Leftover Monday: Cod with Lemon Butter Sauce
Just like last week, I was confronted with some highly perishable leftover fish. Knowing that he seldom leads me wrong, I turned to Alton Brown.
His recipe is titled simply “Pan Fried Fish,” and simple it was. He calls for trout, which is nearly the opposite of the cod I had in the fridge, but I decided it couldn’t be too bad; it did call for three full tablespoons of butter after all.
Salt and pepper the cod fillets and roll them in flour. Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium heat and add some vegetable oil and butter. When the butter stops foaming, or in my case, you get nervous and think its burning, add the fish and cook until golden brown on all sides.
Move the fish to a plate and drain the oil from the pan. Rinse the pan, then return to the heat with two more tablespoons of butter. As the butter melts, throw in a tablespoon or two of drained capers (also leftover from yesterday, score!), and the juice of one lemon. Stir until the sauce thickens a bit.
This was a qualified success. The texture and the taste of the fish was just as good as yesterday, and the sauce had a lot of potential. I would scale back the lemon by half and at a few shakes of Tabasco, but on the whole, I was very happy. The whole recipe took 10 minutes, which I can’t argue with.
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Tags: alton brown, butter, Leftover Monday, seafood
March 9, 2009 6:59 pm 
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By baggewc, March 11, 2009 @ 8:20 am
I am so proud to see one of my hand me down plates proudly displayed on your blog! I think I will be asking for royalties soon…
By Daniel "Chops" Ambord, March 11, 2009 @ 10:20 am
Sounds like a good strategy to me. Tabasco pretty much makes everything better.