How to cook fish

[Martha]

My favorite way to cook fish:

place the filet on a square of aluminum foil. Add a touch of butter or olive oil, white whine, lemon juice, shallots, pepper, herbs, and julienned vegetables. Fold the aluminum foil to form a loose pouch around the fish and crimp the edges so that the pouch is tightly sealed. Cook in the oven at 375F for 20 minutes or so. It is my fool-proof way to cook fish. The savor of the fish is preserved and the fish remains very moist.

What kind of herbs?

 

[Martha]

Martha,

This is super easy, fast, and tasty.

Get the bottle of 21 Seasoning Blend from Trader Joe's.
Wash fish, dry with paper towel, and salt the fish. Then sprinkle the 21 Seasoning Blend generously. You can steam the fish with a little white wine or you can grill the fish in the pan with some butter.

The 21 Seasoning Blend from TJ's is the best of the best IMHO. I use it for just about everything now.

Maybe I will do FireDreamer's recipe (foil with julianne veggies) with 21 Seasoning Blend next time.

Will someone run to TJs for me? The nearest is 160 or so miles away.

 

[FinanceDude]

Also Penzey's has the BEST spices. We have a Penzey's here in Pittsburgh in the Strip District(wholesale/retail food center near downtown), and it is always a destination for me when I go food shopping in the Strip. They also do online sales natch.

I'll second on Penzeys. They have a manufacturing plant and a big store about 1 mile from where I work........

 

[Martha]

I second Penzey's--I have just fallen in love with their Northwoods Seasoning spice blend. It tastes good and also looks very appetizing, with a reddish brown color. We threw it on salmon last week, and on chicken over the weekend.

I went to the Penzeys site, and this sounds like a tasty mix. I'll probably order it. And it might make my boring chicken better too.

 

[RonBoyd]

And it might make my boring chicken better too.

Here is a recipe for a not-boring chicken dish:

America's Test Kitchen TV OnDemand

or the text version:
http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=4862&iSeason=

Watch the video though because it is prepared slightly different (and, IMHO, much tastier.)

 

[TromboneAl]

If you do want to fry the fillets with breadcrumbs or flour, here's a great tip. Put the crumbs on (following dipping in milk or egg), and then put the fillets back in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

If you do this the coating will remain on the fish instead of ending up on the pan.

 

[FIREd]

What kind of herbs?

You could use dill, parsley, chervil, thyme or chives to accompany fish with a delicate flavor. But you could also use sage, oregano, marjoram, tarragon, savory or fennel to kick it up a few notches on the flavor scale.

For the recipe I outlined above, I usually use either dill, thyme, chives, tarragon or fennel.

 

[Martha]

Here is a recipe for a not-boring chicken dish:

America's Test Kitchen TV OnDemand

or the text version:
http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=4862&iSeason=

Watch the video though because it is prepared slightly different (and, IMHO, much tastier.)

Watching a video is much more helpful. That chicken looked nummy!

 

[kaneohe]

You could try googling for fish or salmon recipes....if you have any favorite ingredients, that might help in search. Here's one from a site that Audrey provided recently which has a nice gooey sauce w/ my favorite ingredients:Fire & Flavor . Maple Mustard Glazed Salmon

That site (fireand flavor.com) has other recipes too. It's biased toward bbqing but you don't have to cook it that way.

Here's an easy one from the fishing lodge we visit in Sitka.....very simple provided you have ingredients:
Raspberrry chipotle sauce (from Costco), butter (melted).
Brush melted butter on salmon, brush/spoon chipotle sauce
on salmon. Mold aluminum foil cup around fish to contain sauce. BBQ. I substitute canola oil for the butter...probably not as rich, but healthier.

My experience is that breading and frying makes it easier to keep the fish tender since the crust tends to seal in the juices. Still possible to overcook tho but much more forgiving.

 

[audreyh1]

You could try googling for fish or salmon recipes....if you have any favorite ingredients, that might help in search. Here's one from a site that Audrey provided recently which has a nice gooey sauce w/ my favorite ingredients:Fire & Flavor . Maple Mustard Glazed Salmon

Hey - thanks for the link kaneohe! I just bought some fresh steelhead trout in Whole Foods in Plano yesterday and am ready to plank grill again as soon as we get down to "the valley" - i.e. the Rio Grande Valley in south TX.

Buy fish, drive 550 miles and then grill it? What can I say? - RVing is crazy.

(Hint - there is no Whole Foods Market in the valley)

Oh yeah - Martha - we're headed to Bentsen Palm Village. We'll be there through Nov.

Audrey

 

[HFWR]

Hey - thanks for the link kaneohe! I just bought some fresh steelhead trout in Whole Foods in Plano yesterday and am ready to plank grill again as soon as we get down to "the valley" - i.e. the Rio Grande Valley in south TX.

Buy fish, drive 550 miles and then grill it? What can I say? - RVing is crazy.

(Hint - there is no Whole Foods Market in the valley)

Oh yeah - Martha - we're headed to Bentsen Palm Village. We'll be there through Nov.

Audrey

Wow, you were close by...

 

[audreyh1]

Wow, you were close by...

Not for long! We were at Buddy Gregg motorhomes in Lewisville for a couple of nights.

Audrey

 

[RonBoyd]

Okay. Let me take it back to Mark Bittman.

I have tens of thousands of recipes I have collected over the years. I do the cooking for dinner and have a rule never to make the same thing twice. As you might expect, there are times when (for many reason) that rule cannot be strictly adhered to. When that happens I fall back on an article by Mark Bittman written a couple years ago.

