Swimming with the fishes

Fish. Some love it, some hate it, but I think it is absolutely fantastic. If I had to choose just one protein to eat for the rest of my life I would choose fish. There are so many varieties, flavors and textures. You can  fry, bake, poach, grill it – the possibilities are endless.  And, it doesn’t take very long to cook.

On the menu: Salmon with beurre rouge & ginger crisps
Blue fish chablisienne
Rockfish en papillote
Trout meuniere

There are two type of fish categories in the culinary world: round and flat.  Round fish, like salmon, are typically oily fish but not always (cod, haddock) and have a round body (obviously).  Flat fish like flounder are um, flat, and usually have both eyes on one side of their head.   There is obviously more to fish than that but I’ll leave it to Wikipedia.  Regardless of what type of fish you plan on cooking, it should never smell fishy.  It should smell of the sea or preferably nothing at all. Eyeballs should be clear and bulging out and gills should be a pink or red color.  If it’s not then, well I advise you not to eat it. 

To fillet salmon (or any other fish) make an incision behind the gills, then  fillet down into the body cutting along the spine nice and even, all the way to the tail.  Remove rib cage and pin bones with a ‘boner’, a tweezer like contraption.  If you don’t have a boner, you can gently cut out the little bones, very carefully. 

The chicken of fish

Salmon is probably the most common fish offered at restaurants and most of the time it’s cooked incorrectly, grilled or pan fried to death.  It ends up tasting bitter.  Cut  your salmon into smaller chunks – trapezoids or parallelograms, make them pretty. Salt and pepper, drizzle some oil on your parallelogram and throw on a hot grill pan. Cook until almost done then pop in a 325-350 oven to finish. Serve with beurre rouge, a red wine reduction. Red wine, thyme, shallots, garlic, pepper corns reduced with some cream and buttah. Place on a bed of sauteed leeks and spinach, pour a little beurre rouge  and add ginger crisps on top. Easiest and most amazing little trick! Heat up lots of canola oil, about a cup (you’re flash frying here), and fry julienned ginger for about a minute or so until golden brown. The aroma and taste is amazing and it’s an easy way to impress your guests. Try it with leeks, or sage, get creative. Take that Rachel Ray, dinner in less than 30 minutes!

 

 

Bluefish…

Is not very sophisticated and is really not pretty to look at. When raw it’s dark…blueish? When cooked it’s…grey. Talk about appetizing.  I like the taste of bluefish but it’s not my favorite.  Last night we cooked it cartouche style, and you can use this method with any fish.  Butter the bottom of a cold pan and add shallots.  Season your fillets and add to the pan, then a few splashes of white wine but not drowning the fish.  Add some fish stock (or vegetable or chicken stock since 90% of people don’t have fish stock on hand) and bring to a simmer. Then smother with buttered parchment paper (this is your cartouche) and finish in a 325 degree oven. Remove fish and cover.  In your pan make your chablisienne by reducing leftover liquid with cream, butter, lemon and a splash of vermouth if you feel like it. Pour sauce over fish and you’re done. I like bluefish but will probably not pay $18 for it at a restaurant.

The Maryland state fish

Rockfish, also known as striped bass, has been the Maryland state fish since 1965.  Impressive! We cooked our rockfish en papillote, essentially steaming it in parchment paper. Cut out a paper heart (half a sheet of parchment paper) for each serving of fish.  Butter your heart and place seasoned fillet in the middle. On top add some thyme, julienned carrots and thin slice of lemon. Fold little creases starting at the top of your heart. Fold all the way around as close to your fish as possible.  Cook in a 350 degree oven until it’s done. Just keep poking it and you’ll know.  Delicate and delicious.

Meuniere

If you haven’t read “My Life in France” or seen Julie & Julia, you might not know that sole meuniere was what changed Julia Child’s life. I completely understand why!  We used trout instead of sole last night and it was just beautiful, one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten. And so ridiculously simple! Meuniere is a brown butter sauce with lemon and parsley. Yes, that’s it. Do you like capers? Because I love capers and adding a few of these little balls of brine just took the dish to another level.  Season fish and dredge in flour, then pan fry in clarified butter until golden. Remove and cover.  Add a generous amount of butter, parsley, lemon juice and capers to the pan and cook, not too long or you’ll burn the butter.  Pour over fish and sprinkle a few mini croutons (dice white bread and brown in butter) on top and you will be happy, I promise. 

Well?

Fish class was one of my favorites, not only because I love fish but also because of  how insightful it was on how to make these ‘fancy’ dishes you see on restaurant menus and pay way way too much for.  What’s there not to like about fish? It’s healthy,  light, delicious and so easy to cook. There will be a lot of fish on the menu for me this summer!