Sautéed Sole in a Lemon Cream Sauce

Simply yummy- sole in lemon cream sauce

This is one of Katie's favorite dishes. We made it after we watched Julie and Julia which launched our all French food week. It was wonderful. We made some incredible dishes. My favorite was the braised chicken with tomatoes and olives. This dish was a lot easier to make. Our entire family is crazy about capers- if you don't like them, don't add them. I also like a bit of spice so I add a bit of Creole seasoning.

Sautéd Sole in a Lemon Cream Sauce

2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp of Oil
1/4 Cup (30 g) of Flour
1/4 Tsp of Salt
1/2 Tsp of Pepper
1/4 Tsp Creole Seasoning (Optional)
1-2 lbs (.45-.9 kg) of White Fish, Cut into 4 oz. Pieces
1 Cup (240 ml) of Fat Free Half and Half
Zest from a Lemon
Juice from Half of a Lemon
1 Tbsp of Chopped Parsley
1/2 Teaspoon of Capers

Melt butter and oil in a frying pan over medium heat. 

Butter melting in the frying pan

Dredge fish in a mixture of flour, salt, and pepper. 

Frying fish

Place fish a couple pieces at a time in the frying pan (don't crowd). Depending on the thickness of the fish sauté for a couple of minutes to several minutes. When the fish is ready it is when it turns opaque. Remove fish to a plate and keep warm.

Making the cream sauce

To make the sauce add the half and half and lemon zest to the frying pan. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley. Serve the sauce over the fish and sprinkle capers on top.

The finished fish

The bottom line: will I make this again? Yes, I love this dish and Katie always asks for it. I will only make with a thin white fish.

Fish Tacos

Fish taco

I love fish tacos. I really love the deep fried ones... delicate pieces of fish deep fried and smothered with a creamy spicy sauce...... drool.... We didn't have those. We are eating healthier (grrrrrr). So we grilled the lovely fish. Did I miss the deep fried goodness? Strangely no. These were amazing.

Fish Tacos

2 Tbsp of Vegetable or Canola Oil
3 Tbsp of Lime Juice (Juice from One Lime)
1/2 Tbsp of Ancho Chile Powder
1 Hot Pepper, Chopped
1/4 Cup (5 g) of Cilantro
1 1/2 Pounds (.7 kg) of White Fish
Several Flour Tortillas

Combine all of the ingredients, except the fish and tortillas. Add the fish to the marinade and marinate for 10-15 minutes.

Marinating the fish

Grill fish until flaky.

Grilled fish

While fish is resting, grill the tortillas for approximately 30 seconds each side (the tortillas will slightly puff up when ready).

Grilled tortilla

Spicy Sour Cream

1/4 Cup (60 g) of Light Sour Cream
1 Tbsp of Lime Juice
2 Tsp of Ancho Chili Powder
1 Tsp of Cumin

Combine all of the ingredients.

The garnishes

Garnishes

Spicy Sour Cream
Shredded Cabbage
Shredded Carrot
Sliced Limes
Diced Tomatoes

Assembly

Place grilled fish and garnishes in a grilled tortilla.

The bottom line: will I make these again? Yes, they were wonderful. So easy to make and healthy!

Homemade Gravlax

Gravlax on a bagel with cream cheese and capers

We love gravlax. I like it best on a piece of rye bread with cream cheese and capers. Steven likes it best on a bagel with all of the fixins. It is really easy to make. All it takes is really fresh salmon, dill, sugar, a little black pepper, Kosher salt, and a little time. I also use a little vodka but you don't have to.
Gravlax was made by fisherman starting in the middle ages by salting the salmon and buying it in the sand above the high tide line. "Gravlaz" comes from the Scandinavian word "grav" which means grave and "lax" which means salmon. So it literally means "buried salmon." I broke with tradition and used a bit of vodka and I did not bury the salmon in the back yard. Instead, I made a "salmon sandwich," wrapped it in plastic wrap, and placed it in the refrigerator.  The result, beautiful cured salmon.

