Cod has many beneficial properties. It contains the necessary B vitamins and minerals, omega-3 fatty acids and easily digestible proteins. Cod has a dense and very tasty meat, from which salads and snacks, soups and a variety of main dishes are prepared. Fish can be fried, stewed, baked, salted, used as a filling for pies. Cod fillet cooked according to recipes is not inferior in taste to meat products, but has a lower calorie content and is recommended for dietary nutrition.
How to choose the right fish?
In a person who cares about his health, fish should be present in the diet at least twice a week, it is especially useful for young children and women during pregnancy. Frozen cod can be found in every supermarket, but in order to make the dish tasty, you need to be able to choose it correctly. First of all, you need to buy fish that is not covered with a thick layer of ice. There should be no snow on the fillet, and the packet in which it is located must be intact. Some unscrupulous suppliers specially severely freeze spoiled fish so as not to smell bad.
When buying a whole carcass, you need to examine its gills, belly and eyes. They should not be damaged. In a fish without a head, the cut should be pinkish-beige (not yellow) and dense. Cod with a pungent odor should be set aside. It is better to buy a whole carcass and make cod fillet for your chosen recipe yourself. So the fish will retain more nutrients.
Some cooking tips
Before preparing a fish dish, cod must be cleaned of scales, gutted and washed under running water. One of the advantages of fish is the small husk, which is easy to remove with an ordinary kitchen knife. When cutting carcasses on a fillet, the ridge is removed from the back and divided into two halves. It is not necessary to remove the skin from the fillet, there are useful substances and juice, thanks to which the fish will not be so dry.
Various dishes are prepared from cod, but the most delicious is obtained by baking in the oven: in a sleeve, foil or steaming. Very juicy cod is obtained if it is cooked with vegetable marinade. To cook the cod fillet in a pan according to the recipe, you need to use a batter from flour and eggs, or stir it with white wine, tomato sauce, sour cream or mayonnaise. You get a tender and juicy fish with an amazing taste. Cutlets and zrazy are prepared from minced fish, choosing the filling to your liking: rice with herbs and eggs, hard cheese, fried onions and carrots, and others.
Fried cod
The list of dishes that will be prepared from fish is huge, but most housewives use the simplest recipe: cod fillet in a pan. To do this, you need fresh-frozen fish, a little flour, 1-2 onions, seasonings, salt and a little vegetable oil. A tasty dish will turn out only from a high-quality product, and not one that has been frozen many times, so the fillet must be prepared on its own. To do this, clean the fish, remove the head, entrails, fins and ridge.
The washed fillet is cut into pieces, put in a bowl, add salt and seasonings and set aside for 10 minutes. When the salt has dissolved, the pieces are breaded in flour and fried in a skillet. After one side is browned, turn the fish over, sprinkle with onion rings, cover and fry until cooked. Cod absorbs the juice secreted by the onion and it turns juicy.
Cod with vegetables in the oven
Today it is fashionable to cook dishes in which the main product (fish or meat) and side dish are simultaneously present. As a side dish use cereals or vegetables. To cook the cod fillet in the oven with vegetable stew according to the following recipe, you will need the following components:
- 2 carcasses of fish;
- 1 bell pepper;
- 1 large tomato;
- onion head;
- a pair of cloves of garlic;
- 350 g of green peas (frozen);
- 1 jar of canned beans;
- half a glass of olive oil;
- several branches of thyme or other herbs;
- salt, ground pepper.
Fish is cleaned, washed and separated from the bones. Pepper, onion and tomato are cut into cubes, garlic is crushed using a press. Oil is poured into a heated pan, sweet pepper is fried in it along with onions. When the onions become transparent, add tomatoes, chopped thyme and garlic. Stew vegetables for 10 minutes, then add salt, ground pepper, green peas and beans, after draining the liquid from it. Stew until the peas are tender. At the bottom of the baking dish spread half the vegetable mixture, cut the fillets into pieces, salt and put on top of the vegetables, and pour the remaining sauce onto the fish. The oven is heated to a temperature of 180 degrees, and fish is baked for 15 minutes.
Fish fillet with sour cream
So that the cod is not dry, it is baked with yogurt or sour cream. This is a tender dish, after tasting it, the relatives will say: “How delicious!” The recipe for cod fillet with sour cream deserves such reviews.
For cooking you will need:
- fillet of one fish;
- 250-300 g of home or store sour cream;
- 1 green apple
- 2 pcs. carrots;
- head of purple onion;
- lemon;
- 2 tablespoons of refined oil;
- salt, pepper and basil to taste.
The cod is washed, dried with a napkin and cut into portions. Peeled carrots are cut into slices, peeled off apples and cut into slices.
The baking dish is coated with oil, apples are laid out on the bottom, on top of them are circles of carrots and sprinkled with basil. Slices of fillet are put on top, salt, pepper, add your favorite seasoning. Pour cod with sour cream, on top of which lay onion rings and bake in a hot oven for 20-25 minutes. When serving, the finished cod fillet is poured with freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Steam cod
Steamed fish is an excellent diet dish that will suit both adults and children. The ingredients include:
- 300 g of fish fillet;
- onions (1 head);
- 50 ml of freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice;
- 1 large spoon of vegetable oil;
- spices for fish;
- salt.
