Friday's Cod Provençal & Pics from the 5-Course Are Up

First, I have FINALLY gotten the pictures from the 5-Course dinner I prepared last week.  Yes, it took a week, but better late than never, right?!  To check them out, click here.

I lost my cod recipe I was convinced I was destined to try. :(

This was an honest-to-goodness act of fate.  I just wasn't meant to make it. Instead, God intended for me to search the web for a different Cod Provençal recipe to play with.  So be it... who am I to mess with fate?  So after a few key strokes, I found Martha Stewart's recipe and thought, "OK Martha, I'll give you a try."  I'm so glad I did.

Can I say DELICIOUS?!?!  This recipe was fabulous.  I tweaked it a tad, but in the end, it was amazing.  I'll put the tweaked version below.  I served it with a Garlic Cream of Asparagus and Spinach soup and some extra asparagus alongside the Cod Provençal.

Cod Provençal with Asparagus
Originally Martha Stewart's... tweaked a little by me

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs Cod, fillet into 5-6 oz servings
• 1 Lemon, halved
• Salt
• Pepper
• Thyme
• 3 T Olive Oil, divided
• 1 medium Red Onion, diced
• 1 small Yellow Onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
• 4 oz Button mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 4 tomatoes on the vine, thinly sliced
• Olive Oil
• 12 asparagus spears

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a ceramic or glass dish, place cod.  Squeeze 1/2 lemon juice over cod.  Put it in the refrigerator to marinate while preparing the next step.
3. Over a medium flame, heat 1-2 T oil in a medium dutch oven (I used an oversized, deep frypan).  Add onions and cook until golden brown, approximately 12 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for another minute.  Add mushrooms and cook 2 more minutes.  Turn the heat off and add half of the zucchini, tomatoes and sprinkle generously with thyme, salt and pepper.  
4. Remove cod from refrigerator and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place in pot with veggies.  Drizzle olive oil over dish and top with the rest of the zucchini and tomatoes.  Sprinkle again with salt, pepper and thyme.  
5. Bake covered for 10 minutes.  Remove cover, baste fish with juices, adding a drizzle of olive oil if desired (I did!).  Return to oven, uncovered, and finish cooking for 15 minutes.  
6. Add warm water to a fry pan.  Add asparagus and cover, steam/cooking for 3-5 minutes, until bright green.  Immediately give the asparagus an ice bath to stop cooking.  Drain the water from the pan and return the asparagus.  1 minute before the Cod Provençal is finished, reheat the asparagus over a medium-high heat just until warm.
7. Serve the fish along with 3 spears per dinner plate.  Serves 4.  Enjoy!