White Fish Scampi

It’s painful for me to give this recipe a 1-star rating, but necessary as written, even tho’ it has the potential to be a great dish. First of all, the amount of butter and garlic is WAY overkill. Throw that amount aside and use your own judgment – a little butter, a little garlic and a squeeze of lemon. Then… 40 minutes to cook fish? If you want great, golden color and perfectly cooked fish bake it at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your filets. And don’t bother to turn it! Not only is it unnecessary, you risk breaking it apart! I sprinkled the fish with paprika before baking for additional color, and fresh, not dried, parsley after. Also, I didn’t use tilapia (because I really hate it – tastes muddy to me). I made this with grouper, although any mild-flavored white, flaky fish would work – like cod, haddock, flounder or orange roughy. This dish, with the above changes, was much improved - nicely done, great color and appropriately seasoned. Just as with a good steak, if you’ve got a good piece of fish it really needs nothing more than salt, pepper and, with fish, a little lemon.  -  17 Feb 2011  (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)

Great recipe! I rated this a 4 because when cooking the fish for @ 375 degrees 40 mins, turning it every 10 mins like directed, it was a little dry. Next time I may cook @ 350 degrees instead of 375 degrees  -  13 Nov 2008  (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)

This is an interesting concept. I've tried most other tilapia recipes on this site and find them to all either be too similar, too complex, or not my style. 40 minutes @ 375 is WAY too much though. I could already tell just by my experience with baking tilapia and reading other reviews. I tried 35 minutes @ 350 and still found it to be too much. I don't think I'd lower the temp anymore though. I might try 350 @ 30 minutes next time around. I added 2 tablespoons of prepared dijon style mustard based on some other shrimp scampi recipes I've tried and enjoyed. I think this gave it a more interesting flavor. I also added about 2 tablespoons of white wine. I like others only flipped the fish once... at the 20 minute mark. I also placed about 3/4 of a pound of uncooked medium sized shrimp in there with the tilapia and took them out at the same 20 minute mark that I flipped the fish at. They were an 'appetizer' and they turned out perfectly cooked and very tasty. I'd probably give the original recipe a 3/5 but based on the unique concept and potential I give it 4/5.  -  26 Apr 2009  (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)