Honey Teriyaki Baked Cod…

June 26, 2019youbetchcanmakethis Leave a comment

I know, I know I haven’t written in a while. Summer seems to have gotten a hold of my priorities and I’ve had a lot less time to spend in the kitchen. But I will try to be as faithful to my posting goals as I can – just be aware there may be a little more time between posts during the summer. After all, summer is the time to be out and about, right? So be patient with me and I promise to continue to deliver some great, no nonsense recipes.

And speaking of great, no nonsense recipes – this is definitely one of them. I recently read an article that talked about how Americans are still eating too much processed meats and should make an effort to add more fish to their diets. I know that’s something that my husband and I have been trying to do. Neither one of us grew up eating a lot of fish – it was just either too expensive or not something that was a regular part of the diets in our families.

My doctor told me there is a lot of research regarding when you were born, the diets that existed at the time and how that has affected your weight and health as you age. I grew up in a household where carbs were king, bread and potatoes mostly, and we know now the affects of too many carbs on weight and health. So my doctor said the same thing – try eating more fish. And you know what, it’s been quite pleasant actually.

I guarantee you this recipe will have you eating more fish. It is so simple to make and so flavorful you’ll wonder why you waited so long to bring more fish to the table. So let’s talk honey teriyaki baked cod…

Lesson Learned 1 – All fish are not created equal when it comes to cooking them: I think that’s the part of cooking fish that makes people shy away from doing it. So it’s important, if possible, to cut your fish into equal sized portions to determine a somewhat standard cooking time for it. I usually cut 4 to 6 ounce portions. That way I am relatively sure how long to cook my fish.

Keep in mind that portion size is only one factor. The type of fish also contributes to the equation. I’ve found that a 6 ounce portion of salmon has a different cooking time than a 6 ounce portion of cod. Cod cooks in less time. The main thing to remember is you can always put the fish back in the oven or pan if it is not cooked well enough, but once it dries out you’re stuck – you can’t take it back. So err on the side of caution and I guarantee you’ll get the hang of it. I’ve been doing it so often now that I can tell when fish is done by how it looks – but that took a lot of time, so be patient with yourself.

Lesson Learned 2 – The longer you marinate the cod in this recipe, the better: I marinated mine for about 7 hours but you can go up to 24 hours on this one. I may try that next time if I have the time, but it was quite flavorful after being marinated for 7 hours. I wouldn’t marinate it for less than 6 hours – I don’t think the fish will absorb the flavors of the marinade that well if you only marinate it for a short while. And don’t forget to turn the bag over every once in a while to make sure both sides of the fish are getting the marinade.

Marinade Ingredients

Lesson Learned 3 – Working with fresh ginger: I know a lot of people use fresh ginger quite regularly but I’m not one of them. But there is no substitute for it when you need it. What I learned is that you can freeze the ginger root. I put mine in a vacuum sealed bag and freeze it. That way when I need it, it’s as fresh as it can be. And I don’t have to buy ginger root every time I need it. It keeps beautifully in the freezer. So use what you need and freeze the rest. You’ll increase the lifetime of the ginger root substantially.

Lesson Learned 4 – Avoiding a big mess when baking this fish: Something important to remember is there is honey in this marinade – and honey will burn in the oven. So whenever I cook fish with a honey based marinade I put the fish on a foil lined pan and spray the pan with cooking spray before I lay out the fish. That way you eliminate or greatly minimize any sticking and the pan is easy to clean with no burnt on mess.

This recipe is extremely simple – the only challenge initially may be feeling comfortable with how to cook it correctly. If you use my directions you’ll be fine, or at least you will not overcook your fish and can judge if you need a little extra time. I doubt that you will need a lot more, but it’s always good to err on the safe side. All you need to remember is that the fish is done if you can flake it with a fork. Just test the edges if you’re not sure. Enjoy this one – it’s a keeper!

Honey Teriyaki Baked Cod...

Servings: 4
Time: 20 Minutes Including Prep
Difficulty: Easy
Print

INGREDIENTS

4 – six ounce pieces of fresh cod

3/4 cup honey

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup sesame oil

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 small shallot, minced

1 tsp. fresh ginger

1/2 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper

Cooking spray

Lemon wedge, for garnish, optional

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl mix the honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, cider vinegar, shallot, ginger and black pepper. Place the cod filets in a gallon size resealable plastic bag. Pour the marinade over the cod (use a spatula to scrape in any remaining honey from the bowl). Seal the bag and marinate the fish in the refrigerator from 6 – 24 hours, turning the bag over every once in a while.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the marinated cod on a foil line baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Spoon a little of the marinade on top of each piece. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Serve immediately.

