1 February, 2018

Mustard Marinated Cod with Sweet Onions

Comments : 2 Posted in : Canola Oil, Cod, Cooking Spray, Dijon mustard, Fish, Lemon, Lemon juice, Parsley, Sweet Onion, Worcestershire Sauce on 1 February 2018 by : ParsonEric

A few months back, maybe a year ago, my wife and I were making the concerted effort eat more fish. For her, this is not a problem; she loves fish. For me, it’s a bigger deal; I was born and reared in the parched southwest desert and fish just isn’t part of my upbringing! We collected recipes and we gave them a try. Some were good, some not so good. One evening we had some of the bits needed for one preparation, some required for another, but no complete list of ingredients for any particular recipe. So . . . taking some from this and some from that, and cutting out a lot of unnecessary bits, I came up with this very simple, but very tasty way to prepare cod. (We buy a 2.5-lb bag of frozen “cod loins” – also described as “hand-cut filets” – at our local big-box store and use those most of the time, but we have found this also works with fish fresh from the fishmonger. We’ve used cod, red snapper, and even skinless salmon filets with good result.)

The first thing you’ll do is prepare the marinade. This is enough for four 4-oz pieces of fish, which we find makes a lovely meal for two. The marinade is made of 2 Tbs fine Dijon mustard, 1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce, and the juice of one-half of a lemon (about 2 tsp if using bottled lemon juice).

Whisk this together and set aside.

Now, the fish . . . imagine my surprise when I opened our bag of “cod loins” to get the last four servings only to find there were only three! No mind. The recipe will work just as well; the Parson and the Parson’s spouse (the “Parsoness”?) will simply have to take smaller servings this evening. (Note: The fish is displayed here on an historic plate made when our local “Old Cemetery,” which is located next to our church and often mistaken as our “churchyard,” celebrated its 125th anniversary about forty years ago.)

Dry off the “loins” or filets gently with a paper towel and place them in a shallow dish or, as I prefer, a ziplock bag (I just discovered that a quart-size bag works great with only three filets). Add the marinade and gently turn fish to coat all sides. Put the dish or bag in the refrigerator. An hour is plenty of time for the fish to marinate, even a half-hour is fine if you’re in a hurry.

Pre-heat your oven to 450ºF.

Now, peel and thinly slice the two onions. Spray a shallow baking dish with canola oil cooking spray; separate the onion slices into the dish, spray the onions with the cooking spray, and toss to coat them all. (This baking dish is at least as old as I am – that’s nearly seven decades, by the way. It was my mother’s and I remember it from my earliest childhood. It’s a 28x14x4cm Pyrex dish; it’s perfect for this recipe!)

Bake the onions, uncovered, for ten minutes. Thinly slice the other half of the lemon while that’s happening. Remove the onions from the oven (some of them will be browned) and toss them again, evenly distributing them around the dish. Place the fish filets on the onions, pour the marinating liquid evenly over them, then place a couple of the thin lemon slices on each filet.

Return to the oven and bake uncovered 15 minutes or until the fish is done (white and flaky).

Serve the fish nested on the onions, garnish with parsley (curly or flat; I happened to have some flat-leaf parsley in the refrigerator). We are having steamed broccoli as our vegetable accompaniment this evening.

Here’s the recipe without the pictures and the chit-chat.

Mustard Marinated Cod with Sweet Onions

2 Tbs fine Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Juice of 1/2 lemon (or 2 tsp bottled lemon juice)

4 – 4-oz cod filets (any boneless and skinless fish filet will do)
2 medium-to-large sweet onions
Parsley
Canola oil cooking spray

Whisk together mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice.

Pat fish dry, then coat filets with marinade. Refrigerate in plastic bag or covered dish for 30-60 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450ºF.

Spray baking dish or shallow casserole with cooking spray.

Peel and thinly slice the onions. Thinly slice other half of lemon, if using fresh lemon. (Lemon slices can be skipped.)

Put onions in shallow baking dish. Spray with cooking oil spray, toss to coat, and distribute evenly in baking dish.

Bake onions uncovered for 10-12 minutes. Toss and evenly distribute in baking dish.

Place fish on top of onions, distribute marinating liquid over the fish. Top each piece of fish with a couple slices of lemon, if using.

Bake uncovered for 15 minutes, turning dish once.

Garnish with coarsely chopped parsley and serve.