February 2, 2012: Coconut Poached Cod Recipe

My husband and I love eating cod. Although neither of us are big fish eaters, we find the firm white flesh of cod or similar fish (such as halibut) delicious. Of course, my husband prefers it deep fried like he gets at the Fish Fry every Friday night at Torreon but now that I’ve lost 5 pounds, I’m not going backward by indulging in fried food. Instead, I came up with this recipe that turned out incredibly flavorful, tender and delicious. Try it and see what you think!

Coconut Poached Cod over a bed of couscous and served with Cremini Salad

Coconut Poached Cod

1 pound cod fillets, cut into four pieces of similar size

One half lime

Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper

½ cup coconut milk

1 ancho chile in adobo sauce, minced

Seeds of 1 cardamom pod

½ t. fennel seed

½ t. dried cilantro (or 1 T. fresh)

1 t. brown sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Sprinkle both sides of cod fillets with juice from half lime and salt and pepper, to taste.

Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray. Add coconut milk and remaining ingredients; stir to combine. Place cod fillets on top. Cover pan with a piece of foil.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 – 25 minutes (depending on thickness of fillets) until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Serves 4

January 8, 2012: Potato Chip Crusted Cod Recipe

Although this recipe uses potato chips as a crust for the cod, it’s really quite light in calories and has enough flavor that you shouldn’t need to use any kind of dressing or tartar sauce.

Cod fillets encrusted and ready to go into the oven.

Potato Chip Crusted Cod Recipe

2 6-ounce cod fillets

1 t. prepared remoulade (Cajun seafood) sauce

¼ cup crushed kettle potato chips

Rinse and dry cod fillets. Spray a baking dish with olive oil cooking spray. Place cod fillets in prepared pan; spread with the reomoulade sauce and top with crushed potato chips.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Serves 2 with about 250 calories per piece.

December 6, 2011: Crispy Baked Cod Recipe

Although my husband’s favorite fish is battered and deep fried, every now and then I try to make a slightly healthier version. I wouldn’t call this recipe low fat by any means, but because it’s baked instead of fried, it’s marginally healthier – but oh so tastier! I served it with a spicy bottled remoulade dipping sauce, alfredo noodles, and peas with mushrooms for a complete dinner. By the way, if the ingredients look familiar, it’s because the breading is the same basic recipe I used to make Crunchy BakedParmesan Chicken.

Crispy Baked Cod

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 t. olive oil

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ t. garlic salt

1 pound cod fillets

¾ cup panko bread crumbs

1 T. flour

1/2 teaspoon each: dried parsley, sage, garlic salt and oregano

1/4 teaspoon each: cumin, black pepper, cayenne pepper

Combine mayonnaise, oil, garlic, pepper and salt. Refrigerate for at least an hour, preferably several hours to overnight, to allow flavors to meld.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a broiler pan by placing foil in the bottom pan and spraying the broiler rack with nonstick cooking spray.

Rinse the cod fillets and pat dry. Cut into fourths, if necessary, to make four even-sized pieces. Place the pieces on the broiler rack. Smear a fourth of the mayonnaise mixture on top of each fish piece. Combine bread crumbs, flour and spices; sprinkle a fourth of the mixture on top of each piece of fish. Gently pat the crumbs into place.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Turn heat to broiler and broil fish fillets for about 3 – 5 minutes, until the crumb topping is browned.

Serves 4

June 4, 2011: Potato Crusted Cod Fillets Recipe

I enjoy making fish for dinner one or two nights a week and I particularly like cod. Unfortunately, my husband prefers his cod breaded and fried. Since I’m struggling with weight and health issues for both of us, I needed to find a recipe that could be a nice compromise between our preferences.

The recipe I’m sharing with you is based on one I found at the Food Network website, from Guy Fieri. As usual, I’ve made a few minor changes. Here’s my version of Guy’s Crispy Potato Nugget Hoisin Halibut.

Potato Crusted Cod Fillets

Marinade:
4 cod fillets
1 T. minced ginger
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup rice wine vinegar

Combine all marinade ingredients; add cod and let marinate for half an hour.

Potato Crust:
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
¼ cup Asian fish sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
2 T. rice wine vinegar
½ t. sesame oil
4 frozen hash brown patties, thawed
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Combine all ingredients.

To assemble:
Remove fish from marinade, shake off excess. Dredge in flour.

Apply one quarter of the potato crust mixture to one side of each fish fillet. Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium heat in a sauté pan. Carefully place the fish fillets, two at a time, potato crust side down, in the heated pan. Cook until potato crust is lightly brown and crispy, several minutes. Carefully turn the fillets over and cook for two minutes on the other side. Keep warm in oven while cooking the remaining two fillets.

Just before serving, sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds (if desired).

Serves 4

April 11, 2011: Friday Fish Fry Recipe

Since we’re in the Lenten season, I thought you might enjoy a recipe for fried fish that my husband really loves. Occasionally we’ll go out to dinner on a Friday night at Torreon Golf Club and they serve a fabulous all-you-can-eat fish fry. It’s very delicious but I wanted to try my hand at making similar at home.

Last year when my church did the Secret Sister thing, my secret sister Margaret gifted me with a cookbook called America’s Most Wanted Recipes. It contains homemade recipes that are very close to the dishes you get in restaurants. One of the recipes was for Arthur Treacher’s fried fish. Now I haven’t been to an Arthur Treacher’s in decades; this chain is in the Midwest and we went every so often when I was a kid growing up in Wisconsin but they don’t have those restaurants here in the Southwest. Although it’s been a long time, I still remember how yummy their fish was.

So that’s the recipe I started with but – as you surely realize by now – I couldn’t just use it verbatim! So I made a couple changes and here is the recipe I developed. By the way, my husband thinks this dish is just as good if not better than the fried fish they serve at Torreon.

Fried Fish Fillets

1 pound cod fillets
1 egg, beaten
1 ½ cups flour
2 cups pancake mix
1 ½ cup beer
1 T. onion powder
1 T. seasoned salt (your choice of flavor; could also use Old Bay seasoning)
Oil for frying


Cut the fillets into pieces of equal size. Dip them into the beaten egg, then into the flour, completely coating. Let them rest on a piece of waxed paper for at least 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the pancake mix, seasonings, and beer, stirring just until combined. The batter shouldn’t be too thick or too thin; the texture of cornbread batter is just about right.

Place oil in a deep fryer or frying pan, enough to cover, or nearly cover the fish fillets. Heat to 450 (deep fryer) or 350 (electric skillet) degrees. When the oil is ready, take one fillet at a time and dip it into the batter. Let the excess batter drip off then carefully place it in the hot oil. Cook a few minutes per side (use the instructions for your deep fryer) until done.

Notes: the length of cooking time depends on what type of vessel you are using to fry the fish and the size of the fillets). I've tried making these in my deep fryer with a basket and the batter ALWAYS sticks so now I use an electric skillet instead.
I usually serve the fish fillets with homemade tartar sauce (mayo, horseradish, lemon juice, dried minced onions, garlic, and dill weed).