cornmeal crusted tilapia

by emily on October 31, 2011

in mains--seafood,recipes

PhotobucketHappy Halloween! I hope you have something fun planned for the holiday. Today, I’m excited to say that this is my first post as a member of the Secret Recipe Club. Each month, we do basically a “secret santa” recipe exchange. We’re each secretly assigned a blog to cook a recipe from and then we all reveal which blog we had on the same day. It’s a great way to get to know some new blogs and try some new recipes!

This month, I was assigned to cook something from the blog Eat, Knit, Grow. I enjoyed looking through the recipes on the site, and in the end decided on Lindsay’s Cornmeal-Crusted Tilapia recipe. I tweaked it just a bit, and loved how it turned out!

PhotobucketIt’s no secret I’m a big tilapia fan. It’s an easy fish to work with, has a mild flavor and is less expensive than so many other fish on the market. We love any fish with a bit of crunch without having to deep-fry, so we were very drawn to this cornmeal crust.

To make the recipe our own, I doubled it (so we’d have 4 fillets) and added a bit of lemon zest to the cornmeal mixture. This added a bit more lemon flavor, and I really enjoyed the brightness it brought to the dish.

The texture was great, and I thought this method would be really great in a sandwich or with a bit of cajun seasoning in the cornmeal mixture. You could also switch the parsley for another herb–dill or basil would be nice. Thanks, Lindsay!

Photobucket

Cornmeal Crusted Tilapia
 
 

Serves: 4

Ingredients
  • 4 tilapia fillets
  • ½c cornmeal
  • ½tsp salt
  • ½tsp pepper
  • 2 Tbsp fresh parsley
  • zest of one lemon (reserve lemon to slice into wedges for serving)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil, plus more if necessary

Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. On a shallow plate, combine cornmeal, salt, pepper, parsley, and lemon zest. Dredge tilapia fillets in the cornmeal mixture. Cook fillets 2 at a time, about 3 minutes on the first side and 1-2 minutes on the second side. (Add additional olive oil to the pan if necessary.)
  2. Slice the lemon into wedges and serve with tilapia.

{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }

Ellen October 31, 2011 at 6:48 am

Hi! I just found you through the secret recipe club. Love your blog! I’m a new follower.

We would love to invite you over to visit our blog and link up to our weekly themed blog hop called Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays. This week’s theme is SWEET and SAVORY! We hope to see you there. http://everydaysisters.blogspot.com/2011/10/everyday-sisters-sharing-sunday-19.html

Ellen

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Lisa~~ October 31, 2011 at 9:08 am

Welcome to the SRC and your tilapia looks delicious. Great pictures too.

If you haven’t already, I’d love for you to check out my Group ‘A’ & ‘C’ SRC recipes this month: Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies and Thin Mint Irish Coffee.

Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook

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Ally's Sweet & Savory Eats October 31, 2011 at 10:55 am

Tilapia is one of the few fishes I like…I need to try this!

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Pam October 31, 2011 at 11:10 am

You’re hired! We’d love to have you come be our personal chef. Please!

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Hezzi-D October 31, 2011 at 1:17 pm

Awesome! Tilapia is the only fish I’ll eat so I’m always looking for new ways to prepare it. Thanks for sharing!

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Andrea October 31, 2011 at 3:14 pm

This tilapia looks delicious! I’m in a rut with fish recipes, and this looks like a simple, tasty recipe to try out.

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nicole spaz October 31, 2011 at 6:22 pm

this looks so good. I love Tilapia! Your side looks really good to. I love beans

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Rhonda October 31, 2011 at 7:28 pm

I’m from Group C but I’m an honorary Group D member this week, welcome to SRC. Cornmeal on fish is delish…a little rhyme for ya. I have some flounder that I may give this treatment too, I can many flavor possibilities.

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Rituparna November 1, 2011 at 2:42 am

That tilapia looks delicious. I have to try this asap. Cornmeal for the crust is a very different idea.

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Angie @ Bigbearswife November 1, 2011 at 8:36 am

I love the photos! Looks like a beautiful fish dish!

Great Recipe for Group D’s Reveal Day for Secret Recipe Club!

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Jo November 1, 2011 at 11:15 am

This tilapia looks delicious, I love the sound of that cornmeal crust!

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Sarah November 1, 2011 at 5:20 pm

Found you on Pinterest, which sounds really creepy, but I love your blog! My boyfriend is trying to lose weight but also wants to eat all his yummy favorites like cornbread, etc. Thanks for posting some really good/easy/healthy looking recipes!

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Veronica Miller November 3, 2011 at 10:47 am

I’ve made something similar so I can imagine how good this was! The photos are great! We eat tilapia a lot around here too but most days I’m lazy and just sprinkle it w/ Tony Chachere’s before pan frying it for a few minutes on each side. Gotta love a simple, delicious meal!

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Sea Cuisine November 4, 2011 at 6:20 am

We’ve never used cornmeal in a tilapia recipe! It looks absolutely delicious! We recently found another recipe for pumpkin seed encrusted tilapia! So many wonderful recipes to be found!

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