This is our take on a Thomas Keller recipe that we came across in Food & Wine magazine. We changed the recipe as the original calls for mussels. As one of us suffers from a rather unfair shellfish allergy, we decided to omit the mussels. I say unfair as this debilitating reaction to the delights of mollusks and bivalves only started when she was in her early twenties and so she knows what great oceanic tastes she is missing.
If you decide to make this dish, and don’t suffer from a shellfish allergy, then you can include a few mussels.
The photo of Thomas Keller’s dish in Food & Wine looked fantastic, but we felt that for a New England winter it required a little more sustenance. We included some chickpeas (not mentioned in the original) as well as a few frozen peas.
The Ingredients
cod
olive oil (for poaching the cod and a little to drizzle on the finished dish).
1 can of chick peas / Garbanzo beans (drained and well rinsed)
one whole orange – supreme and segment half the orange to garnish the finished dish then zest and juice the other half for the sauce
chicken or fish stock – about half a cup
a few chili flakes
a splash of white wine
a hand full of frozen peas
some chorizo sausage – diced
a little flat leaf Italian parsley
First, take a small pan and begin to gently heat some olive oil to poach the cod.
Season the cod and set to one side.
Whilst that is heating, take your diced (Spanish) chorizo sausage and cook it gently in a saucepan, this will render some of the enticing paprika coloured and flavored fat. Remove the browned chorizo but save the rendered fat.
In a blender juice a little white wine, orange and add the zest. Add a little water and then with the blades ‘turning and burning,’ pour in the the fat in a small and delicate stream. The mix will emulsify and then transfer this mix back to a pan and add the chick peas and the chicken stock. Cook this down to reduce.
In the meantime, poach the cod at a low simmer (about 180f) it will only take about 10 -12 minutes to cook.
Add the peas and cooked chorizo to the sauce and cook for about one minute.
Place the chickpea sauce on the plate and then place a few of the orange segments along with a few parsley leaves. Place the cod on top of the sauce and then drizzle over a little olive oil.
We really enjoyed the succulent cod with the freshness of the peas, as well as the gratifying texture of the chickpeas, the paprika and smokiness of the chorizo and the refreshing citrus hit of the orange. A great healthier option to brighten up a cold winter day.
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