3 posts tagged “fish”

Back in the 80s when Joy Division was the hip restaurant soundtrack of choice, the fennel bulb was making its way to menus for the BMW crowd. Ah... yuppies, they knew what was good back then. You can toast the taste shift of yuppies with this really easy dish. Should take only 1 hr to make. 

Ingredients

2 pcs red snapper (this is also works nicely with salmon filet)

1 pc lemon

salt and pepper

Garnish

1 pc fennel

50 g butter

50 ml pastis

50 ml fish stock

3 pcs star anis

salt and pepper 

Sauce

curry powder

100 g butter

Cut off stalks and discard most of the fennel, but keep a couple of branches for decoration. Peel a layer of the fennel bulb, cut in half, and chop thin slices against the grain. Sweat fennel in butter ( I would use half of  what is recommended) over low heat. Once the fennel starts to get translucent add 2 pcs of star anis, 1/2 of pastis, and 1/2 of fish stock. Cover it with a lid, and put the pot in the oven at 350 °F . Cook for 30 minutes, check mid-way, the mixture should be simmering. When the 30 minutes are up, add salt and pepper to taste and the last star anise. Cover, set aside to let cool. 

Mound the fennel in the middle of a shallow dish. Season the fish with salt and pepper and place the red snapper with the skin side up over the fennel. Top it off with a bit more pastis and fennel juice. Increase oven heat to 375F. Cook the fish for a good 6 to 8 minutes.

Pour a ittle of the fennel juice in a pot, add a pinch of curry and butter.  Simmer until smooth like a juice consistency. Drizzle the sauce over the fish, and serve. 

Voila, red snapper with fennel. 

Filet de rouget à l'anis

Very simple and classic dish to prepare and requires very little time, as long as you don't have to fillet the fish. The sauce is named after the birthplace of Henry IV of France. The sauce can be served with meat or fish.  Here are the ingredients. Should take about 1 hr to make.

Fish

500 g salmon

50 ml vegetable oil

salt and pepper

Garnish

6 pcs of potatoes

Béarnaise Sauce

170 g butter

2 pcs egg yolks

30 g white wine vinegar

25 g shallots

1 br of tarragon 

5 pcs black peppercorns

Peel, clean and turn the potatoes to the size of "pomme cocotte". Place them in pot of cold salted water, bring to boil and simmer until tender (15-20 minutes).  Drain and let the potatoes steam dry for 1 minute in the colander. Serve immediately or place in a bowl in a warm place and cover with saran wrap. 

For the Béarnaise sauce, combine in a pot white wine vinegar, shallots, tarragon branches and crushed peppercorns. Boil until the mixture reduced to about 2 tbs ( if you don't reach this amount add a bit of water), strain and add the chopped tarragon leaf.  Let cool. 

Clarify butter and let it stand for 3 minutes. Skim the foam on top and separate the water from the butter. Let cool.

Gently cook the 2 egg yolks and the reduction over a "bain-marie" (double boiler).  Whisk vigorously until you can form ribbons. Gradually add the clarified butter and whisk over the bain-marie until you get a smooth and shiny sauce. This should take 8 minutes in total. Pour the sauce in a sauce boat, set aside and saran wrap until ready to serve. The sauce can hold only for 1 hr. Do not chill. 

Clean and pre-heat grill. Lightly oil the salmon and season. Place the salmon on the presentation side at 45 degrees angle for 3 minutes, and then turn the salmon at a 90 degrees angle for 3 minutes to create a criss-cross pattern. Flip the salmon, and let it cook for an additional 3 minutes. Only flip once. Grill until golden.

Saumon grillé, sauce Béarnaise

If you like scallops, this is an easy recipe and very tasty. I had to serve this dish twice to Chef B. as if we were in a restaurant within a fifteen-minute spread, I did better on the first round, bombed on the second by burning the tomatoes.

Here are the ingredients:

If you are using very large scallops, cut them in halves or quarters. Dry the scallops with paper towels. Heat the oil and butter in a large sauté pan until it is very hot. Place the scallops in the sauté pan and sauté very quickly. Shake the pan often to keep the scallops from sticking. When the scallops are done, take them out of the pan to drain. In the same pan, add the shallots, tomato concasser, add salt, garlic, and a very small amount of water--sauté for a few seconds, just enough to heat the tomatoes. Taste, add seasoning, if needed.

For the garnish, and this optional, slice off the bread crust, cut them into circles, and roll them flat, then butter the bread and cupcake shape baking molds with clarified butter and sandwich the bread slices between the molds. Put them in the oven for a good 20 minutes at 350 F.

             

Coquilles Saint-Jacques provençales