Gravlax

1 Large Piece of Salmon, Cut in Half
A Big Bunch of Dill
1 Cup (215 g) of Coarse Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
2 Cups (450 g) of Sugar
2 Tsp of Black Pepper
1/4 Cup (60 ml) of Vodka

Mix the salt and sugar together in a bowl. Coat each side of the salmon in the salt/sugar mixture,

Salmon covered in salt and sugar mixture

lightly pepper each side, and place most of the dill on one of the pieces of salmon (so that it will be on the inside of the sandwich).

Salmon covered in sugar, salt, and dill

Place the two pieces of salmon together (skin side out). Place the remaining dill on the outside, pour vodka on top,  and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Place in a container to catch any liquid that escapes. Cover with books or weights and refrigerate.

Salmon wrapped in plastic wrap ready for the refrigerator

Once to twice a day open up the dill sandwich and baste the fish with the liquids. The gravalx is done when the fish is opaque. This process usually takes 2 to 4 days. When the fish is done, thinly slice it and serve.

Gravlax on a bagel with cream cheese and capers and onions

The bottom line: will I make this again? Yes, I will. It is an inexpensive way to make great cured salmon.

Smoked Trout Dip with a Bite

Smoked trout dip with pita bread.

I gave my husband a gift certificate for a grilling/smoking class one year for Father's Day. That class moved his grilling and smoking ability to the next level. He does an excellent job smoking fish. It is also nice every once in a while to have a night off from cooking (and still have great food).
My favorite is smoked trout. As much as I like it right out of the smoker, there is nothing like a smoked trout dip. I love it on pita bread, rye bread, and in the morning on toasted bagels. It is simple to make (at least for me); when we smoke trout, we just smoke an extra trout or two and let it chill in foil in the refrigerator. The next day, we have smoked trout for our dip.
I like horseradish so I developed a dip that has a bite to it from the horseradish. If you don't like horseradish, eliminate it and substitute lemon juice. I like a smooth trout dip (e.g., no pieces of trout). If you like pieces of fish in your dip, just reserve 1/2 of the trout, roughly chop it, and add it with the dill and onion. The dip is supposed to  chill in the refrigerator for the flavors to mingle (insert your version of a Far Side cartoon here), but I start eating it right away.

Smoked Trout Spread with a Bite

8-10 oz (227g to 283 g) of Smoke Trout
8 oz. (227 g) of Cream Cheese, Softened
1/2 Cup (121 g) of Sour Cream
2 Tbsp of Prepared Horseradish
3 Tbsp of Fresh Dill (3 Tsp of Dried Dill)
1/4 Cup (48 g) of Red Onion, Finely Chopped

In a food processor combine cream cheese, sour cream, and horseradish.

Add trout and puree.
 

Fold in the dill and onion and serve!



Bottom line: Will I make this again? Yes, I will. I really like the bite that the horseradish provides. I use lower fat cream cheese and sour cream; so there is all the flavor and less guilt.

Smoked Trout

I love smoked trout for oh so many reasons. One of the biggest reasons - this is my husband's dish. He does the prep work and the smoking and all I do it enjoy. His trout has gotten better over the years. Brining the fish adds a lot to the final dish. We brine in different liquids; a water, sugar and salt brine is a good brine to start with. We also use different wood chips and seasoning and herbs. What doesn't change is using a brine, chunk charcoal and indirect heat. It makes a difference.

Trout Brine

Whole Trout
Water to Cover the Trout
1/4 Cup of Kosher Salt
1/4 Cup of Sugar

Brine trout for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours. The longer you brine the fish, the better. 

Trout Prep

4 Sprigs of Thyme Per Fish
Lemon Pepper

Use toothpicks to hold trout open. Sprinkle with lemon pepper and stuff with thyme sprigs.

Smoking trout

Indirect heat is best for smoking trout

Grill Trout

Soak wood chips in warm water for 20-30 minutes. Light charcoal chucks and allow to get red hot (e.g., build a solid bed of coals). Place trout flesh side down on grill. Put soaked wood chips in smoker and close grill. Smoke trout for 45 minutes to an hour depending on the heat of the fire and proximity of fish to the fire. Once the trout is done, either remove skin and bones and eat or wrap in foil and allow to cool in the refrigerator.

