Baked Cod with Mango Butter Sauce

Spring is in full force in Portland! The flowers are blooming, the trees are leafing out, the temps are rising (thank goodness!) and lighter food is hitting our table more and more often. I found the recipe for this mango butter sauce a really long time ago in some sort of magazine... I made it once, wrote it down and tossed the mag - totally out of character - I wonder what else was in there! Anyway, this is a great, tangy, citrusy, rich sauce that's good on chicken or fish. Most recently we ate this over a super easy cod baked over sliced onions. On the side we had roasted asparagus and rice cooked with saffron, green onions and pine nuts. So good!!

Mango Butter Sauce
This recipe makes plenty for 6 - makes about a cup of sauce

1/2 cup sherry
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 ripe mangos, peeled and roughly chopped (or 1 cup of mango juice, like Kerns Nectar, or frozen mango chunks)
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup of butter, cubed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
Chopped cilantro to top

In a saute pan, cook the shallots in the sherry until the sherry has cooked down to about 2 tablespoons, about 7 minutes.

While the shallots and sherry cooks, peel and chop the mangos. In a blender or food processor, blend mangos, orange juice, and vinegar until pureed. (If using the mango juice, skip this blending step.)

Add the mango juice to the cooked down sherry and shallots. Reduce to low heat and cook until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in butter pieces, salt and pepper. Keep over very low heat until ready to use.

Baked Cod Over Onions
Preheat oven to 350
Serves 4

4 filets of cod (or other mild, white fish)
1 onion, sliced very finely 
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
salt and pepper

Spread butter over a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange slices of onion over the butter. Place filets over the onions and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake uncovered for 25 minutes, or until this fish is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork.  

Things made this time last year...

Baked Gnocchi

 
Potato Galette

White Chicken Chili

 
 

Pecan Crusted Salmon

Growing up I didn't eat fish, at all (well, I ate calamari, but only because I was tricked and bamboozled and couldn't back down after I scarfed a whole plate of fried delight.) A few years later, going out for sushi became really hip and I had to tackle my issues or compromise my cool. Obviously, I embraced the hip. THEN we moved to the Pacific Northwest. Land of drizzle, coffee and salmon. Again, I was faced with either losing out on every chef's special, or... OH WAIT, this stuff is delicious and I a fan! From plank cooked to a special combo of salmon stuffed with brie, crab and shrimp, I'm a fan. Here's a great recipe we found doing some googling a few days ago.

Pecan Crusted Salmon - from All Recipes Online
Serves 2
Preheat oven to 425

2 6oz salmon filets (we use wild caught - it's more expensive but worth the cost for health and environment benefits.) 
1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
2 1/2 teaspoons honey
2 tablespoons mustard - I used Dijon
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste 
Lemon wedges

Preheat the oven to 425. In a small bowl, mix the mustard, butter and honey. Stir until ingredients are fully incorporated. In another small mix bread crumbs, pecans and parsley. 

Place salmon filets on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush with butter, honey and mustard mixture. Cover the fish with the bread crumbs, pecans and parsley mixture. Press the nuts and bread crumbs lightly into the fish to fix them into place.

Bake for 10 minutes or until the thickest part of the fish is to the doneness you prefer. Serve with lemon and salt and pepper.

A few things about this recipe...

This was delicious and SO easy/fast/weeknight-friendly. 

Despite the ingredients, it is definitely NOT a honey-mustard flavor. It's light and sort of tangy-sweet, but not like a salad dressing.

I will change the pecan/bread crumb ratio next time and add more pecans and less bread crumbs.

I will add a bit of parmesan to the bread crumb combo the next time we make this. Why? Because parm is good. The End.

We served this with a combo of roasted potatoes and beets and a saute of swiss chard, onions and garlic. We were totally proud of our antioxidant-rich, colorful, superfood meal. Enjoy!

Lemon and Caper Salmon En Papillote

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  You know what it’s time for…resolutions.  After eating nothing but rich sweets made mouthwateringly delicious by sugar and butter, it’s definitely time to get into some healthier eating habits.  I don’t know about you, but I totally fell off the wagon towards the end of the year.  Who can resist all of that macaroni and cheese, cobblers, and pies???  I can’t.  But now that the holidays are over, it’s time to get back in gear.

This salmon will help you get there.  It’s very healthy.  Salmon is great for you!  It’s a good source of protein and omega 3 fatty acids. I try and buy wild-caught instead of farm-raised because the salmon are allowed to swim freely and aren’t held in what I consider to be an underwater prison.  Wild-caught salmon also are lower in fat because they have more room to roam and are more active.  However, I do understand the cost constraint so make the best decision for you and your family.  I hope this recipe will aid in helping you to meet all of your resolutions for 2013!

Lemon and Caper Salmon En Papillote – slightly modified from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients:

4 salmon fillets

¼ c EVOO

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp coarse black pepper

1 ½ tbsp minced fresh rosemary leaves

8 lemon slices

¼ c lemon juice (about 1 lemon)

½ c Marsala wine or white wine

4 tsp capers, roughly chopped

4 pieces of aluminum foil

Brush top and bottom of salmon fillets with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary.  Place each piece of seasoned salmon on a piece of foil large enough to fold over and seal. 

Top each filet with 1 tsp capers, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and 2 tbsp wine.  Place 2 lemon slices on top.  Wrap up salmon tightly in the foil packets.

Tip: Make sure all of the edges of the foil are curved up before pouring the lemon juice and wine over the salmon to prevent it from leaking.

Heat grill pan over medium-high heat.  Place the foil packets on the hot grill and cook for 8-10 mins for a 1” thick filet. 

