Pan fried cod with sauce vierge

This dish is very easy to make and absolutely delicious. I wanted to make the best of the tomatoes and basil from the balcony while they last and this recipe really brings out their flavors. You could combine this sauce with other fish or even make it slightly thicker and use it over pasta or bruschette as an appetizer. Don't try it without really good tomatoes though... I omitted the peeling and de-seeding as I had laborously grown these gems from seed...

Ingredients:
ca. 1 dl good olive oil
a large handful of cherry tomatoes, chopped
a small handful of pitted olives, chopped (you could use capers or even some anchovies instead)
Three sprigs of basil, leaves roughly chopped
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper

One piece of cod

 

1. In a small pan warm up your olive oil over medium low heat. The trick with this sauce is that it should under no circumstances be boiling/cooking. When the oil is warm add in the tomatoes and lower the heat if necessary. You want to warm it up as close to boiling as possible without getting there, if that makes any sense. After a few minutes, add the chopped olives.
2. Heat up a frying pan to medium high, season your fish with salt and pepper and fry it in oil of your choice. Depending on the thickness, turn after two to three minutes. It is done when it starts to flake under pressure.
3. Check and adjust the temperature of the sauce vierge if necessary. Add the lemon juice and seasonings to taste. Add the basil about two minutes before serving. This way it will keep it's color and some of the fresh taste. Pour the sauce over the fish and serve.

Perfect Pizza

Even as a kid I was (ever so slightly) obsessed with food.
Case in point: For my thirteenth birthday I wanted a pizza stone.
This was the product of having spent a night at my godfather's house and witnessing the wonder of thin, crisp and delicious pizzas that his wife produced in their own oven.

Not that it became a regular fixture after that. It was banished to the basement and spent many lonely years there...

But it was rediscovered during my recent move and has spent the last couple of months on a very visible shelf in my new kitchen whispering to me...

Yesterday, for no apparent reason whatsoever, I decided the time had come to give it another go. I have to add here that it was one of the hottest days of the year so far and I am still experiencing hot flashes even though the temperature has gone down ten degrees and an epic storm is looming.

But anyways, I would definitely rate the spontaneous experiment a success! It was the cheat's version I have to admit though... bought dough and no prepared tomato sauce to speak of... That's the beauty of cooking for yourself: No one you have to impress!

Ingredients:
1 packet pizza dough
1 mozzarella, grated
a couple of tomatoes, thinly sliced, maybe even de-seeded
a pinch of oregano
your favorite pizza toppings

The stone needs to preheat in the oven for about 25 minutes set to maximum heat. After that you're good to go. Roll out the pastry, top it however you want and put it onto the stone with your pizzaiolo shovel. It should be ready in 8-10 minutes.
This example has anchovies and a little bit of fresh basil after it comes out of the oven...


This was the beautiful result.

And one slice even aced the cold-pizza test today. Win!

Can you say glut?

This is what my potted garden looks like these days:



All of the tomatoes seem to be in a rush, it seems. And half of the household is on vacation in Corsica!

Something had to be done to fight against this scary overload of red fruit.
This recipe, which I had tried once before, a year ago, come to mind:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/tender-chicken-legs-with-tomatoes
It's easy delicious and takes incredibly little time to assemble!
Give it a try. If you're not a huge fan of garlic, you might want to add a little less than the recipe demands....

The leftover vegetables can be heated and served as pasta sauce or topped up with stock, blitzed and served as deliciously fruity tomato soup.


Enjoy!