Oregon Transplant: Roasted Cod with Herbed Garlic Butter

A simple fish recipe is on deck today.

I love simple fish recipes. Love, love, LOVE them. If you've got lovely, fresh fish (or even just a firm one that's previously been frozen) you won't even need much help in the flavor department. For instance, my hands-down-smack-me-in-the-face favorite way to eat salmon is to sprinkle it with Cajun seasoning and garlic powder and to simply grill it. It's soooooo easy, and soooooo delicious.

This recipe is almost as simple as they come.

Yet it tastes out-of-this world! The first word's out of the hubby's mouth after his first bite? "The flavor of this is amazing!" I'll admit, the butter helps. But then again, so does the garlic. And the shallot. And the fresh parsley...

I love fresh parsley. I love the smell, the flavor, it's bright green, vigorous color. I love the way it grows wild, almost like a weed, and I can go out to my patio April-Novemeber and just pick oodles of it. People, if you can't do a garden, at least try your hand at herbs. They are so low-maintence and they grow pretty much on their own. Herbs are the one things in the garden that I never have trouble with.

Plus, it's so nice to just hit up the backyard instead of hopping in the car and being at the grocery store in 20 minutes. Not to mention that herbs can be expensive. $1 for a bunch of parsley or cilantro. Upwards of $3 for a pack of basil. I hate how you get the smallest amount of herbs for a disproportionate amount of money. And, I hate to mention it, but I'm gonna...

Did you read this article about contaminated cilantro? Here it is. Warning, you are going to want to grow your own everything after reading this.

Ok, so the amazing thing about this recipe is the butter. Making your own herb butter sounds daunting and like it would take a long time, but trust me. It takes 5 seconds. All you have to do is soften your butter, and then mix it with whatever herbs you want. I added parsley, shallot, and garlic to mine. After you've added the herbs, and thoroughly mixed the butter, simply transfer the butter mixture to a piece of plastic wrap. You then roll the butter into a log, and place in the fridge until the butter gets hard again.

Voila! Easy, peasy Herbed Garlic Butter.

The first time I made this, I marveled at how wonderful the herbed butter looked while it was cooking on the fish. Such pretty colors!

Whip up a side salad, and you'll have dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes. Uh, that's right. This recipe is that easy.

Ok. Let's talk about the bed. Lordy. Sears gave us a delivery window last night, from 4 pm- 8 pm. I had the room all ready. I'd moved everything out of the way, we'd put our mattress in the guest bedroom, and dragged the old guest room mattress to the basement. I was sitting on pins and needles at 4, so excited.

5 o'clock came. No mattress.

6 o'clock came. No mattress.

7 o'clock came. No mattress.

At 7:30, I had the hubby call Sears. A customer service rep in India said the delivery guys were finishing up their 16th stop, and we were number 17. She said she showed them getting to our house at 8:08. We were grumpy about this, but we said ok.

8:30 rolls around. No mattress. The hubby calls back, only to have a new rep tell him that the delivery people were at stop number 15 and would be at our house in less than 2 hours. We are justifiably annoyed by this, because who delivers a mattress at 10:30 at night? No one in the Tri-State area, that's for sure. At this point, all we want is someone to tell us they aren't coming. We talked to many reps and even a supervisor, and no one would say that they weren't coming. We went to bed at 11 with Sears still telling us they were on their way. Who does business like this?

At any rate, no mattress. Grr. The little bro will have to sleep on the full mattress for the duration of his vacation, because I have a feeling we won't see that mattress for another 2 weeks. Long-time readers will remember our saga with building the house and trying to get Sears to deliver the appliances, so you are probably asking yourselves why we even bought anything from Sears again.

The answer is... I don't know. Stockholm Syndrome? We saw 60% off mattresses and became amnesiacs? LOL. I don't know. I'm going to try to let it go, and in the meantime, everyone will have to wait for the master bedroom reveal. Boo hiss.

Alright friends, have a fantastic Wednesday!

Ingredients (serves 3):

1/4 cup butter, unsalted, softened

1 garlic clove, finely minced

2 tsp shallot, finely minced

2 tsp fresh parsley, finely minced1 tbsp olive oil

3 cod filets

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Combine butter, garlic, shallot, and parsley in a small bowl. Mix until well combined. Lay a piece of plastic wrap out flat and place butter mixture on one end. Roll butter up like a log, then place in the fridge for 2-3 hours.

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add olive oil. Season cod filets with salt and pepper, and then place in skillet. Cook 4 minutes on one side, then flip filet over. Cook 1 minute.

2. Place 1 tbsp of garlic butter on each filet. Cover pan, and cook for another 3 minutes. Fish should be done at this point, it should flake easily with a fork. Remove fish from heat. Serve fish with any remaining butter.

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