Parmesan And Garlic Herb Baked Cod…

February 7, 2019February 7, 2019youbetchcanmakethis Leave a comment

Fish has become a staple in our household. Years ago I hardly ever made fish – I was too afraid of it and frankly not all that enamored with it. But now it has become a mainstay in our diet. Not only is it good for you but there are also a variety of ways to cook fish that make it super delicious. This recipe is one of those.

I’ve mostly cooked cod, red snapper, halibut, tilapia, trout, swordfish, and salmon. The main kind of fish I cook for me and my husband is salmon. I’ve got cooking salmon down to such a science that if I prepare it a certain way it always comes out perfect. This is a recipe for cod and I am still perfecting my cod prowess. But I made this the other night and it turned out wonderful so now I have a baseline to work from.

So let’s talk Parmesan and garlic herb baked cod…

Lesson Learned 1 – Cod is plentiful, easy to find and a great choice for this type of recipe: Whenever I go to the grocery store I can always get salmon, tilapia (although lately I’ve shied away from this because of everything that has been written about it) or cod. Finding other fish can be iffy for me. Trout is somewhat plentiful, halibut and red snapper are iffy (and halibut is very expensive) and swordfish I normally can only find frozen. But I’m in Colorado and not near the ocean so I’m sure in various parts of the country availability of various types of fish is much different.

I’d like to stop for a moment here and talk about frozen fish. Years ago frozen fish was not very good. The freezing process tended to dry out the fish and so you basically started out with dry fish once it was thawed – not good. Today the flash freezing methods they use keep the fish extremely fresh which makes frozen fish rival fresh fish and at a much better price. So don’t be afraid of frozen fish anymore.

The Herb Mixture

I also found that thawing frozen fish matters. I’ve been in a hurry and just put the frozen fish on the counter to thaw. That tends not to be a recommended process but when you’re in a hurry you do what you can do. But I found that if I thaw the fish in the refrigerator overnight the fish tends not to dry out in the baking process. Now I’m not sure if that’s true or if it’s just me, but I recommend thawing your fish overnight in the refrigerator if you can.

I found a package of six flash frozen 4-5 ounce cod pieces at Whole Foods at a great price. But cod is easy to find just about anywhere and often you can find it fresh. And no matter what way you make it, cod is the type of fish that easily takes on any flavor palate you choose. That’s what makes it so versatile.

One last point – don’t be afraid to let the fish sit outside of the refrigerator a bit before you bake it. I normally let my fish sit out for about one half hour. That way some of the chill is taken out of the fish. I find it bakes better that way.

Lesson Learned 2 – The art of cooking fish: As I mentioned earlier, I used to shy away from fish and one of the main reasons why was the fear of over or under cooking it. And when you have two pieces of halibut that cost over $20 you really don’t want to mess up. But even if you pay much less, cooking fish can be tricky and if you have enough failures you may just say enough is enough. But don’t do that. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll make great fish meals more and more.

If you’re really nervous just keep in mind that baked cod should be cooked to an internal temperature of 155 degrees. To test the temperature just use a food thermometer and stick it in the thickest part of the fish keeping the tip near the center of the filet. I’ve cooked fish enough that I’ve learned to eyeball it by either looking at the sides to see how opaque the color of the fish is or by sticking a fork on the edge to see if it’s flaky. But that skill comes with time and I recommend using a food thermometer if you’re new at it.

And while we’re talking food thermometer I would recommend getting a good one. The more inexpensive ones can work but they can register temperatures incorrectly, especially over time. Invest in a good food thermometer and it will become you’re best friend.

Ready To Go Into The Oven

Lesson Learned 3 – Grate your own Parmesan for this recipe: There is a BIG difference between jarred Parmesan cheese and grating your own. First the quality of the cheese can be much better as you choose what kind of Parmesan wedge you’ll use. Second the consistency is different. Homemade grated Parmesan tends to have slightly bigger pieces, tastes more robust and stands up better to the melting process in the oven. Now I know it takes a little extra time to do it but it is so worth it. I just zip out my little mini food processor, cut my Parmesan into small pieces and let the food processor do the rest. It’s so easy really and so worth it. I always make more than I need and use it for other things. Once you grate your own you may find that you’ve become a Parmesan snob and always grate your own versus buying it in the jar. It wouldn’t surprise me.

And that’s basically it. The recipe I am sharing is for two but you can certainly make more – just increase the amounts for the mayonnaise mixture. Also if you use larger sized filets you’ll need to increase the baking time. I served this with my cinnamon roasted butternut squash, a side salad and some garlic knots. It was a fantastic meal. Try it and tell me what you think!

Parmesan And Garlic Herb Baked Cod...

Servings: 2
Time: 20-25 Minutes Including Prep
Difficulty: Easy
Print

INGREDIENTS:

2 four to five ounce cod filets

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

1 scallion chopped, including the green parts (you can substitute 2 Tbs. shallots)

1 garlic clove, grated

1 Tablespoon fresh Italian parsley, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray the foil with cooking spray. Place the cod filets on the foil and set aside.

