CONJURING FROM THE CUPBOARD (2)

Cod fillets from the freezer, canned piquillo peppers from the cupboard--dinner is ready in no time.

Last week, after a shopping trip to the Coast, I regaled myself with fresh seafood—calamares for squid sandwiches, a pair of dorada (gilt-head bream) for roasting and gambas, head-on, never-been-frozen,  shrimp. This week, it’s back to frozen fish—a packet of cod fillets.

I imagine most of you, living with restrictions on shopping, are making omissions and substitutions in favorite recipes. Me too. My plan is to use the frozen cod in place of dry salt cod in a traditional recipe for bacalao a la Bilbaina, cod as prepared in Bilbao (Basque Country). Instead of roasted bell peppers, I’m subbing canned piquillo peppers.

Canned piquillo peppers.

Piquillos are one of my pantry staples. These small, fire-roasted peppers add a bittersweet piquancy to any dish.

Use any white fish fillets, fresh or frozen and thawed, for this quick and easy preparation. If you don’t have piquillos, use ordinary canned pimientos or fresh bell peppers, roasted and peeled.

The peppers and garlicky oil make the sauce for the cod. Serve with fries or boiled potatoes.

Flecks of chile add to the flavors of sweet and piquant piquillo peppers.

Pretty good for frozen fish! Simmered in olive oil, the cod stays moist.

Cod with Red Peppers, Bilbao Style
Bacalao a la Bilbaina

Serves 4.

1 ½ pounds cod fillets, thawed if frozen
1 can piquillo peppers, drained
¼ cup olive oil
5 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons Sherry vinegar
Salt
1 small dry chile, sliced crosswise
1 tablespoon flour
6 tablespoons water

Sauté strips of peppers.

Slice or tear the peppers into strips. Chop one clove of garlic. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a small skillet and sauté the pepper strips on medium heat, stirring, until they begin to brown, 5 minutes. Season them with salt and stir in the vinegar. Remove the peppers and keep them warm.

Heat remaining 3 tablespoons of oil in a cazuela or skillet. Slice the remaining 4 cloves of garlic and add to the oil with the chile. Fry until garlic just begins to turn golden. Skim out the garlic and chile and reserve.

Remove the cazuela from the heat and stir in the flour.
Place the pieces of cod, skin side down, in the cazuela in one layer. Return it to the heat for 2 minutes, shaking the cazuela to mix the flour and oil with the cod.

Shake and swirl the cazuela to mix. Add 1 tablespoon of the water. Shake, rock and swirl the cazuela. Then add another tablespoon of water. Continue, adding 6 tablespoons of water. Cook on moderate heat, swirling and shaking the pan, until fish is just cooked through, 4-5 minutes, depending on thickness.

Place the fish on heated plates. Divide the peppers between the cod fillets, heaping them on top. Scatter the reserved bits of garlic and chile over the peppers. Spoon the oil remaining in the pan over the fish and peppers. Garnish with sprigs of parsley.

Another recipe for frozen cod:
Batter-Fried Cod with Piquillo Alioli.

More recipes with piquillo peppers:
Piquillo Pepper Dip.
Eggplant Rollups with Piquillo Pepper Sauce.
Potato Roulade with Piquillo Peppers.
Piquillo Pepper Ketchup.

Lockdown update: In Spain's gradual de-escalation from strict stay-at-home rules, Málaga province, where I live, on Monday will begin Fase 1 (an advance from phase 0!), allowing gatherings of up to 10 people and the opening of shops (not dine-in restaurants). Some Madrileños are banging on pots and pans to protest being stuck in Phase 0. Mercifully, the number of new cases and fatalities across the country continues to fall.

Last week's fresh fish--gilt-head bream roasted with potatoes and zucchini (Recipe is here.)

FISH -- FROM FARM TO TABLE

Farmed fish--gilt-head bream, left; sea bass, right.

An offer I couldn’t resist—lubina, fresh, whole sea bass, at €2.50 each (about $3.50 for a fish weighing about 1 pound, including head).  I bought a couple of them. Two one-pound fish serve two, three or four persons, depending on how much fish you can eat. Me, I can easily eat a whole one all by myself.

At a local market.

The bass, as well as dorada, gilt-head bream, come to local markets from a fish farm where they are raised in a manner respectful of the environment. The aquaculture station of Veta la Palma, located near the mouth of the Guadalquivir River, south of Sevilla and bordering the nature preserve of Coto Doñana, raises fish in artificial wetlands, a managed and sustainable ecosystem, created by pumping water through canals to create marshy, saline ponds where fish feed on natural algae and tiny shrimp. So healthy is the environment that it shelters 250 different bird species.

For more about Veta la Palma and aquaculture, see the links at the end of this post, following the recipe. Fresh fish from Veta la Palma is marketed in the US and may be available at your favorite restaurant.

The fish I buy are excellent. Here’s a way I first learned to prepare them at chiringuitos, beach shacks, on the Málaga and Cádiz coasts. This recipe is typically made with a large whole fish, cooked in a rectangular metal pan called a besuguera, on a bed of sliced potatoes, onions, peppers and tomatoes.

Ready for the oven--sea bass on a layer of potatoes and vegetables.

A whole fish weighing 4-5 pounds will serve 4 to 6 people. As the market size of the aquaculture bass are about 1 pound, I usually use one per person. The fish need to be gutted and scales removed. In Spain, the fish is baked whole, with the head. But, if your fish market sells fish with the head already removed, that’s fine too.

If using individual-sized fish, I serve them whole, letting each person remove bones (provide dishes for the debris). But, if using a large fish, it is best filleted in the kitchen after baking and served onto heated dinner plates with scoops of potatoes.

Potatoes soak up tasty juices from the fish, wine.

Baked Fish with Potatoes
Pescado al Horno

Serves 4.

4 1-pound sea bream or bass
Salt
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 green pepper, cut in strips
Salt and pepper
1 onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced
2 bay leaves, broken into pieces
½ cup dry white wine
½ cup water

Have the fish gutted and scaled. Rub fresh fish inside and out with salt and leave it to set for 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry.

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Pour half the oil into a large flameproof oven pan (a roasting pan could be used) and add half the sliced potatoes. Sprinkle over half the garlic, parsley and peppers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add all the sliced onions, most of the tomatoes, then the remaining potatoes, garlic, parsley and peppers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place the fish on top of the potatoes and top with the remaining slices of tomato. Drizzle with remaining oil. Tuck in the pieces of bay leaf. Pour over the wine and water. Cover the pan with foil and bake until the potatoes are tender, about 35 minutes. Remove the foil during the last 15 minutes. Add water, if necessary, so the potatoes always have some liquid.

Baked sea bass with potatoes.

About the fish farm at Veta la Palma http://www.vetalapalma.es

Chef Dan Barber's TED talk about "How I fell in love with a fish," also about sustainable aquaculture at Veta la Palma.

Sea bass, oven-ready.

Gilt-head bream have a distinctive golden band between the eyes.