Cooking Fish: Fish Recipes
Halibut in Champagne Sauce
Blackened Grouper
Marinated Skate
Poached Salmon in Orange, Honey and Wine
Flounder with Tomatoes and Sweet Garlic Sauce
Baked Snapper with Vegetables
New England Fish Chowder
Thai Fish Cakes with Cucumber Sauce
Halibut in Champagne Sauce
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds halibut fillets
2/3 cup champagne
1 pound bay scallops
2/3 heavy whipping cream
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
salt and cayenne pepper
1/2 cup peanut oil
freshly ground white pepper
1 ounce salmon roe
Preparation:
Rinse the halibut fillets under cool water and pat them dry with paper towels. In a large non-aluminum saucepan, bring the Champagne to a boil. Add the scallops and cook for 3 minutes. Remove the scallops from the liquid with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Boil the cooking liquid for about 15 minutes, or until reduced to about 3 tablespoons Whisk in the whipping cream, then remove from heat and whisk in the butter. Set aside.
Preheat the broiler or charcoal grill. Sprinkle salt and cayenne pepper on both sides of the fish fillets and brush with the peanut oil. Broil for 4 minutes on each side. Remove and keep warm. Reheat the sauce gently (Do not boil) and season to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve:
Ladle sauce onto 4 plates. Place the grilled fish in the center, dividing it evenly. Arrange the scallops in a large circle around the fish. Top the fish with a dab of salmon roe.
Blackened Grouper
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon powdered thyme
1/2 teaspoon powdered oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground paprika
1 lb. red grouper fillets, skinned
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon oil, for frying
Preparation:
Combine flour and spices and mix well. Brush fillets with butter, then rub spice mixture all over fillets.
Heat oil in iron frying pan over high heat until very hot. Add fillets and cook 2 to 3 minutes per side or until fish is opaque and beginning to flake when tested. Serve immediately.
Notes: Start with a really hot frying pan. The fish will sizzle immediately and will result in a very crisp, dark coating.
Marinated Skate
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 lb. skate, skinned
seasoned flour
oil for shallow frying
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red chili, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup pine nuts, finely chopped
Preparation:
Dust skate with flour until well coated, shaking off excess. Heat enough oil to cover base of frying pan over medium heat. Add skate and fry 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to glass dish.
Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and chili and sauté until fragrant. Add vinegar and nuts and bring to boil. Remove from heat and immediately pour over skate. Cover and marinate 10 to 15 minutes. Serve hot, or let cool and serve at room temperature.
Poached Salmon in Orange, Honey and Wine
Serves 4
Ingredients:
grated rind of 1 orange
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 salmon steaks, 8 oz. each
Preparation:
Combine rind, juice, honey and wine in large frying pan over medium heat and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Add fish and cook over low heat until fish is tender and beginning to flake when tested, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove fish with slotted spoon, drain on paper towels, keep warm.
Bring poaching liquid to boil over high heat and cook until slightly reduced and thickened. Spoon a small amount over fish and serve.
Flounder with Tomatoes and Sweet Garlic Sauce
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 head garlic, peeled
3/4 cup virgin olive oil
2 onions, minced
4 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
6 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/4 teaspoon dried)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon (or 1 tablespoon dried)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon paprika
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 pounds skinless flounder fillets
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chervil
Preparation:
Combine the garlic and 2 cups water in a small saucepan and boil for 15 minutes. Drain garlic, cool in ice water and drain again.
Heat 1/2 cup of the olive oil in a skillet over high heat. Add the onions and tomatoes and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes, stirring. Add garlic, thyme, tarragon and salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 8 minutes. Discard the thyme. Purée the mixture in a blender or food processor and return to the saucepan.
Combine the flour and paprika on a flat plate. Salt and pepper the fish fillets and coat them with the seasoned flour, shaking off excess. In a skillet heat 2 tablespoons butter and the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil over high heat. Add the fish and sauté until browned, about 3 minutes on each side.
Reheat the sauce. Place fish fillets on 4 plates, spoon hot sauce over and sprinkle with chervil.
Baked Snapper with Vegetables
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
13 oz. mixed julienned vegetables (carrots, celery, fennel, asparagus)
4 red snapper filets
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon madeira or sherry
3/4 cup fish stock
1/4 cup light whipping cream
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp. water
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt butter in frying pan over medium heat. Add vegetables and cook just until tender crisp.
