Fresh White Fish with Herbed Lemon Sauce

With the blossoming of Spring, I've moved from some of the heavy dishes of the winter into a taste for something lighter and more delicate. I've stopped eating tuna, except on the rarest of occasions, even though it is my favorite protein. Likewise with Chilean Sea Bass (or, before marketing geniuses took hold, the Patagonian Tooth-fish).

So, in an effort to eat more sustainable seafood, I've been going with more local and bountiful species. I got this Lake Superior White Fish fresh from Whole Foods on Monday and made it that night. It was one of the best fish meals I've ever eaten. Seriously. Like, so good that I told myself that I could eat it every night. Anyway, here's how I made it:

I chose to bake the fish, but wanted a lot of crunch and flavor, so I added a coating before the breadcrumbs and topped it with a herbed lemon-butter sauce with shallots. I think that the spread on the fish is key to getting a lot of flavor onto the fish but not overwhelming the delicate nature of it.

I beat together: 2 eggs, 2 tbsp Horseradish, 1 tbsp Mayonnaise, Cayenne, Paprika, Salt and Pepper. Then I coated the fish with the mixture.

I then covered the fish with breadcrumbs and baked at 350. I wish I could tell you how long I baked it for, but I waited until it was about 155 degrees and took it out.

While the fish was baking I made the sauce. I melted 2 tbsp of butter and added a little olive oil to the pan along with the shallots. I then squeezed in the juice of one lemon. Once it was aromatic (4 minutes or so), I added a little blend of freshly chopped lavendar, rosemary and thyme. I topped the fish with this and it was so good. Not too heavy and just the right blend of acidity and base.

I served it with boiled red potatoes and steamed carrots. Overall a really great meal.

Smoked Whitefish with Garlic Naan and Winter Root Salad

So, I'm moving my menu into the spring even if the weather isn't letting me know we're there yet.

When we were out in NYC at Russ and Daughters the fish monger was going on about how they can't get any 'chubs' out there (among other meanings, chubs are a smoked fresh water fish, commonly from the great lakes). After I made a couple of jokes under my breath and we got back to chicago, I decided to hunt them out. I found them at Dirk's and got a couple on Monday. I was thinking about serving them with bagel's, but that bored me. So, I ended up getting some Garlic Naan. I warmed the naan in my skillet while I sliced shallots and washed the arugula. The whitefish was really delicate and delicious and I can't wait to have it again soon

I served it with a peruvian potato salad I made earlier in the day so it could cool. I added Carrots and Radishes to the salad, which was nice. I topped it with a dressing made of grainy mustard, a little mayo and red wine vinegar. It tasted good, but I was disappointed in how it looked, especially since the potatoes were so vibrant.

Here is how the plate looked when served. Very colorful, delicious and fresh.

Salmon en Papillote

Aside from salt caving, cooking fish en papillote (parchment) is my favorite way prepare fish. I got some really fresh sockeye from the market and whipped it up fairly quickly last night. I learned from my dad a long time ago that placing the fish on aromatics or citrus really brings out the best in the fish and esentially steams it while heating through convection. This time I used Blood Oranges, Lemon, Ginger and Shallots. I was surprised at how much the ginger influenced the aroma.

After adding the fish on the lemons, I sprinkled the skin with togarashi (A commonly used Japanese 7-spice blend that typically includes red chile pepper, roasted orange peel, yellow and black sesame seeds, Japanese pepper, seaweed, and ginger)

 I also made couscous with blood orange, scallions and mint, which was really light. I lightly sauteed brussels sprouts as the veg.  I admit that the plating is a little ridiculous, but on a cold day the brightness was really nice. The fish didn't look great without the skin, but tasted good.

NYD > NYE

I think we enjoy NYD more than NYE around here. In fact, we were all in bed before 11 on NYE, which is badass.

We had some close friends in town from LA, so we decided to have a feast. I made homemade Lobster Mac & Cheese with Gruyere and Cheddar. It was ridiculous. So good, in fact, that I forgot to snap photos. I was able to make a double batch and freeze one, so potential pics to come in the future. I hand picked the lobster from claws the night before and do have a pic of some of those.