According to the proposed recipe, cod fillets are cut into several pieces, salted, watered with lemon juice and seasoned with spices. Pour water into a double boiler, bring to a boil and throw 2 bay leaves and several peas of hot pepper into it. Each piece of fish is oiled and put on a wire rack. Sprinkle onion rings on top. A double boiler is covered. The fish will be ready after half an hour. The finished dish is decorated with greens and slices of lemon.
Foil steak
A simple recipe for cod fillet in foil will appeal to many. To get an unusually juicy and aromatic dish, you will need:
- 600 g of freshly frozen fish;
- 1 lemon and half a tablespoon of lemon peel;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- a teaspoon of ground ginger;
- fennel and coriander at the tip of a knife;
- a few mint leaves;
- butter (50 g).
The cod is cleaned, washed and the flesh is separated from the bones, and then cut into pieces. To remove excess moisture, fillets need to be blotted with a napkin. The foil is cut to the size of each piece of cod, fillets are placed in the middle of the sheet. The pieces are greased with chopped garlic, sprinkled with a mixture of seasonings and lemon zest, put on a piece of mint and on top of a small piece of butter and a slice of lemon. Then the foil is wrapped. The fish should be marinated for 30 minutes, after which it is placed on a baking sheet and baked in the oven for 20 minutes. Served with any side dish, garnished with a sprig of greenery.
A simple recipe for fish in batter
For the second dish, the cod fillet is often fried in the pan in a pan over the recipe. Such fish is served with potatoes, boiled rice or stewed vegetables. The dish is prepared from freshly frozen cod. It is cleaned from the insides and husks, washed and the fillets are separated, cut into medium-sized pieces and put in a bowl. Cod season with salt and ground pepper, and leave for 10 minutes. While the fish is pickling, prepare the batter. To do this, 1 raw egg is broken into flour (2 tbsp. Tablespoons), 50 ml of milk is added and stirred well until the lumps dissolve. It should be a dough, like a pancake.
Each piece of fillet is dipped in batter and fried in a pan with heated oil on both sides until golden. The finished cod is laid on a napkin to remove residual oil. Fish is served, sprinkled with chopped herbs.
Fish in cheese batter
In this recipe, cod fillet in batter is baked in the oven. Fish prepared in this way is juicy, with a crispy cheese crust. For the dish you will need:
- fish fillet - 1 kg;
- Parmesan cheese - 200 g;
- refined oil - a couple of tablespoons;
- eggs - 4 pcs.;
- seasoning for fish - 1 teaspoon;
- fresh herbs, salt.
Preparation: pieces of fillet are washed and cut into medium-sized portions. To get a batter, beat the eggs in a bowl with salt until foam appears, then add grated parmesan, seasonings and finely chopped greens into them. The more greens there are, the juicier the fish will be. The baking dish is smeared with oil, filled with half the cheese fill, and the slices of fillet are carefully laid out so that they lie tightly to each other. Pour the fish with the remaining batter. It should completely cover the cod. The form is placed in a well-heated oven and baked until a crust appears. Slices of filet with vegetable salad or mashed potatoes.
Cod with vegetables marinade
According to this recipe, cod fillets are baked in the oven under the marinade of carrots, onions, tomatoes and mayonnaise. The fish is cooked on the second with boiled rice or mashed potatoes. To prepare a dish for a family of 4 people, you will need:
- 0.5 kg of fish fillet;
- 0.5 kg of carrots;
- 2-3 large onions;
- 1-2 tomatoes;
- mayonnaise;
- vegetable oil;
- a pinch of salt;
- ground pepper.
Cut the fillet into pieces, salt, sprinkle with pepper and fry a little in a pan. Carrots are rubbed on a coarse grater and fried in vegetable oil. Onions are also peeled, diced and added to carrots. The bottom of the baking dish is greased with oil, half the fried fillet is laid, on top of it is half the fried carrots with onions, then again a layer of fish and a layer of vegetables. Each layer of vegetables is smeared with mayonnaise. The last will be sliced tomatoes. The form is sent to the oven and baked for half an hour.
Cod dishes in Russia are not as popular as in Norway, France, Spain. Historically, in Russian cuisine, fish living in freshwater reservoirs are used more. When choosing a recipe for how to cook cod fillets, you need to consider that it contains less moisture than river fish, so you should not subject it to long-term heat treatment. You can get rid of the unpleasant odor by wetting the cod with lemon juice, or wrap it for a couple of hours in a napkin dipped in vinegar.
After working with the cod, the knife, the board on which it was cut, and the dishes should be immediately washed with water, apply vegetable oil to the knife and wipe with a cotton pad, and wipe the dishes with dry mustard and rinse in salt water.