Spread vegetables in greased baking dish. Using a sharp knife, make 2 or 3 diagonal slits on each side of fish.
Place on top of vegetables and season well with salt and pepper.
Combine madeira, stock and cream and pour over fish. Cover dish with foil and bake until fish is opaque and beginning to flake when tested, 20 to 25 minutes.
To serve, place fish on four plates. Remove vegetables with slotted spoon and divide equally among fish.
Pour pan juices over or, if they require thickening, pour pan juices into small saucepan and place over high heat.
Add cornstarch mixture and bring to boil, stirring constantly until sauce thickens.
Pour sauce over vegetables and serve.
New England Fish Chowder
Serves 6 (main-course)
Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds fresh firm white fish fillets
4 cups fish stock or 2 cups bottled or canned clam juice and 2 cups of water (More Than Gourmet makes an excellent, highly concentrated fish stock)
6 ounces "streak of lean" salt pork (with the rind removed) cut into 3/8-inch dice, blanched for 5 minutes in 2 quarts of water, and drained
4 1/2 cups thinly sliced onions
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
5 cups sliced "boiling" potatoes
1 teaspoon each fresh sage and thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns, roughly crushed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Additional fish stock, milk or water
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup light or heavy cream
fresh parsley, thyme, sage coarsely chopped -- for garnish
Preparation:
Base: Sauté the blanched salt pork for several minutes in a 3-quart saucepan to brown very lightly and render fat. Stir in the onions, then the garlic, and cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent and tender. Drain off excess fat and save it.
Stir the flour into the onion mixture. Add a little of the reserved fat if the mixture is too dry, and cook slowly, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
In another pot, bring the fish stock to the simmer, then vigorously beat 4 cups (1 at a time!) into the vegetables and pork.
Add the potatoes, herbs, peppercorns (no salt here!). Cook until potatoes are tender then simmer slowly 5 minutes. Now taste and add salt as needed. [You want to wait until now because the salt pork is quite salty, if you've used bottled clam juice, it's VERY salty, and after the potatoes have cooked you'll have a better idea of how much additional salt you'll need.] You can make the chowder up to this point and refrigerate it for up to 2 days.
Shortly before you are ready to serve, bring the base to the simmer. Cut your fish into 2 -inch chunks and add to the base. Add extra stock, milk or water to cover the ingredients. Simmer about 5 minutes, or JUST until the fish chunks are opaque. DON'T overcook! Taste again for seasoning.
To Serve: Ladle into wide soup plates. Top with chopped fresh herbs, and pass the common crackers.
Teacher's Tip: Cod, haddock or halibut are the most obvious fish choices, but investigate less known, less expensive and more widely available varieties such as orange roughy and pollock, or (in New England) even the ubiquitous "Chowder fish". Just make sure that the fish fillets you choose are FRESH
Wine Tip: I like a crisp New England white - Vidal Blanc from Sakonnet Vineyards - with my chowder. If that's not available in your area, try an Italian Gavi.
Recipe By:
Chef June Jacobs, CCP
Thai Fish Cakes with Cucumber Sauce
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. firm white fish fillet
3 oz fresh string beans, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stalk lemon grass, very finely sliced
1 tbsp. cilantro, finely chopped
1 or 2 finely minced Asian bird chiles or Serranos
1-2 tbsp. fish sauce
1 egg
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. sugar
Oil for frying
Cucumber Sauce:
1 cucumber
5 tbsp. sugar
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tsp. sea salt
3-5 Asian bird peppers or 2-3 serranos, pref. red, finely chopped
3 shallots, finely chopped
Preparation:
Prepare sauce: Thinly slice cucumber, arrange in bowl, peeling is optional. Dissolve sugar in the boiling water. Stir in vinegar and salt.
Pour this sauce over cucumber. Sprinkle with the chopped chiles and shallots. Chill.
Mince the fish. Combine it with the string beans, onion, lemon grass, cilantro, chiles, fish sauce, slightly beaten egg, cornstarch and sugar. Blend well.
