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.)

DINNER IN A TIME OF LOCKDOWN

And, on the seventh day, I shopped. I parked as far from the market as possible, for a chance to stretch my legs, and donned rubber gloves. (No masks available anywhere.) Officers on patrol pulled up next to me, saw my shopping bags and moved along without a word. At the market, the butcher and fruit vendor handed over receipts to show as proof that I was out and about to purchase food, almost the only movement outside home that is permitted. Such is life during the coronavirus crisis lockdown. 

Another customer at the butcher’s (keeping a 1-meter distance from others) asked if business was suffering with people keeping to their homes. Francisco, the carnicero (butcher), replied that, no, he had had the best four days ever. “But, nobody is buying meat with any joy,” he said. It seemed true. Usually a feast-day food, meat and poultry were being purchased for survival. Everybody seemed pretty glum.

But I was overjoyed to have a fat pollo amarillo (free-range “yellow” chicken) for roasting, a bundle of fresh asparagus and local avocados to replenish my menu planning for another week in quarantine.

Still, I haven’t eaten too badly in the seven days of isolation, using frozen and canned foods plus produce from my garden—cabbage, kale, chard, carrots and snow peas. Here are some of the dishes I ate during the first week of lockdown.

Snow peas from my garden, for an easy stir-fry with beef (from the freezer).

For St. Patrick's Day, a recipe from Epicurious--Cabbage Potato Pie. Only, instead of potatoes, I used mashed zucchini. (For anyone following my blog: this is the last cabbage from the garden!)

Chickpeas in the freezer from a previous meal go into hummus with tahini. Great snack food. I use the leftovers as a dressing for salads and cooked vegetables.

Harira, a spicy Moroccan soup (this recipe also from Epicurious--see the link below), is a great lunch dish. I had vegetables from the garden. You could use canned chickpeas. Add beef, lamb or chicken to make the soup even more substantial.   

From the pantry: canned mussels in escabeche. These are canned with pieces of algae from Galicia.

To make sauce for pasta: Add contents of two cans of mussels in escabeche to sautéed garlic, ham and kale.

I served one portion of the mussel-kale sauce with noodles and the other with zoodles (zucchini noodles).

I kept myself entertained one afternoon making these cauliflower patties, using leftover cauliflower "rice" that I had made for the stir-fry earlier in the week. I wanted crisp crackers, but they're not. But they make a tasty snack, nice with a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Cauliflower Patties
Tortitas de Coliflor

Makes 16.

2 cups cooked cauliflower “rice”
1 cup (unsweetened) almond flour
1 egg, beaten
½ cup grated Manchego cheese
½ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon smoked pimentón picante (hot paprika)

Heat oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Combine the cauliflower rice and almond flour in a bowl. Add the egg, cheese, salt, pepper and pimentón. 

Drop spoonfuls of the cauliflower mixture onto the baking sheet. Use the back of the spoon to press them into 2-inch patties.

Bake the patties until golden, 15 minutes. Serve hot or room temperature.

To make cauliflower “rice”: Cut out and discard the center stalk of the cauliflower. Cut the cauliflower into florets. Add the florets and small stems to food processor and pulse until they are chopped to the consistency of rice grains. Place the cauliflower kernels in a microwave-safe bowl and drizzle them with olive oil. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir. Microwave for 1 or 2 minutes more or until cauliflower is the desired degree of doneness. Add salt.

Links to recipes pictured above:

Harira (Moroccan Soup), by Joan Nathan.

Cabbage Potato Pie by Anna Stockwell.

More recipes for cauliflower rice here.

More recipes for cooking with algae here.

More recipes for lockdown meals here and here.

KitchenQuarantine  a Facebook Page.

By the way, it's SPRING! Orange blossoms.