Weekday Fish Recipes

Allright kids, I know we have a lot of good cooks and cooking enthusiasts on here. Help me out. I love to cook, and I'm good at it. I generally cook all our meals and my mother admits I'm a better cook than she is. I'm working on changing our diet and dropping some weight, but I specifically want to incorporate more fish in our weekly choices. Which is where the problem starts. I'm fine on shrimp, scallops, etc, but I've never been great with fish because I've never cooked much of it. This is mainly because the Missus doesn't like fish. She likes crustaceans, but fish are a non-starter unless it's fish and chips or sushi - and then only the beginner level stuff.

Now, I can do decent work with some nice salmon and a grill or a good fresh grouper, but that's not what I'm after. I need recipes that I can throw together on a weeknight with commodity-level fish fillets, but they still need to win over a non-fish eater.  By commodity level I'm probably talking bagged and frozen, something I don't have to worry about going bad in the fridge before I cook it.  General tips about which fish to buy and how to keep it / handle it around the kitchen are appreciated too.

Whatchya got?

I've been getting frozen tilapia, perch, and cod lately because they're cheap and not too fishy so the kids eat it too. And I don't like salmon so it's right out as an option.

Parmesan and breadcrumbs after an egg wash, 350 for 20 minutes or so. 

Lemon butter dipped then onto foil on the grill until it flakes apart, maybe some garlic powder and paprika.

If I have ahi or find it cheap enough, Chinese 5 spice on all sides then seared hard in toasted sesame oil, served rare. 

Catfish filets rolled around pancetta stuffing is kind of a pain for a weeknight meal, but it's a great way to have it. Dana doesn't like catfish for whatever reason, but she loves when I do that. 

Pan fry them in a little bit of oil, no breading, and drizzle with a mornay sauce. It will work well with just about any fish you use. Mornay sauce is super easy to make. Not so healthy (its basically butter, cream, and cheese), so it may be counterproductive to your goals.

Tilapia makes for good fish tacos since they're thin and usually fall apart anyway. We usually make taco salad.

bluej (Forum Supporter) said:

Tilapia makes for good fish tacos since they're thin and usually fall apart anyway. We usually make taco salad.

 

This......using Emeril's original essence sprinkled on both sides with a pinch of cayenne pepper to taste.......soft flour tortillas, angel hair coleslaw with mayo and fresh cilantro.....pico de gallo and fresh guacamole ......man I'm hungry 

I get the frozen tilapia fillets and thaw them out.  On my griddle, I put a little bit of butter and some Old Bay.  The fillets go on and then I hit them with a bit of lemon juice, kosher sale, black pepper, more Old Bay, chili powder, rosemary, and some ground cayenne pepper.  I use a lot of cayenne for my peice, a little bit for the wife's, and I tell the kids' fillets a story about what flavor would be like if they didn't whine so much.  They'll cook up very quickly, so flip them once - I usually put a small bit of butter down as I'm flipping them to give some fresh lubrication.  Serve and devour.

If I don't feel like thawing them, I do the same thing but in a glass baking dish in the oven at 350 for until they're done with no flipping.

Mahi or grouper I put blackening seasoning on & grill, pan fry, or bake (in that order). Tilapia, cod, flounder, etc. I usually bake after drizzling with teriyaki.  Can put on buns with lettuce, tomato, coleslaw, or whatever you like. Over a garden or Cesar salad. Over rice or cous cous with steamed veggies on the side. For sides with blackened fish, black beans & yellow rice is tasty.

I usually do the frozen fillets in pouches also and get whatever is on sale.  I will pull one or two out & thaw for 20 min or so in cold water before cooking. Outer package usually has recommended time & temp for baking. I find it is usually a couple of minutes shy of what is needed, but better to check it then than over cook...

Here's another vote for fish tacos. Use whatever whitefish filet you have, toss it in a pan with some butter, generously season with chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika (if you have it), salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and some cayenne. Give it couple minutes, flip the filets, and season that side. Start messing with the smaller pieces to see if they flake, and break them up as they do. Work at the bigger ones, then once it's all flaked, give it all a little longer in the pan. Warm up some corn tortillas, and top with onions, cilantro, and sauce. The sauce here is half salsa of your choice, half sour cream, and a splash of vinegar. 

