Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Potato Crusted Snapper

This past Sunday, I stumbled upon an insteresting recipe on YouTube.


I thought I'd put my own little spin on the YouTubed recipe, & give it a go in my kitchen. I (of course) used the Red Snapper from BB & Jason's fishing trip.


This is what I do with my weekends...

First on the agenda: Parboil Potatoes

Bring a pot of water to the boil
Place the potatoes in the boiling water for 6 minutes 
I personally chose new potatoes, because they are a happy medium between Yukon Gold & Russet potatoes. -MEANING- New potatoes are waxy enough to hold their shape and starchy enough to still be sticky once parboiled & grated.




As the potatoes boil... excuse a-muah... As the potatoes parboil
Dry your fish on paper towels
Slice into similiar sized portions






Of course saving the bones for later makings of fish stock.


Season the front and back sides of the fish with salt and pepper.
Rub the neglected sides of the fish with the S&P left willy-nilly on the cutting board




By this time, 6 minutes have passed
Rinse the potatoes under cold water until cool enough to handle
Then grate, skins & all






Okay, so now that's done...
Coat the fish in an even layer of mustard





Distribute the grated potato as evenly as you can amongst the mustard-ed fish
Refrigerate for 20min. minimum.
Or prepare to this point and refrigerate up to 24hrs





After 20 minutes (or 24hrs) have passed...


Preheat a pan over medium heat w/a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (2 teaspoons)
Place a fillet of fish potato side down first




Cook for 3 minutes on its first (potato) side
Flip
Cook for another 3 minutes on its second (non-potato) side 

Attention! Attention! I finished this recipe 2 separate ways.
The first being a little fancy schmancy accompanied by green beans with garlic chips
& the second being a no frills route squirted in ketchup.

Fancy Schmancy Pants:
...after 3 minutes of cooking each side (a total of 6 minutes)
              -and also having removed the garlic chips-which I talk about later-
Deglaze the pan with a splash of white wine
Cook for 30seconds
Add in 1teas whole grain mustard & give a stir
Finish with 1/4c Evaporated milk (heavy cream or half & half will also suffice)
Swirl until bubbly & thick (this will take a minute maximum)





The Ketchup Way (if you want to get classy, then use Fancy Ketchup):

Heat 1Tbl Vegetable oil & 1/2Tbl butter over medium-low heat until the butter melts and bubbles appear
Place your fillet(s) of fish potato side down first (a reminder in case you forgot)
Season with seasoning salt
Garlic powder & Onion powder (Think hashbrown seasonings)

Then, like I said, squirt with ketchup (I'm sure this will be a shot heard round the world to all fish aficionados)






So flashback to the fancy way of finishing the potato crusted fish and
On to explain my way around green beans
& garlic chips...

Sign yourself up for a some green beanage 101
Snap both ends off the grean beans, discarding the ends






Boil in 2c salted (about 2teas Kosher salt) water 
(I add 1/4c red wine vinegar, which is completely unnecessary. Then again, I do a lot of unnecessary things)
For 90secs
Drain




Rinse with ICE water
 Add pepper
Then plate





As for the garlic chips...

After you've placed the fish in the pan (let's say it all together) potato side down first
Slice a fat clove of garlic as thinly as possible


Add to the pan (which is probably about 2min. in cooking time) 


Flip your fish
BONUS* You get to see some flip-action





Don't neglect your garlic since it might burn otherwise
As we all know, burnt garlic is the worst thing in the whole entire world
...not really, but it's gross

About a minute shy of your fish ready to plate, the garlic should be crispy enough
It should go w/o being said, but I'll say it anyway, add the crisped garlic to the green beans



With the garlic removed, the deglazing of wine
Addition of mustard
and creamy finish of evaporated milk commences




Both versions all dolled up: