I thought this would be a fun Cooking Pleasures recipe to try since I was gradually overcoming my fish fears and ready to take on new fish recipes.
I'm not sure if the fish Rodney picked up wasn't a good one or if it was the recipe. I didn't have any chives (dry or fresh) and omitted them completely. And I served the sauce on the side since I didn't want to "taint" the fish if it was overwhelming.
Potato-Crusted Cod with Mustard-Malt Vinegar Sauce
Potato-Crusted Cod with Mustard-Malt Vinegar Sauce
1 c instant mashed potato flakes
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/3 c milk
4 tbsp butter, chilled, cut up, divided
1 tbsp canola oil
4 (6-oz.) cod fillets
3 tbsp malt vinegar
5 tbsp water
5 tbsp water
4 tsp whole-grain mustard
Combine potato flakes, salt and pepper in shallow dish. Pour milk into another shallow dish.
Combine potato flakes, salt and pepper in shallow dish. Pour milk into another shallow dish.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter and oil in large nonstick skillet over low heat. Meanwhile, quickly dip cod fillets in milk; coat each side with potato flake mixture.
Increase heat to medium. When butter is melted and sizzling, add cod. Cook 7 to 10 minutes or until browned and cod just begins to flake, turning once. Remove cod.
Immediately add vinegar to skillet; boil to reduce to a syrup, about 1 minute. Whisk in water and mustard; bring to a simmer.
Remove from heat; whisk in remaining 3 tablespoons butter until melted.
Again, I'm not sure if it was the giant cod fillet Rodney was given at our local fishmonger/Korean market (which I quartered) or if it was the recipe. The cod was pretty wet to begin with, which makes me wonder. And I have a hard time believing that the poorness of this particular dish was due to the lack of chives. If chives can make or break a meal, I should be looking at starting a chive garden and promoting the use of fresh (or dry) chives.
One thing I observed was how the potato didn't actually stick to the cod. Maybe because the cod was too wet to begin with, I don't know. I doubt that though, since the fish was dipped in milk before dredged in potato. Does it make a difference if the fish is wet before submerged in milk? If water plays a key role, it seems the recipe would require whole milk. Maybe I turned the fish too quickly...I digress.
Regardless of what went wrong, the fish was too wet for me at the point of consumption. The mustard-malt sauce was way over the top for me and Mom, yet Rodney says he liked it.
I won't be making this again. Rodney didn't jump up and down over it and I didn't finish my portion. Mom was polite by eating her entire portion -- I could see that politeness all over her Korean my-daughter-is-a-good-cook face. And that she didn't comandeer remaining fillet for herself but verbally forced Rodney into eating what was remaining was a good sign that Mom didn't care for the fish.
One day, I'll take another stab at some fish other than salmon or trout. Cod? Well, that is to be determined.
3 comments:
I wonder if the cut had been previously frozen? If I recall correctly, Cooks Illustrated said that causes one of those fish where the texture really suffers if it's frozen and thawed.
That could be. Unfortunately, it seems most fish available - or that I bought - is previously frozen. At the time I did this recipe, finances were not as generous to purchasing higher quality (aka the most fresh) ingredients all the time. That could definitely be a part of the problem I had with this particular recipe.
That makes sense; sometimes the never frozen fish is just too expensive!
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