Tomato Based Hodgepodge

• Homemade garden tomato and herb broth
• Reduced cream
• East coast cod fish pieces
• Fresh local cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, yellow beans, celery
• Garlic dill toasts

Hake En Papillote

Hake En Papillote
tomatillos, thinly sliced
hake fillets
lemon juice
lime slices
chopped cilantro
chopped dill
basil chiffonade
halved cherry tomatoes

Start by preparing large rounds of parchment paper that will form the "en papillote" package. Half moons and heart shapes work well too. An easier way is to use foil, but it won't puff up during baking, which is the indicator of when the food is cooked. You can also serve foods en papillote directly out of the parchment, but not so much directly out of foil.
Set up and assembly line. Either plan to do one at a time and line up all the ingredients or spread out and do several at a time, placing only one ingredient at a time in each package.

Place a few slices of tomatillo on the bottom, then the hake on top. Sprinkle hake with salt and pepper. Drizzle with lemon juice. Top with a lime slice. Sprinkle with some of each herb. Place tomatoes around the hake. Then seal the package up tightly.

Bake in a hot oven until the package puffs up and fish is cooked through. Then you can serve directly out of the package or transfer contents to a plate.

Panko Crusted Cod Fillets

Panko Crusted Cod Fillets
boneless, skinless cod fillets
all-purpose flour
old bay seasoning blend
eggs
milk
panko bread crumbs
oil

Set up a "pane" station - flour, egg and breadcrumb station meant for breading foods.
Have your fish fillets at one end.
Mix together the flour and seasoning and set in one container.
Beat the eggs with a little milk and set in a second container.
Place the panko in a third container.
Have any empty container or tray at the other end for the breaded fish.
I like to use shallow, long containers for pane, especially with fish fillets. This allows you to oat multiple fillets at once time and evenly coats them. It is particularly handy if you have containers with lids. This does take up a lot of counter space, but it the most efficient way to do it.

Place several fillets in the flour and shake to coat the flour to cover the fillets (this is when you can slap a lid on the container and gently shake back and forth. Don't get too crazy though, fish is delicate).
Shake the excess flour off the fillets before placing them in the egg mixture.
Turn the fillets to coat completely in egg (I don't recommend the lid method here).
Allow excess egg to drip off before placing fillets in the panko, and again, shake to coat the fillets with the crumbs, turning them over as needed.
Place fillets on prepared tray.

To cook: Heat the oil in a pan until smoking, then sear fillets (do not crowd them, cook in batches, if needed) on both sides. They will only take a minute or two on each side until they are golden.
Transfer to a baking sheet and finish in the oven until cooked through.

Fish And Chips - Baked-Style

• Old Bay and Panko coated cod fillets
• fish pan fried then baked, served on a bed of greens with a lime wedge
• Home fries - thinly sliced baked baby red potatoes
• House made tartar sauce
• Lemon and herb slaw

Lemon Herb Crusted Bass

Lemon Herb Crusted Bass
thin striped bass fillets
freshly squeezed lemon juice
chopped parsley
panko bread crumbs
lemon pepper

Place the bass fillets on a baking tray and drizzle the top side with lemon juice.
Place the parsley, bread crumbs, and lemon pepper in a food processor and pulse until well combined, and mixture is light green, but still dry and not moist.
Sprinkle crumbs liberally over the fish, pressing it to stick to the fish.
Bake at 425◦F for about ten minutes until cooked thoroughly.

This is a really easy recipe to bake any kind of white fish. It adds a great punch of flavor and some texture; and is quick, easy, and convenient to do!

Baked Crusted Bass

• Herb and lemon crusted baked striped bass fillet
• Warm mustard and green onion potato salad
• Balsamic marinated cherry tomatoes
• Microgreens

Baked Char

Baked char is super easy when you have a conveyor belt pizza oven that does all the work for you! Just season both the flesh and skin side of char fillets with salt and pepper, place on a greased pan skin side up, place a little fat on top of the skin, and place through the oven. In seven minutes when it comes out the other end it will be cooked perfectly! I know, hard to believe but it works like a charm! If you are not lucky enough to own or have access to one of these amazing pizza ovens, it works in a regular oven set to 425◦F as well.

