Pecan Brown Butter Cod

Deliciousness on the table in ten to twelve minutes, tops

First, we talk pasta sauce.

If you want a job where you get lots of free food, become a grocery store buyer. They get so many products sent to them, I actually think I would hate it. There’s a lot of crappy food out there.

BUT…

If the box you get is a sample pack of Eat Happy Kitchen sauces?

You would be stoked! Or at least I think so.

So we’ve been sending out sample packs to grocery stores for some time now, and I don’t know why it never struck me that we should be making these sample packs available for purchase to you lovely Happies.

A woman named Sandy wrote me yesterday, “I have never tried the sauces, but now that you have the sampler pack, I will!”

SANDY, BABY!! YOU HAVEN’T TRIED OUR SAUCES??? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR TREE???

Nah, Sandy is of sound mind. She just didn’t wanna take the plunge on a twin pack. And while I am well aware how amazing our sauces are, Sandy wasn’t, so she ordered a quad pack.

Be like Sandy. Grab your sauce.

Pecan Brown Butter Cod, recipe and photo by me, Anna Vocino

Make this recipe. It is so easy, you’ll go into shock. It’s so good, you might perish.

I didn’t let my butter brown quite enough for this photo, but it doesn’t matter. Brown butter is delicious no matter what shade of brown it is.

Brown butter is back. It was the epitome of a restaurant seafood dish experience in the late 80s, along with table side caesar salad and sun dried tomato anything.

Now brown butter seems to be everywhere, so I guess it’s true that if you live long enough, every trend comes back around. But unlike fashion, if you ate it the first time it trended, you can certain eat it the next time.

Brown butter really is the perfect thing to serve with seafood, so you could sub out the cod for halibut, trout, salmon, tilapia, haddock, or even large sea scallops. I like making this in a cast iron pan because I believe it helps brown the butter perfectly, but any large, flat fry pan will do.

Since fish cooks down so small, I always estimate 1/2 pound serving per person, so 1 pound serves 2 people, 2 pounds for 4 peeps, etc.

When I make this dish, I use EHK Salt Dust (also now available on Amazon, hayyyyy) in place of the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried chives. Yet another application for my beloved Salt Dust. But don’t skip the cumin on this fish, which gives a good earthy base to all the other flavors.

As always, here’s the downloadable, printable version of this recipe.

Enjoy another weeknight meal from my kitchen, y’all.

XO

Anna

PECAN BROWN BUTTER COD

(Serves 4)

• 2 pounds cod filets

• Salt and pepper

• Garlic powder, onion powder, dried chives, and cumin for seasoning

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 8 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks

• 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

• 1/2 cup pecan pieces

• Juice of 1 lemon

• Parsley, for garnish

Season the cod filets well with the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and dried chives. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan or cast iron pan to medium high heat, until the oil it hot and shimmering. Cook the cod filets for 2-3 minutes per side, until they’re cooked through and starting to flake off at the ends. Remove the cod from the pan and let rest on a plate covered with foil.

Add the butter to the hot pan and let it melt, then add the red, bringing the butter to a bubbly boil, letting the onion soften but not burn, about 3-4 minutes. Then toss in the pecan pieces, cooking for 2-3 minutes as the butter browns and the nuts become fragrant and brown, stirring often to keep the nuts from burning. Whisk in the lemon juice, cook for 1-2 more minutes, season with salt and pepper. Plate the cod filets on a serving dish or plate and pour the brown butter pecan mixture over them, then serve, garnished with parsley.