Recipe Details
Ingredients (yields Serves six. servings)
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 3 Tbs. melted unsalted butter
- 3 Tbs. finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Six 1- to 1-1/2-inch-thick cod fillets (about 6 oz. each)
Cooking Instructions
For cooking instructions, please visit finecooking.com
Public Comments (1)
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Robin_Horrigan
August 17th, 2010
Native New Englanders are familiar with the ubiquitous menu item known as "baked haddock," although cod and schrod are sometimes substituted. This simple entree is nothing more than a fillet of mild white fish baked in a small casserole with a delectable buttery crumb topping. The topping is usually made of coarse bread crumbs or Ritz cracker crumbs, butter, and parsley. Baked sea scallops are prepared exactly the same way. Sometimes people get fancy and add a touch of dry white wine at the bottom of the baking dish.
For years I assume that restaurants somehow had better access to fresher fish than I do and saved most of my seafood eating for when we were dining out. Additionally, I am a "once a week grocery shopper," and I tend to pick up the ingredients to flesh out four or five recipes in one trip. Even when I can find fresh fish that really appeals to me, I prefer to buy fish the day I'm going to cook it. And so making a seafood entree seemed to necessitate an extra trip to the market, which is a total pain with little kids.
Even here in New England, most fish we get in even the best markets has been previously frozen. I always turned my nose up at this until I learned that the fish is actually flash frozen while still out on the boat - when you think about it, what's fresher than that? I took this a step further and asked myself Why I would want to buy fish that is previously frozen when I can buy it actually frozen and defrost it myself.
And so a whole new world of possibilities has opened with excellent frozen fish choices. All of the local grocery stores, wholesale clubs, and even Trader Joe's carry bags of individually sealed frozen fish fillets, shrimp in assorted sizes, and scallops. Now I keep the fish in my freezer, defrost it quickly by running it under cold water, and can cook it all the time.
When fish is really fresh, it will not smell up your house. But even if you're still nervous about that fishy smell, there are loads of ways to prepare fish and shellfish on the grill. But here is a basic method to prepare classic Boston Baked Cod. Give it a try on a busy weeknight with microwave steamed veggies and rice cooked on the stove; you'll have dinner on the table in about 20 minutes.