Finished smoked trout

Bottom line: Will I (well actually Steven) make this again? Yes, yes he will. This dish is enough to make me want to grab my fishing pole and go fishing. We are looking for people out there who want to trade fresh caught (cleaned) fish for smoked fish.

Seared Ahi Tuna

Seared Ahi

 This is a quick last minute meal. The tuna takes less than a minute to sear on each side. Served with a salad, it makes a mice meal. The critical piece to this recipe is fresh sashimi grade ahi. I like to go to Whole Foods to get my ahi. I justify the cost of this dish by looking at what it would cost if we ordered it out. Like most of the dishes I make, this can be easily changed by switching the bread crumbs with a different seasoning. Or marinating the ahi in a mixture of oil (vegetable, sesame, or peanut), soy sauce, and rice vinegar.

Seared Ahi 

1 Pound (454 g) of Ahi Tuna (Sashimi Grade)
Salt and Pepper, To Taste
3/4 Cup (42 g) of Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs or Panko
3 Tbsp of Vegetable or Canola Oil

Cut the ahi tuna into two pieces and salt and pepper the pieces. Place bread crumbs in a bowl and dredge the tuna in the bread crumbs.

Pour oil into skillet and heat on high. Once the oil is hot, sear the ahi for 45 seconds on each side. Bottom line: Will I make this again? Yes, I will but I will marinate it first. I think the marinate adds a level of flavor that was missing.

Maple Syrup Soy Sauce Salmon

This is one of my favorite ways to fix salmon-- it is easy and delicious. It is from Bob Blumer's Off the Eaten Path, a fun cookbook that is worth purchasing. It has great ideas and fun recipes like a salmon you wrap in foil and cook in the dishwasher and lemongrass shrimp you cook on a car engine. Plus it has this great salmon recipe.

Maple Syrup Soy Sauce Salmon

3 Parts Pure Maple Syrup
1 Part Soy Sauce
Salmon Fillets, Cut into 4-6 Ounce (113 g to 170 g) Pieces
Lots and Lots of Coarsely Ground Black Pepper

Combine 3 parts maple syrup and one part soy sauce in a plastic bag and add the salmon. Marinade over night up to 48 hours turning the salmon every so often (The recipe says marinade at least 4 hours-- but its best if you can marinade it overnight).

Marinating salmon

Once it is done marinating:

Preheat the oven to 500 F/260 C/Gas Mark 10.
Rub oil or spray with oil spray a sheet of aluminum foil or cookie sheet.
Place cracked pepper on a small plate and dredge one side of the salmon through the pepper.

A plate of cracked pepper

Place salmon pepper side up on the foil or cookie sheet.


Bake on the top rack of the oven for 7 minutes.



That's all of there is to it.

Katie's salmon with less pepper

Feast of the Seven Fishes

Clay pot clam bake

This Christmas Eve we decided to attempt the feast of the seven fishes (festa dei sette pesci), a traditional Sicilian meal. It is based on the Catholic tradition of the La Vigilia di Natale, the Vigil of the Holy Night, where some Catholics abstain from eating meat. 

I think the seven fishes correlates to the seven Sacraments in the Catholic Church.[i] However, seven is an important number in other contexts--- the seven virtues[ii]; the seven hills of Rome; seven gifts of the Holy Spirit[iii]; and the seven utterance on the cross. Some Italian-American families have 9, 12, or 13 different seafood/fishes.

The meal consists of whatever is fresh where you live and your means. The "traditional" items I came across were:  eel, smelts, salted cod (baccalà), linguine with clams (Linguine con le Vongole-- one of my favorite all time dishes), calamari, and anchovies.

I am quite excited about the meal. I am also slightly anxious-- it is a lot of work and several of the recipes I have not made before. Thankfully, I am making three of my favorites dishes (Caesar salad, clam bake, and cheesecake).

