Sometimes it’s nice to treat yourself a little, and I’m pretty sure Michael gets this. So we hit it off.
To describe Michael as “well-groomed” would be an understatement: tailored, pleated pants, ironed shirt, and nails that were prettier than mine. But he almost immediately assured me he wasn’t gay…which I’m not sure if I believe.
To be fair, I’m not the type of woman who gets her nails done. I chop mine off about once a week so I can be a better rock-climber. So if Michael thought I was the type of woman who files, buffs, and polishes, he had another thing coming.
Actually, only his thumb was prettier than mine. That was the only one he treated carefully because that was the only one you see when he’s polishing yours. So we stood in the middle of the National Women’s Show at the Palais de Congres in Montreal with him explaining to me that the rectangular prism in his hand had one side of cotton and three other sides of varying coarseness and materials to make your nails soften and glow.
“This is the nicest my nails have been in years,” I said two minutes into our meeting. “Can you use it on your feet too?”
“I would use it on your feet.” I glance up to check the innocence of the statement, and return my gaze to my polished fingers, undecided.
“Would your boyfriend use it on your feet for you?” Aha!
He was a good salesman – charming – flirting his way to a sale. I never buy these types of products. They’re nice to sample, and then you walk away.
“How old are you?” he asks lightly.
“Too young for you, probably.” I smile. Two can play at this game, and sometimes it’s nice to have a little fun…
…which is why I decided to treat myself by making this special cod dish with a not-overpowering fennel, cumin, and fenugreek tomato sauce. A treat. Just for me, which is what all those women at the Palais de Congrès were thinking when they purchased their over-priced beauty products, chocolate, and enetered their names in draws for prizes. Being on a mailing list is not generally considered a prize. So making myself a good dinner with fish is a relatively guaranteed win.
This recipe is from “At Home with Madhur Jaffrey”, which has a lot of simple fish recipes involving spice pastes and simple baking or grilling. I used the last of my summer canned tomatoes and whipped it together for what tasted like a royal treat but was actually very easy to make.
Cod in Indian-Spiced Tomato Sauce
1 lb cod* (or more sustainable haddock or mackerel)
salt, pepper and cayenne
1/8 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp olive oil (or canola or mustard or whatever you have. I used sunflower)
1/8 tsp ground asafetida (I grate 1/8 tsp from a big chunk since it stays fresher longer this way)
1/4 tsp mustard seeds (black or yellow, but I think black is more traditional)
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
1/4 tsp whole fennel seeds
1/8 whole fenugreek seeds
4 medium tomatoes that actually taste like something, grated. (The Lufa farm tomatoes I have work well as long as I use the medium ones and not the beefsteak ones that are too acidic and watery. It’s not tomato season, so if you’re using grocery store imported or greenhouse tomatoes, the odds of getting lacklustre tomatoes are great. Either way, definitely use organic tomatoes with this recipe for flavour. You need to grate them to get rid of their skins, so if you absolutely have to use canned tomatoes, just push as much through the grater as you can manage.)
1 cup fresh or frozen peas (defrosted if frozen. I wish it was pea season. I also generally double the vegetable content so I end up eating more green than protein, so up to 2 cups of peas is fine here. It just isn’t as pretty, but I care about the visual about as much as I care about my nails…sometimes)
3 tbsp probiotic plain organic yogurt (preferably a thick one. My favourite is Pinehedge, but I also like Organic Meadow. A thick one is better than a thin one, and god help you if you go with a fat free one that will end up thin and bitter…much like you will)
Directions:
1. Take the frozen peas out of the freezer to defrost!
2. Wash the fish and dry with paper towels. Place in a large dish or bowl. Sprinkle a little salt (about 1/4-1/2 tsp), a few grinds of fresh pepper (or 1/8 tsp), 1/4 tsp of cayenne, and the turmeric on the fish (both sides) and let marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan on medium-high heat. When it gets hot enough (test with a few drops of water – the water should sizzle) add the grated asafetida, followed by the mustard seeds, cumin, fennel and fenugreek. Let the mustard seeds start to pop (you may need to stir them a little in the oil) and then add the grated tomatoes, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp cayenne (don’t worry. It’ll be fine), and a little more black pepper (about 1/8 tsp).
4. Stir and cook for about 5-7 minutes, until the tomatoes thicken slightly. You want a sauce to remain though, so if the tomatoes start sticking to the bottom of the pan you need to add about 1/4 cup of water to thin it.
5. Then add the peas. If they’re not defrosted they mess with the temperature of the contents of the frying pan and mess up your carefully measured fish-cooking time. Madhur Jaffrey says to stir and cook another minute, but she lives in England – home of mushy peas – so I say just skip immediately to the next step.
6. Add the fish carefully to the pan. Often the fish will have a thin tail that will cook faster than the thicker parts of the fillet. So tuck the tail underneath (as though it’s ashamed for having been caught) and then spoon the sauce over top of the fish, basting it in the spiced tomato juices.
7. Cover the pan, leaving it just a little ajar, and let the fish cook for about 7-10 minutes, until it’s just cooked through. It should not longer be transluscent, and it should fall apart when you touch it with a knife. When you bite into it it shouldn’t be chewy or tough. If it tastes “like chicken” it’s over-cooked. It should be soft and delicate (like fish!!!). I’d recommend basting the fish a few times in this 7-10 minute period and also making sure there’s always enough liquid in the pan so the sauce doesn’t burn. Add a little extra water if need be – about a tbsp at a time as needed.
So the peas are ugly, I know. You can make this dish without the peas and you just lose a little sweetness and green nutrition, but the recipe can’t see you and neither can I. I’d especially recommend skipping the peas if you’re serving this for company or kids. It just looks better without them. Serve another green vegetable on the side, or better yet, a salad in a separate bowl or plate. Bright red and dark green look weird on a single plate together, in my opinion.
But Indian food isn’t supposed to look gorgeous. It’s supposed to be delicious, and this is.
*Normally I would never, ever, ever cook with Atlantic cod since the stocks are so low and for goodness sake I’m from Newfoundland where cod moratorium of 1992 destroyed a lot of my province’s livelihood, so overfishing now is the last thing I want to encourage. But I got this fish from a single fisherman in Nova Scotia who had a government-given quota. That doesn’t mean the stocks are necessarily very high, but he was allowed to fish it and he did, and he was earning a living. The sad thing is he can’t even reach his quota because there just aren’t enough cod to catch…It’s not him going out in a huge dredger and hauling up every life-form on the sea bottom. So the morals of having this fish are somewhat gray, but leaning toward white.
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