Baked Flounder with Parmesan Crumbs

We know that eating fish is good for us and we should have it at least once (twice?) a week.  But if you’re anything like me, good intentions fall by the wayside and it doesn’t happen as much as it should.  It’s too expensive.  It’s too complicated.  Pasta is easier.  The kids won’t eat it.  Pick your excuse, we all do it.  BUT…

With this recipe, we can get rid of at least two excuses … the expense and the complicated nature of making fish.  I found this recipe in a special edition of Food & Wine, and it’s from Nigel Slater, a popular British chef.  When you see how easy it is to make, you won’t hesitate to make it again and again.  And the expense?  Well, yes, fish can be sometimes expensive, but look for what’s on sale.   Although the recipe calls for flounder, you can easily substitute it with another firm, white fish.  Flounder was a whopping $12.99 a pound, so I went with the more economical choice of tilapia this time, at $5.99 a pound.

Now that one last pesky excuse … the kids.  Madeline would totally eat it, but she also tries to eat rocks from the garden and Eli’s dog food, so that’s not saying much.  Nick wants no part of most fish.  Sometimes dinner gets to be about what you actually want to eat, and not necessarily what the kids will eat.  The rest will figure itself out.  That’s what leftovers are for, right?

As for the recipe itself?  Delicious.  Mix just five ingredients together, ingredients you likely have on hand, top the fish with it and bake for15 minutes.  I kid you not.  It smells wonderful while it’s cooking, and even better when it comes out.  It will be hard to stop yourself from picking at the little cheesy bits on the bottom of the baking dish.  Well, I found it hard.  You may have greater self-restraint.

I halved the recipe, getting two portions as the end result.  I ate one, and saved the second for lunch the next day, where it ended up warmed on a crusty hard roll with melted sharp Cheddar and juicy Jersey tomatoes.  My mouth is just watering thinking of it again.  Oh, but if you eat the leftovers, please, please, please do not take them to work.  Fish + microwave = unhappy coworkers.  Let’s just say I know from experience.  And no, it wasn’t me.

P.S.  And that pretty blue plate?  One of the plates that Nick picked out for me for Mother’s Day, to specifically use for taking food photos. 

Baked Flounder with Parmesan Crumbs
Recipe courtesy of Nigel Slater

4 flounder fillets (2 pounds total)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425°. In a large baking dish, season the fish fillets with salt and pepper. Mix the Parmesan with the bread crumbs, melted butter and olive oil and sprinkle over the fillets. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the fish is cooked and the topping is golden. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

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