Baked Cod with a Herb Crust

We have quite a varied diet in our house but one thing is for sure, we don't eat nearly enough fish, so in the interest of fishing-up our lives I did a bit of a search for a recipe and came up with this one from Delicious Magazine.

It immediately appealed to me for two reasons.

Firstly, it's cod, and you can't go wrong with a bit of cod can you? Most people like it as taste-wise, it's pretty inoffensive. I will admit, I normally avoid cod and opt for a more sustainable white fish like coley, pollack or haddock. The depleted cod stocks in the North Sea are recovering, but I believe this progress is slow and there is still quite a way to go, however I am also led to believe that the majority of cod we find in our supermarkets these days are from Iceland and the Baltic where they haven't suffered the same over-fishing problems. Therefore, on this occasion, I stayed true to the recipe and opted for cod.

Secondly, it's oven-baked which means no faffing around it. Having not done much cooking with fish in the past I am a little bit nervy about handling it and ensuring its cooked properly. Bunging something in the oven to bake is generally very easy and fool-proof, hence it fills me with some delight.

I also thought the herb crust sounded lovely, and I wasn't wrong. Mr M and myself thoroughly enjoyed this meal and we will definitely have it again, but perhaps next time I'll use a bit of a meatier fish as the cod fillets were rather small and I felt a bit robbed.

Baked Cod with a Herb Crust

Ingredients

4 x 225g thick cod fillets, skinned
olive oil for drizzling and greasing
75g fresh white breadcrumbs
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
4 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
25g butter, melted

Method

Preheat the oven to 230c.

Season the cod on both sides and lay skinned-side up on an oiled baling tray.

Place the breadcrumbs, lemon zest, parsley, chives, garlic and seasoning into a bowl. Add the melted butter and stir well with a fork. Divide the crumbs between the fillets and press on top of each in a thick, even layer.

Drizzle with a little olive oil and bake for 10-12 minutes or longer if needed. The crust should be crisp and lightly golden, and the fish cooked through.

I served this with some salad leaves, a large dollop of good-quality tartare sauce and my sauteed potatoes.

Yum!

love & kisses

Mrs M x