fish for dummies

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I have a problem with fish: I don't like to cook it. I don't like having to be super delicate with the spatula for fear of ruining the filet. I don't like grilling it and watching it fall through the grates. I don't really like salmon and there's only so much swordfish a girl can eat.

After some research and practice, I discovered two great fish recipes that make it much easier and much tastier. The upshot: cover with seasoned texture and bake.

Jacques Pepin' slow roasted salmon (above) is from his book Fast Food My Way which is brilliant, but dated. (I found it lost in the back of my mom's cookbook collection but refer to it all the time.) He puts a coating made of bread crumbs, herbs and ground hazelnuts on top of the fish then bakes it low and slow. He serves it with a sundried tomato mayo but I just mixed a little tomato soup into mayo, added some S&P, and it was perfect. I also didn't have nuts so I just mixed the bread crumbs with some olive oil and salt. 

The other recipe comes from The Barefoot Contessa but the concept is the key. Cover (any white fish) seasoned fillets in a mixture of mustard, sour cream (creme fraiche if you want to be fancy) and capers. (See left) Then bake. The fish comes out really moist with a slightly spicy/creamy flavor. 

favorite recipe of 2014

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My favorite new recipe this year, and the favorite of many New York Times readers apparently, is Velvet Chicken Breasts with mustard sauce  It's very easy to make and can be prepped ahead of time. The actual cooking only take a few minutes on the stove. The chicken is incredibly dense and moist almost like you'd find from a sous vide machine.

The Velveting technique--used in a lot of Chinese cooking to marinade meat pre-wok-- involves soaking the chicken breasts in a mixture of egg whites and cornstarch. (You whip the whites then blend in the starch to create a foam.)  Breasts can sit here for a few hours.

Next you make a simple sauce of mustards and creme fraiche which can also hang out in the fridge until dinnertime. When it's time to cook, saute the chicken very briefly in vegetable oil or melted butter. It's not long enough for them to even brown but when the egg white marinade touches the hot oil, it turns into a thick skin-like coating around the still raw breast. Remove the breasts and heat the sauce mixture in the pan. Then finish the chicken in the pan by gently heating through. 

car talk

Whenever we drive to my parents house in Maryland, Michael and I have the same conversation (usually while eating the sandwiches I packed for the ride.): Am I capable of making a winning sandwich. The answer is almost always no. I don't get it. I don't have the knowledge, passion, instinct for making a perfect sandwich -- aka one of Michaels favorite things to eat.

This year as we discussed the sandwich, I noted some lessons I have learned:

1. never put mustard and cheese on same sandwich, use mayo instead

2. hard thick bread is best but Rye is also good

3. Salami stands alone-no other meats or cheeses. add mustard.

4. hot peppers and other toppings are welcome if they don't sog the bread

The thing is I like softer soggy mustardy sandwiches. I like when the bread mushes into the filling. I don't like stacks of salami. We are clearly on opposite sides of this issue--Michael would say he's on the right side but maybe we just have to agree to disagree -- at least until the next five hour car trip.