Shape fish mixture into patties 2" in diameter, 1/2" thick. Preheat oil to 350 degrees F. Fry just a few at a time until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
Serve fish patties warm, with cucumber sauce. Garnish with sprigs of cilantro, if you like it, right before serving.
Recipe By: Tod Mun
Halibut in Champagne Sauce
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds halibut fillets
2/3 cup champagne
1 pound bay scallops
2/3 heavy whipping cream
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
salt and cayenne pepper
1/2 cup peanut oil
freshly ground white pepper
1 ounce salmon roe
Preparation:
Rinse the halibut fillets under cool water and pat them dry with paper towels. In a large non-aluminum saucepan, bring the Champagne to a boil. Add the scallops and cook for 3 minutes. Remove the scallops from the liquid with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Boil the cooking liquid for about 15 minutes, or until reduced to about 3 tablespoons Whisk in the whipping cream, then remove from heat and whisk in the butter. Set aside.
Preheat the broiler or charcoal grill. Sprinkle salt and cayenne pepper on both sides of the fish fillets and brush with the peanut oil. Broil for 4 minutes on each side. Remove and keep warm. Reheat the sauce gently (Do not boil) and season to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve:
Ladle sauce onto 4 plates. Place the grilled fish in the center, dividing it evenly. Arrange the scallops in a large circle around the fish. Top the fish with a dab of salmon roe.
Blackened Grouper
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon powdered thyme
1/2 teaspoon powdered oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground paprika
1 lb. red grouper fillets, skinned
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon oil, for frying
Preparation:
Combine flour and spices and mix well. Brush fillets with butter, then rub spice mixture all over fillets.
Heat oil in iron frying pan over high heat until very hot. Add fillets and cook 2 to 3 minutes per side or until fish is opaque and beginning to flake when tested. Serve immediately.
Notes: Start with a really hot frying pan. The fish will sizzle immediately and will result in a very crisp, dark coating.
Marinated Skate
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 lb. skate, skinned
seasoned flour
oil for shallow frying
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red chili, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup pine nuts, finely chopped
Preparation:
Dust skate with flour until well coated, shaking off excess. Heat enough oil to cover base of frying pan over medium heat. Add skate and fry 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to glass dish.
Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and chili and sauté until fragrant. Add vinegar and nuts and bring to boil. Remove from heat and immediately pour over skate. Cover and marinate 10 to 15 minutes. Serve hot, or let cool and serve at room temperature.
Poached Salmon in Orange, Honey and Wine
Serves 4
Ingredients:
grated rind of 1 orange
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 salmon steaks, 8 oz. each
Preparation:
Combine rind, juice, honey and wine in large frying pan over medium heat and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Add fish and cook over low heat until fish is tender and beginning to flake when tested, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove fish with slotted spoon, drain on paper towels, keep warm.
Bring poaching liquid to boil over high heat and cook until slightly reduced and thickened. Spoon a small amount over fish and serve.
Flounder with Tomatoes and Sweet Garlic Sauce
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 head garlic, peeled
3/4 cup virgin olive oil
2 onions, minced
4 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
6 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/4 teaspoon dried)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon (or 1 tablespoon dried)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon paprika
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 pounds skinless flounder fillets
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chervil
Preparation:
Combine the garlic and 2 cups water in a small saucepan and boil for 15 minutes. Drain garlic, cool in ice water and drain again.
Heat 1/2 cup of the olive oil in a skillet over high heat. Add the onions and tomatoes and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes, stirring. Add garlic, thyme, tarragon and salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 8 minutes. Discard the thyme. Purée the mixture in a blender or food processor and return to the saucepan.
Combine the flour and paprika on a flat plate. Salt and pepper the fish fillets and coat them with the seasoned flour, shaking off excess. In a skillet heat 2 tablespoons butter and the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil over high heat. Add the fish and sauté until browned, about 3 minutes on each side.
Reheat the sauce. Place fish fillets on 4 plates, spoon hot sauce over and sprinkle with chervil.
Baked Snapper with Vegetables
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
13 oz. mixed julienned vegetables (carrots, celery, fennel, asparagus)
4 red snapper filets
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon madeira or sherry
3/4 cup fish stock
1/4 cup light whipping cream
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp. water
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt butter in frying pan over medium heat. Add vegetables and cook just until tender crisp.
