Savory Downeast Cod Steaks Recipes

Steps:

• Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook orzo in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Drain.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease a 13x9-inch baking dish with some of the butter.
• Stir tomatoes, cream of celery soup, and capers together in the prepared dish.
• Bake tomato mixture in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Stir orzo into the tomato mixture.
• Melt remaining butter with olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Season cod with salt and pepper; fry in the butter mixture until browned, about 90 seconds per side. Transfer browned cod to the baking dish. Pour any drippings from the skillet over the cod fillets. Sprinkle Cheddar cheese over the cod.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 20 minutes.

Steps:

• Fry the bacon over a medium heat with no extra fat until it's starting to go crispy and lots of fat has run off into the pan.
• Add the leeks and onion, stir them around and cook for about 10 minutes.
• Throw in the potatoes, stock and wine, season lightly with salt and black pepper, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
• In the meantime, wash and dry the cod steaks, and dredge them in flour with salt and pepper.
• When the leeks have had their 20 minutes, melt some butter in a non-stick frying pan with a little bit of oil. When it's hot, put in the cod steaks and cook them over a medium-high heat for five minutes on each side. Keep cooking the leeks in the meantime.
• Just before serving, stir a few tablespoons of cream into the leeks and check the seasoning.
• Pile the creamy leeks onto the plates, and pop the cod steaks on top with a wedge of lemon.

Steps:

• In a small food processor blend watercress, arugula, mayonnaise, and lemon juice until leaves are chopped fine and sauce is smooth, adding 1 to 2 teaspoons water if necessary to thin sauce to consistency of thin mayonnaise. Transfer sauce to a small bowl.
• Season cod with salt and pepper. In a heavy non-stick skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté fish 3 minutes, or until crisp and golden. Turn fish over and sauté 2 minutes more. Move fish to one side of skillet and to other side add tomatoes, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Sauté tomatoes and fish 1 minute, or until tomatoes are just wilted and fish is just cooked through and barely flakes with a fork.
• Transfer fish with a spatula to each of 2 plates and spoon tomato mixture on top. Pour some green sauce over fish and serve remaining on the side.

Steps:

• Heat oil in large saucepan on medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook and stir 5 min. or until onions are crisp-tender.
• Stir in tomatoes and 1/2 cup wine. Bring to boil, stirring frequently. Add cod; stir. Simmer on medium-low heat 6 min. Add scallops and shrimp; stir. Simmer 4 min. or until shrimp turn pink, scallops turn opaque and cod flakes easily with fork, stirring occasionally.
• Whisk Neufchatel and remaining wine until blended. Add to chowder along with the basil; mix well. Cook and stir 2 to 3 min. or until heated through.

Steps:

• Steaks:
• 1. Set a heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, or medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, while preparing the meal and seasoning the fish steaks. Three to four minutes before searing the fish steaks, turn on the exhaust fan and increase the heat to high.
• 2. Set steaks on a plate, drizzle with oil; turn to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• 3. A minute or so after the residual oils in the skillet send up wisps of smoke, put the fish steaks in the pan. Cook over high heat until the steaks develop a thick, rich brown crust, about 3 1/2 to 4 minutes. Turn the steaks and continue to cook over high heat until the other sides develop a thick, rich brown crust and the fish is medium-rare to medium, 3 1/2 to 4 minutes longer. (For medium-well-done fish, turn the heat to low and cook, turning once, for 1 to 2 minutes longer.) Remove to a plate and let stand 5 minutes.
• 4. Serve with lemon wedges, or an uncooked relish or flavored butter. Or make a pan sauce by adding 1/2 cup liquid to the skillet; boil until the liquid is reduced to about 1/4 cup. Tilting the skillet so that the reduced liquid is at one side of the pan, whisk in butter or other enrichments until the sauce is smooth and glossy.
• Butter:
• Mash the horseradish and butter into a paste. Add the vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Smear a tablespoon of flavored butter over each portion and serve immediately.

Steps:

