Cod Fish Soup Garnished with Cranberries

I have taken a liking to cranberries of late. They are loaded with lots of good stuff and available frozen at my food co-op. They add a tangy taste to everything and I'm thinking I could ditch lemon juice since the cranberries are local and lemons don't grow in Ontario.

Cod Fish Soup Garnished with Cranberries

0.5 kg Wild Caught Cod (add this directly to the prepared stock - do not worry about chopping because it will break up in the soup)

2 organic peppers..I used 1 yellow and 1 red..I wouldn't use green because they are too bitter
1 medium organic onion
Lightly grill the above in chopped pieces in order to bring out their taste.

4 cups water
2 stalks organic celery
3 medium organic potatoes (washed and peel if necessary)
1/8 cup Bonito flakes (mackerel fish flakes - these are good for fish stock)
1 tsp kelp (or use any ground chopped sea vegetables)

Use a food processor to puree the all of the above ingredients (except the cod).

Bring the above ingredients to a boil and then add the cod. Simmer for at least 45 minutes on low heat.

When serving, add pureed pure cranberries, dill, salt and pepper to taste.


This soup is wonderful due to the savoury rich taste of the cod and the sweetness of the peppers and cranberry. I served this with a salad of organic greens and chopped hot hungarian finger peppers and toasted gluten free corn bread (premade) with pure black olive tapenade (Minasso brand from Italy: GM, additive and preservative free).

I purchased the tapenade at Highland Farms grocery store. The rest were purchased at Karma Co-op ;)

This ain't the chipper: Organic Yams, Broccoli and Wild Caught Pacific Halibut

I lived briefly in Ireland by completing a co-operative work term there as part of my undergraduate mathematics degree at the University of Waterloo.

I packed in a lot in those 3.5 months including getting out a few times to the discos and rugby club parties with a childhood friend/penpal I had made from my grandparent's neighbourhood.

At that time, a big part of a night out was to visit to the local chipper on the way home after a night in the pubs. You picked the local chipper so you could get the taxi to drop you off at the chipper and you could walk home from there...sometimes with neighbours that were performing similar Saturday night rituals. The greasy 'food' would soak up the mess caused by the 'drink'. Today's chippers in Ireland seem to have revised their menu offerings (grilled meat and fresh salad? wow).

The passing of over twenty years sure has also revised my idea of an enjoyable Saturday night outing. I was at a moving performance of Tosca this past Saturday. Soul food like opera, shared with loved ones, is now a staple in my spiritual larder.

This Ain't the Chipper

1. Organic yams peeled and chopped: 1 hour of baking at 350 F lightly coat these with organic sunflower oil if desired $2.57/kg California
   
2. Wild caught pacific halibut rubbed with organic dried dill (pictured above is a 166 g steak): 45 minutes at 350F on a grilling pan. $33.05/kg BC
   
3. Organic broccoli - lightly steamed. $2.99/bunch California
   
4. Pure black olive tapenade (Minasso brand from Italy: GM, additive and preservative free). $16.61/kg Italy
   

The yams were of the Beauregard variety - these retain shape/texture quite well. Mercury levels in the pacific wild caught halibut are reasonable enough to allow me to recreate my own version of the ole' chipper a few times a year - even if it is a guilty indulgence.....sigh.....

I purchased the tapenade at Highland Farms grocery store. The rest of the above items were purchased at Loblaws at Bathurst and St. Clair. The turnover of fresh seafood is quite high there.

Tomato Free Rice!

Here is a link to a company that sells an excellent but expensive tomato sauce substitute. I purchased this at a Toronto area health food store...but it is from the states and I think they ship it but maybe not outside of the U.S.

The ingredients are carrots, beets, celery, onions, lemon juice, citric acid and various spices.

I have tried to imitate this sauce with moderate success (my 13 y.o. daughter loved it so that is a good sign).

I used my food processor and ground up 1 med organic beet, 1 med organic carrot, 2 organic celery stalks, 1/2 large organic onion and about 2 cups water. I added salt and oregeno. I cooked 1 cup of organic brown long grain rice with this mixture for 40 minutes in a cast iron pan with a tight fitting lid...but quinoa or millet would work too (or amaranth...).

I served this with 125 g wild caught atlantic cod (baked for 20 minutes at 350 F with organic dried dill and organic lardons - ground ends from belly bacon - this is in imitation of the newfie method of serving cod) and baby organic spinach and a hemp oil/apple cider vinegar/cayenne dressing.

All of the above items except for the spinach were purchased at Karma Co-op ;)