Southwestern Fried Cod and Mary’s Casserole

I got out a package of cod from our trip to New England last May and I ended up with four nice sized pieces.  Since it was just Bev and I we baked two for supper one night and chunked and fried the other two for this meal.  I’d just received my care package from Lea Ann, so I decided to give the meal a Southwestern flair – the casserole already had it. 

This looks long, but it's mostly photos and recipes, which you can skip over.

Fish Batter, adapted from Food.com

1 cup self-rising flour

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp aleppo pepper flakes (from Lea Ann)

¼ tsp dry mustard

¼ tsp dried Mexican oregano, rubbed to a powder (from Lea Ann)

¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper

½ tsp fresh lime juice

6 oz cold Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, plus more to thin the batter if necessary – pour the remainder in the sink – yeah right.

Mix everything together until smooth and store if fridge for an hour

Fish - I do better if I salt and pepper the fish directly rather than add it to the batter.

For a sauce I used Jenn’s (Jenn’s Food Journey) adaptation of Chris’ (Nibble Me This) Podunk Sauce.

5 tbsp mayonnaise

1 tsp champagne vinegar (all we had)

2 tsp hot sauce (I used Café Nocho* Chipotle)

1/4 tsp granulated sugar

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp aleppo pepper flakes (I used more since they are milder than the cayenne called for in the recipe)

1/4 tsp salt

*Café Nocho (Mexican Restaurant), Conway Village, NH

Mix everything together and store in fridge until ready to use – I made it in the morning.

I read three blogs authored by Mary’s and this recipe is from the One Perfect Bite Mary that I wanted to try as soon as I read it.  Check her site for more pictures and the recipe for her Corn and HominyCasserole.  We made it as best we could with what we had on hand. 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup finely chopped multi-colored sweet peppers - ours from the freezer, thawed

1/4 cup finely chopped jalapeno pepper - ours from the freezer

1/3 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro

1 cup sour cream (I used about 40% sour cream, 40% plain yogurt, 20% ricotta cheese – all we had)
1 clove minced garlic (my addition)

16 oz golden queen corn, ours from the freezer, thawed

2 cans (15.5-oz each) hominy , drained and rinsed

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup 50-50 mix of mozzarella and Ballyshannon Irish Cheese – maybe our new favorite

3 tbsp butter

Cooking spray

1  tsp dried parsley

Directions:

·         Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

·         Spray a 6"x9"x2.5" casserole dish with cooking spray.

·         Combine bell and jalapeno peppers.

·         Stir cilantro and garlic into sour cream – I mixed it 3 hours early so the flavors could marry.

·         Layer 1/3 of hominy, then 1/3 of corn in the casserole dish and  sprinkle with pepper and salt.

·         Top with 1/3 cup mixed peppers. Cover with 1/3 cup sour cream, then 1/2 cup cheese. Dot with 1 tablespoon butter.

·         Build a second layer like the first but without S&P or cheese. Dot with 1 tablespoon butter.

·         Build final layer using remaining hominy, corn, mixed peppers, sour cream, and cheese. Dot with final tablespoon butter.

·         Sprinkle parsley on top.

·         Bake casserole, uncovered, for 40 minutes and allow to stand for 10 minutes

We decided we needed something green and decided on a salad using a dressing adapted from Food.com.

Dressing

6 tbsp fat free ranch dressing

¾  tsp lime juice

¾ tsp Aleppo chile flakes

3 dash onion powder

3 dash garlic powder

3 dash cumin

Mix everthing together a couple of hours ahead of time.

The salad was made from

Romaine lettuce - 1 boat shaped leaf and 1 leaf torn into pieces

Plumb tomatoes, chunked

Red onion, thin sliced

Canned black beans, rinsed
Corn - left from the casserole

Wish we'd had some avocados

We had some asparagus and Bev decided we should use some of the fish batter to fry up a few pieces, but I forgt for the first shot.

After plating, I followed Lea Ann’s lead and sprinkled a little Aleppo Pepper Flakes on everything along with some of the cheeses.

I sprinkled the cheese on top for pretty but after seeing the shots, it covered the presentation I'd worked hard on - the asparagus on top didn't help either.  Oh well, at least I thought about it.

The batter is the same one we’ve used for our fish tacos so I was pretty sure I’d like it, but coupled with the podunk sauce it was awesome - left a nice heat in the back of my throat. The asparagus liked the sauce as well. The cod prepared this way was much, much better than the baked version.

I thought the salad was delicious and would use the dressing again. Bev said the casserole needed something so I went back and re-read the recipe to discover I'd used one jalapeno rather than 1/4 cup - I've told you she was the real cook in the family.  I still thought it was very good, and after stirring some sauteed jalapenos into the leftovers, it was as delicious as I expected it would be.

I'd have to chalk this up as a mighty fine southwestern meal and I'd eat it again in a heartbeat. 

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Smoked Rib Roast & Pepper Sauce Taste Test

Two years ago:  Ain't Spring Great?

Larry

2/29/12  meal date