Garlic Butter Baked Cod -- and a novella release -- #recipe & #giveaway by @LeslieBudewitz

LESLIE BUDEWITZ:  We’re always looking for tasty new ways to cook fish, and this herb and tomato combo hit the spot. We used frozen cod, thawed in the packages in a bowl of water. 

The original recipe calls for making the tomato sauce in an oven-proof skillet, then baking in the same dish. Since we were using two larger cod fillets – what we had – instead of the 4 smaller fillets called for, we cooked the sauce in a sauce pan and transferred it to a square 8X8 baking dish. It worked beautifully. Use what you have and prefer.

Serve with a green salad, a hunk of bread, and a crisp white wine. You could also serve it over rice or orzo. 

Read on to find out about the very special edition being released today! Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of An Unholy Death, a Food Lovers' Village historical novella.  

Garlic Butter Baked Cod 

(Adapted from the Washington Post)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter or extra-virgin olive oil

7 garlic cloves, minced or finely grated

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup dry white wine, such as sauvignon blanc

Finely grated zest of 1 lime

1/2 teaspoon no-salt Cajun seasoning

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon fine salt, plus more as needed

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or parsley, plus more for serving

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, plus more for serving

4 - 4 to 6 ounce (1 to 1 1/2) pounds cod, halibut or hake fillets

Total time: 40 minutes

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter in a an ovenproof skillet over medium heat. When it stops foaming, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes and cook until softened, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the wine, then add the lime zest, Cajun seasoning, black pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and salt. Stir to combine.

Stir in the cilantro or parsley and basil, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce has reduced by about one-third, about 5 minutes. Taste, and adjust seasonings as needed.

Meanwhile, pat the fish fillets dry and lightly season both sides with salt and black pepper. Transfer the sauce to a baking dish, if you prefer. Nestle the fillets in the sauce and use a spoon to baste the fish. Cover skillet or baking dish with a lid or foil. Bake 10 minutes, then uncover and bake for 6 to 8 minutes more, until the fish is cooked all the way through and flakes easily with a fork. (Cooking time will vary with the thickness of the fillets.)

Quarter the lime. Divide the fish among serving plates, spooning the sauce over them. Sprinkle with fresh basil and cilantro or parsley, and serve with a lime wedge. 

Serves 4.

FRIENDS, today marks the launch of a very special edition! 

To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in fictional Jewel Bay, Montana, my publisher and I are bringing out stand-alone editions of readers’ favorites from Carried to the Grave and Other Stories. Our first selection is the novella “An Unholy Death,” a historical prequel to the Agatha Award-winning series opener, Death al Dente.

It's out today in paperback and ebook. Isn't that cover gorgeous? Find it in the usual places -- links here.   

I'll give one lucky reader a signed copy! Talk to me about your favorite fish dish, the Food Lovers' Village Mysteries, or historical novels! Mr. Kitten will pick the winner Thurs, Aug 31 -- after the WIP goes to the publisher! (Be sure to leave your email address. US mailing addresses only, please.)

It’s 1910 and newly married Kate Murphy arrives in Jewel Bay, Montana, with her husband Paddy, proprietor of Murphy’s Mercantile, intent on building their life together in this unfamiliar place. The conditions are rough—as are some of their clientele—and get even rougher when Kate discovers the dead body of the widowed local preacher. She’s determined to keep his young daughter safe, but the task takes all the courage Kate can summon as she faces the first of many mysteries unfolding in her new home . . .

And readers are raving about the latest Spice Shop novel!

BETWEEN A WOK AND A DEAD PLACE: A Spice Shop Mystery (Seventh St. Books, in trade paper, ebook, and audio)

From the cover: 

It's the Lunar New Year, and fortunes are about to change. 

 

Pepper Reece, owner of the Spice Shop in Seattle's Pike Place Market, loves a good festival, especially one serving up tasty treats. So what could be more fun than a food walk in the city's Chinatown–International District, celebrating the Year of the Rabbit?

 

But when her friend Roxanne stumbles across a man's body in the Gold Rush, a long-closed residential hotel, questions leap out. Who was he? What was he doing in the dust-encrusted herbal pharmacy in the hotel's basement? Why was the pharmacy closed up—and why are the owners so reluctant to talk? 

 

With each new discovery, Pepper find herself asking new questions and facing more brick walls. 

 

Then questions arise about Roxanne and her relationship to Pepper's boyfriend Nate, away fishing in Alaska. Between her worries and her struggle to hire staff at the Spice Shop, Pepper has her hands and her heart full. Still, she can't resist the lure of the Gold Rush and its tangled history of secrets and lies stretching back nearly a century. 

 

But the killer is on her tail, driven by hidden demons and desires. As Pepper begins to expose the long-concealed truth, a bigger question emerges: Can she uncover the secrets of the Gold Rush Hotel without being pushed from the wok into the fire?

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest book is Between a Wok and a Dead Place, the 7th Spice Shop mystery.  

A past president of Sisters in Crime and national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.

Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.