This was a surprise recipe that I didn’t think I was going to post. Yesterday, before we went out to the grocery store to pick up some ingredients, I looked through one of my many cookbooks in an effort to locate a nice fish dish for last night. I found one, bought the ingredients and came home to prepare it. To my dismay, I had purchased ingredients for the incorrect recipe in the book. The one I wanted had a nice photo attached to it. I had no idea what the one I purchased the ingredients for looked like. I was going to prepare the dish anyway, but I wasn’t sure I was going to post it here.
As I began cooking, I decided to grab my camera to take a few shots. By this point in my life, this has become a very strong habit. It’s actually very strange for me to cook anything and not take photos of it these days. To make a long story short, everything turned out wonderfully and I’m glad I went ahead with the photos. This is a really great recipe to share.
The Recipe
I have a new method for cooking cod. I brown it on one side for five minutes in a skillet on my stove top and then turn each piece over to its other side. Then, I finish things off in the oven for a few minutes. Since cod has a lot of water in it, it’s tough to get a brown with many other methods of preparation, but this one works very well. I’m excited about this discovery.
Overall, this is an extraordinarily simple dish to pull off. The cod cooks perfectly and the chermoula is great. If you are familiar with chermoula, you know that you can get quite creative with it. There are tons of nice recipes for it online, so after you go ahead with this recipe, get creative and try to mix things up a bit for next time. It’s a flavorful fish topping that can truly knock things out of the park.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
For the Fish
1 1/2 Pounds of Cod, Thick Parts Only
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
2 Tablespoons Regular Olive Oil
For the Chermoula
3/4 Cup Parsley
3/4 Cup Cilantro
1/4 Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
4 Teaspoons Garlic
1/2 Teaspoon Cumin
1/2 Teaspoon Paprika
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/8 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
Step-by-Step Instructions
I’d like to thank America’s Test Kitchen for this recipe. I pulled it from The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook and it’s awesome. Another perfect recipe from this resource.
Pre-Heat Oven
Arrange one of your oven racks so it’s in the center position. Then, pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.
Make the Chermoula
Add all the chermoula ingredients to a food processor.
Pulse the processor until everything in it is semi smooth, but not pureed. You’ll likely need to stop once or twice to scrape down the walls. I probably processed for a total of 15 seconds. This is what you want your result to look like.
Cook the Fish
Warm a non-stick or cast iron skillet on your stove top over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the 2 tablespoons of regular olive oil to it. Then, season the fish with salt and pepper and place the fillets into the pan, good side facing down.
Allow the fish to cook for five minutes. During this time, the tops should brown nicely. They’ll most likely stick to the pan at first, but once they brown, they’ll loosen. To release them, gently pull them from the pan with a fork. Flip the fillets over.
Once That’s done, turn the heat on your stove top off and place the skillet in the oven. Let roast for approximately seven minutes. This fish is sensitive to heat, so if you push the time in the oven too far, the fish will dry out.
Next, remove the skillet from the oven and turn off the heat.
Plate & Serve
To plate, place each cod fillet on a plate and scoop some chermoula up and add it directly to the fish. Serve and enjoy!
The Final Cod & Chermoula Dish
I love how easy this dish is to put together. I’m actually thinking of making it again tonight. If you do decide to give this recipe a try, please let me know your thoughts down below in the comment section. Thanks for reading!
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