Baked Cod with Mushroom-Leek Crust
Foil-wrapped cod under a dried mushroom and leek topping, cooked in campfire coals.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 69
- protein
- 36 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- 120 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Nut free
- Foil packet
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Cod fillets | 4 pieces, 6 oz each | frozen solid at home, thawing in the cooler by dinner; halibut or catfish also work |
|---|---|---|
| Dried black trumpet mushrooms | 1 oz | or dried chanterelle, porcini, or supermarket dried shiitake |
| Dried leek or onion flakes | 1/2 cup | |
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 1/4 cup | the dry-packed kind, chopped fine |
| Bouillon | 1 cube or 1 tsp powder | vegetable or chicken |
| Butter | 6 tbsp | stays fine in a cooler; ghee or olive oil if there is no ice |
| Breadcrumbs | 4 tbsp | panko holds its texture |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Dried parsley | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1/4 tsp | |
| Black pepper | several grinds | |
| Lemon | 1 | cut into wedges at camp |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down to coals, or set a grate over it. You want steady heat, not flames.
- Boil about 120 ml of water, drop in the bouillon, and pour it over the mushrooms, leek flakes, and sun-dried tomatoes in a pot or mug. Fifteen minutes covered. They should be soft and most of the liquid gone.
- Stir the butter into the hot vegetables until it melts, then the parsley, salt, and pepper.
- Tear four squares of heavy foil. Lay a fillet on each, spoon a quarter of the mushroom mixture over the top, and press it down. Scatter a tablespoon of breadcrumbs on each and drizzle with oil.
- Fold the foil into sealed packets with a little air space above the crumbs so they do not stick.
- Set the packets on the grate or on a bed of raked coals for 12 to 15 minutes. The fish is done when it flakes at the thickest part.
- Open carefully, away from your face. Squeeze lemon over each one.
The original is an oven dish with fresh mushrooms, fresh leeks, and peeled tomatoes. All three rehydrate well, so the trail version carries them dry and brings them back with one mug of hot bouillon. Dried black trumpets in particular stay tender instead of going rubbery, which is why they hold up to this treatment better than most.
The topping is not a crunchy crust. It is a wet layer that sits on the fish and keeps it from drying out in the packet, where the heat is uneven and hard to read. The breadcrumbs and oil are on top to soak up what steams up out of it. Fish is the one thing here that needs a cooler, so this is a first- or second-night meal, not a week-out one.
Packing
Mushrooms, leek flakes, tomatoes, bouillon, parsley, salt, and pepper go in one bag at home; they rehydrate together. Breadcrumbs ride in a separate bag or they turn to paste. Fish goes in the cooler frozen, on the bottom, under everything else.
Variations
- No cooler: swap the cod for two 5 oz foil pouches of salmon and cut the cook time to eight minutes, just enough to heat through.
- Chicken cutlets take the same topping and about twenty minutes in the packet.
- No fish at all: spoon the topping over thick potato slices and cook until a knife goes through.
https://foragerchef.com/baked-fish-with-black-trumpet-crust