Arctic Char with Blistered Cherry Tomatoes in Garlic Oil

From balcony garden...

To the dinner plate...

This recipe is one of our FAVORITE dishes in For Cod and Country and always super quick and easy to make.  Fortunately, the Denver Post decided to publish the recipe so now so I don't feel guilty copying the recipe out of the book and publishing it to the world wide web!

Enjoy while fresh cherry tomatoes are plentiful and delicious!

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, each cut in half
2 pints cherry tomatoes
Salt
2 portions skin-on arctic char fillet (about 5 ounces each)
(NOTE: We get frozen char from Trader Joe's and always keep the freezer stocked)

Preheat the broiler. Set a large cast-steel or cast-iron skillet on the stove over high heat until it is smoking hot. Add the olive oil and garlic. Cook the garlic until it is blistered and golden brown. Add the tomatoes, but do this very carefully, otherwise searing hot oil will splash up onto you. Cook until the skins of the tomatoes begin to blister in the hot oil, about 1 minute, then season very generously with salt.

Carefully place the char fillets, skin side up, on top of the tomatoes and transfer the pan under the broiler. Cook for 6 minutes, then check on the fillets. The skin should be blistered and bubbling. Remove the char fillets to serving plates. Spoon the tomatoes onto the char fillets and serve immediately.

Summer Eats From Michael's Favorite Cookbook

As we've mentioned before, Michael's favorite cookbook is still For Cod and Country, and we are still discovering delicious new recipes from Barton Seaver's book.  Some of our summer favorites so far are these delicious clam appetizers (above) and the squid with green beans, potatoes and basil pesto (below).

And since soft-shell crabs are in season, we had a delicious meal of soft-shell crabs with corn and black bean relish.  Mmmmm...

I can't wait for Michael to discover more recipes from this fantastic cookbook so I can keep eating like a queen!  Bad for the diet but good for the soul.

Basil Pesto

My favorite lunchtime leftover from book club was the pesto pasta!

Fortunately, "noodles in a green sauce" was served in The Hunger Games on p. 76 so we could use this fantastic pesto that we made from our freshly harvested sweet basil and thai basil.  It also worked out great for our vegan and vegetarian book club members that couldn't enjoy the lamb stew.

This is another For Cod and Country recipe and super simple.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup walnuts
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cup canola oil
1 pound fresh basil
salt

Toast walnuts.

Place garlic and oil in blender.  Purée.

Add basil.  Purée until mixture becomes a smooth paste.

Add walnuts.  Pulse until the pesto becomes thick.

Salt, to taste.

Serve with any type of pasta and sprinkle pine nuts, cheese, fresh basil, or anything else you want.  It'll always turn out delcious.

Mussels Saint-Ex with Easy Strawberry Arugula Salad

One of our favorite new recipes from For Cod and Country is Mussels Saint-Ex (referring to Cafe Saint-Ex in DC) and the only thing Michael substituted was fresh chorizo for dry chorizo because we couldn't find that dry type.  The broth was amazing and the spiciness was perfectly balanced.

We've learned from the book that farmed mussels are delicious and very sustainable.

Like oysters and clams, mussels leave the water cleaner than they found it. Because they're relatively disease-free, they don't require treatment with antibiotics, and they're grown on ropes hanging from rafts, so they have no impact on the ocean floor.

Mussels are also super healthy, even though they are a shellfish and linked with high cholesterol.

Mussels are a rich source of many essential vitamins and minerals, such as the B vitamins, vitamin C, folate, iron, phosphorus, manganese, selenium and zinc. They outshine most other foods when it comes to their vitamin B12, selenium and manganese content.

And because you shouldn't just eat a bunch of mussels with a baguette dipped in broth (as much as you'd like to), I threw together this super easy summer salad with 4 ingredients.

Sliced strawberries
A bag of baby arugula lettuce ("rocket" salad)
Chèvre (I used a half log)
A bag of candied pecans

That's it!  Then just put some balsamic vinaigrette on top and toss. 

Anchovies and Peppers

We've decided that since we love the For Cod and Country cookbook so much, we're not going to post the recipes, but instead feature some of our favorites.  If you want a recipe, just leave us a comment or give us a call and we'll happily share.

Barton Seaver devotes this cookbook to environmentally-friendly and sustainable seafood recipes.  Anchovies are one of the fish that he features and has convinced Michael and I to start eating more because it's healthy, tasty, sustainable and... well... cheap!

This fantastic and beautiful recipe was so easy to make and a delicious appetizer.  Bell peppers, 6-12 anchovies, oil, mint (from our balcony garden), and lemon wedges for serving.  Perfect for summer.