Red fish, blue fish, green fish, slow fish: confit of white fish with relish

Like the rest of you, Annalena is always looking for ways to make her life a little easier.  A minute here, a minute there, and all of a sudden... you've got two free minutes.

What can one say?  It's for reasons like this that Annalena likes recipes that do not require constant tending, or watching.

You combine this with a wish to eat healthier food, like fish, and there's an immediate contradiction, ragazzi.  We have all been taught - with good reason - that fish cooks quickly, and  that there are few things worse than overcooked fish.    And indeed, this is true.  Annalena understands that there are places where a well done tuna steak is the mark of a good cook. To Annalena, this is the mark of a place she will not frequent again.    Yet, when she found a recipe for a slow cooked piece of fish, she was on it.  And indeed, it makes sense.  And not only does it make sense, it makes a good dish.

Muscular fish, like swordfish, and tuna, almost always DO have to be flash cooked - grilled.  One CAN make tuna confit, and it is a long, slow process that produces a delicious product, but one which could not be confused with a tuna steak.  Indeed, the differences between the confitted tuna and a tuna steak are amazing.

When one turns to the white fish, however, the less muscular ones, the differences are less acute.  Indeed, Annalena has to say that, when she made this recipe, even after cooking the fish for 30 minutes, she was fearful that she had undercooked it.  She had not.  It was moist, delicious, and definitely one to keep at the ready.  It was advertised, in her cooking magazine, as the kind of recipe for a party where the host wants to spend time with the guests. Annalena agrees.    So, let's have a party, and let's have fish.

As this is a white fish, and a bit bland, we need a spicy accompaniment, and here it comes:  it is an amazing relish which Annalena can see becoming a topping for crostini, or for use with chicken, or even as a sandwich if one is really so inclined.    You need two lemons.  Now that meyer lemons have come into season, you might consider using one of those, and one Lisbon lemon.  Grate the peel from them, and put that peel aside for a few minutes.  Now get a small, sharp knife, and cut away as much of the white part (the pith), from the lemon as you can.  Then cut the lemons into thin, round slices.  Take out the pits as you go. Put them in a bowl.

Next, we need half of a small onion, a red one.  A white one is a bit too strong here.  Cut the half a lemon into rings, put it into a bowl, and add a teaspoon of salt.  Just let the mix sit for about ten minutes.  You will get liquid, and what you want to do, is squeeze all that liquid off of the onions.    Mix the onion slices with the lemons.

While you are waiting for the onions to give up their water, get about a half cup of green olives and then pit them.  Annalena loves to do this by simply pounding on them to release the pit, and then pulling it out.  If you have a gadget that does this, feel free.  Do it anyway you like, but PLEASE DON'T START WITH PITTED OLIVES.  As you finish, toss them into the onion/lemon mix.  Now drain about 2-3 tablespoons of small capers, under brine, wash them a bit, and toss them with the olive/onion/lemon mix.    Put the peel in, and now mix 3/4 cup of olive oil.  Stir it all together, taste, and add some salt and pepper as you need it.

Good, huh?  And you will probably have left overs. If you can, let this sit in the fridge for four hours or so.

At dinner time, preheat your oven to - ready for this - 250.  Yup, 250.  That's all.  Put four slices of cod, or some other thick white fish (halibut, monkfish, haddock, etc), in a glass baking dish.  The pieces should be 6-8 ounces in size.  Sprinkle them with a bit of salt.  Pour in half a cup of olive oil, and then crush two red peppers into this (you can leave this out if you want).  Turn the fish, to make sure there's olive oil all over them, and put them in the oven, for 25-30 minutes.   You can, by the way, knock this up to 8 pieces of fish.

That's right, 25-30 minutes.  (Incidentally, ragazzi, if you want to use flounder, or some other thin fish, please feel free, but you should be ready to eat in no more than 15 minutes).  . Check at 30.  You may want to cook for another ten minutes, and if you do, go ahead.  You check by sticking a knife in the fish, and seeing if it's done or not.  "Done" here, is a relative term.

When the fish is ready, take it out of the oven, and let it sit for a minute, while you chop about half a bunch of fresh flat leave parsley into the relish.  Carefully move the fish to plates, and spoon relish over the slices.

Now, how does that sound?  Unfortunately, that olive oil for cooking the fish is really not usable anymore, but sometimes, one needs to be "pound foolish."

Enjoy it ragazzi.  We are coming into that time of year when we want something comfortable, good for us, easy, and which doesn't require monitoring.  We have it here.  Go forth.  Annalena wants to know if you made it.