What the heck do I do with.....Cod???

Welcome to the 1st edition of "What the heck do I do with...???", a series of posts dedicated to seasonally, possibly local, maybe strange, ingredients. I'm starting with good old cod, a flaky, white fish, which has a mild flavor. Cod is a great low calorie source of protein and has a variety of nutrients (vitamin B, potassium, selenium, tryptophan and omega-3 fatty acids).

Due to it's mild flavor and flaky consistency, cod can easily be used to make cod cakes.

To make cod cakes, cook cod fillets in about 1 inch of lightly salted water; this should take around 6 minutes. Remove the cods and put them on a plate with paper towel to drain and dry.
Pat the fillets dry and flake them in a bowl into medium flakes.

To bind the fish together, in this recipe I used an egg yolk and greek yogurt as well as whole wheat panko crumbs. For flavor I added minced scallions, chopped parsley, Dijon mustard, lemon juice and S+P. You could use a whole egg or mayo (but I feel that adds unnecessary fat).

Once you have your basic mix, you form them into patties, and bread with a coating of panko crumbs. This is best done by placing a bed of crumbs out on a plate and pressing the cod patty into the crumbs.

At this point, the cod cakes could be refrigerated for a couple hours to set up, but this step is not required. It is a good option however, for those who need to juggle their time. Set the cakes up ahead of time and cook later in the day after you work or you do whatever you have to do.

Pan saute the cakes in canola oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes, then flip. You can see in the pictures that not much oil is needed; only enough to coat the bottom of the pan should do it. Beware of wanting to rush the cooking by turning the heat too high. The crust will brown too quickly before the cod cake "cooks" through, so be sure to keep the heat on medium.



Once you flip, cook the cod cake on the other side another 3-4 minutes. Remove from the pan and season while still warm with a pinch of salt.

These cod cakes are worth giving a try. You could even substitute other fish or shellfish and I'm sure the result would be great (crab for instance).
If you have any questions please email or leave a comment.
Enjoy!