Anne Morgan Here is the Delia Smith cod in parsley sauce recipe, thick baked cod with her English parsley sauce, enough for 4. You bake the cod under foil, then pour over a sauce of milk, butter and lots of chopped parsley. Allow about 1¼ hours, because the milk is infused and left to go cold first.
Delia calls the sauce old-fashioned nursery food in How to Cook Book One, and she says it needs a revival. Her favourite way to eat it is with baked cod cutlets and creamy mashed potatoes.
This recipe is built from both of her methods. The sauce comes from that book, and the cod is baked the way she does it in the Complete Cookery Course.
Four heaped tablespoons of parsley go in at the very end, so the sauce stays bright green. Serve it with her mashed potatoes, just as she does.
Cod in Parsley Sauce, Delia Smith-Style
Course: DinnerCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
servings40
minutes30
minutes325
kcalThick pieces of cod baked under foil and served with a smooth sauce of infused milk, butter, cream, lemon and lots of parsley.
Ingredients
- For the fish:
4 thick pieces of cod fillet or cod cutlets, about 175g (6oz) each
a little butter, for the dish
a little lemon juice
salt and freshly milled black pepper
- For the English parsley sauce:
425ml (15fl oz) milk
a few parsley stalks
1 bay leaf
1 slice onion, 5mm (¼in) thick
1 blade of mace or a pinch of powdered mace (optional)
10 whole black peppercorns
20g (¾oz) plain flour
40g (1½oz) butter
4 heaped tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon single cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt and freshly milled black pepper
- To serve:
mashed potatoes
Directions
- Infuse: Put the milk, parsley stalks, bay leaf, onion, mace and peppercorns in a small pan. Bring them slowly up to simmering point, then pour everything into a bowl and leave it to get completely cold.
- Oven: Heat the oven to 190°C, gas mark 5. Butter a shallow baking dish.
- Fish: Lay the cod in the dish, season it and sprinkle a little lemon juice over each piece. Cover the dish with foil and bake it on a high shelf for 15 to 20 minutes, until the fish is white all through.
- Sauce: While the fish bakes, strain the cold milk back into the pan and throw away the flavourings. Add the flour and butter, then bring it gradually up to simmering point, whisking all the time with a balloon whisk.
- Cook: When the sauce is thick, smooth and glossy, turn the heat to its lowest setting. Let it cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring now and then.
- Finish: Stir in the chopped parsley, cream and lemon juice, then taste and season. Serve the cod with the sauce poured over and the mashed potatoes on the side.
Notes
- The sauce is Delia's own. The fish weight and the 15 to 20 minutes for the cod are my own amounts.
FAQs
How long do you cook cod in parsley sauce?
Give thick pieces of cod 15 to 20 minutes at 190°C under foil, my own timing based on her baked fish method. The fish is ready when it turns white all through and flakes easily.
Cod cutlets on the bone, which Delia likes best, may need a few minutes more, my own tip. The sauce cooks on the hob at the same time, so both are ready together.
Why does the milk have to go cold?
Delia warms the milk with the parsley stalks, bay, onion, mace and peppercorns to give the sauce more flavour. Then she leaves it until it is completely cold, before the flour and butter go in.
Cold milk, flour and butter, whisked together over the heat, give a smooth sauce with no lumps. That is her all-in-one method, so keep whisking until it thickens.
Is there a quicker parsley sauce?
Yes, her Parsley Sauce in the Complete Cookery Course skips the infusing. Put 425ml milk, 1 tablespoon single cream, 40g butter and 20g sifted plain flour in a saucepan.
Whisk them over the heat until smooth and thickened, then cook the sauce for 5 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley and 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and season to taste.
She likes this one best with baked fish cutlets of various kinds, too.
Can I use the fish juices in the sauce?
Yes, if you bake the fish first and keep it warm. Delia suggests a fish cooking liquid for her Mornay sauce on baked fish, as in our cod mornay recipe.
Here, let the juices cool, then use them in place of some of the cold milk, my own tip. They give the sauce a little more fish flavour.
Which fishcakes did she make for this sauce?
Her Salmon Fishcakes, which she printed beside the sauce in the same book, specially for it.
The same fishcakes are on our salmon fishcakes page, served there with her cucumber and dill sauce.
