Mediterranean-Style Marinated Fish (Or Chicken!) Fillets

spatchcock's Note:

This is adapted from a recipe that came with some Penzeys spices I got as a wedding gift. It is fabulous. Cook time includes maximum possible marinade time. I think some feta sprinkled on top would be wonderful.

• Total Time: 24 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 24 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 (4 ounce) fish fillets or 2 (4 ounce) boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon basil or ½ teaspoon thyme
• ¼ teaspoon garlic granules
• 2 bay leaves
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• crumbled feta cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. In a shallow bowl, mix oil, vinegar, pepper, basil/thyme and garlic.
2. Coat both sides of fillets.
3. Break bay leaves into 3-4 pieces, press onto both sides of fillets.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight (overnight is better!) Remove bay leaves and discard extra marinade.
5. Sprinkle with salt and cook over medium high heat in large skillet (nonstick is best).
6. For example: a thick cod fillet will need about 4 minutes per side, thin long fillets 2-3 minutes/side.
7. Drippings in the pan are great on pasta--deglaze pan by adding a bit more red wine vinegar (or just WINE!) and toss with freshly cooked (not rinsed!) warm pasta.

Reviews

[Melissa and Her Pants]

This marinade is wonderful! I used it on chicken tenders, so I tripled (!) the recipe since I would have so much more area to cover. Next time I will not triple the olive oil!! Maybe one extra Tablespoon would do it. Regardless, it was great. I fried polenta medallions in the remaining marinade, and served them and the chicken (the feta on top is such a great addition) with some grilled zuchinni. Fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing this. Updated to add that since I used tenders I marinated for less than an hour and it was still great. Looking forward to finding out what the marinade is like on fish!

[sugarpea]

I marinated a mahi mahi fillet for 24 hours and it was just terrific. I didn't have enough "sauce" for pasta but I did use it over the fillet. This marinade is amazingly flavorful and I highly recommend it. The feta was the perfect finish. Dh remarked three times how good the fish was.