In a small bowl mix together the remaining ingredients. Spread the mixture evenly over the top of the fish. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the fish starts to look opaque and will flake.

If you desire the topping to be more browned, at 8 minutes switch the oven to broiler and brown the tops of the fish until lightly golden (not longer than 2 minutes). Remove from oven and serve.

My 3 Most Popular Recipes…

August 14, 2017August 14, 2017youbetchcanmakethis 8 Comments

Lately I have been getting more traffic on my blog and I am very happy about that. And it’s always interesting to see what recipes people all over the world are looking at. Over the years there have been a few that consistently get the most number of hits. It’s amazing how many people gravitate to these recipes. So instead of posting a new recipe today, I’ve decided to do a compilation post of my top 3 “highest clicked on” recipes.

Looking at my stats over the years, I’d have to say there is a virtual tie for first place. It actually depends on the time of year. One of them gets significantly high clicks around the Christmas holidays or any other holidays during the year where people tend to plan parties. I’ll focus on that one first.

The funny thing about this particular recipe is I almost didn’t post it. I thought it was too simple and rudimentary and not something a lot of people would be interested in. Boy was I wrong. From day one this recipe got a ton of hits and when it comes to party times throughout the year the hits can go through the roof. I have to admit it is a pretty tasty appetizer. You’ve got to try my Cream Cheese, Spinach, Bacon and Scallion Pinwheels.

Cream Cheese, Spinach, Bacon and Scallion Pinwheels.

The other recipe that ties for first place on my “hit” list is a recipe that takes a relatively inexpensive fish and creates a dish that is simple but elegant and oh so flavorful. Once again I never anticipated this recipe to be so popular but it consistently gets multiple hits every day of the week. It’s my recipe for Pan Fried Cod With Lemon Butter Sauce.

I think more people are looking for ways to add fish their diets and this recipe takes an inexpensive fish like cod and makes it taste like a million bucks. I’ve gotten a lot of feedback that this recipe not only creates divinely tasting cod but it’s also an easy, elegant serve. You can’t beat that. Try it and tell me what you think!

Pan Fried Cod With Lemon Butter Sauce

And last but certainly not least is my Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread. This recipe, I kid you not, is to die for. It is one of the best ways to take oversized zucchinis that we all get from time to time and are not really good to serve as a vegetable and use them to make the most fabulous zucchini bread you will ever taste.

What I especially love about this recipe is the bread is not overly sweet. You use a combination of honey and brown sugar to sweeten the batter. The zucchini provides an unbelievable moistness and the combination of cocoa powder, chocolate chips and a little espresso powder creates a chocoholics fantasy.

This recipe gets a ton of hits this time of year when home gardeners have more zucchini than they can handle. This is the best zucchini bread recipe I’ve ever made bar none and if you try it I know you will say the same thing. Enjoy my recipe for Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread!

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

And there you have it – the stars of my blog. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of other recipes that get lots of hits – it’s just that these three seem to have been stars from the day they were first published.

Coming soon I’m going to publish a recipe for mustard herbed salmon with roasted butternut squash, but today let’s just enjoy the stars of You Betcha Can Make This!

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Pan Fried Cod With Lemon Butter Sauce…

November 11, 2014November 25, 2016youbetchcanmakethis 8 Comments

My husband and I have gotten into eating more fish lately and so I’ve become a student of preparing fish. Baking, broiling, grilling – you name it, I’ve been trying it. I will be the first to admit fish is tricky and the only advice I can give is to keep making it until it becomes more intuitive. Don’t be afraid to flip it back on the heat if you find it is not cooked through. I would much rather do that than serve overcooked fish. You can’t take that back. Preparing fish in an art that comes about from trial and error. But I guarantee its worth the blood, sweat and tears.

Lately I’ve made a lot of fish filets, mostly pan frying them and I think I’ve got it to the point where I’ve learned how to judge when the fish is cooked. Normally I try to buy a filet that is between a 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick. That way I know that about 3 – 4 minutes on each side under medium high heat will do the trick.

What’s great is grocery stores are now stocking more fish both fresh and flash frozen. The filets I’ve been buying are flash frozen and shrink wrapped and I find they thaw and cook beautifully. The only fish that I’ve tried a fews times that doesn’t seem to hold up well in this process is swordfish. Regardless of what I do it always seem to turn out tough. So if I plan on serving swordfish I buy it fresh. Otherwise fish like, grouper, salmon, cod, flounder, halibut and the like all seem to hold up well being flash frozen. It’s a great convenience when you decide at the last minute that you want to make fish for dinner, which was the case with me last night.

