I chose a tried and tested recipe for Monday’s evening meal. Simple and unfussy tomato and thyme cod, it’s one of those dinners you know you can rely on. Beautiful flakes of white fish served with a herby tomato sauce – nothing finer.
However I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so gruelling. I always used to think I wouldn’t last five minutes cooking in the extreme pressures of a professional kitchen. But I wonder if a chef could turn out a decent meal if they were dealing with half of the stuff that goes on in the space of 30 minutes in my house.
Cooking in the face of adversity
To give myself a bit of breathing space I set Sam up in the garden with one of his ‘experiments’. I gave him different pots of ingredients, a big bowl and a wooden spoon and let him make a mixture.
This distraction lasts approximately three minutes and then he’s inside wanting more and more indredients and then it ends abruptly with the ingredients being dumped all over the kitchen floor.
Arlo then starts climbing to the top of the slide and Sam ‘helps’ him down by pointing him head first towards the paving slabs.
Arlo then tries to scale a folded step ladder, and when I take him off it he unexpectedly takes his very first steps! 🙂
Take a deep breath
The celebrations of this landmark moment are cut short by a phonecall from the local garage with a lengthy explaination as to why they’ve not fixed our car, which I know I’ll have to relay to Matthew when he gets in from work.
I’d be taking notes but both boys decide I shouldn’t be on the phone and both start yelling at me.
Only then do I remember I put the onions on to soften when Sam started his ‘experiment’, and of course when I lift the lid of the pan they are now soot.
So I take a deep breath and start again. Clean the pan and chop another onion.
Five O’Clock Flashpoint
Arlo is now head-banging the floor out of frustration that his tea’s not ready, he’s getting four molars through at once and he’s absolutely exhausted coz he didn’t have his afternoon nap.
Sam has inexplicably taken off all his clothes and is throwing our camping equipment in the paddling pool.
It’s a miracle there was any food on the table this evening. But thanks to Matthew returning from work the situation was instantly diffused. I hold my hat off to anyone who does this alone.
The ‘five o’clock flashpoint’ as I like to call it should be a new challenge on Masterchef! Anyway, here’s the recipe for what should be a super simple fish supper!
Tomato and Thyme Cod Recipe
A deliciously simple supper of delicate white fish in a thick herby tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 2 tsp light brown soft sugar
- 4 sprigs thyme leaves picked
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 fillets sustainable cod or other firm white fish
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Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan, add the onion and soften for 5-8 mins until lightly browned. Stir in the tomatoes, sugar, thyme and soy, then bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 mins.
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Place cod fillets on top of the sauce, cover and cook on a gentle heat for 8-10 mins until the fish flakes easily.
And on the side…
I served it with potatoes boiled and mashed with butter and creme fraiche. The sauce is lovely and sweet – a great match for the simple cod and perfect for being mopped up with mash.
It’s healthy and nutritious and goes down well in this house.
Let me know if you have any tips for keeping the littlies at bay when you’re cooking dinner!
This looks fabulous! Seems like a great one to try!
This is definitely a recipe I come back to a lot. A simple supper with great flavour.
God tell me about the five o’clock flashpoint… I end up giving mine cubes of cheese whilst I heat up microwave pouches of rice when that happens. This cod looks great!
I don’t know what I’d do without cheese or cheerios for that matter! When i’m cooking I throw scraps of food at Arlo’s tray like he’s at the zoo… I’m such a slapdash mum at times 😉
We need much more fish in our diet. I’m really trying to change that but I’m not that confident when it comes to cooking fish. I love the sound of this though, note made to put fish on the shopping list.
I know what you mean about fish. I hated it as a child so have never felt totally comfortable cooking it, but have become braver in the last few years. I’ve learnt that simplicity is key. The sauce in this recipe makes it a nice and sweet intro to fish for little ones – i gave mine a blitz with the stick blender for a super smooth finish before putting the fish in to cook tonight. I used hake today and it was lovely and meaty, didn’t smell at all fishy when i cooked it but did take a couple more minutes to cook.