Roasted cod with garbanzo beans and aioli
Instructions:
- 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
- 4 cups Fish Fumet (recipe follows) or low-sodium clam juice
- 8 white anchovies, cut into 1-inch pieces
- ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 4 ounces Oven-Dried Cherry Tomatoes cut into large dice
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
- 12 littleneck clams (see Note)
- ¼ cup Clarified Butter or vegetable oil
- Four 7-ounce pieces Atlantic cod Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons Roasted Garlic Aioli (recipe follows)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- roasted garlic aioli
- 1 whole garlic head (about 12 cloves)
- 1½ teaspoons olive oil Kosher salt
- 1 cup good-quality, store-bought mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- Cracked black pepper
- fish fumet
- 2 pounds cod bones or other nonoily fish bones
- 1 cup dry white wine
- ½ onion, chopped
- ½ fennel bulb, chopped
- 10 fresh flat-leaf parsley stems
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme 1 bay leaf
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- In a large saucepan, heat the beans, Fish Fumet, anchovies, parsley leaves, Oven-Dried Cherry Tomatoes, and oregano until warm. Remove from the heat, cover, and set aside to keep warm.
- In another large saucepan, arrange a steaming rack set over about an inch of water. Put the clams on the rack and bring the water to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cover the pan tightly and let the clams steam for about 5 minutes. At this point, the clams will have opened. Drain the clams, discard any that do not open, and hold the others in the hot pan, covered.
- Heat an ovenproof sauté pan over high heat. When the pan is hot, put the clarified butter or oil in the pan. When the butter foams or the oil is smoking hot, lay the cod in the pan, reduce the heat to medium-high, and sear for 2 to 3 minutes. When the cod no longer sticks to the pan, transfer the pan to the oven. Do not flip the fish over. Roast for 4 minutes.
- Meanwhile, spoon the bean mixture into 4 shallow bowls.
- Put a piece of cod on top of the beans, turning the fish over as you transfer it from roasting pan to bowl. Put 3 steamed clams in each bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top each piece of cod with Roasted Garlic Aioli and garnish each bowl with the olive oil and chopped parsley.
- note When you buy fresh clams, it’s a good idea to soak them to purge any sand in the shells. This step may not be necessary if you know your purveyor and trust his or her word that the clams are very clean. Otherwise, put the clams in a bowl and cover with fresh seawater (if available) or cold salted water. For every gallon of tap water, add about 5 tablespoons of salt to approximate seawater. Discard any clams that quickly float to the surface of the water. Let the other clams soak for 3 to 4 hours, drain and rinse.
- roasted garlic aioli
- Preheat the oven to 300°F.
- Remove the outer layers of skin from the garlic head but leave the cloves intact at the root end. Put the head in the center of a sheet of aluminum foil, drizzle with the olive oil, and add a pinch of salt. Fold the foil over the top of the garlic to make a loose package. Put on a baking sheet and roast for 35 minutes, until the garlic is soft. Unwrap and set aside to cool.
- When cool, squeeze the softened garlic pulp from each clove. Transfer the pulp to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade.
- Add the mayonnaise and lemon juice. Process until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- makes about 1 cup
- fish fumet
- Chop the cod bones into manageably sized pieces and rinse with cool running water. Transfer to a bowl and add enough cold water to cover. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Drain the bones and pat them dry. Spread them on a baking sheet and roast for about 20 minutes, or until they are cooked through but have not colored. There will be no fish remaining on them and the bones will be white.
- Transfer the bones to a saucepan and add the wine, onion, fennel, parsley stems, thyme, and bay leaf. Add 1 gallon of water and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes, remove from the heat, and set aside to stand for 10 minutes. Strain and use immediately or cover and refrigerate. The fumet will keep in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. It also will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.
- makes about 3 quarts