Olive Oil-Poached Cod With Green Pepper Purée

Olive Oil-Poached Cod With Green Pepper Purée
Melina Hammer for The New York Times
Total Time
1 hour 15 minutes
Rating
4(192)
Comments
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Unlike many cooks, John Willoughby loves what he describes as the fresh, cool and slightly bitter taste of green peppers. This dish uses the liquor from the roasted peppers in addition to pepper purée.

Featured in: The Virtues of Green Bell Peppers

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 2green bell peppers
  • 1poblano pepper
  • Half a medium onion, sliced into wedges
  • salt
  • cups extra virgin olive oil
  • 44-ounce cod fillets of equal thickness
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

1152 calories; 81 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 59 grams monounsaturated fat; 9 grams polyunsaturated fat; 106 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 94 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 645 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 450 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and add the bell peppers and poblano pepper whole, and the onion wedges. Salt well and roast, turning every 10 minutes, until peppers collapse and are dark brown or black on at least half of their surfaces, 30 to 35 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Set onions aside. Put peppers in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand for at least 20 minutes. Reserve liquor that accumulates in bowl and slice peppers open over the bowl to catch any more. Remove skins, stems and seeds from peppers. (Avoid doing this under running water, because it removes some of the smoky flavor.)

  3. Step 3

    In a food processor or blender, purée peppers and onions to yield 1 cup, season to taste and set aside.

  4. Step 4

    Salt the cod generously and allow to stand for at least 5 or up to 20 minutes. In an enameled or nonstick pan, heat oil over medium heat until just warm. Reduce heat to medium low, slide cod into olive oil, cover the pan tightly and cook until cod just begins to flake, about 6 to 8 minutes.

  5. Step 5

    Brush or dab a line of pepper purée on each of 4 plates, place a piece of cod over each line, drizzle first with olive oil from the cooking pan, then with pepper liquor.

Ratings

4 out of 5
192 user ratings
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Comments

Poaching in oil is very much like Spanish escabeche/escovitch, the fish comes out so tender and flaky and the sauce is definitely worth the effort, very interesting, reminds me of a Mexican salsa (if you have any leftover, try with tortilla chips, chipotle on the side). We had rice as a side dish, perfect to soak up the sauce and olive oil. The addition of capers and/or olives would be a beautiful variation. Loved!

I was skeptical about all of the green peppers, but this was wonderful and worth the pepper roasting hassle. Not the usual cod fare.

The green pepper sauce was in incredible accompaniment to delicate white fish! Sauce was a brighter green than the photo but quite simple and enjoyable. A nice contrast from the usual lemon. Instead of poaching, we baked pacific cod aka sablefish, which is richer than true cod, in olive oil. Served with a layered gratin of potato, tomato, and zucchini with a roasted red pepper sauce!

Followed the recipe, except made this with red bell peppers instead of green. Added preserved lemon and a squeeze of lemon juice. I know. That's not the recipe. But it sure was delicious with the fish!

I cooked fish for 4 min. Maybe this wasnt enough...longer nxt time.

Instead of the roasted peppers I decided to put some large green olives stuffed with jalapeños in the food processed with a few grape tomatoes and some smoked paprika. The whole meal was done in ten minutes and was fabulous. I also threw some grape tomatoes in the oil just before the cod. I used the mixed red, orange and yellow tomatoes and the plate looked beautiful.

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