Recipe Rating – A: I’ll clue you in, the first few times I tried recipes like this the results were not nearly as good. As I mentioned earlier, preparing fish is something of a acquired skill. The only thing I will tell you is to err on the side of undercooking versus overcooking. That way you can always flip it back in the pan if need be. I would also advise that if you are not a seasoned cook to avoid serving fish at a dinner party. Be patient. Wait until you’ve mastered the skill of preparing fish before you venture into doing that. Don’t set yourself up for failure. And don’t let what I’m saying make you shy away from fish. It is definitely worth it to master this skill!

Lesson Learned 1 – Preparing the fish: This recipe has a very simple preparation for the fish. After the fish thawed and I removed it from its shrink wrap, I took paper towels and dried the fish thoroughly. Then I dusted the fish with flour on both sides and seasoned it. This time I used a Penzy’s seasoned blend called “Forward”. The blend consists of black pepper, onion, paprika, garlic, turmeric and spice extracts of celery, rosemary, thyme and basil. Although it sounds like seasoning overload, the blend actually created a nice all-purpose seasoning and it worked well with the fish. Don’t be afraid to experiment here. What I do is open my seasoning blends and smell them. I can tell by the smell what might overpower the fish. A nice all purpose blend works well to compliment the taste of the fish, as it did in this case.

Shallot and Garlic Sauted in White Wine and Lemon Juice…

Lesson Learned 2 – Making the butter sauce: I have to admit making this sauce was rather easy. I discovered that starting it about 15 – 20 minutes before serving works well. I found it interesting that you sauté the shallots, and garlic in wine and lemon juice without using any oil or fat. You add heavy cream and butter near the end. At one point you are making the sauce while simultaneously cooking the fish, but at that point you’re only doing the finishing touch of adding the butter to the sauce, so it’s easy to multi-task. You can also make it ahead, just make sure to keep it warm on a very low flame. This is a very rich sauce. Be careful. You only want to add a little to the fish. You don’t want the taste of the fish to be lost in the sauce. Add just a little and you will have a decadent delight. The recipe below is more than enough for two people. You can easily double it if you plan to serve more people.

The Finished Butter Sauce…

Lesson Learned 3 – The power of garnish: I’ve said this before but it’s worth repeating. You eat with your eyes first. I can’t tell you how many times I get comments like, “that looks delicious!” Now I can understand how something tastes delicious but I’m not sure how delicious can be determined by your eyes. But in reality it is, and I’ve found one of the best way to dress up a dish is to garnish it with parsley or chives. Just that pop of color adds to the “looks delicious” factor. Adding garnish is so easy and creates a visual excitement before the dish is ever tasted.

I served steamed broccoli and cauliflower along with Trader Joe’s chicken fried rice with the cod (BTW, that chicken fried rice is very good and easy to prepare). The meal was a hit. A friend of mine posted on Facebook that cod has a bad rap and I tend to agree. I’m not sure why. It is a mild white fish that can be prepared in a variety of ways, is complimented by a variety of seasonings and is relatively inexpensive compared to other fish. So, don’t shy away from it. This recipe will work well for any white fish like halibut or grouper. Just make sure you don’t overcook the fish. You want the fish moist, tender and flaky. And when you add that butter sauce, well all I can say is it’s to die for!

Pan Fried Cod With Lemon Butter Sauce

Servings: 2
Time: 20 Minutes
Difficulty: Medium
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INGREDIENTS:

Lemon Butter Sauce:

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 shallot. chopped

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 large dash of Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 stick of butter

Salt and pepper to taste

A dash of hot sauce, if desired

For The Fish:

2 cod filets between 1/4 and 1/2 inches thick

1/4 cup all purpose flour

Spice Blend of Choice (I used Penzy’s spice blend called “Forward” – see reference in blog)

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 Tbs. butter

Salt and pepper

Fresh parsley or chives for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

Begin by preparing the butter sauce. Heat a sauce pan over medium high heat. Add the wine, lemon juice, garlic and shallots. Cook for about three minutes or until the shallots turn translucent. Add the Worcestershire (and hot sauce if desired – I did not add hot sauce) and simmer until the mixture becomes syrupy.

Stir in the cream and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in the butter a few pats at a time until it becomes fully incorporated. Serve immediately or keep warm until ready to serve.

In a large skillet melt the butter and olive oil. On a plate mix the flour with some salt and pepper. Pat the fish dry with paper towels. Dredge both sides of the fish in flour. Shake off the excess. Sprinkle the spice blend on top of the filets. Once the skillet is heated and the butter melted add the fish seasoned side down. Season the other side with the season blend. Cook the fish for 3-4 minutes on each side.

Pour a little bit of the sauce on the bottom of the plate. Put the fish on top and pour a small portion of the sauce over the filet. Garnish and serve immediately.