We also do a lot of salmon, which I know you mentioned, but you could use frozen. Our easiest version is to drizzle with olive oil, rub it in with a little brown sugar, and top with old bay. Super easy, and yummmm.

Following as I'm recently introducing Lil Stampie to seafood.  Shrimp was ok for him. Salmon was good.  Tuna cakes was a fail.  Scallops just confused him.  He's a picky eater but on texture.  He likes crunchy/crisp food.  He can get over texture but it has to taste really good.  Insert ribeye.

Costco has big bags of frozen filets of tilapia, mahi mahi, cod, and probably other whitefish. Great to keep in the freezer; just throw them in the fridge in the morning of the day you want them for dinner. I usually just do salt and pepper, occasionally adding chili powder and/or cumin, maybe a heavy coating of cajun seasoning if the side dish is to be something bland. Another vote for fish tacos, there's no way to go wrong with tacos.

Bake on parchment paper or foil, experiment between 400 and 450 degrees and 10 to 18ish minutes depending on filet size and variety. Practically no-touch and super easy, sure not as amazing as pan fried in butter but more convenient for a weeknight dinner and good enough for tacos. 

Great stuff. This is exactly what I need. Best forum ever. 

Salmon with soy sauce and wasabi. Cook the fresh or frozen salmon. Apply condiments. It's amazing.

Fresh fish is best, though. Catch some 3-4 pound catfish, cut the fillets into nuggets, roll them in Autry's fish batter and fry them. Apply lemon juice or tarar sauce. Serve with hush puppies or fries.

I make a basil, almond, garlic and lemon pesto.  Smear on salmon filet, bake 15 minutes or so.

White fish, baked a while, seasoned with Thai sweet chili sauce/hot sauce, lime and butter. 

newrider3 said:

Costco has big bags of frozen filets of tilapia, mahi mahi, cod, and probably other whitefish. Great to keep in the freezer; just throw them in the fridge in the morning of the day you want them for dinner.

Yep, I too get the big bags of frozen filets from Costco.  Right now, I'm on mahi mahi but I'm open to whatever.  Since they're individually vacuum packed, I just fill a big cup with hot tap water, stick a sealed filet in it and it'll be totally defrosted in ~12 minutes.

Some of my go-to's...

Fry a filet in a little sesame oil with chili powder and make a Po Boy with a toasted French roll, store bought coleslaw, lettuce, and tomato.

Cut the filet into bite sized chunks and fry it with a little sesame oil along with a thinly sliced green bell pepper.  Steam some jasmine rice and add it to the skillet used to fry the filet / pepper along with a pack of Blue Elephant Curry sauce (yellow is my favorite but green and red are good for a change).

Add raw tomato slices and perhaps some fresh herbs if you've got something on-hand.

Blackened catfish is my favorite but I haven't seen Costco offer catfish it their big, economical, individually vacuum packed packaging.  If I could get it, it'd be fried in a little olive oil with a generous amount of Old Bay and served with grilled asparagas and steamed dirty rice (Zatarain's is the easy button but even their low sodium to too salty for me). 

1 cup flour, 1 cup beer, 1 egg, 1 Tblsp oil.  Whisk together for a Tempura batter.

Drop in 1" cubies of fish (thawed), mushrooms, green beans, anything; then deep fry or just drop in a pan with oil.

Drain on a paper towel.

IF you get to a fish market on the way home or a grocery store with a fish counter .....

This whole thing takes about 4 minutes, so make rice ahead of time.

Drop a Tblsp of oil in a skillet with medium to high heat.  Drop in small fish fillets like Perch.

Lay in one red pepper cut into 1/4" strips.

Sprinkle on some Thyme

Squeeze in the juice of one lemon.

Splash on two glugs of Rum

3 - 4 sprits of Tabasco

1 tomato cut in wedges

Cover with a lid.

Steam for a few minutes.  Es Jamaican mon.

Serve.

Montreal steak spice is incredible on salmon, especially a salmon steak. I have a smoker and cook my salmon the same way you would smoke a big piece of meat, except that, being so small they cook in less than an hour at 200 F.

