Oven-Fried Fish

I hate standing over a pan of hot, popping grease to do traditional deep frying.  But I do love me some fried fish.  It’s a Southern tradition, fish fries. Wish my husband were as fond of fried fish as I am.  😦

Unlike every coating I’ve tried doing with flax meal, this recipe really came out crisp!  Even the bottoms of the filets were crispy and browned nicely!   This coating also works well with cut-up chicken.  Best of all, this recipe is Atkins Induction friendly!

Though I mention tilapia and swai below, any mild fish will do for this recipe.   If you don’t want to make up the homemade mayo for this, I have, in a hurry, just used sour cream to coat the fish and this cooks up just as well with sour cream! 🙂  Though I have not tried it yet, it has been reported by my blog readers that this fish, when leftover, reheats nicely in the microwave and STILL STAYS CRUNCHY!   It of course, will reheat just fine in the oven, too.  To be quite honest, I never have any leftover to test that out.  We just LOVE fish done this way, and my husband even enjoys this one!  🙂

INGREDIENTS:

30 oz. tilapia or swai filets (six filets about 5 oz. each)

6 T. homemade mayo

3 oz. crushed plain pork rinds

½ tsp.  Seafood Spice Blend

1 T. olive oil

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 450º.  Rub a metal baking sheet (preferably non-stick) with olive oil.  DO NOT USE A GLASS/CERAMIC PAN OR SILICONE PAN LINER OR THESE WILL NOT BROWN PROPERLY.  Been there; done that.  Trust me on this one, use a metal pan.

Crush pork rinds and place in shallow bowl.  Add spice blend and stir well.  If you like things real spicy, you might want to increase the spice blend a bit or add more cayenne.  Most important step here:  Pat surfaces of fish dry with a paper towel. Then brush each fish filet on both sides with a tablespoon of mayonnaise.   You want to be sure not to miss any spots.  There doesn’t have to be a LOT of mayo, but the entire surface must be moistened with it for the coating to adhere.  If you substitute a commercial mayo, you will have more difficulty getting good coverage, as it is so thick.

Holding the filets up (one at a time) by the tips, between your index finger and thumb in one hand, and with your other hand, spoon the coating over each filet on both sides to coat well. I find if you just dip them into a plate full of the coating, the first two get coated nicely and you run out of coating before all are coated!  That’s ever so annoying!  When all are coated, lay each filet onto your oiled pan.   Place in hot 450º oven and bake for about 20 minutes total or until done and crispy on top.   There’s actually no need to turn the filets over during cooking as the bottoms get even browner than the tops!  For more even browning, you could turn them at the 10 minute mark if you wish.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 6 servings, each contains:

364 cals, 22.9 g  fat, 0.43 g  carbs, 0 g  fiber, 0.43 g  NET CARBS, 41.4 g  protein, 338 mg. sodium