I like fish, but I don’t cook it as often as I’d wish I did. I’ve been on a casual quest to change that, looking for tasty ways to prepare it. This week, that led me to Foil-Baked Cod with Ginger, Orange, and Cumin. I loved this dish and can’t wait to make it again. So easy, it almost doesn’t feel like cooking. And fast. And light. Yet incredibly tasty – what a deal! It does takes a lot of prep space, but that’s the only hurdle you’ll face. Out of cumin? Just as good with rosemary.
Ingredients for 6 servings:
Juice of 1 orange (2-4 oz.)
1½ tsp grated ginger
3 Tbs olive oil
5 oz. baby spinach
Salt and pepper
2¼ lbs cod fillets
Cumin or crushed rosemary, to taste
Red pepper flakes, to taste
How To Do It:
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
- Stir together juice, ginger, and oil. Set aside.
- Rip 6 long sheets (20″ x 12″) of foil off the roll and spread them out on a large work surface.
- Divide the spinach among the foil sheets and sprinkle with two light pinches of salt and a grind of pepper each.
- Divide the fish among the sheets, laying each piece atop its bed of greens. Sprinkle each piece with two generous pinches of salt (or more, to taste) and a few generous grinds of pepper.
- Dust each piece of fish with several pinches of cumin or rosemary. Be generous – the fish can take it.
- Sprinkle a few red pepper flakes over each piece of fish. Go easy with the flakes, especially if the ginger is spicy.
- Give the orange mixture a stir, and divide it among the servings.
- Seal each piece of fish in its foil packet, crimping well.
- Place in the oven, directly on the racks, and bake for 18 minutes.
- Place each packet on a serving plate and serve immediately.
Notes:
- Because the fillets are thicker on one end than the other, I folded the thinner end under to compact the packet and to promote even cooking.
- I worried that I should crimp the foil a bit before adding liquid, for fear that the liquid would run off the foil. It didn’t … but I felt better crimping nonetheless. I also worried that the packets would leak in the oven. They didn’t – but it’s a distinct possibility that you should watch out for. The thinner the foil, the more likely that a tear – even a tiny one – will develop, especially as you’re removing the fish from the oven. I found that using tongs in one hand and a large pancake flipper in the other is the easiest way to get the packets out of the oven.
- This recipe is a modification of one by Laurent Tourondel. You can find it in “The Best American Recipes: 2005-2006,” by McCullough & Stevens (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, pg. 118-19). Tourondel likes to serve the fish right in the packets; I prefer to serve it in shallow bowls. It’s slightly tricky to get the fish into a bowl, since the cooked fish is delicate; if you leave it in the foil, you’re guaranteed to have it looking beautiful.
- This would work wonderfully with lemon or lime juice. Butter would be a delicious substitute for the oil, but I really like the olive oil – not just the taste, but the idea of using it – in this dish.
- The recipe produces more sauce than you might suspect. Consider serving this with a side of rice, or some good bread, as a vehicle for all that sauce. If you use rice, I suggest you have it fully cooked before you start in on the fish. (That’s how fast a recipe this is.) I used smashed Yukon golds that I tossed with butter, lemon zest, salt, and pepper.
- The cooking time is just enough to cook the spinach, and still leave it with a tiny bit of a crunch.
- This would be a perfect dish to serve guests if you’re looking to keep it casual. Do your prep work just before the guests arrive, preheat the oven while you’re all enjoying cocktails, and toss the packets into the oven whenever you feel like it.
- You could do this on a campfire with a few minor adjustments.
This fish is best freshly-baked, although reheated gently in the microwave, it’s almost just as good. When you first bake it, because the fish is sealed in foil, your house will not smell like fish. However, after heating up even a single leftover portion, it will.
Although this method of cooking fish was new to me when I tried this recipe, it’s hardly a new idea. In the Roman cookbook Apicius, (written in the first few centuries CE) there is a recipe that calls for stuffing fish with, among other things, cumin and honey, sewing it up in a parchment packet, and steaming it. Once done, it’s suggested that you serve it with oil, a wine reduction, and garum (an ancient condiment made of fermented fish paste).
Foil-Baked Cod with Ginger, Orange, and Cumin
While doing research for this recipe, I discovered the Exploding Ketchup Prank.
This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was not written in exchange for anything.