Because my friend from LA is a rib addict I made 2.5 slabs. I divided them into two styles. The first, was asian influenced and marinated with ginger, jalapeno, mae ploy, sweet chili sauce, siracha and a touch of OJ. The second batch was honey bbq and I marinated them with a rub, fresh sliced apple, orange and a touch of olive oil. They turned out really well for being baked in the oven at 325 for almost 2 hours.

The scallions were a nice touch on the Asian ribs. I added mirin and honey to the sauce which tasted sweet up front but had a nice residual heat .

I'mmmmm Baaaaaaaack - NYE

Since I decided to outsmart my Mac and move all of my pictures from the iPhoto folder in order to back them up, I've spent the last month getting everything in order. Happy to be back.

There are some traditions in our family that I don't dare touch, and King Crab on NYE is one of them. This year I got nearly 4 lbs of primo legs and simply steamed them. The only thing that I did a little different was melt local organic butter with a clove of garlic for dipping, which was delicious.

If pulling out straight legs of meat is any indication of how the new year will be, it's going to be one for the ages...

Tuna 3 Ways

Last week I bought Tuna for the first time in over 2 years. Although it is one of my favorite meats, I am just not convinced that it is sustainable and after watching a documentary on how they catch the tuna, I decided to stop eating it....Until last week. I was in the restaurant depot and they had a whole side of sushi grade yellowfin tuna. It was a ridiculously low price ($10/lb), so I got some. When I got home I noticed that it still had the skin on it, which was rough and kind of like a cats tongue. I decided to serve it three ways.

I rubbed a little mirin on the fish and rolled it in black sesame then seared it on the cast iron skillet. The inside was still cold when I served it. We had a mix of Bok Choy and Eggplant with a sweet chili sauce on the side.

For the main course, I made my favorite nagiri with two slices of a semi-hot thai pepper on the top. I also put wasabi under the fish to add a little kick. The rice was sushi rice with rice vinegar on it and fanned to cool it and make sure it would stick. I also made a tartar with a little chili sauce, fresh ginger, and scallions.

Rock Lobster Dinner

So I went to a restaurant wholesaler the other day with Sean (who had to fib and tell them that he worked at a restaurant, but they gave us the one day pass anyway). It's amazing to see how restaurants purchase in bulk. They had everything you could ever want and then some (6 gallons of A1? No.). We had been there once before so we knew our way around. I ended up buying a 3 lb brick roll of pancetta, but what really caught my eye was the seafood. Along with the tuna from my next post, I bought two fresh lobsters for......get this......$5.99/lb! So, in total I spent $18 for two 1.5lb live lobsters. I ended up grilling them and covering them with butter/parsley/garlic/shallots. I even cracked the claws to get some of the flavor in there. The meat was incredibly tender, especially for being grilled which usually toughens it up.

I'm a little disappointed in how the picture turned out, but they sure tasted damn good.

Dinner: Salt Cave Snapper with Quinoa Cucumber Salad

I've done a few salt cave fish in my day, but this was a first for the Yellow-Eyed Snapper. Typically I get Red Snapper or Yellow-Tail Snapper, but this was a really nice looking fish. It weighed about 2.5 pounds and was said to be caught within 36 hours before I bought it, but they didn't know specifically when.

To make the salt mixture, I use 6 pounds of salt and just add cold water to bind it so that it sticks together. I then lay the fish on top of it (after stuffing with lemon, lavender, rosemary and thyme). Finally, I pack the salt tightly over the top of the fish and bake it at 340 for 35 minutes or so. It came out as delicate as lump crab meat, but with more flavor. Pretty nice and light meal.

 As for the Quinoa salad, I made sure that it had a lot of fresh flavor. Before cooking the Quinoa, I added fresh mint, ginger, cucumber and a pinch of salt to a large bowl. I then boiled water and cooked the Quinoa (after soaking and rinsing it in cold water). It doesn't need any dressing and balances the succulent fish well.