My first "cooking" entry is the following recipe:
I have no desire to try trout so of course, I did not have any in the house. What I did use instead, is below....
I first bought this fish a few years ago at Trader Joe's and have loved it ever since. Sometimes it goes missing from their shelves for a while but it usually shows back up and I'm thrilled to say it's been back again the last few times I've been there after being away for a bit again.
As the packaging indicates, there really is no fishy smell when cooking and it doesn't taste fishy at all. While I don't mind my seafood tasting like seafood, I do prefer it to be on the more mild side with fish. I love strongly flavored shellfish but I'll pass on really fishy fish!
So, onto the recipe. As you may have noticed, I tend to deviate from most written recipes and do my own thing. Even with baking where you have to more or less keep certain ingredients the same to ensure proper rising and such, I like to tweak the ingredients that won't affect that kind of stuff. Usually the reason is just that I am picky and don't like certain things that are called for or I just plain ol' don't have it in my cupboards so I change it so I can make it with what I do have. This recipe, however, I did a few things just because I wanted to!!
I did not just "crust" the fish, I breaded it, so I began by dipping the fish into flour, then buttermilk and then finally the panko/pecan mixture. Before doing so, I did add salt, pepper, garlic powder and a tiny bit of cayenne pepper to breading mixture. I put a tiny bit of olive oil in my heated, non-stick pan and browned the first side. Before I flipped them over, I sprayed the fish with some cooking spray so that the other side would brown as well without adding anymore fat than I had to.
The fish was clearly not done on the inside after browning the second side and I did not want to over-brown (burn!) the breading so I put them on a baking sheet and threw them in the oven since I had baked potatoes in there anyway. I can't tell you how long I let them continue to cook in there...the oven was at 400 and I just kept checking them until they were clearly done.
The little guy on the top row, at the end, doesn't have any breading...I ran out since it was supposed to only be on top of the fish so I just dredged him in some flour and cooked him up too....that's why he looks a little different than the rest of them. They finished cooking up really nicely in the oven...I did spray the pan before I placed them on it and glad that I did...a couple of them did give me a bit of trouble when I went to take them off but all it took was being careful and most of the breading stayed in tact.
I will tell you that this dish got a thumbs up from everyone! I would venture to add more seasonings next time but what I did add was pleasant enough. It's not a super crispy breading, I imagine the way I prepared it had something to do with that outcome, but I still liked it and would definitely make it again.
Yum! Thanks Jen! This looks so good! Aaron hates all seafood, so I have to make it when I'm alone. But my mom used to make "orange" ruffy when I lived at home. We used to love that too! :)
ReplyDeleteYa know, Michele...yet another indication we are somehow otherworldy "connected"...my mom used to make orange roughy too (always got it from the "Schwann Man") and that's why this fish even caught my attention in the store was because it was calling itself "ruffy" like the fish our mom's made. I looked at the bag to see if it was somehow connected to the orange roughy and decided to give it a try...turns out it's not, I think it's some sort of Vietnamese cat fish if I recall correctly...sounds terrible but it's not, it's really good. I can't believe there's another one of those weird little connections between us again!!!
ReplyDeleteToo bad Aaron hates seafood...seems there is not much in between with it, you either love it or hate it. And, because it stinks so badly when yoiu cook it, it is kinda inconsiderate to cook it when there are those around who don't like it...I guess, anyway, right? Never stops me though from doing scallops...my husband can even tell when he gets in the car at the train station what I've been cooking...doesn't even say, "hi" to me, he says, instead, "you've been cooking fish" with a disgusted look on his face and tone to his voice!! : )
Don't want you to be apart from Aaron anytime soon, but hope the next time you find that you are that you will get to make yourself some fish!! : )