You know the old saying ‘old habits die hard’? – I love trying different foods and cooking methods when the said food is prepared by others but when it comes to preparing meals in my own home I am instinctively prone to ‘currify’ everything, be it adding fresh chilli, ground chilli or ginger and or garlic. Do you blame me? You’ve tried Amma’s recipes right? It is a tad difficult shaking off that longing for a taste of home. Despite my instinctive food preparation methods there are some exceptions – one vegetable that I simply cannot imagine as a curry (not yet anyway!) is Asparagus. Having only tried this for the first time in my life just 5 years ago, I have to admit it has grown on me!

Lemon Butter Cod and Asparagus

Asparagus can be steamed, grilled, raosted or blanched. It goes well with fish, bacon or eggs. This recipe is for blanched asparagus with hollandaise sauce and lemon butter cod. Cod is a good fish for making fishcakes but is also versatile and easily complimented by any number of flavour combinations. It can be pan fried but for this recipe I have opted for oven baked cod.

Lemon Butter Cod Recipe

Recipe by Georgia

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 pieces cod fillet
  
• 1 leveled tablespoon butter
  
• ¼ crushed black pepper
  
• 3 cloves garlic
• ¼ teaspoon salt
  
• juice of 1 medium sized lemon
• 2 slices lemon

 

Method

1. Prepare the lemon butter. 

 1.1. Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat. 

1.2. Add the garlic and black pepper. 

1.3. Add the lemon juice. Allow to simmer for 5-7 minutes until the mixture appears thick. Remove from stove. Set aside.

1.4. Use the remaining sauce to ‘fry’ the lemon slices. Place the saucepan on low heat until both sides of the lemon have browned. Use this to garnish the cod fillet.

2. Prepare the fish. 

 2.1. Preheat the oven 150 degrees Celsius. 

2.2. Cover in salt. Brush a baking pan with some of the lemon butter 

2.3. Place the cod fillets in the baking pan. Drizzle with lemon butter

  2.4. Cover with foil. Place in the oven. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius. After 15 minutes, remove the foil. 

2.5. Bake for another 10 minutes until the fillets appear slightly brown. 

2.6. Remove from oven. Serve warm with Asparagus.

How to clean Asparagus

It is best to buy Asparagus in season. Use a vegetable peeler to peel off the hard outer layer. I prefer cutting off the hard bottom ends.

How to Blanch Asparagus

Blanching asparagus is a method of boiling then shocking (cooling) the asparagus by soaking in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. I prefer this method because it results in perfectly cooked asparagus that retain their form and colour. The only downside is you end up with cold asparagus – this works well in warm seasons. If you prefer warm asparagus simply omit the ice bath and place the asparagus in warm water instead. Simmer the asparagus in a shallow pan for 3-5minutes. Remove from heat. Place in an ice bath (warm water for warm asparagus) for 10 minutes. Remove from water, pat dry. Serve immediately. Serve with Hollandaise sauce.

Blanched Asparagus Recipe

Recipe by Georgia

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients

• 14 asparagus stalks (1 bunch)  
• ¼ teaspoon salt

2 cups water for boiling

3 cups cold water for ice bath or warm water for warm asparagus. 

Method

1. Boil the water.
2. Wash then peel the asparagus. Chop off the hardened ends.
3. Add salt to the water. Place asparagus in the water. Boil for 3 – 5minutes.
4. Remove from boiling water, place in or warm water bath.
5. Remove from water. Pat dry. Serve with hollandaise sauce.