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04/11/2006: "Baked Cod"

My wife has been trying to eat more fish (besides canned tuna) lately, so we've had a few meals with various forms of cod. First we had a pan fried cod and then we had a deep fried cod. Trying to get away from the fat, she asked me if I could find a baked cod recipe. I, of course, said, "no problem!" But after doing an extensive 15 minute Internet search, I couldn't find anything I liked. Most of the recipes called for cream or tomatoes, or both, and none of them sounded appetizing. To make matters worse, none of them agreed on what temperature to bake it at or for how long.

Well, I've been watching a lot of Good Eats lately, and our friends gave me an Alton Brown cookbook for my birthday, so I figured I could take what I learned from the show, the book, and my search results and fake up a baked cod recipe. And here it is:

Bake Cod

Software:
spray oil
1 lb cod fillet
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/3 cup bread crumbs
3 tbsp butter, in pats

Hardware:
8x11 or 9x13 baking dish, preferably glass

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Spray baking dish with oil. Lay fillet flat in dish. Grind pepper over fillet. Sprinkle bread crumbs over fillet. Bake for 20 minutes. There should be a little resistance when you try to separate the muscle sections with a fork.

Cover fillet with pats of butter. When the butter has melted, the fish is ready to serve.

I suggest a rice side with this, maybe a nice pilaf, and some sauteed or steamed vegetables.