Filet of Cod Meuniere with Wilted Spinach

Please don't be gun shy with this recipe's fancy name. In its' simplest form it is a pan cooked cod that gets a light dusting of flour and sauteed. Sauce Meuniere is a lemon butter sauce that gets dressed up with some fresh parsley. The cooking technique is French but it is a very simple and delicious way to prepare this fish. You can do this with filet of sole which is another nice flaky white fish or any nice white flaky fish of your choice that you like and is affordable to you.


Whenever we grow tired of chicken, pork and beef another choice for us is fish. In fact I think our bodies trigger cravings letting us know what it needs. In my case if I am craving fish, it's not necessarily because I am bored of chicken, pork or beef but rather my body telling me what I need.

A four ounce portion of cod is loaded with vitamin B12. You need vitamin B12 in your diet to keep homo-cysteine levels low. Lowering those levels reduces your risk for heart attack or stroke and reduces the likelihood of osteoporosis. Overall it's low calorie and a great source of protein. It has blood thinning properties due to the omega-3 fatty acids.

Other than the healthy benefits cod is just such a delicious, mild white fish. I love it and love cooking with it. It's so versatile and I have quite a few cod recipes here on the blog already. Today I decided to look for cod filets rather than the loin and use some fresh spinach I have left to make our dinner for this evening.

• 1.85 lbs. cod (a little over 1 3/4 lbs.)
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 lemon (large)
• 1/2 stick butter
• olive oil
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• fresh parsley (chopped small to add the the sauce/for garnish)

1. Cut your cod into appropriate portion sizes as shown in the photograph at the bottom of the post. You will have some thicker loins and the thinner filets if you purchase the whole cod filet as I did.
2. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on both sides of the filet.
3. In a dish mix the flour, kosher salt, paprika and black pepper until well combined.
4. Get a large frying pan set on the stove top over medium heat. Let the skillet get hot then add in about 2 tablespoon of olive oil (or canola if you have that).
5. Dredge the filets in the flour, shake off excess and fry them to golden brown. Do the loins first as they are thicker. Fry for about 4-5 minutes per side. The thinner filets about 2 minutes per side. Turn over and fry the other side. Remove to a waiting platter and place in a warm oven while you finish the rest of the fish.
6. Wipe the pan out with paper towels before doing the second batch.
7.  After the last of the fish is done, add the butter to the pan adjust the heat down so you don't burn the butter. You'll note it does turn slightly brown as you have left the remnants of flour from frying. Squeeze in the juice of a lemon, about 2 teaspoons of fresh chopped parsley and stir. That's it. The sauce is ready to pour over the filets.

The cod filet the man gave me from the store was indeed the whole filet - usually they are already cut meaning that the loin is separated from the thinner filet. As the fish was just being added to the case that morning it had arrived and it was FRESH fish, not even frozen. You could really taste the difference too. Wow oh wow was this fish excellent. Frozen cod is great, but fresh...just over the top excellent. So if you get a chance please purchase some you will not be disappointed. The filet cost me $13.07 and you can see that I got six nice portions from the photograph below. The thicker loins, I had to cut one in half. Each portion of fish works out to $2.17 each.

As I mentioned earlier in the post I love cod. I put together a post last July called Crazy For Cod and it has links to many other recipes here at Cooking On A Budget that you may want to check out.