Dec 24th 09

The 12 Days of Christmas- Christmas Eve Fish

In the Catholic Religion, fish is the meal of choice on Christmas Eve, primarily Cod.  The Feast of Seven fishes ( in Italian- the vigilia di magro- a Catholic prohibition of consumption of meat) is a very Italian-specific tradition, an extravaganza of fish; different preparations and recipes.  I love fish so much I could have a Feast of Seven Fishes EVERY DAY! 

So I started with an Americanized version, with a side of wilted spinach with onions and garlic (one of my fav’s) and the fish was served on a bed of pureed squash.  It was very delicious!!! 

First up, I took a big piece of cod, and rubbed it with, yep you guessed it- my favorite all-purpose seafood seasoning, Old Bay. 

While that was put into a 350 degree oven, I cheated and put 2 ten oz. packages of cooked frozen squash in the microwave for 9 minutes.  I’m not a big lover of the microwave, but I wanted to get off the stove top.  Next up I browned up some onions and garlic in olive oil on the stove top.  I seasoned it with Old Bay to tie the flavors together.  Once browned nicely, I then dumped a ten oz bag of cleaned raw spinach on top just long enough to make the spinach leaves wilted and nice and green (don’t let it over-cook and get brown-bleecch : ) 

Once the fish has been in the oven roughly twenty-twenty-five-ish minutes (depends on size and thickness of your fish-once its falling apart easily with a fork and opaque in color, you’re good to go), take it out.  Plate it up, and you’re good to go!  Mine looked like this: 

and tasted FABULOUS!!  The way the spinach and fish all ties in together with the Old Bay flavoring, plus the sweet, light flavor and consistency of the squash goes so good with it.  This is just a PERFECT  light, low-maintenence and delicious meal to enjoy on Christmas Eve with your family.  And it’s sp quick with such minimal cleanup that it’ll leave you with PLENTY of time to finish up wrapping those gifts.  ; – )

Related posts:

1. 12 Days of Christmas-The Office Party
2. 12 Days of Christmas-The "Short Notice Guest"
3. 12 Days of Christmas- The Comfort Food
4. Spaghetti Night
5. Sunny Sundried Tomato Pesto

No Responses to “The 12 Days of Christmas- Christmas Eve Fish”

1. Beth Amodeo says:

   December 29, 2009 at 07:53

   Looks delicious! I’m in Pennsylvania @ my mom’s but will definitely try it out when I’m back. My brother works @ a seafood company & gave me 4 lbs. of shrimp & a couple cans of crab meat for Christmas. Any recipes come to mind?