I had so much on to do today that I wanted to make us something really quick and easy for our supper. You can't get much quicker than fish! 

Cooked properly without too much trouble you can easily be enjoying a lovely piece of fish in less than half an hour!  Lemon & Garlic Butter Baked Cod is one of my favourite ways of preparing Cod.

 

I know I say that all the time when I am cooking fish, but the plain fact is I LOVE FISH, in pretty much any way shape or form and I love eating and cooking it.  

And fish is so very good for you.  My mother always said that fish was brain food.  I always believed her.  As a child when we were eating fish for supper, I always imagined that my brain was expanding and becoming exponentially smarter with every mouthfull.

 

Kids can be so very impressionable.  I don't think that it was a bad thing that our mother made us think that fish made us smarter.  It created a great love for fish and helped it to become a favourite!  I love cooking and eating it.

Every way is my favourite way!  I especially love LOVE Cod. It is so sweet and succulent, very mild flavoured. It lends itself beautifully to all sorts of treatment.  I would rather have a good piece of Cod rather than a piece of lobster any day of the week!

 

We get our Cod from Seafresh.  They are online purveyors of quality fish. They have beautiful North Atlantic Cod Loins  which are thick, firm and delicately flavoured. I just love them. In all truth I have never had a bad piece of fish from them. 

Everything has been beautiful.  I think I have tried just about everything in their line of products and nothing has disappointed me yet.

 

Seafresh has access to some of the best quality products from Britain and around the world, largely due to the good relationships they have fostered with their suppliers since 1996.

It was in 1996 that they began with the very simple concept of selling high quality frozen foods to their customers right in the comfort of their own homes.  I've been enjoying their fabulous products for over a year now and I have to say I have never been disappointed.

 

I can't say the same thing about shop bought fish. I really can't.  Most of the time I have been hugely disappointed.

And when you are talking about something which has as hefty a price tag as fish has, you really can't afford to and don't want to be disappointed!

 

This is a really quick and simple way of preparing fish. It works well with Cod and would probably work with most varieties of fish. 

I think milder flavoured fish such as Cod or Sole really work well with these flavours, but I can see it also working well with Sea Bass or Haddock.

  

It involves seasoning the fish and popping it into a baking dish. You can butter the baking dish if you wish, but I never do.

Spooning  a simple lemon, olive oil and garlic sauce over top, dotting it with cold buter nd a few lemon slices and then baking it to perfection.

  

It doesn't take long . . . 15 to 20 minutes if you are using  thawed fish.  This timing will give you cooked perfection. 

My fish is not refrigerator cold either. I usually let it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes or so before I begin.

 

The lemon, garlic and butter  flavour the fish beautifully and mingle with the juices of the fish to make a fabulously tasty sauce to spoon over top. 

I never eat the lemon, but it does look really pretty sitting there, and of course it imparts a lovely flavour to the fish as well.

 

Oh my but this is some gorgeous.  Quantities are given to serve two people, but it can very easily be doubled to serve more.  Its that easy with simple things . . .  and this is simple. 

To serve more, just double up on everything.  More butter, more lemon, more garlic. Oh my, just saying that gets my tastebuds tingling.  Butter, lemon and garlic, a trinity of good taste!

  

I served them with twice baked stuffed potato halves that I had made yesterday and some tenderstem broccoli. This was a fabulously delicious meal, quick and easy and a real husband pleaser. 

Todd never minds when we have fish for supper.  He knows that it is going to be delicious and perfectly cooked.  I have had lots of practice at getting everything just right!

  

 I just realised I have never given you my recipe for Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes. I'll have to remedy that!  Its very simple. For four, just bake two large baking potatoes until they are tender and yield slightly to the touch.  About 1 hour at 225*C/425*F. I put them right onto the oven rack, pricking them first with a fork.

Once they are soft I let them cool until I can handle them and then I cut them in half lengthwise.  I scoop out the flesh and mash it together with salt, pepper, butter, sour cream, sometimes some cheese, chives or spring onion and then I restuff the potatoes, sprinkling the tops with some paprika. 

Back into the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes and Bob's Your Uncle!  Stuffed Twice Baked Potato perfection that will go with just about anything!

 

Just look at how nicely cooked that is.  Tender, moist and flaky. This was one very beautiful piece of fish, thanks to Seafresh.

A few things about Seafresh:

 

We are a pair who really love fish, and as a cook I love working with it. Not only is it a very versatile ingredient, but it is really good for you and cooks quickly.  We both adore Salmon and this Honey, Mustard and Garlic Salmon is one of the ways we really enjoy eating it.

