046 / 75 · Vegetables, fish and hearty plates
Cod, Leek and Mustard Potato Plates
2 plates, each with 120 g (4.2 oz) raw-weight cod and half the complete potato, leek and sauce · Active 18 min · Cook 18 min · Total 40 min
Print recipe · PDFLeek and potato make a soft bed for two small cod portions. Cook the vegetables completely before the fish goes in, then cover the shallow dish so the cod stays moist while its centers heat. Mustard and milk make a light sauce from the retained cooking juices. There is no frying pan or browned crust hidden in the method.
Make the vegetable bed first
Cut the potatoes into even 1 cm cubes and the leek into thin slices. The vegetables must already be tender when the cod is added; otherwise the fish would have to wait through a long potato cook. Keep the measured steaming liquid in the dish, where it becomes part of the mustard sauce.
Thin portions heat more evenly
Use two small skinless portions of similar thickness, no more than 1.5 cm thick. Fold neither one into a deep parcel. Arrange them apart over the vegetables, turn the dish midway and check the thickest part of each fish portion as well as other positions with a fast-tip thermometer. The covered stand follows the temperature check; it does not replace it.
Ingredients
- 300 g (10.6 oz) peeled potatoes, cut into 1 cm (⅜ in) cubes
- 120 g (4.2 oz) leek, washed thoroughly and cut into 2 mm (about 1/16 in) slices
- 60 ml (¼ US cup) water, divided: 40 ml (2 US tbsp plus 2 US tsp) for vegetables and 20 ml (1 US tbsp plus 1 US tsp) for sauce
- 240 g (8.5 oz) raw skinless boneless cod, refrigerated and fully thawed, in 2 portions of 120 g (4.2 oz), each no thicker than 1.5 cm (⅝ in)
- 60 ml (¼ US cup) milk
- 15 g (0.53 oz) Dijon mustard
- 10 g (0.35 oz) butter
- 5 g fresh flat-leaf parsley, about 2 US tbsp finely chopped
- 1 g fine salt, about ⅛ US tsp plus a small pinch
- 0.2 g ground black pepper, a small pinch
Set out
1000 W microwave with turntable, Shallow round microwave-safe casserole, about 20 cm (8 in) inside diameter and at least 1.5 L (1.6 US qt) capacity, Microwave-safe vented cover, Knife and board for vegetables, Separate clean board and utensils for fish, Small mixing jug and spoon, Kitchen scale and measuring jug, Fast-tip food thermometer, Oven mitts, Two plates
Allergens
Fish (cod), Milk, Mustard. Check labels and substitutions.
Make it
- Spread the potato cubes and leek in the shallow casserole with 40 ml of the water. Cover with the vented cover. Microwave at 1000 W full power for 5 minutes, stir from the bottom, then cook 3–5 minutes more until every tested potato cube is knife-tender. Keep all the liquid in the dish.
- Mix milk, mustard, butter, the remaining 20 ml water, salt and pepper in the jug, then stir it through the hot vegetables. Place the two cold cod portions apart on top, with no thick folded sections. Cover. Wash hands and clean raw-fish utensils and the work area before handling cooked food.
- Microwave at 70% power for 3 minutes. Turn the casserole half a turn and exchange the positions of the fish portions with clean utensils. Continue at 70% power in 30-second bursts for about 2–5 minutes more, checking with the thermometer, until the thickest center of each portion and other tested places reach 165°F/74°C. Continue short bursts and recheck any cooler place; opacity alone is not the endpoint.
- Leave covered for 2 minutes. Divide all the potatoes, leek and mustard sauce between two plates, add one complete cod portion to each, and divide the parsley over them. Serve promptly.
The potatoes finish before the fish starts
Do not place raw fish over hard potatoes and hope they finish together. Knife-tender vegetables are a required checkpoint before the fish stage.
The sauce is light
The 60 ml water and 60 ml milk are both fully accounted for, with no flour thickener. Expect a spoonable light mustard sauce, not a browned gratin or thick cream blanket.
Ingredient labels
Check the mustard label for additional ingredients. Haddock remains a fish allergen.
A useful detail
Allow 40 minutes for preparation, up to 10 minutes vegetable heating, up to 8 minutes fish heating, the 2-minute covered stand and plating. A thicker or partly frozen fillet is not an equivalent timed portion. This microwave recipe uses the FDA microwave-specific raw-animal-food endpoint of 165°F/74°C plus the covered stand; conventional fish-cooking temperatures should not be substituted into this method. Different power cycling may extend the bursts.
Another way
- Use 240 g (8.5 oz) raw skinless boneless haddock in the same two thin portions. Keep the same multi-position microwave endpoint and covered stand.
- Replace parsley with 5 g finely chopped fresh dill, divided at the same finishing stage.
Keep it well
Refrigerate shallow portions within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F/32°C, at 40°F/4°C or below and use within 2 days. Reheat once, covered and rotated, until 165°F/74°C in several places, then stand covered for 2 minutes. The fish will become firmer on reheating; keep the sauce with it.