Oven-Fried Alaskan Pacific Cod

I have a profound appreciation for Alaskan sourced wild fish. Alaskan salmon flesh is deeply, salmony pink and muscular, the halibut flesh is tender and sweet, and the cod: exquisitely pale and nearly translucent when raw, becomes satisfyingly dense and flaky when cooked. My favorite way to cook wild cod is to oven fry it on 350 degrees so that it cooks gently. It took me years, literally, to get it right with cod. Gone are the baking-on-high-heat days and the deep-fry days. These methods, in my experience, ruins the delicate cod flesh and makes it tough and tasteless.

When cooking and eating cod fish, its origin makes a difference. I have discovered wild-caught Alaskan Pacific cod. This cod is caught in the Pacific ocean in Alaska and is processed in Anchorage. It's a product of the U.S.A., and when it comes to sustainable seafood, that's a good thing.

I purchased 24 ounces of Copper River Seafood's Alaskan Pacific Cod, which is certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Good places to look for sustainable seafood include Whole Foods, which now sells only sustainable seafood, Safeway, Wegman's, Walmart, and Target. These stores are the current supermarket leaders in their offerings of sustainable seafood.

Give this recipe a try the next time you cook cod. You'll love it, I'm sure.

*Note: I was not compensated in any way for this post (I just believe in sustainable seafood!)

Give the cod portions an egg bath

Bread with cornflake crumbs or cracker meal

Bake on 350-degrees for 15-20 minutes

Enjoy the tender flakiness of your cod

Recipe: Oven-Fried Alaskan Pacific Cod (Serves 4)

Ingredients

 1 1/2 pounds Alaskan Pacific cod (frozen, individual portions or fresh cod cut into 4-inch pieces)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper

2 cups corn flake crumbs, crushed finely or prepared cracker meal crumbs

Non-stick cooking spray

Directions

1. Dry cod on several layers of paper towels to remove excess moisture.
2. Beat eggs in medium to large bowl
3. Divide cod in four batches; dip each cod piece in egg and coat both sides thoroughly. 
4. Place egg-coated cod pieces on clean cutting board (used only for meat and/or seafood). Season the cod liberally on both sides or place crumbs in a large, shallow dish and add seasoning to the corn flake or cracker meal crumbs. 
5. Coat both sides of the fish with crumbs.
6. Spray a large baking dish or grill pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place fish in pan and evenly space fish (do not crowd the pan--use two pans if needed). 
7. Bake fish at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the fish reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Remove fish after cooking time and allow it to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.