that I crank out on a week night when I have bought way too many vegetables at the weekend, and need to use a few up in one sitting. Here I roast carrots, turnip slices, potato slices and parsnips together with a little thyme, and right at the end throw in some chopped flat leaf parsley to freshen things up a bit.
And the fish.. I do like a decent bit of true cod. Why is cod called true cod? Well, the cod name got a bit bastardized to be honest. A lot of fish got called “cod”, just because it was an edible white fish. So, the name true cod came about - because.. drum roll.. it is proper cod, not some other dodgy white fish that doesn’t taste too bad.
“Halibut - the goat of the sea”
I am sure I a bunch of people would disagree with me, but I prefer cooking and eating true cod to halibut. Yeah, I know, everyone knows Halibut..it is “the” white fish. Most fish restaurants have fresh halibut on the menu when it is in season, and you cannot blame them.. It is a firm white fish, that is bland enough for even fish haters to be OK with it. The blandness (some that like Halibut would call it “subtle” flavor) works well if your other ingredients are bursting with flavor - to be honest, they have to be to jazz up halibut. To top it off, Halibut eats anything. The goat of the sea if you will. You are what you eat, they all say, and well, that isn’t too good if you are eating halibut.. You never quite know what junk it has swallowed. OK, so enough bashing of halibut.. why do I prefer true cod? Well, it could be that when I was back in Blighty I enjoyed a god bit of cod and chips. It is more likely however that I consider its texture superior to halibut (more flakey), and it also has its own distinct taste (slightly sweet), but is still mellow enough to work with other rich flavors. It is also generally 1/2 the price of halibut, which works for me. When cooked properly it literally flakes apart even with the push of a stubby finger.
I bet I get a few emails about my bashing of Halibut…
So why pan roasting? Pan roasting is just where to start something off on the hob, and then finish it in the oven. It is a simple technique for things that you want a good sear on the outside, but not too dry on the inside. You use this technique for thicker cuts of meat and fish - Since this cod piece (hehe) was pretty thick, I didn’t want to cook it completely on the stove top - that would result most likely in a very heavy crust on the fish, so we sear it to a golden brown on hob, then roast it in the oven until just cooked through. This technique works well for pork chops and chicken breasts too.
This really was a fantastic dish - easy, and relatively quick. The veg took about 40 minutes to roast, and then the meal was done. Tasted great too, and was a decent way to get a healthy serving of lovely root vegetables.
Pan Roasted Cod, Roasted Winter Vegetables
3/4lb true cold fillet, cut into two pieces
3 medium sized carrots
1 turnip
1 large parsnip
4 small potatoes
5 sprigs of thyme - leaves removed, and coarsely chopped
tiny handful of chopped fresh flat leave parsley
salt and pepper
olive oil
Start by turning the oven onto 425, and putting a large roasting pan in to preheat with the oven. Season the fish with salt on both sides. Peel the carrots and the parsnips, and cut into regular sized chunks. Go for some interesting shapes, not just cubes, but make sure they are all roughly the same size. Peel the turnip. Using a sharp knife or Japanese slicer, slice the turnip acrosswise into thick slices.
When the oven and pan are preheated, remove the pan from the oven, and pour in a tablespoon of olive oil. Throw in all the vegetables and the thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Gently toss to coat all the veg, and bung back in the oven. About half way through their cooking time toss the vegetables gently in the pan, so that you get even browning.
About 12 minutes or so before the veg are done, get a medium sized non-stick pan hot oven a medium-high heat. Add some olive oil, let that heat up (it will move around the pan much easier than when you first put it in), now put in the fish, flesh side down. Sear this in the pan for 5 minutes, or until you have a good golden sear. Turn the fish over in the pan, then put the pan in the oven (if you pan can go in the oven.. if not, transfer to an oven-proof pan). Roast this until the fish is cooked through, about another 6 minutes or so. When the center of the fish is opaque, and flakes easily with a gently nudge, it is done.
Take out the veg and fish from the oven. Toss the parsley into the veg, and combine. To serve, mound some vegetables onto a plate, and top with the cod.
