Black Cod

Hubby and I both were under the weather for the past week and weren't in any mood to cook or do anything worth blogging about. It's probably that nasty virus that has been circulating hubby's corporate offices for the past few weeks.

I was able to scrounge up some energy to prepare something quick for dinner last night. I had some black cod in the freezer I decided to cook it oriental style and there's no oil involved whatsoever. Here's how easy it is to make:



Baked Black Cod Steaks
2 Black Cod steaks
Salt and Pepper
Juice of 1 1/2 limes
1 Tablespoon Kikkoman
2 Tablespoons Mirin
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
Lime wedges

1. Cover baking sheet with aluminum foil. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Rub black cod steaks with salt and pepper. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
3. In a small saucepan, combine the lime juice, Kikkoman, Mirin and brown sugar. Let boil and remove from fire. Pour half of the mixture over the steaks. Reserve half for glazing later.
4. Bake cod steaks for 10-12 minutes or until done (flakes easily). The sugar will stick a bit on the side of the fish.
5. With a wide spatula, remove from oven and transfer to a serving platter. Pour remaining glaze over the cod.
6. Serve immediately with lime wedges.

I felt that the cod will go well with a cold mango, cilantro and lettuce salad. Hubby and I don't usually eat dressing with our salads but an asian dressing of lime juice, fishsauce, sugar, salt and shallots will go well with this.



For dessert, I made Pastillas de Leche. A filipino delicacy usually made with carabao's milk. I remember my mom, little brother and me would make this dessert when we were kids, the three of us would huddle over the dining table rolling the sticky dough and wrapping them on yellow cellophane. Making this dessert certainly brought back happy memories of my childhood.



Here's the home made version:
1. Mix condensed milk, powdered milk and melted butter in a bowl until you get the consistency of sticky cookie dough.
2. With sugared hands or with a small ice cream scoop, scoop out the dough and roll in sugar. Shape in little logs or roll in small balls.
3. The pastillas is traditionally wrapped in bond paper and papel de hapon (colored onion skin) with elaborate designs. I took the lazy way and just placed them on mini cupcake baking cups.

Word of caution: this version is very very rich. If you are lactose intolerant, stick with commercially available pastillas.