Birthday Take Two

The week after TLWs birthday, the market was back to being normal again. I told TLW that I'd make her another fancy meal but this time using Cod! You could almost see the sparkle in TLW's eyes.

Since TLW was taking her mom to the market, I asked her to get the cod as well as some asparagus. She asked what I was going to make and suggested that I make a Steamed Cod with Soya Sauce but I hushed her and told her to just go get the cod as well as some asparagus.

I've mentioned before that Cod is rather expensive but we all so love Cod and it's not often that we indulge. TLW came back with 4 nice and thick slabs of Cod and I couldn't wait to cook it let alone eat it.

Once again, my daughter insisted that I plate the meal nicely and so I pandered to her request. I have to admit that a nicely plated meal does look so much better and somehow it tastes better too!







Cod always has its own flavour and I dont like it with too much sauce. It is also a kind of fatty fish so you shouldnt use too much oil. What I did was to simply mash up some lemon thyme leaves with butter and let it sit on the fish for a little while before slow grilling in on a griddle.

Grilled Cod
Ingredients

4 sprigs Lemon Thyme Leaves
100g butter
4 Cod Fillets
Salt
Pepper
Method
Mash the thyme leaves with butter and form into a paste. Lightly season the cod with salt and pepper and then spread the thyme butter over one side of each fillet. Let rest for a little while. Lightly oil a griddle with Olive Oil and then grill the fish on both sides until cooked through.


Steamed Asparagus with Chopped Egg and Mustard Sauce
200g Asparagus - trimmed
2 Eggs
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
Dash red wine vinegar
salt
black pepper


Method
Steam asparagus in a steamer or double boiler till tender - about 1- to 15 minutes. Lightly stir fry in a little butter to give it a nice gloss. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Place the eggs in a small saucepan and cover with cold water by one inch. Heat over high heat until the water comes to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat, cover with a lid and let stand for 15 minutes. Remove eggs from water and run under the tap to cool. Peel and roughly chop the eggs and set aside.

For the Sauce, mix the mayonnaise, mustard and vinegar together. Add in some water if mixture is too thick.
Arrange the asparagus spears on individual plates or a platter and spoon the egg over the asparagus. drizzle the sauce over the eggs.

The Cod was simply divine and both The Lovely Wife and I realised that I could have cooked smaller pieces of cod i.e. cut each steak into two. The kids however said that there was no such thing as too much cod! The kids also loved the asparagus and especially the mustard sauce.



I served the whole thing with some of my Honey Citrus Rocket Salad. This time I added in some grilled eggplant to go with the capsicum and rocket






TLW 'complained' that there was no dessert but I laughed it off as my son and I jumped into the car to drop my daughter of at school for the Tae Kwan Do. On the way back, a quick trip to the petrol station down the road solved the absence of dessert with my son and I buying her a small tub of Haagen Dazs Ice Cream.

Happy Birthday once again TLW!