Here is what we have planned:

• Cheese antipasti (to snack on all day long); 
• Caesar salad (with anchovies) (recipe below)
• Clam bake with clams, scallops, and shrimp cooked in a clay pot (recipe below- adapted from The Clay Pot Cookbook by Georgia MacLeod Sales and Grover Sales); 
• Salt cod in tomato caper sauce[iv];
•  Lobster tail (see preparation below); 
• Crab ravioli in a lemon butter caper sauce[v];  
•  Italian cheese cake; and 
•  to top it all off we plan to have a mint (it's wafer thin....).

Caesar Salad

Steven usually makes the Caesar salad which frees me up to stress over last minute details. Here is the recipe---

Mash together one tablespoon of anchovy paste, 3 cloves of garlic (minced), and two teaspoons of champagne mustard. Then add the juice of one third of a lemon and salt and pepper and mix; slowly add two tablespoons of olive oil. Toss cut up romaine lettuce with the dressing-- adjust salt and pepper and then add shredded Parmesan cheese to taste. Prior to serving add croutons.

Caesar salad

Clam Bake

The first crisis was no clams. I went to Whole Foods yesterday to check that they would have clams today. I was assured that they would. This morning-- bright and early--- I went to Whole Foods to buy the seafood and no clams. Whole Foods did some wonderful service recovery and gave me mussels as a substitute (for free). So I guess this is a mussels bake??? 


The mussel bake is really easy- first soak your clay pot for 20 minutes and then put the following into the pot (in order)---

Clay pot clam bake

Sliced onion (one onion thinly sliced); mussels (8 oz/227 g), shrimp (1 lb/454 g shells on), scallops (8 oz/ 227 g), squeeze the juice of one lemon over the seafood and then either zest the lemon and add the zest or slice the lemon and add it, 1/4 cup (125 ml) white wine, 5 cloves of garlic (whole), fresh parsley, fresh thyme, and red pepper (we used a hot lemon pepper instead of red pepper), salt, and pepper to taste. Place in a cold oven and set oven to 450 F/ 232 C. Cook for 40 minutes. Serve with bread.  Note-- sometimes I add a piece of study fish to the mixture, clams, clam juice, lobster and/or crab. Also I add whatever fresh herbs I have-- oregano, basil, thyme, ect.... Also don't forget to rinse and dry your seafood before you put it in the pot.

Mussel bake

Lobster Tail

We had frozen lobster tails and thawed them in the refrigerator overnight. We cut the shell down the middle and added butter, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. We baked the lobster tails in a 350 F/ 177C/ Gas Mark 4 oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

Baking lobster tails

Crab Ravioli

The stuffed ravioli- much easier using wonton wrappers

I cheated with the crab ravioli- not only did I make them in the morning and put them in the refrigerator-- I also used fresh wonton wrappers. It wasn't as good as fresh pasta-- but it was quick and easy (I was really worried about the timing). I  also rinsed and drained the capers (to get rid of the brine taste). I thought the lemon butter caper sauce was wonderful and complimented the crab.

Finished raviolis

 Baccalà

Baccalà

I made the tomato sauce in the morning so it would be ready and I could just heat it up and cook the fish when the dinner was almost ready. We grow hot pepper each summer and dry them-- so we used a combination of hot pepper for the sauce. I think it makes a difference. I really liked the sauce-- the combination of slightly sweet onions with the capers and hot pepper is addictive and we will be making it again.
 

Dried peppers ready to be ground

Freshly ground and ready to add to the sauce!

---

[i] They are: Baptism, Holy Communion, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Marriage.

[ii] They are: faith, hope, charity, temperance, prudence, fortitude and justice.

[iii] They are: counsel, fortitude, knowledge, understanding, piety, wisdom, and fear of the Lord.

[iv] Recipe available at http://wwwepicurious.com/articlesguides/holidays/christmas/batalisevenfishes/recipes/food/views/Salt-Cod-with-Tomatoes-and-Capers-em-Baccala-alla-Vesuviana-em-350700)

[v] Recipe available at http://www.food.com/recipe/crab-ravioli-filling-with-lemon-caper-butter-356589)