 

I will confess however, I am not overly fond of skin on my fish, which is why I really love these boneless and skinless salmon fillets I get from Seafresh.   They're boneless and skinless and come from cente cuts, or the thicker part of the salmon and not the tail, which means they have a beautifully rich and flavour that is not overly fishy, if you know what I mean! 

 

Salmon is so good for you as well. Its one of the oily fishes which means it is filled with rich protein and healthy omega 3 acids.

 

This is such a simple and delicious way to prepare it. You simply season your fillets, top and bottom and put them into a baking dish.

 

A mix of honey, mustard, butter and garlic is spooned over top and then you simply pop them into the oven and bake.

 

They are done in about 13 minutes tops.  Easy peasy.  I did pop mine under a hot grill for a minute to gild the edges a bit, but that was more for presentation than anything.

 

Thirteen minutes will give you perfectly cooked salmon. The recipe is for two people, but you can very easily double everything and serve more.  My friend Tina had brought us some beautiful potatoes freshly dug from their garden.   There were some lovely looking tiny ones.

 

I boiled them to serve with the salmon. You forget how really delicious freshly dug potatoes are, fresh out of the ground. Oh my but they are a little taste of heaven.

 

I also cooked some corn and green beans. I had a bit of frozen corn in the bottom of a bag and a handful left of frozen beans.  They were the perfect side to serve with the salmon and the potatoes.

 

Todd said it was the best meal he'd had in a while. (Cheeky!!)  But really it was delicious. The fish  from Seafresh is so amazing.  I have never had any fish from them that I didn't like.  It is frozen fresh at the source and so it is some of  the freshest fish that you can find.  Their salmon fillets are absolutely gorgeous. Boneless and skinless and individually frozen so that you can take out as many or as few as you want to cook at any given time.

  

Salmon is one of those fishes that goes really well with, and that can stand up to strong flavours like honey and mustard and garlic.

  

Just look at how perfectly cooked that fish is!! I am getting hungry again just looking at this photo!

 

At the moment when those of us who are still self isolating are unable to get the shops and home delivery slots can still be somewhat difficult to get. Shopping at online shops like Seafresh is the way to go!  They make it so easy to shop.  Just log on to their easy to use shop, choose what you want, pop it into your cart and then pay.  There is same day dispatch on all orders place before 1 PM, and free delivery on order over £50.  I have been getting fish from them for a while now and I really can't fault them.  Everything has been impeccable, from the ordering, to the packaging, delivery, quality, etc.  And their customer service is examplary.  Right now they have some really nice deals on as well, with a free sample of breaded wholetail Scampi being added to every delivery over £50. (on orders placed before August 14th)  As well on any order over £140 you can get  £20 off by adding the code BANK20 at the checkout.   

As with any fish dish, quality speaks for itself.  When you are starting with really good fish, you really don't or shouldnt' have to do very much to it to get the best from it.  The Salmon fillets from Seafresh are beautiful. I think they are the best I have ever eaten and that says a lot!  If you are looking for quality fish at a great price with a fabulous delivery service I can't recommend Seafresh highly enough!  Their product, delivery service, packaging and customer service are exemplary in my opinion and so is this recipe!! 

A few things about Seafresh:

  

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We literally almost had a meltdown in our freezer the other day. (Yes, in addition to the actual melt down we had a few weeks back.) This time it was my fault. 

Let me begin by saying we have 3 small freezers, each with 3 drawers, which store altogether about as much as a medium sized chest freezer would store. 

 

Because of my arthritis and the fact that I am quite short, I was finding it difficult to navigate our chest freezer so we got rid of it a few years back. Anyways, the other day I put something into one of them and did not quite get it closed. DUH! 

Thankfully I went to get something out the day after and noticed it before we had lost everything. (again) Anyways, All we lost was a tub of ice cream.  Some of my beautiful fish had just about thawed out however.

 

I had just gotten a delivery from Seafresh the day before. Beautiful North Atlantic Cod Loins (thick, firm and delicately flavoured), Salmon Fillets  (which are centre cuts and gorgeous), King Prawns (peeled, deveined and ready to cook), and fabulous Sea Bass (boneless and sustainable).  

Thankfully all that was affected was half of the cod. It did still have ice crystals in it, but not enough that I felt safe re-freezing it.

