ling cod

We're off to lunch with friends somewhere east on Kingsway in a little while, but before we head out (and while I have a small bit of baking in the oven), I figured I'd begin the posts from the second YVR trip of 2008. It's a fairly sunny day out - our joking "Curse of Conrad" strikes again - and we're avoiding downtown while the thousands upon thousands of Sun Run participants stream through the streets and over the bridges.

So, more on yesterday in general later on. For now, a few photos from dinner last night.

Conrad was keen to have some fish for dinner, so I picked up some ling cod at Granville Island. I had the idea to wrap it in pancetta and pan-fry it that way. Then I thought this might be kind of tricky to maneuver, so I covered the top of each fillet with the pancetta, drizzled on some oil and ground pepper over it all and chucked it into a hot oven. The cooking time was too short for the bacon to crisp up, but the fat rendering out did keep the fish good and moist in the baking process. I ended up removing the pancetta when I served the fish, though I popped it back into the oven to crisp up on its own for later snacking.

:-P

The fish went atop some lentils - also cooked with some pancetta - and was topped by a chicken broth and white wine reduction to which I'd added some onion and shallots, fava beans, cherry tomato quarters, sage, and butter.

All in all, it was tasty enough. Conceptually, it was different than the ultimate result, but it was fine. We had some BC Chardonnay with it, then moved to a Mission Hill Pinot Noir to go with some cheese and chocolate before ending the night with a Cedar Creek Syrah. The sun went down, we sat and watched the view change, and felt really rather contented.