Tonight I made Crispy Broiled Cod. It was tasty! I adapted it from a recipe I read in Cooking Light several months ago. The feature article was about Barton Seaver, a Washington D.C.-based seafood chef and advocate committed to ocean conservation and seafood sustainability. The article is a good read and includes recommendations such as ”the top 5 fish for the home cook” and “the top 5 to try in restaurants.”
Seaver also has a great web site, which is worth checking out. In addition to delicious recipes, his site includes interesting articles, a description of his projects, and links to people and organizations he calls “My Heros.”
I am drawn to his recipes for their simplicity and approach. I have never considered brining seafood - only meat and poultry - but why not? Brining is a process of soaking meat, or in this case, fish, in a salty solution whereby the process of osmosis denatures proteins and traps water in cells so meat stays tender and moist while cooking.
Soaking the cod fillets in a salty brine for 15 minutes does wonders for infusing them with flavor and keeping them moist while cooking at a high temperature. Chef Seaver uses salt, water, and sugar in his basic brine. In my version, I use salt, water, and fresh-squeezed orange juice (instead of sugar) to compliment the orange zest in the panko crust. If black cod is too hard to find, or too expensive, Chef Seaver recommends halibut as an alternative. Enjoy!
What a great idea! Sounds like you are still working hard to be the best ever health supportive chef!
We miss you. Coming east anytime soon?