Tilapia or other mild white fish. A little olive oil, lemon juice if you want, one or two cut up olives, capers, thinly sliced onion, and a small tomato diced. Put it all on the filet, wrap in parchment paper, cook at 400 til done, probably less than 10 minutes.

You know the big, rectangular bricks of Haddock?  They're actually kinda interchangeable with Scrod (funny how they're allowed to call fish something when it isn't what it says.)

Thaw two of those.  Put them in a glass cake pan.  Butter on top optional.  Actually, thawing is optional, but recommended.  Now, grab about half a sleeve of Ritz crackers and crumble them on top.  Microwave (don't bake... trust me) for a few minutes until barely done.  Lemon juice only after cooking if desired.  Lemon juice can make the texture of Haddock a little bouncy if you add it before cooking.

Most important part... remove from the baking dish before serving.  What ends up in the bottom of the pan is this milky-looking water with disintegrated chunks of Ritz crumbs.

What you end up with is the world's fastest, cheapest fish dish.  The big flakes of Haddock are reminiscent of Sea Bass if cooked properly.  Haddock is really a fantastic fish that doesn't end up tasting fishy.  Light flavor, easy to cook without messing up.

Tilapia responds very well to a Piccatta type recipe.  Pan-fry some flour-dusted Tilapia in a tblsp of oil.  Take the tilapia out and add some diced shallots.  Saute' for a few minutes until soft.  Add a bunch of lemon juice, capers, and salt/pepper.  White wine if desired.  Reduce until slightly thickened and pour over the fillets.  The shallots are a nice touch, but totally unnecessary if you want to skip that prep/cook time.

Salmon is so forgiving.  It holds up to so many flavors.  Try baking it sometime using equal parts of any marmalade and soy sauce.  You can really use any sweet, but if you don't have the zest from using marmalade, just add some balsamic vinegar, lime juice, apple cider vinegar.  I just did some last week with peach preserves, lemon juice, some red pepper flakes, and soy sauce.  Equal parts honey and soy with garlic makes a dandy teriyaki.

Does she do Tuna?  Swordfish is another one, but I'm terrible with swordfish.  It's one of those that seems to go from medium rare to bone-dry grainy leather in a split second.  Tuna is so good rare that it makes it easy.  Marinate in something for a few minutes.  Dredge in sesame seeds, then sear it with a hot skillet for a couple minutes per side.  If you sear it long enough that the edges keep a tiny bit of pink, it will finish without the pink edges, but stay rare-medium rare inside.

Really wanna up your game with the fam?  Buy a whole snapper or Barramundi.  Stuff the cavity with every fresh herb you have in the garden. (ok, maybe not mint or lavender).  Add garlic cloves and sliced lemons.  Mix up a cup of kosher salt with a couple egg whites and smear it all over the outside.  Wrap it up in a banana leaf (optional).  Throw in on the grill until it's done.  Snapper can get dry easily, but the salt makes a kind of water barrier.

Any fish will do, but I like salmon best for this. Line a baking sheet with foil (parchment paper works too). Put a little bit of olive oil on the foil, then the fish, some dill, 2 tbs butter, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and a  couple of lemon slices. Now cover the whole thing with more foil, sealing it all with the bottom foil. You are making a pouch basically. Throw in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes at 400. Barely any cleanup, makes its own sauce, super tasty. Serve with white rice or salad. 

I'm lazy. Tuna packet of various flavor over pasta or in a burrito.

ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:

This is mainly because the Missus doesn't like fish. She likes crustaceans, but fish are a non-starter unless it's fish and chips or sushi - and then only the beginner level stuff.

My FIL hated fish, but could handle a swordfish steak, not real fishy and the texture of beef.

Try broiling or baking SF cubes, then make up an Asian type slaw using salad dressing or marinate.  Serve on warm tortillias and maybe you could entice her to the dark side. 

Made some frozen tilapia into blackened fish tacos last night after reading this thread!

Oh... just remembered one I did about a year ago.

Take any fish (but the redder fishes do better, like Tuna, Salmon, Swordfish).  Drag it through some egg and then roll it in crushed Wasabi Peas.  Fry or bake.