It’s too soon to call this a CrummyCook pivot, but last night’s meal was a departure from the “look it up in Epicurious/use signature ingredients” style that marked the CrummyCook’s Early Period.

There was a cod dish in Epicurious that involved a few unusual ingredients, and involved poaching the cod in parchment paper.  Well, baking the cod en papillote.  I had printed out the shopping list and was preparing to go out into the 105 degree heat when I said, “what the heck am I jumping through hoops here, the point is not to take on the bizarre but to serve good-tasting food and spell Debbie as household cook.”

With these bracing words, I got out Mark Bittman and made cod marinated in the vinaigrette from the previous night’s salad, corn on the cob, and a tossed green salad with (thankfully) a different dressing.

The only novelty was broiling the fish a la Bittman in a cast-iron skillet that had been heated up to the CrummyCook’s usual “smelting steel” temperature and then drizzled with olive oil.

All in all, pretty good.  Debbie liked it, and maybe it is the start of something new.