Spiced Baked Cod with Dill and Garlic

Cod is one of my favorite fish. It has a mild flavor and a dense, flaky, white flesh. It lends itself to hundreds of different preparations, and cooks in a jiffy. (Do you know a jiffy is an actual unit of time? The unit of time that a jiffy equals varies from one scientific discipline to the next, but most commonly it is used as a synonym for a nanosecond. In astrophysics and quantum physics a jiffy is, as defined by Edward R. Harrison, the time it takes for light to travel one fermi, which is approximately the size of a nucleon. By contrast, the earliest technical usage for jiffy was defined by Gilbert Newton Lewis; he proposed that a jiffy was equal to the time it takes light to travel one centimeter in a vacuum (approximately 33.3564 picoseconds).)

But back to the fish. This is a very simple dish; the fish is lightly dusted with a spicy flour coating, seared for color and depth of flavor, then surrounded by a lemony garlic olive oil dressing and festooned with fresh dill. I like to serve it on a bed of rice or couscous; something to help sop up the lovely garlic lemon dressing. Pair it with a seasonal vegetable and you are in for a treat!

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds cod fillets

5 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

5 tablespoons lemon juice

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons melted butter

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix together the lemon juice, olive oil and butter in a shallow bowl; set aside.

In another bowl, mix together the flour, coriander, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.

Pat the fish fillets dry. Dip each in the lemon vinaigrette then toss to coat in the flour mixture.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a cast iron pan over medium high heat. Add the fish and sear each side until golden brown. Pour in the remaining vinaigrette, and garlic.

Put the pan in the oven and cook for 10 minutes; until the fish flakes easily. Garnish with the dill.

Serve over rice with a seasonal vegetable (I chose sautéed summer squash from my parents’ garden). Enjoy!

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