Balkan-style Baked Cod

I had two friends over the other night, one old, one new, and both with a connection via Turkey. Kostek is from Poland, but spent seven years of his childhood in Istanbul, and Hale grew up in Turkey. I planned to cook fish, and had some cod on hand. I also had a jar of Mina Moroccan Preserved Lemons, which I’d been meaning to experiment with. This dish came together willy nilly–I had just come home from work, and had precious little time to prepare. I had done a bit of prep the night before (including the shallot-caper-preserved lemon relish), but until I tried it at the table, I had no idea whether this dish would turn out. But I put a lot of heart into it, and the result was one of the best fish dishes I’ve ever made, and so I post it here. There are some approximations, but this is the kind of recipe that’s driven by cooking principle and good ingredients, and so can withstand some variation, I suspect. I offer here the relish first, as it can also be used for other purposes. I think it would make an amazing buerre blanc with any light fish, or even chicken or veal, and I also used it as the base of a sauce for steamed artichokes, which have recently appeared locally.

This dish serves four.

Shallot-Caper-Preserved Lemon Relish

1/4 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
1-2 shallots, a good cup, when finely chopped
1 clove, finely minced garlic
1/4 cup large capers
1 tablespoon finely minced preserved lemon (a little goes a long way, so start with less rather than more, and adjust up according to your taste)
1/2 teaspoon finely minced green peppercorns in brine
1/2 cup chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
Juice and zest of one lemon
Salt and pepper

In my youth, I might have just mixed these ingredients, and used them with the cod, but in recent years, I’ve tried to mellow raw onion and garlic by cooking them first, which I find makes them a bit more accessible, which is never a bad thing. So, the recipe: saute the shallots in the olive oil on medium low to medium heat, until just translucent, and then add capers, preserved lemon, green peppercorn, and saute for 2-3 minutes on low heat. Add parsley, juice, and zest. Salt and pepper to taste.

Balkan Style Baked Cod

For this recipe, I used some Icelandic cod that I bought at Ulrich’s Meat Market in Pella, Iowa. They usually have some interesting ingredients, and I always make a point of stopping in when in town.  I think any white, mild flavored fish would work (might be a nice walleye dish). The idea for roasting the lemons first came to me on the fly, and I find it becomes a really wonderful garnish–and the heat releases more of the natural sugars, making a rich lemon sauce to be squeezed onto the fish. I’ve tried it since, with salmon, and the unctuous, tempered lemony sweet is really wonderful.

1 pound of cod, cut into medium size pieces
2 lemons
1 recipe of Shallot-Caper-Preserved Lemon Relish
1/2 cup kalamata olives
1/4 cup large capers
1/2 pint cherry grape tomatoes (2-3 quartered romas would work as well)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup chopped parsley for garnish

Cut ends off lemons, and then cut in half latitudinally. Saute on a cast iron skillet in a bit of olive oil. Remove when slightly browned. While lemons are cooking, put cod in large bowl, add half of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Then add relish, and work  into the fish, and spread evenly in generously oiled  9 x 13 inch clay or glass baking dish. Sprinkle in olives, capers, and cherry tomatoes, add add remaining olive oil, and bake at 410 degrees for 15-20 minutes, check for doneness, and when just cooked, turn off the oven, and let rest for five minutes, and then remove from oven, sprinkle with parsley, and serve. It went well with a farro dish, but it would be good with rice, pasta, couscous, or other light grain. Serve in the dish at table, and make sure each person at table takes a lemon half, and encourage them to squeeze it over the fish, the most important part of the recipe!