Spread vegetables in greased baking dish. Using a sharp knife, make 2 or 3 diagonal slits on each side of fish.
Place on top of vegetables and season well with salt and pepper.
Combine madeira, stock and cream and pour over fish. Cover dish with foil and bake until fish is opaque and beginning to flake when tested, 20 to 25 minutes.
To serve, place fish on four plates. Remove vegetables with slotted spoon and divide equally among fish.
Pour pan juices over or, if they require thickening, pour pan juices into small saucepan and place over high heat.
Add cornstarch mixture and bring to boil, stirring constantly until sauce thickens.
Pour sauce over vegetables and serve.
New England Fish Chowder
Serves 6 (main-course)
Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds fresh firm white fish fillets
4 cups fish stock or 2 cups bottled or canned clam juice and 2 cups of water (More Than Gourmet makes an excellent, highly concentrated fish stock)
6 ounces "streak of lean" salt pork (with the rind removed) cut into 3/8-inch dice, blanched for 5 minutes in 2 quarts of water, and drained
4 1/2 cups thinly sliced onions
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
5 cups sliced "boiling" potatoes
1 teaspoon each fresh sage and thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns, roughly crushed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Additional fish stock, milk or water
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup light or heavy cream
fresh parsley, thyme, sage coarsely chopped -- for garnish
Preparation:
Base: Sauté the blanched salt pork for several minutes in a 3-quart saucepan to brown very lightly and render fat. Stir in the onions, then the garlic, and cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent and tender. Drain off excess fat and save it.
Stir the flour into the onion mixture. Add a little of the reserved fat if the mixture is too dry, and cook slowly, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
In another pot, bring the fish stock to the simmer, then vigorously beat 4 cups (1 at a time!) into the vegetables and pork.
Add the potatoes, herbs, peppercorns (no salt here!). Cook until potatoes are tender then simmer slowly 5 minutes. Now taste and add salt as needed. [You want to wait until now because the salt pork is quite salty, if you've used bottled clam juice, it's VERY salty, and after the potatoes have cooked you'll have a better idea of how much additional salt you'll need.] You can make the chowder up to this point and refrigerate it for up to 2 days.
Shortly before you are ready to serve, bring the base to the simmer. Cut your fish into 2 -inch chunks and add to the base. Add extra stock, milk or water to cover the ingredients. Simmer about 5 minutes, or JUST until the fish chunks are opaque. DON'T overcook! Taste again for seasoning.
To Serve: Ladle into wide soup plates. Top with chopped fresh herbs, and pass the common crackers.
Teacher's Tip: Cod, haddock or halibut are the most obvious fish choices, but investigate less known, less expensive and more widely available varieties such as orange roughy and pollock, or (in New England) even the ubiquitous "Chowder fish". Just make sure that the fish fillets you choose are FRESH
Wine Tip: I like a crisp New England white - Vidal Blanc from Sakonnet Vineyards - with my chowder. If that's not available in your area, try an Italian Gavi.
Recipe By:
Chef June Jacobs, CCP
Thai Fish Cakes with Cucumber Sauce
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. firm white fish fillet
3 oz fresh string beans, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stalk lemon grass, very finely sliced
1 tbsp. cilantro, finely chopped
1 or 2 finely minced Asian bird chiles or Serranos
1-2 tbsp. fish sauce
1 egg
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. sugar
Oil for frying
Cucumber Sauce:
1 cucumber
5 tbsp. sugar
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tsp. sea salt
3-5 Asian bird peppers or 2-3 serranos, pref. red, finely chopped
3 shallots, finely chopped
Preparation:
Prepare sauce: Thinly slice cucumber, arrange in bowl, peeling is optional. Dissolve sugar in the boiling water. Stir in vinegar and salt.
Pour this sauce over cucumber. Sprinkle with the chopped chiles and shallots. Chill.
Mince the fish. Combine it with the string beans, onion, lemon grass, cilantro, chiles, fish sauce, slightly beaten egg, cornstarch and sugar. Blend well.
Shape fish mixture into patties 2" in diameter, 1/2" thick. Preheat oil to 350 degrees F. Fry just a few at a time until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
Serve fish patties warm, with cucumber sauce. Garnish with sprigs of cilantro, if you like it, right before serving.
Recipe By: Tod Mun
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