Baked fish dishes: recipes, technology and decoration

Stewed and baked fish dishes are a valuable alternative for those who don’t eat meat for various reasons. In this case, special preference is given to delicacies from the oven, as they are considered tastier. And even to some extent more useful. Many young people avoid recipes for baking fish, as they consider it aerobatics, available only to kitchen aces. In fact, the technology for cooking dishes of baked fish is quite simple. Of greater importance is the specificity of the details, which depends on the type of fish and the product with which it is combined when baking. This article is proof that baking fish in the oven is very simple. Even if there are no skills.

Methods for baking fish

There are many options, while all of them can be divided into categories:

1. Roasting the whole carcass (sometimes with the head). The ridge and large costal bones often remain inside, which is not always liked by many people.
2. Whole fillet. A big piece, but already without bones. It is very convenient, especially if the dish is prepared for children too.
3. Portion slices, steaks. In this embodiment, the ridge may be removed in the process of cutting fish, but may also remain. It all depends on the cook and his recipe.
   

There is also a separation of dishes from baked fish according to the technological process of preparation:

1. Without preliminary heat treatment. Fish is placed in the oven raw and baked until cooked.
2. With primary heat treatment. Pre-fried in a pan, grill or stewed in sauce is brought to standard in the oven. Such dishes of baked fish are especially tasty, since the meat has a more delicate and juicy taste with a fried crust.

Typically, a raw product is often cooked with vegetables and side dishes baked on a baking sheet, while pre-cooked fish is often cooked under a cheese crust, baked in a large amount of sauce or stuffed. The subtleties of baking must be known in order to properly combine not only products, but also taste nuances. Basic features of cooking baked fish dishes:

1. The raw product is usually baked with white sauce. This mayonnaise, sour cream with spices, milk sauce based on flour and sauteed onions.
2. Lightly stewed fish is baked more often with cheese, sometimes with cream-based sauces. This option is for those who do not like toasted crust, but prefer delicate pulp.
3. Pre-fried carcasses or pieces of fish are baked in the oven with tomato sauce, a variety of mushroom fillings, fried onions.

Pollock with mushroom sauce

This dish of baked fish in the oven combines two important factors: frugality and amazing taste, which for most average families is primary in making the menu. Frozen fish of this kind is sold in every supermarket. The prices for it are low, and when you consider that pollock itself is neutral in taste, then creamy mushroom sauce is ideal for him. For cooking, you should take the following proportions of products:

• 750 g fillet of pollock (weight is indicated for thawed fish);
• 400 g of fresh champignons;
• 330 g sour cream (fat content not less than 20%);
• 150 g butter;
• 2 onions;
• 3 tbsp. l wheat flour;
• 3 tsp salts;
• 1 tsp without top of allspice.
  

If pollock seems too primitive, then in this recipe for a dish of baked fish, replace its halibut or flounder fillet.

Cooking

Grate pre-thawed pollock fillet on all sides with a mixture of salt and pepper (½ of the norm) and leave for 10 minutes. Chop the onion into small cubes, and the mushrooms into thin small slices or strips. Warm the oil in a pan and fry the onion in it until transparent. The fire should be medium so that the oil does not smoke. Add mushrooms and stir, simmer for another 5-8 minutes, making the fire stronger. In a small bowl, mix the remaining salt and pepper, flour and sour cream, turning into a base for the sauce. Pour it into the mushrooms, mix thoroughly and reduce the heat again. Stir occasionally, bring the mushroom sauce to a thickening, and then remove from the stove.

Lubricate the baking dish (or baking sheet), put carcasses of pollock on it and gently pour the sauce on them. It does not need to be cooled. Place the pan in the oven and bake until the fish is ready. It takes about half an hour at a temperature of 180 degrees. It is recommended to serve such a dish of baked fish with boiled rice or mashed potatoes, sprinkling pollock with finely chopped parsley or dill.

Carp with lemon

True connoisseurs of river fish know that, ideally, it should be baked without any frills, so as not to distort its natural sweet taste. Of course, not everyone likes finished fish with a lot of seeds. But if you choose a carcass about 1 kg in size, then you can avoid such an unpleasant phenomenon. It is easiest to remove the costal bones from fish of this size in the process of absorbing a dish.

To bake the whole fish in the oven, as its connoisseurs advise, you should prepare the following set of ingredients:

• 1 kg of carp carcass;
• 1 pc. bulbs and lemon;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• 2 tbsp. l sour cream or mayonnaise, you can also use ordinary vegetable oil;
• a bunch of parsley;
• salt and black pepper are added to suit your preferences.

This dish of baked fish is especially tasty if you cook it on the grill. The carp is impregnated with a light haze, and at the same time acquires an appetizing golden brown crust, which in combination with tender meat forms an incredible taste. Serve better with fresh vegetables, rustic baked potatoes or just salad greens.

