Saturday, June 30, 2012

Cod Pieces and Compote from a Historical Novel


Monday 25 June
As we're stranded in the middle of the country, our seafood options are generally based on what Trader Joe's can supply.  This time, it was Pieces of Cod (that pass understanding), defrosted, dredged in seasoned beaten egg, rolled in seasoned panko, and shallow fried in oil.  Nicely crunchy, though finer breadcrumbs would have stuck to the fish better.
Our side dish was fictional: our friend Karen sent us a historical novel called Signora Da Vinci (and now we know why Lorenzo de' Medici was called Il Magnifico) which included a recipe for grape-olive compote.  Unfortunately the amounts were vague, but in a casserole, we combined about a cup of seedless red grapes, about 2/3 cup of pitted Kalamata olives, 2 Tbsp. each of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and a Tbsp. of fresh thyme leaves.  It baked for an hour at 350ยบ, getting stirred about every 20 minutes. 
The grapes gave off a fair amount of moisture and made it very juicy, so you could halve the oil and vinegar amounts.  But it was sweet, salty, and made a good side dish for the crunchy fish (Lorenzo's very active cod pieces).  It could also be served as bruschetta scattered with crumbled goat cheese, as you like.

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