I’ve got a few cookbooks on the shelf…ok, shelves…ok, several books…fine, a lot of books on the shelves. So much so that C said, “You can’t shouldn’t buy anymore cookbooks until you make at least one recipe from each book on those shelves.”

So…here’s one. It’s a modified recipe from Patrick O’Connell’s Refined American Cuisine. DON’T let the long list of ingredient deter you from this recipe. It’s essentially chopping and pan frying, and it’s simple to make. So sharpen your knife and with little tweaks here and there and you’ve got the wonderful colors and flavors of Spain on your plate.

Ingredients

For gazpacho sauce:
3 1/2 lbs. tomatoes, cored and coarsely choppped
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/2 medium Vidalia onion, coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic
3 TBs. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. Tabasco
1 TBs. fresh lemon juice
1 TBs. rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. celery salt
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For Gazpacho salsa:
3 TBs. peeled, seeded and minced tomato
3 TBs. peeled, seeded and minced cucumber
3 TBs. seeded and minced red bell pepper
3 TBs. seeded and minced green bell pepper
3 TBs. seeded and minced yellow bell pepper
1 tsp. seeded and minced jalapeno pepper
1 TBs. minced red onion
1 tsp. minced shallot
1 tsp. very finely chopped cilantro
1 tsp. finely chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1 TBs. extra virgin olive oil
1 TBs. sherry vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For cod:
2 TBs. of extra virgin olive oil
4 6oz. cod fillets
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
6 TBs. of store bought black olive tapenade for topping. If you’re in the mood to make a fresh batch, check out my black and green olive tapenade.

Preparation

For the Gazpacho sauce:
1. In a blender or food processor, puree the tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, onion, celery and garlic in batches until smooth. Strain.
2. Add the olive oil, Tabasco, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, cumin and celery salt. Mix well and refrigerate. After the sauce is chilled, season with salt and pepper, bring to reoom temperature before serving.

NOTE: recipe makes approximately 5 cups. You’ll have left overs for a nice chilled out soup.

For the Gazpacho salsa:
1. Combine the tomato, cucumber, bell peppers, jalapeno pepper, red onion and shallot.
2. Stir in the cilantro, tarragon, celery salt, extra virgin olive oil and sherry vinegar.
3. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and refrigerate.

For the cod:
1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
2. Liberally season both sides of fish with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
3. Depending on thickness, my cod fillets were a little over 1″ thick, cook the cod about 4 minutes per side, until edges are crisp and have a deep golden color.

Plating

1. Pour enough Gazpacho sauce to cover the bottom of a deep plate.
2. Drizzle olive oil around the sauce.
3. Spoon 1/2 cup to a 1 cup of salsa, depending on preference.
4. Top the salsa with a cod fillet and spoon 1 TBs. of black olive tapenade.

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