Baking Cod with Lemon

Cod is rich in protein, vitamin A, vitamin D, calcium, magnesium and other nutritional elements, with very few fine spines and luscious meat. Fish is rich in magnesium (a good protective element on the cardiovascular system) and is conducive to the prevention of hypertension, myocardial infarction and other cardiovascular diseases.

In view of last week’s disaster, I think I should start with easier dishes rather than complicated ones which I can’t handle at all. Therefore, I pick this dish not only because it is easy to make but also because it requires relatively fewer ingredients.

The ingredients I used:

Cod (1 kg)

Olive oil (2 tablespoons)

Red onions (6 pieces)

Fennel (1 teaspoon)

Lemon ( 6 pieces)

Capers (1 tablespoon)                   White wine ( 20 c.c.)                     Pepper and salt

Procedure:

1.      Wipe the water on the surfaces of the cod and put it into a paper bag.

2.      Sprinkle the olive oil, fennel, and red onions on the fish, and then place the slices of the lemon and capers evenly on it.

3.      Sprinkle some white wine on the cod and fold it up.

4.      Put it into the oven (which is already preheated to 200 degrees) and wait for 25 minutes.

When the cod was taken out of the oven, giving off its special and agreeable aroma, my heart was filled with joy and a sense of accomplishment. Although my cooking ability is still average, I have taken to cooking little by little and truly fond of it.

Orange and Walnut Cake!

This week I took a bold stride into baking field, where I had never set foot in. Although it turned out to be a tragic failure T^T, I derived even more pleasure from this attempt.

The following are the ingredients I used :

1.   fresh orange juice

2.  flour

3.  baking powder

4.  vanilla powder

5.  eggs

6.  brandy (orange flavor)

7.  sugar

8.  walnuts

9.  light olive oil

10.  orange peel

Here is the procedure :

1.   Apply a layer of olive oil and flour on the baking tray.

2.  Have the eggs and sugar stirred, and add the orange juice, vanilla powder, olive oil , and crumbs of the orange peel.

3.  Add flour(1 cup), walnuts(1 cup), baking powder into what I have prepared, and mix them evenly.

4.  Put the mixture into the oven, which is already preheated to 190 degrees), and wait for 30 minutes.

5.  Take the cake out of the baking tray after it becomes cool, and then sprinkle some heated brandy and powdered sugar on it.

“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” It proved to be a golden saying when I took the recipe lightly. From my previous understanding, baking a cake is no more than an easy job---all I need to do is mix the ingredients together and put it into the oven. Unfortunately, the  outcome didn’t meet my expectation, because I found my cake so flat that it just looked like a pie!(sigh) I guess the problem lies in my negligence of the time, I was so excited that I didn’t wait for the cake to rise. I really learned a valuable lesson this time.