Baked cod with crab and herb crust

Baked cod with a crab and herb crust. An elegant and delicious way to serve a simple cod filet, with basil, parsley and chives.

Cod isn’t the most glamorous fish. When you think cod, you probably think of fish and chips. But I’ll fill you in on a secret. Top a modest baked cod filet with this herb-studded, butter-laden, tastes-so-good-it-must-be magic crab topping and can I just say WOW!? Cod almighty. (I couldn’t resist) You could put this crab topping on anything and it would be amazing: fish, steak, a shoe!

This recipe is adapted from Simple by Diana Henry. It’s the feature cookbook this month for Food52’s cookbook club, of which I’m a member. Each month, they pick a cookbook and the group cooks recipes from it and shares them on Facebook, Instagram and such. This is my first recipe from the book, which I borrowed from my local library. And I’m a fan. A BIG fan. I did modify it a bit – the most significant change is that the original called for tarragon, which we just don’t like, so I used basil.

I served with with a green salad and a simple potato scallion pancake for a little crunch. With two Fridays left in Lent, I’d put this one on your must make list now!

Baked cod with crab and herb crust

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

18 mins

Total time

28 mins

 

Baked cod with a moist, delicious crab and herb crust.

Author: adapted from Simple by Diana Henry

Recipe type: Main

Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients

For the baked cod:

• Olive oil, to coat the pan
• 2 6-oz cod fillets, the thicker the better
• 1 cup claw crab meat, picked over for shells
• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• ⅓ stick unsalted butter, melted
• 3 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
• 1 Tbsp. finely chopped chives
• 1 tsp. finely chopped parsley

For the sauce

• ¼ cup creme fraiche
• 1 Tbsp. mayonnaise
• ½ cup watercress leave, finely chopped
• ½ shallt, minced
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp. capers, rinsed and chopped
• 1 tsp. lemon juice, or more to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat over to 400F. Rub a little oil in the bottom of a small roasting pan.
2. Put the cod in the pan and season with salt and pepper.
3. Mix the other ingredients together and divide between the fillets, patting the mixture onto each piece of fish.
4. Mix together the ingredients for the sauce. Season well with salt and set aside.
5. Bake the cod for 15-18 minutes or until cooked through. My fillets were quite thick so it took 18 minutes. Serve with the sauce and lemon wedges. Goes great with a simple green salad and potato scallion pancakes.

3.5.3226