How to cook a dish?

The technology for cooking baked fish with lemon is not distinguished by special culinary tricks, so minimalists like it very much in life. According to this recipe, only fresh fish is used. After cleaning and gutting, it should be thoroughly washed under running water and dried with a paper towel, removing drops. This is necessary so that when baking, the fish gets a crisp. And if it is too wet when laying in the oven, it will rather be stewed in its own juice, releasing liquid.

Cut a small onion into thin half rings in the same way as a lemon. It perfectly relieves river fish of its inherent smell of mud, while endowing it with a delicate, sour taste. Pass the garlic through a press and mix with pepper, salt and sour cream.

For fish, make a knife with two or three cuts across the carcass and carefully coat it on all sides with a sharp garlic sauce. Then put a few slices of lemon with onions and a little parsley inside the abdomen. So the smell of mud will go away faster. At the same time, there should be enough space inside the fish for air circulation. No need to stuff it tightly. Insert slices of lemon into the cuts on the sides of the carcass, leave it for 15 minutes to soak in spices, and then put on a baking sheet. Cook in the oven at a temperature of 240-270 degrees for half an hour.

On the brazier, this time is reduced to 15-20 minutes. Therefore, you should monitor her appearance, not allowing her to get too dark. Before serving, the design of a dish of baked fish is reduced to the fact that the contents are carefully removed from the abdomen (lemon slices from the incisions can also be removed), and the carp is placed on fresh lettuce leaves, fan-shaped on a dish. If there are errors that sometimes occur during heat treatment, then at the time of filing, you can hide them with a thin mesh of mayonnaise. It looks pretty festive, so chefs often use this trick in their arsenal. A similar principle is prepared for baked fish stuffed with mushrooms, onions, carrots and even potatoes.

Some tips

Cooking dishes of baked fish in inexperienced housewives is often accompanied by mistakes, and sometimes outright failures due to the fact that there is no clear understanding of the difference between stewing, frying and baking fish. Also, most people are completely unfamiliar with the intricacies of these processes when working with this product, so the results are sometimes fundamentally different from the ideas. Several important notes from experts will help to avoid annoying oversights:

1. It is recommended that you always dry the fish before frying and baking with a paper towel, removing water. You can also use clean linen fabric for this purpose.
2. Dry (non-greasy) fish varieties can be baked without prior frying. But it is advisable in the process to pour it with oil, allocated juice or just cover it with a sauce that suits your taste.
3. Fatty varieties of fish, especially if it has been cut into slices, must be breaded in finely chopped breadcrumbs and fried in a well-heated skillet before baking. Then the crust will have a more even appearance. And the fish will not fall apart in the process of subsequent heat treatment.
4. If it is planned to bake in the sauce, then it is necessary to pour part of it into the mold, and then put the fish there and additionally pour the sauce on top. Thus, the carcass is evenly soaked. Otherwise, it will have to be turned over, violating the beauty of the forms.
5. It is good to cook fish slices in tomato sauce. From small varieties, capelin and flounder are very tasty.
6. When preparing dishes from baked fish, one should not combine it with too many varied products. She will lose her true taste, acquiring mixed shades. From the position of professional chefs, this is a gross violation of the rules of cooking.

How to serve baked fish beautifully?

One good recipe and proper cooking is not enough. Especially if it is prepared for the festive table. Effective delivery also plays a role. Making dishes of baked fish can be a real creative process, no less interesting than the preparation itself. It is important not to overdo it so that the main product is not buried under a mountain of decor or side dish. Therefore, a few practical tips will help you navigate and choose the option you need:

1. If the fish is baked simply with lemon (or without), you do not need to serve it, coated with mayonnaise or doused with tons of potatoes. It is better to limit yourself to salad greens. As a last resort, use a few mugs of fresh lemon decorated with olives.
2. Fish baked whole in sauce or under a cheese crust is served. Especially if along with it on one baking sheet a side dish was prepared: potatoes or other vegetables. They are laid out on both sides of the fish in a dish, decorating with small sprigs of parsley. It is such a dish that is usually decorated with a neat net of mayonnaise and cranberry berries for contrast.
3. It is very convenient to use beautiful baking dishes made of refractory glass. Then the fish can be served directly on the table without moving it to another plate. Often a baked dish turns out to be very tender, and when transferred to another dish may lose its integrity. This does not affect the taste, but the appearance will be spoiled, which is no less annoying after so many efforts.
   

Also, in the traditional design of baked fish, flowers from vegetables, potato and cheese croquettes, gherkins, small bouquets of fresh herbs or even pickled plums are often used.

