Agile Cod'ing? Another geek fish recipe.

I made this last night, but was too stuffed to type it up. It's better for serving two rather than one. Seasoning is based on the amount of sauce, not the fish, so don't scale up if you don't need more sauce.

Cod & pasta recipe:

• 1-2 Cod fillet
• Olive oil
• 15oz Tomato sauce
• 1/2tsp Onion powder
• 1/2tsp Garlic powder
• 1tsp Oregano (flakes)
• 1tsp White pepper (ground)
• 2tsp Ancho pepper (ground)
• Parsley flakes
• Pasta

(Measurements approximate)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F).
Pour tomato sauce into glass baking dish. Stir in onion, garlic, oregano, white pepper, ancho pepper.
Spray or brush olive oil onto fillets on both sides, then put into the sauce. Cover with the sauce thickly.
Sprinkle parsley flakes over the top of the fish lightly (this would also be where you might add cheeses if you prefer that), then put into the oven for 21 minutes (fish should flake easily with a fork when ready).

While this is cooking, boil your pasta. Preferably timed so that you’ve finished straining the pasta shortly before the fish is done baking. I used shells (conchiglie), but it would be better with flat noodles, such as linguini, mafaldine, farfalle (bow ties).

Once everything is cooked, plate the pasta, then place the fish on the pasta carefully with the sauce and any cheese or parsley you added still over it. Stir the remaining sauce in the pan, then pour it over the pasta.

Make a cute portmanteau of “cod” and whatever pasta you used (eg. “codinguini”) and serve.

Successful dinner

As some of you might know, I experiment with food rather than cook it properly with recipes and the like. This one is simple enough that someone probably has already written it, but I didn't see it with a cursory Google search.

This is blogworthy because there was NO microwaving involved, and it wasn't a disaster.

1 Tilapia fillet (I bought individually wrapped frozen from Schnucks)

1/4tsp each of salt, lemon zest (peel), white pepper

2-3 fresh/frozen cayenne peppers

Foil & water

1 cup Bow Tie pasta

Salt & water

First, I thawed the fish. This took a while. They suggest thawing overnight in the fridge, but alternatively allow you to thaw it in cool water.

Second, I rubbed the salt, lemon zest and white pepper evenly over the fish and set it in foil, making a bowl shape with the foil.

Third, I slitted (cut, but not all the way through) the cayenne peppers and arranged them around the fish.

Fourth, I added about a tablespoon of water along with the juices from the bag the fish came in.

I closed the foil, leaving a vent hole in it, and baked that for about 17 minutes at 400°F.

While that cooked, I prepared Bow Tie pasta, putting that on the plate once it was done. I don't like mine al dente, but you might, and instructions vary by the pasta, so read the side of the box for how to cook that.

I took the tilapia out and carefully lifted it out of the foil and onto the "bed" of pasta. It fell apart on me, so I should have been more careful.

As an anti-vegetarian, this was a very successful medium effort meal. More effort than the microwave (sorry), but tasted so much better and was so much more moist.

I'm pretty sure this can be done over a campfire as well, though you're probably not going to catch frozen tilapia while out camping, and keeping your campfire at 400°F is a little tricky. ;)