Thanksgiving Steamed Cod

 This year, for Thanksgiving I parted with tradition and had a very pared down meal. Instead of cooking a turkey and entirely too many side dishes, Brad and I had a light dinner that centered around cod!  I used ingredients that echoed the flavors of my mom's turkey recipe, and it turned out great. Hey, if cod was good enough for the first Thanksgiving at Plymouth, it's good enough for my table, too! It was, as my Grandma Kathie said, "Very New England." I have to tell you, this recipe is so quick and easy, it could work for a week night dinner!

Thanksgiving Steamed Cod

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 an onion 

1/2 an orange

1 sprig of fresh sage 

4 individual sized cod fillets (adds up to about 1.5 lbs)

salt and pepper

1/4 cup white wine or light broth

When splitting the onion to make the 1/2 onion called for in the ingtredients, cut from pole to pole, not around the equator. Slice the half onion thinly into arches, chopping again, from pole to pole. Cut the 1/2 orange into 1/4-inch slices, reserving the smaller discs and the "nub" to squeeze juice over the fillets later. 

In a large frying pan, heat your oil on medium heat. Add the onions. Sprinkle a little salt over them to encourage them to throw their juice to add to the liquid for steaming. Next layer the oranges and the sage on top of the onions. This is all going to make a nice flavorful bed of steam for the fish. Generously salt and pepper your fish  fillets before placing them on top of the bed of produce. Cover and cook for about 2 minutes. By 2 minutes, it should look like your onions are making some progress. Pour the wine (or broth- something light like chicken broth or fish stock) over the fish. Return the lid and steam for 5 minutes more. You'll know the fish is done if it is flaky. Be careful not to over cook it, or it will be rubbery and dry. 

I did not eat the onions or oranges...but I don't see why you couldn't pull the oranges and sage out, and continue to cook the onions down into a nice relish or something like that, if you have the time.