Salmon under cheese crust

Baked fish in the oven with cheese is a classic dish for the festive table. It is especially suitable for a warm, friendly company, in which interesting recipes are often exchanged. This dish will definitely be the most effective, combining ease of preparation and delicate taste. For cooking, you need a whole filet of salmon (not steaks), moreover, weighing at least one kilogram. It is then that the dish will have a presentable appearance.

The recipe is indicated for fish that weighs at least 1 kg. But if the company is large, it is better to double the proportions, since the dish is really very tasty and will end quickly.

• 1 kg raw salmon fillet;
• 220 g parmesan cheese;
• 120 g mozzarella cheese;
• 1 onion;
• 100 g of yogurt without additives;
• ½ tbsp l Dijon mustard;
• 50 ml of freshly squeezed lemon juice;
• 1 large clove of garlic;
• 1/3 tsp black pepper and salt to taste.

Step cooking

This recipe for baked fish (the photo of the dish is shown below) is good in that it excludes long cooking and hour-long wait until the product reaches readiness. The whole process from the start to serving takes no more than half an hour. Typically, salmon fillet is sold ready to bake. And this fish very quickly comes to condition. Therefore, before starting the process, the oven should be turned on in advance. Cover the baking tray with foil and grease with a silicone brush.

Put the fish fillet on it, slightly salt, sprinkle with ground pepper. Chop onions very thinly and put on top in an even layer. In a small bowl, combine mustard, garlic, yogurt and lemon juice, rub the mass thoroughly and cover it with salmon. Grate both types of cheese and mix together. Sprinkle the resulting mass on top and place the pan in the oven. Bake for about 18-20 minutes at a temperature of 220 degrees. To give a more pronounced crust at the end, you can turn on the "grill" for five minutes. Baked salmon with cheese goes well with both rice and vegetables. But even just with a slice of yeast-free bread he is truly gorgeous!

“Two in a boat”: recipe

This recipe is ideal for those who prefer fish to pieces. And baked immediately with vegetables in their own juice. For such purposes, it is convenient to use foil, since it allows the fish to bake evenly from all sides, without a pronounced browning crust on top. The name of the dish of baked fish “Two in a boat” is due to the fact that two pieces per serving are usually used, which are placed together in one form of foil. To prepare 1.5 kg, you should take these additional ingredients:

• 1 tsp. a mixture of peppers (black, allspice) and caraway seeds (can be replaced with rosemary);
• 4 cloves of garlic;
• juice 2/3 lemon;
• 200-300 g of hard cheese;
• 1/2 tsp. dry ginger powder and nutmeg;
• 2 tbsp. l without top sugar and salt;
• 2 bell peppers of different colors;
• a small bunch of green onions;
• a handful of olives and olives;
• 150 g of vegetable oil.

Usually, pangasius fillet and trout are used to cook baked fish according to this recipe. But you can also take zander, catfish or salmon. One of the important conditions in the choice of fish is a fillet without small bones, so that during the meal they do not interfere with enjoying the taste.

Step cooking

Raw fish fillet cut into portioned pieces (about 4 cm wide), make sure that there are no seeds. Mix sugar and salt, dissolve them in two glasses of filtered water at room temperature and soak the fish pieces in it. Meanwhile, prepare from a foil folded two to three times, boats made on the principle of candy (or in your own way). In total, at least eight such molds are needed. Although the exact amount depends on the pieces of fish.

Next, the marinade is prepared:

• mix all spices, garlic and a pinch of salt, grind in a mortar into a homogeneous mass, carefully rubbing with a pestle;
• add oil and lemon juice at the end, mix with a spoon;
• discard the fish soaked in salt water in a colander, let it drain and then pour it in a spicy marinade;
• mix well with your hands so that the pieces are evenly smeared with spices.

While the fish is pickling, prepare the vegetable part of the dish: peel and cut into small cubes, pitted olives and olives into halves, and green onion feathers into strips, the length of which will not exceed two centimeters.

Place foil boats on a baking sheet. In each put two pieces of fish, pouring them with the remains of the marinade. Place vegetables in equal proportions on top or between them. Put the baking sheet in the oven, set the temperature to 250 degrees and start baking.

Twenty minutes later, remove, sprinkle each filling of the boat with grated cheese and return to the oven for another ten minutes. This completes the preparation of baked fish. The decoration of the dish is not necessary - it can be served directly in the foil. If this is inconvenient, then you can carefully deploy each boat on a portioned plate, remove the foil, and decorate the dish with a small sprig of greenery or circles of fresh cucumber. It’s not worth overloading the decor with fish. She already looks great and smells delicious.

In conclusion, I want to say that each recipe deserves attention, introducing the reader to a fish dish from a new position. And each time - a new taste, pleasant appearance and the subsequent impression of the eaten dish. Therefore, it is recommended for some time to try to cook dishes according to all recipes in order to highlight for yourself exactly what you really like: the classic version of cooking, fish in sauce or in a cheese coat.