Haddock/Hake in Greek tomato raisin sauce
This is one of the recipes that jumpstarted my catering career and it still dazzles. It's a kitchen beginner's delight.
Serves 4-6
3 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 lg onion, diced
freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
4 whole cloves
24 oz. cooked (canned or boxed) whole tomatoes in juice
½ c raisins
¼ c dry white wine
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, minced
1½ lbs haddock fillets
1 lemon, juice only
pinch of salt
Heat oven to 350º.
In a small/medium heavy gauge saucepan, warm olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion, black pepper and oregano. Stir and sauté 5-7 minutes until onion is soft. Reduce heat to low and add the tomatoes, cloves, raisins, white wine and minced parsley. Blend and cook 5 minutes.
Wash the haddock fillets, pat dry and sprinkle with the lemon juice. Season with salt and a bit of freshly ground pepper. Place the fillets in the bottom of a baking dish that can hold them in one layer. Cover with the tomato raisin sauce. Bake at 350º 40 minutes. Garnish with minced flat leaf parsley to serve. This goes well with buttered orzo.
Flounder with smoked salmon in lettuce leaves
These pretty fish packets can be served with rice pilaf, buttered orzo, or roasted potatoes and a tomato salad.
Serves 4
These pretty fish packets can be served with rice pilaf, buttered orzo, or roasted potatoes and a tomato salad.
Serves 4
8 large crisp lettuce leaves
4 flounder fillets, skinned (you want at least 1 1/2 lb fish)
freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 thin slices smoked salmon
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
3 tbsp unsalted butter (you may want more)
¾ c dry white wine
3 tbsp shallots, minced
Optional: 1 tbsp capers, drained
½ c heavy cream
Blanch lettuce leaves 1 minute in boiling water, then chill in cold water, drain and pat dry.
Season the flounder with salt and pepper and a sprinkle of lemon juice. Place a salmon slice on top of each fillet. Sprinkle ¼ of the dill over each salmon slice and fold the fillet ends toward the middle to cover it. Wrap each fillet in two lettuce leaves arranged crosswise and tuck in the ends to make a packet.
Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large lidded sauté pan, add the shallots and cover them with the lettuce packets, seam side down. Top each packet with 1 tsp butter. Pour in the wine. If using capers, add them now. Tightly cover the pan, bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer 8-10 minutes.
Remove fish packets to a serving platter. Whisk the cream into the sauce in the pan, bring to a boil and stir/whisk continually until the sauce thickens slightly. Pour it over the fish packets. Garnish with a bit of fresh chopped dill or chopped chives.
Blanch lettuce leaves 1 minute in boiling water, then chill in cold water, drain and pat dry.
Season the flounder with salt and pepper and a sprinkle of lemon juice. Place a salmon slice on top of each fillet. Sprinkle ¼ of the dill over each salmon slice and fold the fillet ends toward the middle to cover it. Wrap each fillet in two lettuce leaves arranged crosswise and tuck in the ends to make a packet.
Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large lidded sauté pan, add the shallots and cover them with the lettuce packets, seam side down. Top each packet with 1 tsp butter. Pour in the wine. If using capers, add them now. Tightly cover the pan, bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer 8-10 minutes.
Remove fish packets to a serving platter. Whisk the cream into the sauce in the pan, bring to a boil and stir/whisk continually until the sauce thickens slightly. Pour it over the fish packets. Garnish with a bit of fresh chopped dill or chopped chives.
serves 4
4 tbsp olive oil
2 lg onions, sliced into thin rings
1/2 c lg white raisins
1 tbsp freshly grated orange zest
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon + a pinch
1/4 c + 2 tbsp orange juice
1 1/2lbs blue fish fillets, rinsed and drained
1/4 c currants (use more white raisins if you don't have any)
Fresh flat leaf parsley, minced
Heat the oven to 350º.
In the bottom of a shallow baking dish combine
3 tbsp olive oil with 1 lg onion sliced in rings and 1/2 c white raisins.
Add 1 tsp orange peel, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 c orange juice. Blend everything. Lay the fish fillets on this bed.
Cover the fish with 1 lg onion sliced into rings, 1/4 c currants or white raisins, 2 tsp orange zest, a pinch of cinnamon, 1 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp orange juice. That's it! Cover the dish with foil and bake at 350º 30 minutes. Garnish with the parsley and serve.
