Baked Cod Fish Recipes

Bluefish - Yum!

Ome summertime and it's bluefish , bluefish everywhere...but some folks just won't eat. Which is a darned shame because fresh-caught bluefish cooked correctly makes as delicious a seafood dish as you're likely to run across this side of Florida pompano. The key words here, of course, are "fresh caught". And it helps immensely if the blue has been handled properly before it arrives in the kitchen. That is, bled immediately (a nick to the gills does the trick), rinsed off in salt water and iced before the flesh has a chance to soften. Don't even think of dropping a kept-for-the-table bluefish on the deck of your boat with the sun beating on it for a couple of hours. If that's how you handle these fish then you may as well plan to serve up one of your old sneakers.

Assuming you've treated your catch with the care and respect it deserves, now comes the moment of truth. And here are a couple of cooking suggestions. First off, as summer often seems determined to stick around well into the fall months, may as well get out the grill... bluefish is definitely prime grill material.

One of my favorite recipes goes like this:

Fillet a five pound bluefish and remove the skin. Cut the fillets in half and then slice the halves lengthwise so you have eight pieces to work with. Lay each fillet on a piece of aluminum foil (butter the foil so the fish doesn't stick) and cover with slices of red and green peppers, onions, sliced tomatoes and spices according to your liking (dill, oregano, salt and pepper are among my favorites). Begin to pouch up the foil around the fish and fixings, then add a few drops of balsamic vinegar and drizzle a good quality olive oil over the whole thing. Fold the seam of the foil shut and tent it up with an inch or so of space left above the food. Put this on the grill under medium heat for twenty to twenty five minutes (all grills heat differently...start with this for your time and open one pouch to see how things went... adjust time accordingly)

Here's another good one...

Peel a half dozen medium sized potatoes (or leave the skins on...your choice). Slice potatoes crosswise, slicing as thinly as you can manage. What you're after is a potato disk resembling a potato chip before it's crinkled up in the baking. You'll need one cup of olive oil (more or less), as much garlic as you care to add, a little chopped parsley and a baking pan. Layer the potato slices in the bottom and around the sides of the pan, if you don't have enough slices get out a couple more potatoes. Lay your bluefish fillets on top of the potato slices. Pour half the olive oil over the fish and potatoes. Leave uncovered and put in oven preheated to 450. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, add the rest of the olive oil and bake another five minutes at 475 degrees. I usually remove again, add a few pats of butter on the fillets, sprinkle with paprika for color and turn oven to broil for the last minute or so (this last step is more cosmetic than necessary for the cooking). Garnish with parsley when done. Once you get the hang of it, this recipe will draw repeat requests from friends and neighbors. I recommend springing it on those folks who insist that "Bluefish are inedible!

Breathe Magazine | Homemade Panko Baked Fish Sticks | Keep It ...



Ingredients: (makes four servings)

Adapted from Cooking Light’s Fancy Fish Sticks

1 pound fresh cod

1 Tablespoon Old Bay seasoning

1 cup panko bread crumbs

2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 cup flour

1 large egg

1/2 cup beer (optional)

2 Tablespoons milk

cooking spray

For the sauce:

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

1 Tablespoon Old Bay seasoning

juice of 1/2 lime

Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Rinse and cut the cod into 1 inch strips. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt.

Whisk the egg, beer, and milk together in a bowl to make an egg wash. Pour the flour in a shallow dish. In a separate shallow dish, mix the panko and 1 Tablespoon Old Bay and 1 teaspoon salt. Dip the fish strips in the egg wash mixture, then into the flour. Next, dip once more into the egg wash and into the panko mixture. Coat well and place onto the greased cookie sheet. Repeat until all the fish strips are coated.

Bake fish for 15 minutes, turn once at the halfway point. While the fish is baking, make a sauce. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce (mayo, sour cream, Old Bay, lime juice) and allow to chill until fish sticks are ready to eat.

The fish are done when the meat is flaky and the panko is golden brown. Serve with a wedge of lime and dipping sauce. Enjoy!

For more healthy vegetarian and pescetarian recipes, visit www.keepitsimplefoods.