A quick note on Black Cod and a fun grad school note

Let's start with the cod.  I have to give a shout out to Lenny at Northshore seafoods. Again. He turned me on to this fresh black cod and it was nothing less than A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. He told me it was best brushed with butter, seasoned as I liked, and baked.
Of course I tossed "black cod recipes" in the old google-ator and I came up with tons of recipes for a miso-marinated black cod that was apparently all the rage at restaurants such as Momofuku (we all know I love David Chang) and Nobu. But these recipes called for overnight marinading AND large amounts of sugar. I had neither the time nor the carb allowance for such things. So I followed the advice of the wise fishmonger and came up with a pound of fish heaven:


Ingredients:
- 1 lb black cod, skin on
- 1-2 tbsp of butter (depending on how decadent you feel that day)
-S&P
-Seasonings of your choice.
     -I went with garlic powder and italian seasoning. I think you could really go with any light spices you would like, just don't go too heavy- you don't want to overpower the fish.






Preheat the oven to 400 deg F. Place the fish in a lightly greased (or PAM-sprayed) baking dish.


Melt the butter and brush the butter over the top of each piece of fish. Season at will.

Pop it in the oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes. With the size of the pieces I have here, 15 minutes was absolutely perfect. Keep in mind that this is a meaty fish- you want it to flake apart, but in chunks, not small little flakes. Little flakes = overcooked in this case.

I served the fish with a simple cucumber and pepper salad tossed with chunks of fresh mozzarella and a red wine vinaigrette. Super simple, very light and ridiculously tasty.

Notes on Grad School and cooking:

Yesterday a friend sent me this link. It is a great article entitle "Food and Sanity in Graduate School" written by a former grad student about the soothing properties of cooking a good meal or baking a yummy treat.

It's mainly funny because it is so true. At the end of a particularly long or stressful day, I look forward to going home and making something tasty. The methodical steps: chopping, mixing, measuring- all bring me a peace that could not be found elsewhere. Plus there is the bonus that the end result is comforting and good to eat. So I pretty much get to bake my cake and eat it too :) Or, during this no-carb phase, I get to bake a noodle-free lasagna and eat it too... Not quite the same, but it works.

It is good to know I am not the only one sublimating stress with cooking.

So perhaps if you feel like this:

You should try doing this:

And then afterwards you can feel like this: