Crispy Oven-Fried Cod Fish from Food.com

Cod is like mushrooms - it's really nothing special unless you dress it up. This recipe is fairly easy but I have to warn you - don't make this while multi-tasking! I wasn't paying enough attention when it came time to fry it and I cooked it a little longer than I should have. Also, if you like tartar sauce then I recommend you serve that with this because while the cod is good, a sauce makes it better.

Note that I cooked it just a little too long...

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups dry breadcrumbs
• 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
• 2 1/2 teaspoons seasoning salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 6 (6 ounce) cod fish fillets (about 3/4-inch thick)
• 3 large eggs, slightly beaten
• 6 -7 tablespoons vegetable oil (more or less as needed)

Preparations:

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees (set oven rack to second-lowest position).
2. In a large heavy ziploc plasic bag combine bread crumbs, cornmeal, seasoning salt, lemon pepper, cayenne and garlic powder; shake the bag to mix (can use a shallow bowl).
3. In a shallow bowl slightly beat the eggs.
4. Adding one piece of fish at a time to the bag, coat well with the mixture, then remove and dip the fish in the eggs, then return to the bag to coat the fish again, repeat for all of the cod pieces; transfer to a plate.
5. Heat about 3 tablespoons oil in a large 12-inch ovenproof skillet (preferably cast-iron) over high heat until hot but not smoking.
6. Fry the fish until the undersides are golden brown (about 1 minute).
7. Turn over and add in another 3-4 tablespoons oil; cook another 1 minute more.
8. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for about 5-6 minutes or until JUST cooked through.

Paula Deen's Salmon Salad

I like Paula Deen's recipes but I try to stay away from the ones that are heavy on butter or mayonnaise. I don't have anything against either of those ingredients, I just like being able to wear jeans. If you want to save calories on this one, just use light mayo. I seem to be saying that a lot this week. :) Happy Friday!!!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked, flaked salmon
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, crushed
• 1 red or green bell pepper, diced
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 4 to 5 tablespoons mayonnaise, or enough to moisten
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 lemon, juiced

Preparations:

1. In a large bowl, gently toss together the salmon and crushed hard-boiled eggs. 
2. In another bowl, combine bell pepper, cucumber, onion, and mayonnaise. 
3. Add seasonings and stir to combine. 
4. Pour mixture over salmon, add lemon juice, and toss lightly to combine. Serve over lettuce or as a sandwich.

We sprinkled each individual serving (it makes 4) with cayenne, salt and pepper. It made this salad superb. Also, baking the salmon is the easiest way I've found to cook it.

Easy Grilled Tuna Melt

Last season Crown Burger in Salt Lake City was featured on Man vs Food. They were featured for their pastrami burger and I thought that was a darn shame because their tuna melt is AWESOME. They grill it on sourdough bread and it's sinfully good.

My tuna melt is a bit on the healthier side but still tasty.  This recipe makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

• 2 6-ounce cans of albacore tuna, drained
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise (make it light if you're counting calories)
• 2 tablespoons honey dijon mustard
• 1/2 of a large celery stalk, finely chopped
• 1 large dill pickle, chopped
• 8 slices of whole wheat bread
• Sharp cheddar cheese

Preparations:

1. Combine tuna with mayonnaise, mustard, chopped celery and pickles.  Mix well. 
2. Use either  a large skillet or an electric fry pan and turn to medium heat.
3. Butter four slices of bread and place the butter-side down in skillet. Cover with lid. 
4. Let cheese melt.

When cheese has begun to melt, add tuna mixture and cover with another slice of buttered bread. (Put non-buttered side on tuna mixture.) Flip over. Toast until both sides are done. Serve with pickles or chips. :)

Fish Tacos with Chili Aioli

Sometimes you can get frozen fish at a discounted rate because it's nearing its expiration date. In this case, we purchased frozen Cod for about 50% off. It's the ideal fish for making fish tacos.

This recipe comes from my Super Suppers book. All of the recipes in this book can be made ahead of time and frozen to be eaten at a later time. If you have kids, a job and are on the verge of losing your mind - I highly recommend this book! (I can't be the only working mom that wonders if she should book a room at the looney bin :) Every recipe I've tried has been great, including this one. 


Ingredients:

• 1 lb fish fillets (I used frozen Cod that had been marked down)
• 1 tablespoon Chili powder
• 2 teaspoons seasoned salt
• 2 tablespoons Olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 6 medium sized flour tortillas
• fresh cilantro
• Salsa
• shredded Cheddar cheese

Chili Aioli:

• 1 cup of Mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Chili powder
• 1 tablespoon of Lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon ground Cumin

(The Chili Aioli sauce can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to two days ahead of time.)

Preparations:

1. Mix chili powder and salt. Sprinkle over both sides of each fillet.
2. Add butter and oil to fry pan that's on medium heat.
3. Fry fish fillets until they flake apart. 
4. Combine all of the Chili Aioli ingredients and mix well. 
5. Warm tortillas and fill with 2 tablespoons of fish. Top with salsa, cheese, lettuce and Chili Aioli sauce. 

If you want to make this ahead of time, prepare the fish as directed and place in freezer bag. You can store for up to a month. Note that the sauce however, can only made at most, two days in advance

Baked Salmon

This recipe is very easy and serves four. The consensus was that this was the BEST salmon I've ever made.This recipe comes from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
• 4 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• 4 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparations:

1. Melt butter. (It took 40 seconds on my microwave. Add mustard and honey. Mix well.
2. Separately, mix bread crumbs, parsley and pecans.
3. Brush honey mixture onto fillets, coating evenly. 
4. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture over the top of each fillet.
5. Bake salmon 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven (400 degrees), or until it flakes easily with a fork. Season with salt and pepper

Taste of Home's Baked Salmon

Baked Salmon is one the easy dishes you can make. If you google baked salmon, even the recipe from the Food Network is easy. This particular recipe comes from Taste of Home and has more spices.

Ingredients:

• 1 salmon fillet (2 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/4 cup white wine or chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon

Preparations:

1. Pat salmon dry. Place in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. brush with butter. Combine remaining ingredients; pour over salmon.
2. Bake, uncovered, at 425° for 20-25 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Yield: 8 servings.

Baked Dilled Salmon and Vegetables

Here's an easy and healthy recipe that requires very little clean up. This recipe is meant for 2 servings or "packets". Essentially, you repeat this process for each serving. So if you have a four person family you'll need four pieces of salmon.

Ingredients:

Salmon fillets
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried Dill
1 teaspoon dried Basil
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 cup of sugar snap peas
1 cup of frozen vegetables

Preparations:

1. Mix olive oil, dill, basil and garlic salt.


2. Pull out a cookie sheet and tin foil. Depending on how many people your serving, tear off pieces of tin foil that are 6 inches by 6 inches


3. Place salmon and equal amounts of vegetables on pieces of tin foil.


4. Brush the olive oil/seasoning mixture over the salmon and veggies. (This mixture is enough for 2 packets)


5. Bake packet at 425 degrees for approximately 35 minutes or until salmon is done.

Salmon in two steps

Do your kids like to eat fish? I've always wondered if every other kid grew up eating fish nearly twice a week. Of course, most kids aren't raised by a Scandinavian grandmother five blocks from a fish market. As a result of the forced fish feeding, I stayed away from it for about ten years. But now that I'm married and Ken likes it, I find myself cooking it regularly. Here's my very easy recipe for making Salmon.

Take one salmon fillet -









and squeeze half of a lemon over the whole thing. Top with seafood spices. I prefer this spice over lemon and herb because it enhances the flavor of the salmon. For a large fillet, bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. You can broil it for less time but the salmon won't be as moist.

Catfish a la Chris

I always wondered what would happen if you showed up the grocery store right before closing time. Turns out there's no secret party or Kevin Smith-esque type people wandering around. Instead there's a fundamental lack of whatever you're looking for and the clerks are putting the rest of the good stuff away. (But hey you can wear your sweats cause no one else is there!)

I had planned to cook salmon for Senor Whiny Pants but alas there was none insight. He started eating an Atkins diet this week so baked salmon would have been an easy dinner. Instead, he had to settle for "Catfish a la Chris". (The funny part here is that I've never actually cooked catfish before :) Note: There are tons of recipes out there for breaded catfish but they aren't necessarily Atkin's friendly.

Here's what I did:

3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of lemon and herb seasoning
3 squirts of Lime juice (optional)
Two shakes of salt and pepper

Cook catfish for approximately 15 minutes on a high temperature. I used my electric fry pan because I have a cover that fits and it helps me keep the smoke detectors from going off....

Tuna Melts

Saturday morning I woke up at 7 a.m. and thought that I had to go to work. After I realized that it was in fact Saturday, I couldn't get back to sleep. So I got up and cleaned my kitchen from top to bottom. It was so clean in fact that I didn't want to mess it up by cooking a big meal Saturday night.

So instead I opted to make a very healthy tuna melt:

1 can tuna (I prefer the kind in water)
2 medium celery stalks
1 small green bell pepper
2 cups fat-free garlic vinaigrette dressing
4 thin slices of bread, toasted
sprouts
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and cut into slices
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese

Mix all of your ingredients except the bread, avocado and cheese. Spread mixture on bread and top with cheese and avocado. I added tomato slices to one side and then layered with cheese. The recipe calls for Swiss but I used Mozzarella. Broil for about 3 minutes or until cheese melts.