Roast cod with a hot garlic and chilli dressing - Movida Rustica

I've been getting into running this week. This is unusual, really unusual. Running has always been my nemesis, I've never excelled at it, always last, always struggling. That's not to say I wasn't good at sport, it was all I was good at. I had a lot of  "potential" at school apparently, but I never really lived up to it. I was too busy mucking around and being a smartarse. What a surprise huh ;-) But despite being a pretty decent basketball and netball player, handy in tennis and squash, and a trophy holding swimmer - I was, and still am, not a runner. My dad used to tell me that it's one of the only ways to get truly fit, but that he was never a runner either. He played for South Fremantle as a ruckman for years, so his job was to run up and down the field. But you can tell by his gait, he's not a natural. Talented athlete, but not a runner. So it runs in the family? Well, I can try to defy that. 

I recently started the Couch to 5km program, and am currently in week 2. Though still early days, I can feel myself getting better at it each run. I feel like there are more times where I find a rhythm, than where I struggle and shuffle along. I felt like a run today (I can't even believe I would say that. I've always hated to run), so I went down to my new spot, around the lake, and ran. I felt good most of the time! I was starving by the time I got home though...

This is what we had. Simple, healthy, quick. There are fabulous flavours, what you save in time you certainly do not lose in deliciousness! This recipe calls for cod in the title, and groper or trevalla in the recipe (huh?), but we used flounder, which was great for us. We aren't big fish eaters so don't really want a strong flavoured fish, which this wasn't. Meaty and satisfying, covering the fleshy fish in the hot garlic, parsley and chilli oil produced an aroma that will make you call someone over to get a whiff! Served with some boiled new potatoes and a dressed salad, this is a light meal that can be done in no time at all. This WILL be made again!

Roast cod with a hot garlic and chilli dressing

Ingredients (Serves 4)

2 tbsp EVOO

1.2kg skinless groper or blue eyed trevalla fillets, cut into 2 pieces (we used flounder)

Ajada

160ml EVOO

6 garlic cloves, sliced

2 red bullet or othe rmedium hot chillies - halved, seeded and thinly sliced

2 tbsp finely chopped chilli

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 180C.

2) Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large, heavy based ovenproof pan over a high heat. Add the fish, season well and cook for 6 minutes on each side. Transfer to the oven, and bake for a further 6-8 minutes or until just cooked through.

3) Meanwhile, to the ajada, heat the oil in a small heavy based frying pan over a low-medium heat. Add the garlic and shake the pan for 1 minute, or until the garlic is golden but not burnt. Add the chilli and stir for 30 seconds, then stir in the parsley and remove from the heat.

4) Place the cooked fish fillets on a warm plate, spoon over the ajada and serve immediately.

Tomato and cumin soup - Movida Rustica

As a part of the Fitness for Foodies course, they gave us a meal planner that I've found really helpful. It's made me more organised and able to try some recipes from books I've been wanting to get stuck into, because I've been able to buy everything I need for each recipe in advance, on the weekend! There is now less trips to the shops when I realise I haven't got this or that, to make a recipe. It's made life much easier!

One of the books I've wanted to try was Movida Rustica by Frank Camorra and Richard Cornish. I've bookmarked quite a few recipes, and last week I tried a couple. One of them was this tomato and cumin soup, which I chose because it looked like an easy midweek meal, and we had made something similar before and enjoyed it. A twist in its serving, is the inclusion of an egg, poached in the soup just before you dish it up. 

This was such an easy meal to prepare, with few ingredients. It lived up to my expectation of being an easy midweek meal, but exceeded my expectations in flavour. This was a lovely soup, so light and full of flavour, but when you cracked open the poached egg and let the yolk be swirled through the soup, it became silky and gorgeous. The egg made this soup, without it, it is a tasty tomato soup flavoured with cumin and sweet red peppers. But with the egg, it's something much more special. It's simple and healthy, and it's deliciousness is enhanced by quality ingredients - you have nothing to hide behind when you create something so simple. I blended mine, which added to the smoothness, but it would equally as good were it left chunky as rustic, like the book intended.

Ingredients

50ml olive oil

1 red onion roughly chopped

1 red pepper (capsicum) seeded and roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely sliced

1 kg ripe tomatoes

1 tsp cumin seeds, roasted and ground

2 tsp caster sugar

2 tsp sweet smoked paprika

2 tsp fine sea salt

6 eggs

Method

1. Score a cross in the base of each tomato, place in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 30 seconds then transfer to cold water and peel the skin away from the cross. Cut the tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds. (Alternatively you can cheat and use canned tomatoes).

2. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook for 5 mins or until soft and translucent. Add the capsicum and garlic and reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally for 40 mins or until the mixture has a jam like consistency.

3. Stir in the tomatoes and 700ml of water and simmer for 25 mins or until the mixture has a soupy consistency. Add the sugar, 1 1/2 tsps paprika and the sea salt and mix well.

4. Crack the eggs, one at a time into a cup, then gently slide them into the soup around the edges. Cover and simmer gently for 6 mins.

5. Carefully divide the cooked eggs and soup among bowls and sprinkle with the remaining paprika.

This should serve six, but I made it for just 2 of us, and we took leftovers to work the next day!