Halibut with saffron onions and piquant cilantro sauce
This is the fanciest recipe of the bunch, meaning it takes more steps and time but not that much. It's very elegant to present and tasty to the max. It's Moroccan. I have published this before not only on this blog but in a magazine where it got rave reviews from readers.
Serves 6
2 lg white onions, sliced into thin rings
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp olive oil
good pinch of saffron threads, soften in a tbsp warm water
freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp cumin seed
sea salt to your taste
1½ lbs fresh halibut steaks or other thick white fish
juice of a lime
for the topping sauce
2 bunches fresh cilantro, long stems removed, roughly chopped
½ tsp sea salt
1 Serrano chili, seeded and minced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
2 lg garlic cloves smashed and minced
2 tbsp paprika
½ c olive oil
1 large lime, juice only
Preheat the oven to 400º.
In a large skillet or frying pan, melt the butter with the olive oil over med heat. Add the onions and stir to coat them. Add the saffron threads, cumin seeds and several grinds of black pepper. Sauté the onions over med/low heat 10 minutes to soften them. Do not brown.
Marinate the halibut or other fish in the lime juice while the onions cook. Spread the onions and the oil/butter left in the pan evenly over the bottom of a pretty baking dish. Lightly salt them. Lay the fish on top and lightly salt it. Season it with a few grinds of black pepper.
Make the cilantro sauce:
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend to a thick paste. Put 2 -3 tbsp aside for serving and spread the rest evenly over the fish. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil. Bake at 400º 15-20 minutes until the fish is cooked through and flaky. Remove from oven and remove foil. Spread the remaining sauce around the fish to serve.
Tangy Flounder or Dover Sole fillets
This is another old recipe that never retires because it's so easy, tasty and healthy, especially served as I do over a bed of garlicky spinach. You can use any flat fish fillet.
serves 4 - 6 (1 fillet per person)
1 c sour cream
1 lg garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 tsp prepared horseradish (it's in a jar)
1 lemon, juice only
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste
4-6 flounder fillets
1 c wheat germ
1/4 c sesame seed
1 tbsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp butter
Garnish: chopped fresh chives
Make the marinade by combining the sour cream, garlic, horseradish, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Cover the fish fillets with the marinade and let them soak it up for 2 hours, preferably in the refrigerator.
Heat oven to 375º.
Combine the wheat germ, sesame and fennel seed and pepper on a shallow plate. Butter a shallow baking dish large enough to hold the fillets in one layer only.
Remove the fillets from the marinade and dredge each one on both sides in the wheat germ mix. Lay them in the baking dish. Bake at 375º 10 minutes, then flip them and bake another 10 minutes. Meanwhile warm the marinade in a small pan on top of the stove.
Braise spinach with garlic if you want to have a nice bed for the fish. Lay the cooked fillets on the bed of spinach and splash on some of the hot marinade. Garnish if you want with chopped fresh chives.
Salmon, Potato and Peas Salad
I made this up decades ago as my ode or owed to Maine's traditional July fourth meal, fresh from land and sea: salmon, new potatoes and shelled peas. It was a huge success among my catering clients too. I love the color combination, the hearty lightness and delicious saltiness.
serves 4
8-10 new potatoes: red bliss or Yukon gold, scrubbed and boiled until al dente (not mushy), drained and cut into bite-sized pieces
4 slices smoked salmon or 1/3 lb cooked fresh salmon, cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup (from 1lb in pod) cooked fresh peas (steamed 3 minutes in salted water with a sprig of mint)
1 tbsp fresh dill, minced
1 tsp celery seed
Freshly ground black pepper to your taste
2 tsp capers, without juice
1 sm red onion, peeled and minced (you can substitute 5 scallions but you'll lose a color in the bowl)
Salt to your taste (be careful as the capers and smoked salmon may be salty)
Combine all the above in a serving bowl.
for the dressing
1 tsp sherry or balsamic vinegar
tbsp plain Greek (thick and not watery) yogurt
pinch of salt
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp ketchup
Whisk together and blend into the potato salad.
Top with 1 tbsp fresh parsley leaves, minced and serve or refrigerate covered
until ready to serve.
NOTE: you can substitute tzatziki or raita for the yogurt/mayonnaise. It will add cucumbers to this.
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