How to Make Sheet-Pan Lemon-Herb Cod Filets with Crispy Garlic Potatoes | Julia at Home

Julia makes a simple recipe for baked cod with a bed of potatoes underneath.

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– Today, I’m making a simple recipe for baked cod, which is a favorite in this house because my 12-year-old daughter will eat it without complaint, so we have it quite a bit. And I’m not just gonna roast it on its own. I’m gonna put a bed of potatoes underneath,

A little nod to my heritage, because growing up, my German grandmother had potatoes with every meal. It wasn’t dinner unless there are potatoes on the table. This recipe is cool because you make little potato rafts on a baking sheet, and you roast them on their own,

And then you add the cod at the end. So we’re gonna use russet potatoes. They crisp up really nice and they have a good, hearty flavor. And I like leaving the skins on. It’s good fiber. I make sure I buy organic if I’m eating the skins,

And I scrub the dickens out of it with a sponge. And what I’m gonna do now is slice it into 1/4-inch thick slices. You don’t have to be super precise here. Some of the thinner potatoes get almost like potato chips, and the thicker ones get a nice creamy texture.

And I like that contrast. So I try to make ’em all relatively the same thickness, but if they’re a little off it’s okay. And you can obviously use a mandolin here if you want. But pulling out something like a mandolin when you’re just cutting up three potatoes,

Unless you have really lousy knife skills, then a mandolin’s good. But most of us, I think, could just take our time and slice these potatoes nice and thinly. You see this guy? See how he’s a little thin on that edge? Now, normally that would be the guy that you’d probably wanna pitch

Because it’s not the same thickness, but in this recipe, that edge is gonna get like a potato chip, super crisp. So that’s one of my favorite guys. I’m gonna leave that out so I can put him in the right spot. (chuckles) They’re rolling all over the place. Come back here.

All right. So into a bowl these go. We’re just gonna toss it with a little bit of salt, pepper, and melted unsalted butter. You could use olive oil. That works pretty well too. But the butter not only adds good flavor, but I think it helps the potatoes brown a bit better.

So here I have two tablespoons of melted unsalted butter. I pretty much use unsalted butter all the time. And just, it allows me to add the amount of salt that I want to a dish. So for this, I’m just gonna measure 1/2 a teaspoon of salt.

If you used kosher salt, you’d wanna double that amount, because the grains of kosher salt are a little bigger. And I find having a bunch of salt, really, if you start to use them in different applications, you’ll find what they’re good for. Last but not at least, a little pepper.

All right, and the other thing you can do, you can add all sorts of herbs to these potatoes. Rosemary’s lovely. I like thyme. Must always have fresh thyme in the refrigerator. I add it to (laughs) pretty much everything, any sauce, any soup, any stew.

And I like dried thyme just as much as fresh thyme. All right, so that’s about a teaspoon of fresh thyme. Give it a nice chop. Then we’re gonna add this to the potatoes. Next up, we’re gonna add some garlic, three cloves of garlic. And I’m just gonna give them a mince

Before adding them to the bowl. That’s good. Give ’em nice toss. You can see that butter is solidified on the cold potatoes. That’s good. That is okay. So now we’re gonna make the potato rafts that the cod will eventually sit on. And here’s how you make potato rafts.

Just gonna take some potatoes, shingle them out. Make little beds, potato beds. And these pieces, you know, these 1/2 pieces, I’m gonna put them right on the very end because I love how they turn into little potato chips. This is also an easy thing to do if you’re having people over for dinner

And it’s kinda casual, because everyone gets their own individual portion of fish and potatoes, which is just fun. Let’s see. Looks pretty good. All right, so we’re gonna give these potatoes a head start in the oven for about 30 minutes. Now it’s a pretty hot oven, 425 degrees.

And we’re gonna get the potatoes mostly done before we drop the cod on top, because that cod just takes a couple minutes to cook. So into the oven these go. Now it’s time to get the cod and put them on the potatoes. So I’ve been keeping the cod

In the refrigerator this whole time. All right, so here I have some beautiful cod. And each of these pieces weigh between six or eight ounces. These actually look a little more like six ouncers. And I’m just gonna season them with some salt and pepper.

And then we’re gonna put it right on those bed of potatoes. Wish I could sleep on a bed of potatoes. Doesn’t that sound good? All right. So into the oven we go. Let’s take a look at how our potato beds are doing. Ho, ho, ho. Yes, yes, yes.

You can see, just as I promised, all those thin bits turned into these crispy, dark potato chips, which are my all-time favorite. All right, so now we’re just gonna lay the fish right on top of the piles of potatoes. Mmm. Now I’m also gonna add just a few more flavorings. Butter, hm.

I’m gonna cut butter up into some small cubes and just put them on top of the fish so that everything gets a little butter basted. Butter’s your friend in this dish. And then as the butter melts, it slides down onto the potatoes and makes ’em extra buttery. (laughs)

This is as easy and delicious as it gets. This is about three tablespoons of butter. If you’re really trying to watch it, you could probably cut it back or you could use olive oil. But if you wanna go all in, highly recommend it. Sprig of thyme on top

Just ends a little bit of a floral fragrance. Not too much. You can pull it off before you eat it. As that butter melts, it really, you know, helps the thyme sort of bloom and baste the fish. Last but not least, couple slices of lemon on top of each fish.

Holds the butter in place, and again, just helps baste the fish as it cooks. And then the softened lemon that’s been softened in the oven is really juicy and easy to squeeze over the fish. Now, back in the oven this goes. Same temperature, 425, just to cook the cod through.

And that only takes about 15 minutes longer. So that cod has been in the oven for a little over 15 minutes. Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho. Look at that. I know. You see how those browned potatoes on the edges. And you can see the fish is starting to flake right in the middle.

That’s how you know it’s done. All right, so now it is time to plate up. And this is definitely a dinner you want to arrange on plates, because those potato rafts, if you move ’em around to a platter and then a plate, they get a little messed up.

So you wanna shimmy your metal spatula underneath the cod and potatoes as best you can. And then just move it once. Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho. Mmm. Oh, it’s these potatoes. I don’t even even use a fork. These ones have that butter, and the thyme, and that little bit of cod baked on top. Mmm! It’s like a buttery potato chip. And the cod is perfectly cooked. And that’s it. Dinner is served. See you next time. Thanks for watching. What’d you think? Leave a comment below and let me know what you’re excited to cook this week. And while you’re at it, hit that subscribe button.

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