Week 2 of the recipe challenge

2013 Recipe Book Challenge

52 weeks - 52 recipe books - 52 new recipes 

Inspired by  The Grumbling Tummy

 

Week 2 - Jamie's 30 Minute Meals - Tasty Crusted Cod

Week 2 and the recipe this week was a lucky dip, it involved Big Cook (me) running a finger along the bookcase until Little Cook shouted "stop". Same method applied as I thumbed through the book and hey presto, we landed on page 142.

This book was a gift for Christmas 2011 and although I've perused the book umpteen times, I've never actually cooked from it. The recipes all look easy and delicious but I think the whole 30min barrier has put me off. For me, cooking is a pleasure, something to be enjoyed, so I like to take my time and clear up as I go along. It also means when you sit down to eat, you don't have to worry about a mountain of clearing up afterwards therefore although I chose to follow the recipe, there wasn't a clock in site.

Now here is where I get my Technical Author hat on! Something I didn't expect to be doing. A big part of my day job is writing procedural instructions and bullet points and numbered lists are heavily used in instructional text (like a recipe) for a reason; it makes it easy to follow and the reader can quickly glance back and forth at the recipe and find their place. Oh Jamie, your book really lets me down here! The layout of the book may look lovely (each recipe of similar size printed on the left with glossy pictures on the right) but from a usability point of view it's terrible. The text is so small and multiple tasks are clumped together in large paragraphs making it impossible to find your place. I actually managed to make two mistakes when following the recipe and I wasn't even trying to complete it in 30min!
 
Anyway back to the end result. I have to say the cod was delicious (and the anchovies that I added to the breadcrumbs by mistake were tasty). Obviously I used gluten-free bread in my recipe. I also cooked some without the topping as it had quite a kick and just breadcrumbs for Little Cook.

Mashy peas (mashed potato, broccoli and peas) were also delicious. Little Cook had about 10 (yes 10) helpings of these so if you have a wee one who is fussy about veg this might be your answer.

Salad complimented the dish perfectly.

Finally I couldn't make  the tartare sauce as I used the anchovies in the breadcrumbs by mistake. I did however have some shop bought stuff and it did the job grand.

The idea of putting it all on the table and everyone helping themselves is a lovely idea. Maybe putting the pot I cooked the mashy peas in directly onto the table was taking it a bit too far but it was one less dish to wash afterwards!

So to sum up, great dish even if the recipe is hard to read and keep your place. I reckon it took me about 40 leisurely minutes to get it ready (minus the tartare sauce).

You may enjoy Little Cook's review of the dish!