I have tried this a couple times and found it easy, fast, and delicious with any type of rice (wild, for example).

66. Salmon (or just about anything else) teriyaki: Sear salmon steaks on both sides for a couple of minutes; remove. To skillet, add a splash of water, sake, a little sugar and soy sauce; when mixture is thick, return steaks to pan and turn in sauce until done. Serve hot or at room temperature.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Okay. Let me take it back to Mark Bittman.

I have tens of thousands of recipes I have collected over the years. I do the cooking for dinner and have a rule never to make the same thing twice. As you might expect, there are times when (for many reason) that rule cannot be strictly adhered to. When that happens I fall back on an article by Mark Bittman written a couple years ago.

I have tried this a couple times and found it easy, fast, and delicious with any type of rice (wild, for example).

I adore this recipe for salmon. I wonder if you can buy sake in airline sized bottles?

 

[RonBoyd]

I adore this recipe for salmon. I wonder if you can buy sake in airline sized bottles?

Why bother. Sake can be used in any recipe that calls for Sherry. If you keep it in the refrigerator it will last a long time and, as a bonus, it tastes better cold -- for that occasional sip needed during those extra long kitchen-battles.

And I believe it is relatively inexpensive.

 

[tuixiu]

Any recipe for salmon will be suitable for steelhead trout. We like ours oven broiled with a light sauce over it.

Yup! Broiling this type of fish nets (heh) a perfect combination of crisp outside tender inside.

 

[Orchidflower]

Hope nobody has suggested this as I haven't time to read the entire thread yet, but we eat of fish here (perch, catfish, talapia, etc.):

One trick we do is to (got this in Louisiana at a Cajun fish fry there):

Brush French's yellow mustard on both sides of the fish first and then roll the fish in whatever breading we have purchased (premade like Louisiana Fish Fry or comparable brand of breading for fish). Gives the fish a slightly tart taste. Delicious.



For sauce this is from the Drake Hotel in Chicago where my son was a Chef for awhile:

Take hot sauce (we use lots of brands from Mexico and not Tabasco) and mix it with equal amounts of Hellman's mayo--plus a few squirts of real lemon--mix and use it for the dip. Just delicious!

 

[W2R]

I love fish. I love, love, love it.

I would love fish prepared with ANY of the recipes above! I am salivating just reading this thread.

The only tip I would add for cooking fish, is to make sure it is as fresh as possible. Other than that, you just can't go wrong (in my opinion). I have even been known to just dry grill fish on my George Foreman grill and enjoy it like that. Or, cook fresh-caught fish on a grate over a campfire.

 

[RonBoyd]

I mentioned earlier my aversion to most fish. I, actually, love fish and would eat it daily but the quality has suffered so that it is a (very expensive) gamble when shopping. I'm not sure that the health issue plays a very important role but Let me google that for you.

Tilapia is fish, so we should eat more, right? Wrong, a new study by researchers at the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, suggests that farm-raised tilapia may be worse for your heart than eating bacon or a hamburger.

It is more the lack of texture and taste that farm-raised fish have.

Again (and I'm getting tired of this) I have to bring up Mark Bittman:

Loving Fish, This Time With the Fish in Mind

IN 1994, I published my first book, “Fish: The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking.” The premise was straightforward: if you buy fish fresh and cook it simply, you’ll eat well. ... Merely buying a piece of fish has become so challenging that when my publisher asked if I wanted to revise the book, I felt I had to decline. The cooking remains unchanged, but the buying has become a logistical and ethical nightmare. (Prices are no longer exactly friendly, either.)

 

[Bob1958]

Wish someone would dump a pile of walleye in my freezer! We fish for walleye all year, including through the ice. If we don't make fish frys out of the fillets we'll bake it - spray the pan, lay the fillets out, cover with a mixture of mostly blue cheese dressing mixed with a bit of horseradish, then sprinkle seasoned breakcrumbs over the top and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. I'm getting hungry just typing this out.

 

[audreyh1]

Wish someone would dump a pile of walleye in my freezer! We fish for walleye all year, including through the ice. If we don't make fish frys out of the fillets we'll bake it - spray the pan, lay the fillets out, cover with a mixture of mostly blue cheese dressing mixed with a bit of horseradish, then sprinkle seasoned breakcrumbs over the top and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. I'm getting hungry just typing this out.

Yeah - that's making my mouth water just reading it! And I just had lunch!

Audrey

 

[Martha]

Hey, I pulled a chunk of walleye out for supper. I am going to try the blue cheese thing.

 

[ls99]

On Salmon. When I was in Alaska we used a simple beer, butter garlic mix, a quick minute or so in the hot mix. Used the same bbg mix for king crab.

All of which we got fresh either by catching or for a minimum of bucks right off the fishing boats.

The amounts of beer, butter and garlic depended on who was cooking, drinking the beer, or the availability of the other two ingredients.

 

[TromboneAl]

We got a half pound of mahi-mahi yesterday (fillet, about .5 inches thick) and here's how I cooked it.

I removed the skin with a fish fillet knife. I chopped a handful of macademia nuts until they were powdering with some chunks. I pressed the nuts onto both sides of the fish, then put it in the fridge for an hour.

I heated a cast iron skillet for several minutes on high, then added canola oil. and added the fish. I turned the heat down to about 4/10. I put a pat of butter on top of the fish. I put a cover on loosely.

I cooked it for four minutes on the first side, and three on the second. I cut it open to make sure it was cooked through.

It was quite good.

 

[TromboneAl]

YouTube - Fish Recipes : Removing the Skin from a Fillet of Salmon