• To keep the steaks from falling apart, fold the long, thin end pieces-the belly flaps-inward to form a compact round of flesh. Tie a length of kitchen twine in a loop around the outside band of skin of the fish, securing the flaps within; pull to tighten, and knot it securely.
• Sprinkle both sides of the steaks with salt, coat with garlic oil, and place in a dish with a few garlic slices and the herb stems strewn over them. Marinate for an hour or two at room temperature, or longer if refrigerated.
• Preheat the clean rack of a grill over high heat until very hot. Just before putting on the fish, rub the grill with an oiled towel or a piece of pork fat. Wipe excess garlic oil off the steaks, and set them on the grill.
• Sear the steaks without moving them for 4 to 5 minutes. Brush the tops with garlic oil. If the fish isn't sticking, check the cooked undersides and flip the steaks over as soon as the grill marks are golden brown. If the flesh sticks, grill another minute to sear, then turn the steaks over, using a sharp-edged broad metal spatula if necessary, to separate the flesh from the grill.
• Grill to mark the second side, 3 to 4 minutes; brush the top side with a small amount of garlic oil, and lower heat to medium. If the flesh is not sticking, you can make crosshatch grill marks if you wish: lift the steak after 3 minutes, rotate it 90 degrees or so in relation to the grill rack, then lower it on the same side.
• When the second side has grilled for 4 minutes or more, check for doneness by feel and sight: when the exterior flakes and the center of the steak is opaque but moist (push aside the flesh with a knife blade to see inside), remove steaks to a platter.
• Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with garlic oil. Serve right away with sauce on the side, or top with spoonfuls of salsa verde, or drizzle salmoriglio, or dress with just a plain slice of lemon and some extra-virgin olive oil.
• First Make Garlic Oil and Other Tips for Grilled Seafood
• Here are my basic preparations for all fish or shellfish before grilling. They're useful for either gas or charcoal grills, although every grill differs in heat output and cooking times:
• First, make plenty of garlic-infused oil, ahead of time, to flavor all fish and shellfish, including clams, mussels, and oysters in the shell.
• For one cup of oil, drop 1/4 cup of sliced garlic in 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Let the oil infuse for 1/2 hour to 1 hour before using; then remove the garlic slices. The oil can be refrigerated for a week or more.
• Marinate the seafood in garlic oil: pour just enough oil over to coat; toss and turn to oil all surfaces. Toss in some of the garlic slices if the garlic oil is freshly made, or a few newly cut slices, as well as fresh herb stems or branches-such as thyme, bay leaves, or rosemary. Marinate all fish for an hour or two if possible before grilling, or even overnight (refrigerated, of course).
• Clean and scrape the grill rack well, and get it intensely hot over high heat or hot piled coals before putting on the fish.
• Grease the hot grill rack lightly before putting on food, with an oiled paper towel, or a piece of cured pork skin from prosciutto end (page 129).
• Sear fish without turning until deeply marked by the grill, anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes. Thorough searing minimizes sticking.
• For large fish or steaks, initially cook over high heat, then, halfway through, lower heat to medium; for smaller pieces, lower the heat (or spread the coals) and cook only over medium heat.
• Keep garlic oil handy, and drizzle or brush on seafood sparingly while grilling-usually on turning the pieces. Avoid spilling any oil onto the lava rocks or coals and starting smoky, bad-tasting flare-ups.
• Grill simple garnishes and accompaniments for seafood at the same time. I grill rounds of lemon on the rack alongside my fish or shellfish, until nicely caramelized, 5 minutes or more, turning them occasionally. Another favorite: brush slices of country bread with garlic oil, and mark well on both sides (over a cool section of the grill), to serve with the fish.
• Serving Suggestions . . .
• Cooked Carrot Salad with Pine Nuts and Golden Raisins (page 45), Scallion and Asparagus Salad (page 35), or Eggplant all'Uccelletto (Poached Eggplant with Vinegar, Garlic, and Mint; page 252) would be an ideal accompaniment for grilled cod.
• First Make Garlic Oil-And Other Tips for Grilled Seafood
• Just a few steps from my kitchen is the door to a shady terrazzo where we relax and eat many of our summer meals. On one wall is a beautiful old-fashioned brick fireplace for cooking meats over wood coals. But often, I have to confess, I do my everyday grilling on a convenient gas grill with adjustable burners. And usually I grill fish or shellfish-it's always quick, and my family loves it.
• Here are my basic preparations for all fish or shellfish before grilling. They're useful for either gas or charcoal grills, although every grill differs in heat output and cooking times:
• First, make plenty of garlic-infused oil, ahead of time, to flavor all fish and shellfish, including clams, mussels, and oysters in the shell.
• For one cup of oil, drop 1/4 cup of sliced garlic in 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Let the oil infuse for 1/2 hour to 1 hour before using; then remove the garlic slices. The oil can be refrigerated for a week or more.
• Marinate the seafood in garlic oil: pour just enough oil over to coat; toss and turn to oil all surfaces. Toss in some of the garlic slices if the garlic oil is freshly made, or a few newly cut slices, as well as fresh herb stems or branches-such as thyme, bay leaves, or rosemary. Marinate all fish for an hour or two if possible before grilling, or even overnight (refrigerated, of course).
• Clean and scrape the grill rack well, and get it intensely hot over high heat or hot piled coals before putting on the fish.
• Grease the hot grill rack lightly before putting on food, with an oiled paper towel, or a piece of cured pork skin from prosciutto end (page 129).
• Sear fish without turning until deeply marked by the grill, anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes. Thorough searing minimizes sticking.
• For large fish or steaks, initially cook over high heat, then, halfway through, lower heat to medium; for smaller pieces, lower the heat (or spread the coals) and cook only over medium heat.
• Keep garlic oil handy, and drizzle or brush on seafood sparingly while grilling-usually on turning the pieces. Avoid spilling any oil onto the lava rocks or coals and starting smoky, bad-tasting flare-ups.
• Grill simple garnishes and accompaniments for seafood at the same time. I grill rounds of lemon on the rack alongside my fish or shellfish, until nicely caramelized, 5 minutes or more, turning them occasionally. Another favorite: brush slices of country bread with garlic oil, and mark well on both sides (over a cool section of the grill), to serve with the fish.

Steps:

• In large resealable plastic bag, pour marinade over steak; turn to coat. Close bag and marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes.
• Remove steak from marinade, discarding marinade. Grill or broil steak, turning once, 8 minutes or until desired doneness. Remove and keep warm.
• Meanwhile, evenly sprinkle 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt on onion. Grill or broil onions and tomatoes, turning once; stir in remaining ingredients. Serve with grilled steak.