Giada recommends serving these in the packets.  This is definitely possible but I also think that this is great served over couscous or rice and pouring all of the yummy cooking liquid over the grain to allow it to soak up all of that lemony flavor.  Either way works!  I promise :)

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Sole

This was my first time making this dish and I must say that it was a major success!  For some reason, my experiments turn out to be my best lol.  Maybe it’s because I allow myself to not care as much about how it turns out.  No pressure, right?? 

I actually was inspired to make this by looking on Pinterest and I saw a pin that had a white fish rolled around some sort of filling.  I was like…who knew you could do that?  After all of the cooking I have done, you would think I would have learned that technique by now.  I’m telling you, when it comes to cooking, you learn something new everyday!  After some searching for different stuffed white fish recipes, I decided to combine spinach and feta to give this a Mediterranean feel.  To top it off, I gave it a little crunch by coating in seasoned breadcrumbs.

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Sole

Ingredients:

½ c onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp butter or margarine

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

4 sole filets

1.5 c chopped frozen spinach, thawed

1/3 c crumbled feta cheese

Seasoned breadcrumbs

Cooking spray

Lemon (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Drain spinach and squeeze out all liquid using paper towels or a dishtowel. 

Heat butter and olive oil in a small skillet set to medium-high heat.  Add onion and sauté for 2 minutes.  Add garlic and sauté until onions are translucent (another 2-3 mins).

Place spinach, onion mixture, feta, ½ tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper in a small mixing bowl and stir to combine.    Spread breadcrumbs out on a flat dish.  Lay all four filets on top of breadcrumbs.  Season exposed side of fish with remaining salt and pepper.  Spoon 2-3 tbsp of spinach mixture onto fish and roll each filet around the filling.  Place each roll into a square baking dish, coated with cooking spray.

Note: You can either buy seasoned breadcrumbs or you can season them yourself.  For this recipe, I seasoned plain breadcrumbs with Parmesan, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.

Spray the tops of each roll with cooking spray and cook at 350F for 20 mins.  If breadcrumbs are not browned at this time, turn on the broiler for a few minutes until breadcrumbs brown slightly.  Remove from oven and serve immediately.  Garnish with lemon.

Tip: For dishes that cook quickly and you have a breadcrumb topping, spraying the topping with cooking spray allows them to brown and get crispy in a shorter period of time.

To complete this entrée, I served the stuffed sole over lemon & Parmesan orzo with chopped parsley.  The entire meal was fresh, light, and healthy and I can’t wait to make it again. 

Now that I know how to use this technique, I’m looking forward to playing with many different types of stuffing mixtures.  If you can think of any interesting combinations, be sure to let us know!

Halibut en Papillote with Thai Pesto

My cousin Yolanda Banks is an AMAZING cook.  She has her own cookbook called “Cooking for Your Man” and also her own website www.freshisfabulous.net.  Check her out when you get a chance!  Needless to say, I have plenty of people in my family who have some serious kitchen skills but I was blown away when she made steamed black cod with thai pesto for me and a friend of hers.  It was my first time having thai pesto and I was just itching to make it myself!  I put my own spin on the thai pesto by adding garlic, using olive oil, and making a few other modifications.

You’ll find a recipe that Yolanda has on her website for halibut with thai pesto but she actually cooks it on the stove.  Since I was so blown away by her steamed black cod from before, I decided to try this with halibut and use the same cooking technique.  En papillote is a French term that means “in parchment”.  This is also known as “al cartoccio” in Italian.

Halibut en Papillote with Thai Pesto

4 halibut fillets

1c basil

1c cilantro

½ c unsalted pistachios, shelled

1 garlic clove

Juice from 1 lime

Zest from 1 lime

1 tsp peeled ginger, roughly chopped

½ jalepeno, seeded and roughly chopped

1 tbsp canned, pre-sliced lemongrass

¼ c extra virgin olive oil

kosher salt

ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400F.

For pesto: Starting with basil, add all ingredients (through olive oil) to food processor and process until smooth.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Note: You can find the canned, sliced lemongrass at whole foods.  Yes, I’m lazy :)  If you don’t want to use the canned lemongrass, then substitute it with one stalk of fresh lemongrass.

 

Place 2 pieces of parchment paper on a baking sheet.  Fold each piece of parchment paper in half to create a crease and then unfold.

 Place 2 halibut fillets on one half of each piece of parchment paper.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Add a large dollop (~2 tbsp) of thai pesto on top of each fillet.  Fold the open sections of the parchment paper over one another to create a packet.  Do the same for the other piece of parchment paper.  Ensure that you have a good seal so the fish will steam properly.

Tip: For a detailed tutorial on how to create a parchment packet, visit the Reynolds website at http://www.reynoldsparchment.com/basics-how-packet.asp.

Place the baking sheet and packets into the oven and roast for 12 mins at 400F.  Remove from oven and let set for 5 mins. 

 

Once you cook fish en papillote, you’ll realize why it is one of my favorite ways to cook fish.  It is almost impossible to overcook it.  The fish turns out so moist and flaky that it practically falls apart.  That being said, be sure to use a spatula to move fish from the packet to a plate so that it doesn’t fall apart on you (I learned that the hard way). 

For a quick and easy meal, you can add frozen or fresh veggies to the packet and place the fish on top.  I used frozen haircot verts (french green beans), because that is what I had but you could use snap peas, carrots, broccoli, or really any vegetable you have a taste for.  

I hope you enjoy this pesto!  It can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.  You can use it in pastas, as a dip, or on chicken.  It is very versatile so it’s well worth making extra whenever you make it. 

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