Friday Night Fish Dinner
When I was a preschool kid back in New Jersey we had an Italian neighbor called Nan Papparella. Nan used to look after my sister and I while our mom was at work. She had a big boxer dog called Baron that loved and protected us. And, slobbered our faces. When our mom was going to be late getting home Nan would feed us supper.
If it was on a Friday it was always “Friday Night Fish Dinner”. Whatever the freshest fish at the seafood store was, that’s what Nan would buy. She never would bread it. She would just do it in a skillet like this. Most of the time Mackerel or Cod. Sometimes Flounder or Sea Bass.
I was in Costco the other day and saw some frozen Sea Bass filets and it made me think about Nan and Baron. And “Friday Night Fish Dinner” at Nan’s house. I got wet eyes and a smile at the same time thinking back. Well, anyway, here’s how Nan did it. It’s real easy to make happen and it is real good.
If your filets are frozen just put them in a bowl of water to thaw out while you get the olive oil mix going. Put a skillet on at medium high. Whisk together the olive oil and the lemon juice. Add it to the skillet and whisk it a few more times as it heats up. The oil and the lemon juice will blend together even more as they heat up. Right now you could get a little adventurous and add whatever herbs or spices that YOU want – or not. Tonight I went with a pinch each of dried dill weed, lemon pepper and dried basil leaves.
Whisk in the herbs and lay the filets in the pan.
Spoon the liquid over the filets as they cook. They are going to cook pretty quick so just about a minute to a minute and a half each side. Maybe a little more depending on how thick your filets are. If you using thicker filets like tuna or cod cook them more like three to four minutes a side. Fish is done when you lightly poke it with a fork and it wants to flake apart.
I multi tasked and “baked” a potato in the microwave and boiled some of those pre-cleaned and cut up carrots.
Enjoy your Friday Night Fish Dinner. For our wine tonight we had Gammy’s favorite white, of course, Santa Margarita’s Pinot Grigio. And don’t forget to throw together some of Poppop’s Easy No Knead Bread.
Here is a very tasty recipe for Lemon Zested Cod Filets oven baked and only 25 minutes
Friday Night Fish Dinner - Quick and Easy - Gluten Free - Paleo - Mediterranean Diet
Ingredients
- 2 6-8 oz. filets sea bass or any other fish filet you like
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 fresh lemon juiced
- 1 pinch dried dill weed optional
- 1 pinch lemon pepper optional
- 1 pinch dried basil leaves optional
Instructions
- Put a skillet on at medium high. Whisk the olive oil and the lemon juice together in a bowl. Add the oiled lemon juice mixture to the skillet. Whisk in the dill weed, lemon pepper and basil. Whisk it a few more times as it heats up.
- Carefully add the filets to the skillet. Spoon the liquid on the filets as they cook. They are going to cook pretty quick so just about a minute to a minute and a half each side. Maybe a little more depending on how thick your filets are. If you using thicker filets like tuna or cod cook more like three to four minutes a side. Fish is done when you lightly poke it with a fork and it wants to flake apart.
- When you put the filets on the plates spoon some the liquid from the pan on them. Enjoy your Friday Night Fish Dinner. For our wine tonight we had Gammy's favorite white, of course, Santa Margarita's Pinot Grigio.