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Jeff this looks delicious. Love the combo of the ginger, orange and cumin. And you are proving we are so thinking alike because I recently tried my first foil seafood cooking package.
I know! That’s so funny, because as I was reading your recipe, I was thinking the same thing! GMTA!
I am drooling over that gorgeous cod filet terribly, Jeff. You really should post more fish recipes in future. I ADORE seafood 🙂
angiesrecipes recently posted…Black Rice with Cauliflower Hummus
Well, I think I will, Angie, because I really liked this one.
Sounds great to me! Especially like orange, ginger, and cumin together on just about anything.
Thanks, Bill!
Jeff, are you the guy who microwaves fish in the office breakroom? There’s always that guy…don’t be that guy. Hah! This recipe sounds awesome though. Love the flavor profile, and you’re crimping abilities should not be understated here.
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Thanks, David. No, I’m not the guy who microwaves fish in the breakroom. But I’ve always aspired to one day be the guy who opens up a pack of tuna, boiled eggs, and a really smelly cheese on an airplane, sitting in the center seat.
I love this Jeff. I’m a big fan of fish recipes. I don’t do many as Lynne is not so keen, but when I get the chance this is exactly what I’m be looking for. Something exceptionally flavourful. That orange, ginger and cumin combo sounds delicious! Yum!
Thanks, Neil!
Yum! I live sound of these flavors. For some reason, I haven’t tried foil baking method for fish. I am most likely to grill or pan sear it.
David Crowley recently posted…Our Best Grilling Recipes for the Fourth of July
It was super easy – although I bet the grill adds a lot of flavor!
Perfect! I have to tell you that I often have the fish guy at our Krogers put together a cooking packet for me. They do it for free and though the seasonings aren’t as luxurious as yours, they sure do come in handy on a busy day!
What a great idea! I didn’t know you could ask for that sort of thing.
Love the flavours on this one, the cumin and ginger is perfect with that delicate cod
Thanks!
Wow, your cod is perfectly cooked! And the flavors sound terrific. Trying to get my husband to branch out and try some new fish—I “think” he’d go for cod as it’s so mild. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks, Liz! I can’t imagine anyone not liking this. It’s so not fishy.
This method is one of my favourite methods of cooking fish, mainly because cleanup is easy! I prefer to use parchment instead of foil though. The spices also sound wonderful, I will try this combo on my next fish dish and as luck would have it, I have an extra orange sitting around. Creamed cauliflower would also make a wonderful side.
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I’ve had a hankering for cauliflower lately! I’ll try parchment next time; I think I’d enjoy eating straight from the parchment in a way that that I don’t with foil.
I’m in the same boat as you — really like fish, but don’t often cook it. But I don’t actually cook meat that much, either — even though we’re not vegetarians, we cook vegetarian a lot. Anyway, this looks wonderful — great way to cook fish. Love how you’ve flavored it, too. Thanks. And Happy 4th!
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Happy 4th to you, too, John!
This is a beautiful combination of flavors and a great way to cook fish. GREG
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Thanks, Greg!
Jeff, like you I’m a fish and seafood lover. We getting lovely fresh Baltic cod here now, so I see a perfect match for our torsk (cod) and your recipe. It looks easy to make, yet sophisticated! Bravo 👏🏻.
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Thanks, Ron. I really like this recipe, so I hope you enjoy it.
I was just commenting the other day how I forget to use parchment packets or foil to bake foods like fish. I have no idea why I forget these cooking techniques! Your cod is beautiful.
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Thanks, Mimi.
Baking in foil is a great way to cook fish. Not only is it easy as you say, the foil wrap keeps things nice and moist.
Thanks, Frank. Yes, it was quite moist.
I love fish and eat it way too often but I don’t foil bake it as often as I should! Cooking that doesn’t feel like cooking is my fav way of cooking 🙂 AND I am so loving the jiving of the Ginger, Orange, and Cumin in this cod bake! Thanks so much for sharing this, Jeff!
Thanks, Shashi!
Would you look at that?! A meal I would totally devour and then want 4 more packets of! But seriously, this sounds delicious and I am not even a white-fish kinda girl!
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It is delicious. I bet it would be a good way to cook salmon, too!
Love your combination of flavors for the fish. While cod is not easy to find in my Florida market, this would be good with fresh snapper I’m sure.
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I’ll bet it would!
Its something new for me, I will definitely give it a try
Cool!