Tag: marinade

Cod with Miso

3 April 2025

Marinating is such an interesting way of preparing food. It can be used to make food (meat) softer, to add flavour or colour, it can be acidic, it can be enzymatic, sometimes it requires only a few minutes, sometimes it takes days.

One of our favourite recipes by Antonio Carlucci is a salad made with maitake, fresh scallops, crab and shrimps. It’s an amazing result, with lots of pleasant flavours, also thanks to the cilantro, dill and parsley. Part of the fun is that the scallops are not seared but prepared with a marinade of lemon, a process that takes a few minutes only.

In this case we want to add flavour (and a bit of colour) to already very tasty cod. The duration depends on the shape of the fillet, in our case it was 30 minutes. You will taste delicious cod with a touch of umami and sweetness and you will smell the aromas of the marinade. The pickles will give the dish a crunchy and briny touch.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed a glass of our favourite sake: Junmai Taru Sake as produced by Kiku-Masamune. The sake is matured in barrels made of the finest Yoshino cedar, which is reflected in its aroma and flavor. The sake will clear your palate and allow for the more intense taste of the marinated cod.

If you decide to pair the dish with a white wine, then we suggest an aromatic, fresh and fruity wine, with aromas of citrus and apple. The wine should be uplifting and juicy with a light character.

What You Need
  • Fillet of Cod
  • 1 tablespoon of Miso
  • 1 tablespoon of Mirin
  • ¼ tablespoon Soy Sauce (preferably with less salt)
  • ½ tablespoon of Rice Vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon of Mustard
  • 1 teaspoon of Sesame Oil
  • Pickled Cucumber
What You Do
  1. Combine miso, mirin, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and mustard. Be careful with the soy sauce, you’re looking for a balanced mixture.
  2. Dry the cod and leave to marinate in the mixture for 30 minutes.
  3. Transfer the cod without excess marinade and fry in a warm pan until done.
    • The fish should be opaque and flaky. Its internal temperature 60 – 63 °C or 140 – 145 °F
    • The sugars in the marinade burn easily, so the pan shouldn’t be too warm.
  4. Serve on a warm plate with the pickles.
Variations

You can also prepare this dish with haddock (although it’s perhaps too delicate), ling or pollack.
If you want a spicier marinade, then add grated fresh ginger. Crushed cilantro seeds will add more depth to the taste.

Cod with Miso ©cadwu
Cod with Miso ©cadwu

Red Bell Pepper Paste

23 March 2023

Sweet, smokey, mild, umami: red bell pepper paste is a great condiment when you’re making a pasta sauce with tomatoes, marinating pork or chicken for a stew or looking for a basis for a spread or dip. Very popular in the Portuguese kitchen (Pasta de Pimiento Rojo).

You could make the paste with red bell peppers only; you could add a pinch of salt or perhaps some garlic. Our alternative has a deeper colour and more intense flavours, thanks to the shallot, garlic and red wine. 

Red Bell Pepper Paste keeps very well in the refrigerator, especially when you store it in a jar under olive oil.

What You Need

  • Red Bell Peppers
  • Optional: Salt, Garlic

What You Do

Clean the bell peppers, remove the seeds and the veins; cut in 4. Transfer to the oven and grill or roast for 10 minutes or until well charred. When still hot, put the bell peppers in a plastic container and close it. After one hour it’s easy to remove the skin of the bell pepper. Chop and blender until smooth and thick. You could add a pinch of salt or some grated garlic.

What You Need (Alternative)

  • Red Bell Peppers
  • Shallot
  • Garlic
  • Red wine
  • Olive Oil

What You Do

Clean the bell peppers, remove the seeds and the veins; cut in 4. Transfer to the oven and grill or roast for 10 minutes or until well charred. When still hot, put the bell peppers in a plastic container and close it. After one hour it’s easy to remove the skin of the bell pepper. Chop the shallot, the bell pepper and the garlic. Add olive oil to a pan, glaze the shallot. Add the garlic. After a few minutes add the chopped red bell pepper and any remaining liquid. Add some red wine and reduce. Repeat this step two or three times. Transfer the content to the food processor and blend until smooth and thick.

PS

We used our red bell pepper paste for a pasta dish with tomato confit.

Pasta with Redd Bell Pepper Paste ©caddy
Red Bell Peppers ©cadwu

Hilaire Walden

27 February 2022

Some chefs love the limelight, some prefer to stay in the background, focusing on cooking and writing. Hilaire Walden is clearly one of them. 

She is author of some 40 books and she has written for prestigious magazines and newspapers about food, cooking and restaurants. She wrote The Great Big Cookie Book, The Book of Tapas and Spanish Cooking, the Book of French Provincial Cooking, The Singapore Cookbook, Quick After Work Summer Vegetarian Cookbook, The Book of Fish and Shellfish and more recently I Love My Barbecue. Indeed, a broad culinary spectrum!

The Loire

One of our favourites is Loire Gastronomique. In this book she follows the course of the French river and describes the various regions, local products, local recipes and of course the wines that go with it. Cheese, cookies, pies, everything. The Loire region is known as the Garden of France. In this garden you’ll find wonderful castles (Azay-le-Rideau, Chambord, Chinon), great wine (Muscadet, Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé) and beautiful food (asparagus, lots of fruit, artichokes and of course Lentille Verte du Puy). The book is inspiring and it will make you dream of a walk along the Loire, with a view on Amboise and a glass Crémant de Loire in your hand.

Recipes

One of the benefits of Hilaire Walden’s recipes is that they are always correct. Sounds odd, but as we all know, unfortunately, often recipes are simply not complete or correct.
If you prepare a dish for the first time, simply follow her instructions and you’re fine.

She started publishing books around 1980, so perhaps your favourite book will be second hand, but don’t worry, it will not be outdated.

Hilaire Walden
Hilaire Walden - Loire Gastronomique