 

Seafresh is an on line fish monger, which sells quality fish, seafood, poultry and meat. They have access to some of the best quality products from Britain and around the world.

This is largely due to the good relationships they have fostered with their suppliers since 1996, when they began with the very simple concept of selling high quality frozen foods to their customers right in the comfort of their own homes.  

I've been enjoying their fabulous products for over a year now and I have to say I have never been disappointed.

 

They have been a real God-send throughout this pandemic, with their fast and reliable and efficient delivery and quality products. I have always been able to depend on them.

  

So anyways, although I had not planned on serving fish mid-week, I ended up cooking us some lovely Cod for our dinner that day.  

There is nothing more delicious on earth than a beautiful, fresh piece of Cod and theirs is some of the best I have tasted.  We have never been disappointed.

 

I chose to cook it very simply.  This is one of the easiest ways of cooking fish and yet one of the most delicious. 

It turns out perfectly every time.

 

Dusted with flour and seasonings it is simply pan fried in butter along with several sprigs of fresh thyme and marjoram.  

You cannot get any easier.

 

It cooks for two to three minutes per side until golden brown and perfectly cooked.  I then squeeze lemon juice over top.

The lemon juice both flavours the fish and then mingles with the delicious juices of the fish in the pan and the butter to create a lush sauce which is beautiful spooned over the finished dish.

 

You really don't get much better than this. On this particular day I also sprinkled the fillets with some roasted tomato seasalt that I had gotten with my tomato order.  

I thought it would go well with fish and I was right.  Especially Cod.  It was a delicious addition.

  

In any case we enjoyed our fish with a simple side salad and some boiled new potatoes.  We felt like we were dining like Kings.  What could have been a tragic accident turned into an unexpected mid-week pleasure!

 

Just look at how nicely cooked that is.  This was one very beautiful piece of fish, thanks to Seafresh.

A few things about Seafresh:

 

We have had a rather gloomy and rainy few days now. Soup days. That's what I call them.  Today I was feeling very nostalgic for home and I decided to cook us up a delicious Nova Scotia Fish Chowder.  A taste of home sweet home for me.

 

This recipe is not quite as rich as my other recipe for fish chowder, which contains carrots and celery and cream.  

This is a really simple and basic recipe which is typically Nova Scotian and was adapted from an old cookery book of  mine entitled "Out of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens" by Marie Nightingale.

 

It is a treasure trove of historic Nova Scotian recipes.  My family has been in Nova Scotia before even the first settlers arrived on its shores.  

I have Mi'kmaq ancestry as well as Scottish, English, Irish, German, etc.  I am a virtual melting pot of Nova Scotia peoples, as most of us are.

 

For this chowder I used some beautiful Haddock fillets. I get my haddock  from Seafresh quality foods.  I am in love with their fish, and really love their Haddock.

 

Their Haddock Fillets are skinless and boneless, having been frozen at Sea with just a few hours of being caught. This wonderful process means the fish is as fresh as it can be. 

Each fillet weighs in between 130g-170g. There is 900g of Haddock per order (approx. 5-7 fillet), and right now it is on offer for £5 less than the regular price.

 

Haddock is very versatile fish.  Pan fried or poached, oven baked or grilled.  It really is beautiful in recipes like this fabulous fish chowder.

  

The New England States like to claim to be the inventors of Chowders, but there is a strong possibility that chowders were first created by the French settlers at Port Royal.  

The word "chowder" comes from the French word, "Chaudiere."  This was the name of the cast iron pot that they cooked their soups and stews in.

 

In any case, this recipe I am sharing with you today is considered to be more than 100 years old, and is in my opinion a fabulous recipe for using some of the beautiful haddock that I have in my freezer.

 

You know its a simple recipe because it is such an old recipe, using simple ingredients that are readily available.

 

You also know that it is delicious, because after 100 + years it has quite simply stood the test of time.

 

Good fish, onion, potato, salt pork/bacon, water and milk are all you need aside from a few other sundries/seasonings.

 

Soda crackers are not readily available over here in the UK, but you can get Italian crackers that are very similar and they are what I use.  They help to thicken it a bit.

 

My husband  enjoys his with a slice of thick buttered bread . . . 

  

The Canadian in me has to have crackers.  There is just no two ways about it.  I love crackers with my soups.  Enjoy!

 

Seafresh has the UK covered delivery-wise, and has been providing door to door contactless delivery throughout the pandemic. This has really meant a lot to me. 

A few things about Seafresh: