For those of you tired of fried fish and the mess, smell, and fuss, I have a fool-proof method to cook fish. This works best for firm fish like grouper, snapper, and stuff like that. It takes no more than 5 minutes and there is no mess or stink.
Get a nice pan, not Teflon, and put in about a table spoon of olive oil. Don't get me going about olive oil, other than the super-virgin is not necessary and might be worse (I mean come on, either it's virgin or not). You will need a tight top to the pan so get ready with that. Heat the oil in the pan until it just starts smoking. It actually has to smoke a teensie bit to work right. Remember, get ready with a real tight lid and have it out ready, OK?
Now you have some 1/2-inch thick fillets or thereabouts and I chunk them up a little, like 4-5 inch squares. They're seasoned very lightly with maybe some black pepper, paprika, and whatever you like. They must be patted dry before spicing them up. Not liquid sauces or marinades, please. So throw them in the pan and burn them on each side for no more than one minute on a side.
Now you have some juice, right? I forgot to say that. Water, beer, wine, Coke, champagne, you name it you need about one to 1-1/2 shots of juice ready to go. Beer is my favorite, of course. You can add some lime to whatever you have, but the trick is to be real fast.
So hold the cover in one hand, dump the juice, and put the cover down right nicely. Get your hands the heck out of the way. It should go ballistic pretty good. Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the fire, cover still on securely.
So after the pan stops talking to you, which will be obvious, open the lid and serve the goodies. It should eat almost like Angel Food Cake with a little muscle in it. I hate to say it folks but if you cooked more this way you'd be happy even eating Stingray - and it ain't fishy smelling this way, either. No fuss, no stinky oil. Wipe out the pan and you're done.
Did I mention that this is how I make Chinese pot-stickers? The steam method rocks and the little bit of oil makes it like a mini-volcano when you add a touch of water. Hehe, no more than 5 minutes, folks, and perfect every time. Enjoy!
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6 comments:
sounds wonderful. I will try anything once!!
~melissa
OMG, this was absolutly fabulous. I am definately gonna start fixing my fish this way. I just used some fresh caught sunfish fresh on Saturday! Thanks for sharing this Sam!!
~melissa
Much obliged, Melissa. We tried it with some shrimp last night and ... well, it was OK but not near as scrumptious. Boiled or go to a seafood restaurant for fried ... Dirty Al's is pretty good. Glad you liked it! sam
Oh man, scallops. I remmeber those days on Block Island when a stinkin' dragger ould have the HUGE shell and show us kids the "hundred eyes" and then he's grin and work the knife, popping out the muscle. I'll try them that way, Ex-Manissean.
Since we're not in an "R" month I've been making diablos with scallops instead of oysters lately. That's where you fix up some mild jalapeno halves and wrap the goodies in a slice of bacon - on the BBQ it goes. Not bad. The bacon keeps the scallops from getting dry.
Plus, we all need a little "vitamin G" every now and then, right?
Hey Sammy! When I saw your headline I thought you were going to promote the cedar plank method, oh well that's another meal :) I will have to try your method when it cools off enough to cook inside again! They are predicting 106 today!
Hey Beer-Dude! I ran out of planks so I need some cedar fence wood and to grab the carpenter accross the the street with the planer!
BTW, the "walk the plank" method is much better for light fish like trout or tilapia. I think the volcano method might dissolve 'em!
Just kidding, I love both ways good. sam
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