Living in Arizona, where there is no sea, and then in Beirut, where there is a sea but no fish, it took a long time for me to develop a taste for seafood. If purchased thawed from the store, you could be assured that it had been a chunk of ice not 48 hours before, leaving you mere seconds to throw it in a pan or a marinade before it began to smell and taste of unlaundered underpants. I considered crustaceans like shrimp and crab even worse since freezing them turns them rubbery and malodorous, plus they are basically large aquatic bugs that nibble on garbage and dead things all day.
So I didn't eat much of it, and if I did, I rarely enjoyed it as much as I would have something hooved or winged.
However, since my wife somehow managed to develop a near maniacal obsession with seafood in the wilds of Minnesota, I've had to sacrifice my body a number of times in the service of her dark addiction. In Cyprus we once ordered the fish meze - 18 dishes of fish to share - in spite of the facts that 1) she was pregnant and could only have 3 servings a WEEK and 2) most of the dishes involved tiny fish that one ate whole, which she hated. I had to stagger 1/4 mile back to the hotel, distended, weeping and trying to clear mullet bones from my throat.
Somehow, amid all the suffering, I actually started to develop a taste for fish, in no small part because it's so damn easy to cook when you don't really feel like cooking. I first started dabbling in white fish in college when I discovered the discount frozen fish bin at Safeway, where I could acquire fluffy lumps of frozen Vietnamese catfish for something like $2.00 a package. These "Basa" fillets were a surprisingly neutral meat that cooked well on the stovetop, in soups and the oven, and while I had never really enjoyed eating them, I was nevertheless delighted to find them here in Lebanon at prices far below that of chicken, which retails for something like $6 a pound for breastmeat.
Since I keep a handy supply of breadcrumbs in my freezer, it's no chore to thaw a few fillets while I'm gone, then dress and bake them - requiring a grand total of 10 minutes of very mild effort. Since you probably don't have homemade breadcrumbs on hand, I'll include a basic recipe for them as well - I called them "Provençal" this time since I included a few nifty herbs of that persuasion that matched nicely with the fish.
A note: "whitefish" is a catchall for white fleshed fish of various origins. I'd recommend Basa, Roughy or something that's not excessively flaky and dry. Cod is awful, Haddock worse, and Tilapia is fishy and texturally repulsive. Please don't use storebought crumbs, it's easy enough to make your own.
The Recipe
olive oil
2 fillets of whitefish
juice of 1/4 lemon
1/4 cup mayonnaise
bread crumbs (recipe follows)
2 tbsp flour for crumbs
2 tbsp crushed roasted almonds
salt
Step 1: Crumbs.
Ingredients:
1/2 baguette (or 6 or so pieces of bread)
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp basil
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp rosemary (ground)
1/8 tsp lavender (ground in a mortar and pestle)
1/8 tsp anise seed (ground)
salt
pepper
Take a few pieces of bread, tear them up and toss them in a food processor. Baguettes are ideal, but really any bread that doesn't contain bits of wood, birdseed and other unnecessary fibrous detritus will do. When they are crumb sized, stop.
Heat a pan, toss them into it (dry) and toss them around until they start to turn golden, then remove them to a bowl. Try not to burn them or melt anything. Mix in your herbs, salt and pepper, taste, and add whatever herbs you feel they are lacking.
Step 2:
Oil a glass pan and place your thawed, pat-dried fish onto it. If one of the ends is really thin, you can curl it up so it will cook on itself and not get all leathery by overcooking on the pan. Preheat the oven to 375.
Step 3:
Mix the mayo and the lemon juice together and slather on to coat the fish generously. It sounds gross, but it keeps the meat moist and gives it a great flavor. Salt lightly when finished.
Step 4.
Mix breadcrumbs, almonds and flour together and apply liberally to the fillets, which should look dry when you are done.
Step 5:
Insert into the oven for 25-30 minutes, then pull and rest for a minute and serve.
Sauteed vegetables and rice are nice sides for this, just keep 'em light.
So I didn't eat much of it, and if I did, I rarely enjoyed it as much as I would have something hooved or winged.
However, since my wife somehow managed to develop a near maniacal obsession with seafood in the wilds of Minnesota, I've had to sacrifice my body a number of times in the service of her dark addiction. In Cyprus we once ordered the fish meze - 18 dishes of fish to share - in spite of the facts that 1) she was pregnant and could only have 3 servings a WEEK and 2) most of the dishes involved tiny fish that one ate whole, which she hated. I had to stagger 1/4 mile back to the hotel, distended, weeping and trying to clear mullet bones from my throat.
Somehow, amid all the suffering, I actually started to develop a taste for fish, in no small part because it's so damn easy to cook when you don't really feel like cooking. I first started dabbling in white fish in college when I discovered the discount frozen fish bin at Safeway, where I could acquire fluffy lumps of frozen Vietnamese catfish for something like $2.00 a package. These "Basa" fillets were a surprisingly neutral meat that cooked well on the stovetop, in soups and the oven, and while I had never really enjoyed eating them, I was nevertheless delighted to find them here in Lebanon at prices far below that of chicken, which retails for something like $6 a pound for breastmeat.
Since I keep a handy supply of breadcrumbs in my freezer, it's no chore to thaw a few fillets while I'm gone, then dress and bake them - requiring a grand total of 10 minutes of very mild effort. Since you probably don't have homemade breadcrumbs on hand, I'll include a basic recipe for them as well - I called them "Provençal" this time since I included a few nifty herbs of that persuasion that matched nicely with the fish.
A note: "whitefish" is a catchall for white fleshed fish of various origins. I'd recommend Basa, Roughy or something that's not excessively flaky and dry. Cod is awful, Haddock worse, and Tilapia is fishy and texturally repulsive. Please don't use storebought crumbs, it's easy enough to make your own.
The Recipe
olive oil
2 fillets of whitefish
juice of 1/4 lemon
1/4 cup mayonnaise
bread crumbs (recipe follows)
2 tbsp flour for crumbs
2 tbsp crushed roasted almonds
salt
Step 1: Crumbs.
Ingredients:
1/2 baguette (or 6 or so pieces of bread)
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp basil
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp rosemary (ground)
1/8 tsp lavender (ground in a mortar and pestle)
1/8 tsp anise seed (ground)
salt
pepper
Take a few pieces of bread, tear them up and toss them in a food processor. Baguettes are ideal, but really any bread that doesn't contain bits of wood, birdseed and other unnecessary fibrous detritus will do. When they are crumb sized, stop.
Heat a pan, toss them into it (dry) and toss them around until they start to turn golden, then remove them to a bowl. Try not to burn them or melt anything. Mix in your herbs, salt and pepper, taste, and add whatever herbs you feel they are lacking.
Step 2:
Oil a glass pan and place your thawed, pat-dried fish onto it. If one of the ends is really thin, you can curl it up so it will cook on itself and not get all leathery by overcooking on the pan. Preheat the oven to 375.
Step 3:
Mix the mayo and the lemon juice together and slather on to coat the fish generously. It sounds gross, but it keeps the meat moist and gives it a great flavor. Salt lightly when finished.
Step 4.
Mix breadcrumbs, almonds and flour together and apply liberally to the fillets, which should look dry when you are done.
Step 5:
Insert into the oven for 25-30 minutes, then pull and rest for a minute and serve.
Sauteed vegetables and rice are nice sides for this, just keep 'em light.
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