I love fresh cod. In Canada we hardly ever ate Cod unless it was salted, because it was known to be a somewhat wormy fish. Haddock was considered the prize. Over here in the UK, the Cod is beautiful.
Up until recently most of our sustainable cod has been coming from Iceland, Norway and Russia. A recovery from near total collapse has led North Sea cod stocks to be
labelled as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council for the first
time in 20 years, so we are now able to enjoy this lovely fish without guilt!
Of course we are really fond of our fish battered and fried . . . but that is a rare treat as it is none too healthy for you with all of that fat and the frying and all, nowadays I am more than likely to poach it and serve it with a parsley sauce, or simply pan fry it in a tiny bit of butter and herbs.
Today however I topped our fish with a delicious mix of bread crumbs, lemon and herbs and baked it until it was perfectly cooked and just flaking with the tines of a fork. It tastes somewhat indulgent, but it is actually quite healthy!
*Herb Crusted Cod*
Serves 4
A
simple manner of cooking your fish, which is healthier than frying and
quite delicious with a beautiful mix of herbs, lemon zest and garlic.
This is fabulous! I serve with mash and a vegetable on the side.
Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F gas mark 7. Lightly butter a
baking tray large enough to hold your fish in one layer with plenty of
space between the fillets.
Wipe your fish and pat dry. Place onto the baking tray and season to taste with black pepper and fine sea salt. Mix together the bread or cracker crumbs, garlic, lemon zest and fresh herbs. Season well with salt and black pepper. Add the butter and mix all together with your fingers to combine. Divide the mixture amongst the fillets and press them down to help them adhere to the fish.
Roast in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and the fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve hot with lemon wedges on the side.
We bought our fish at Costco. You can get really nice fish fillets there for a very reasonable price, and yes, sustainable. With some mashed potatoes, and a variety of vegetables, we both enjoyed this very much. Bon appetit!
I love topping my cod:) Sometimes such as this..sometimes w/ a salad type topping of cherry tomatoes..capers..olives..shallot..garlic, evoo s and p..lemon juice..c'est si bon..this week I made a Café Delites baked crispy shrimp..a keeper..I made for 2 but made all the topping and all the wet ings..delish.
ReplyDeleteI love cod with cherry tomatoes, basil and olive oil as well as capers, etc. It’s sooo good! Yourshrimp sounds very tasty! Xo
Deletewhat perfect timing, I have cod to cook!!! thanks so much!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a co-incidence Laurie! Hope you enjoy it! xo
DeleteMy daughter read a book in college calle, "cod". It was a fascinating story about the cod industry. Really. And this really does look delicious!
ReplyDeleteI can well imagine what an eye opener that book would be Abbe! I am sure as consumers we don't know the half of it! This was delicious for sure, but I am sure any mild fish would be lovely done this way! Thanks! xo
DeleteI don't know how I missed this one. I always freak out making fish but I love it. I'm going to give this a try. I have some frozen cod in the fridge because I am an optimist and I buy it and then get too scared to cook it! I'm not sure it's the same thickness as yours but I think I'll give this one a try by myself, then try it out on Rick if i don't kill it!
ReplyDeleteLOL Jeanie. If it is not as thick as mine, just cut the baking time down by about 5 minutes or so. Check it and if you can flake it with the tines of a fork, its done! It will continue to cook outside the oven for a few minutes as well. Let me know how you get on! xo
DeleteMarie, I tried it tonight. The topping is fabulous (even though I didn't have fresh herbs in the house, just dried -- I can only imagine the fresh!) I used dried thyme and dill. Very good. And panko. I think it was done but there were parts that felt a little chewy. Not too chewy, just a bit. So I'm not sure. Done enough, I suppose. I think it was flaking but since my fish cooking experience is limited I could be very wrong! Anyway, I will keep trying. Oh, I did my skinny (very skinny) little filed for about 12 minutes and I think I goofed and did 400 not 425 -- so maybe that was it!
ReplyDeleteIts hard to say without knowing how skinny your fillets were Jeanie!! When fish is done, if you take the prongs of a fork, and tease the ends of the fish, they should come away very easily. It is possible that your fish was not cooked as well as it should have been? Or, it was also possible that it was over cooked? It could be either one. Fish has such a narrow margin in perfection! Happy you enjoyed the topping though! xo
DeletePS also, if it had been in the freezer for quite a while, that can also affect the texture, depending on how it is wrapped. xo
DeleteJust another thought. You did thaw the fish out first?
DeleteI made this last night was impressed at how well this meal turned out. There was minimal preparation to produce a healthy and flavoursome meal - definitely a make-again dish. I used Panko breadcrumbs for that extra crunch and added a little parmesan as well. Lovely meal - Greek salad on the side and a good squeeze of lemon on top :)
ReplyDelete