Cooking Fish

Coming from the Midwest, where the words "fresh seafood" were an oxymoron most of my childhood, the realization that I can cook a piece of fish is an amazing thing. It hit me last night that "Hey! You can cook fish right!"

I was making dinner for myself after getting home from a long day at work. I had thawed a piece of red snapper, and when I got home, I put some tiny redskin potatoes into a heavy saucepan with some butter, salt and pepper over low heat. Ina Garten gave me this idea. The butter gets all nicely browned and at the end you toss in some chopped fresh parsley. While the potatoes cooked and I changed clothes, I let the fish sit on the counter to warm up a bit. I sprinkled the fish with some smoked paprika and grey sea salt (birthday gifts from my friend, Lisa) and heated a medium non-stick skillet over medium heat. I drizzled a bit of olive oil into the pan and let it get to a nice shimmer. Then the fish went in, seasoned side down in the pan. I let it sit there and just cook away for 2-3 minutes before flipping it over and putting a lid over it to cook an additional 3-4 minutes. While the fish was cooking, I steamed some fresh broccoli in the microwave and tossed the parsley into the potatoes. After the broccoli and potatoes were plated, I squeezed just a little fresh lemon juice over the fish and put it on the plate, sprinkling it with just a little fresh parsley, too.

The fish was perfectly moist and flaky and cooked all the way through. I credit Cooking Light's recipes for cumin-crusted Chilean sea bass (which is pan-fried as described above) and oven-roasted barbecue salmon (which is cooked in a hot oven) for teaching me two very reliable ways to cook fish. Neither of these techniques has failed me and I've gained real confidence about cooking fresh (or fresh-frozen!) fish. Knowing a couple of no-fail techniques lets me take advantage of good deals on fish so that I can incorporate it into my diet on a regular basis. Red snapper has become one of my favorite fish to make because it's so easy to do. I can change up the seasonings to suit my inclinations and it takes under 15 minutes to prepare. Takes longer to call and pick up take out.

Since the spice rub for cumin-crusted sea bass works well with any firm, flaky white fish, such as red snapper and cod, here is how to make the basic rub:

Heat a small cast iron skillet over medium low heat and add 2 Tbs. whole cumin seeds. Let the seeds toast; when you can smell the cumin scent, they are probably done. Shake the pan a couple times and DO NOT walk away unless you like burnt cumin. It only takes about 1-2 minutes to toast the cumin. Let the seeds cools slightly and then put them into a spice grinder (or a coffee grinder that you keep on hand for this purpose) with a teaspoon of kosher salt and a few grinds of fresh black pepper (or a few whole peppercorns). Grind to a coarse powder. This makes enough to coat both sides of about 6 4 oz. fish fillets. Just sprinkle the fish you plan to cook generously on both sides and put any leftover spice rub in a small jar or bottle for the next time.

My other favorite fish rub, which I use for pork ribs, too, is a combination of brown sugar, chili powder, kosher salt, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, thyme, cinnamon and Old Bay seasoning. It is a marriage of the Cooking Light recipe for oven-roast barbecue salmon and Alton Brown's recipe for a rub for baby back ribs. Roughly speaking, take 5 parts brown sugar (a "part" is whatever container you choose to measure with, whether it is a measuring cup, a tablespoon or one of your granny's old teacups), 3 parts chili powder, 1 part garlic powder, 1/2 part salt, and another 1/2 part that is a combination of the cayenne, thyme, cinnamon (or allspice) and Old Bay. That last 1/2 part is where you get to experiment to suit your taste buds. You might skip the cayenne if you don't like hot and use chipotle chili powder instead; I've done it with good results. You probably want to start a little light on the cayenne and the cinnamon, as both can be overpowering if not used judiciously. You can decide if you like more or less salt, too. I try to be a bit conservative on the salt because you can always add it at the table. This rub is one I use primarily on salmon fillets.

Just marinate your salmon fillets in a mixture of pineapple juice, lemon and lime juice for about 20 minutes (more than that and the acids in the juice will start to "cook" the fish and you'll wind up with salmon seviche!), then pat it dry and sprinkle it generously with the rub. Bake it in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 10-12 minutes, until it is just cooked through. I usually buy a 1 lb. center cut salmon fillet and leave it whole for cooking to keep the fish nice and moist. If you are using individual portions of salmon fillet, you may want to adjust the cooking time. down a bit, so that the fish isn't overcooked.

These are just a couple of my favorite ways to cook fish.