Baked Crispy Skinned Char

• Crispy skinned baked char fillet
• Lemon herb (cilantro, basil, dill) basmati rice pilaf
• Sauteed leek
• swiss chard stem
• tomatillos
• watermelon radish
• Cracked black pepper, lemon zest, celery leaf

Grilled Swordfish with Grilled Ratatouille

• Honey coconut marinated swordfish, grilled
• Grilled ratatouille with eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers, red onion, and green onion
• Garlic and herb roasted baby red potatoes
• Basil lime pesto
• Purple basil garnish

Haddock Gratin

• Haddock gratin
• Tarragon and thyme white wine bechamel base
• boiled baby red potatoes, caramelized onions, haddock chunks
• oven baked panko breadcrumbs
• herb and garlic butter toasts
• side garden salad with mixed greens, cucumber, onion, carrot, and pickled red onion

Poached Striped Bass

Court Bouillon
fish stock
white wine
rice vinegar
red wine vinegar
lemon juice
diced onion or shallot
diced celery
cloves
star anise
fennel seeds
dill weed
peppercorns
bay leaf

Place all ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil. Then use required amount as needed to poached fillets of fish. I used this particular mixture for striped bass fillets and it worked very well!

Poached Bass with Beans, Potatoes, and Citrus Cream Cheese

• Striped Bass poached in court bouillon (white wine, fish stock, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, herbs and spices)
• Pan-sauteed yellow string beans and green broad beans
• Baby red potatoes roasted in garlic, thyme, parsley, paprika, and olive oil
• Citrus cream cheese sauce
• Purple basil

Swordfish with Nectarine Salsa

Grilled swordfish marinated with honey, garlic, apple cider vinegar, and coconut oil.
Served with sesame soy noodles, grilled cherry tomatoes, and a nectarine salsa.

This was my first time ever working with swordfish and it was quite a different experience from working with any other fish. The fish came in not whole, but rather in one large piece, where I had to separate the sections, trim it, and clean it up a bit. Honestly it was more like preparing a pork tenderloin than a fish. 

The dish did get really great feedback - some saying it was even the best swordfish they ever had.

Catch Of The Day

Here is my catch of the day dish from the restaurant tonight.
Butter poached trout, hasselback potatoes, balsamic-glazed dried tomato, sauteed yellow and green zucchini, wild chanterelles, lemon dill pesto, and sprouts. 
I was very proud of myself for butchering, skinning, and filleting the five whole fresh local trout we got in for the dish. 
The dish sold very well and got really good feedback. I actually managed to execute it well during service time to only require two burners and about seven minutes from fire to plating.

Tartar Sauce

Tartar Sauce
mayonnaise
hard boiled egg, finely chopped or grated
sweet green relish
pickle juice
garlic powder
paprika
pepper
salt

Tartar sauce is that thick, white, slightly chunky mayonnaise-based sauce that accompanies fish, usually deep-fried such as fish and chips. Sounds appealing, right? But somehow it pairs with the fish surprisingly well. It is basically just a mayonnaise mixed with some spices and a few other ingredients., The spices vary, as do the add-ins but most tartar sauces contain hard-boiled egg, pickles or relish, and capers or another acidic product. Above is my version if a quick tartar sauce.

Seafood Chowder

What can I tell you about this seafood chowder? It contains plenty of chunks of halibut, mussels, clams, salmon, lobster, and potatoes all smothered in a rich, creamy broth, sprinkles with parsley and chives and accompanied by fresh homemade biscuits. Sounds simply and delicious enough, right? Multiply that by 450 portions, plating to serve out of a temporary tent set-up on a parking lot.

Traditional Seafood Boil

 Here I am featuring the main course from last week's four course seafood-based gala dinner on Thursday evening with a guest celebrity chef.

It consisted of fifty-five wooden crates of mains, one for each table of eight, and two smaller wooden crates each containing four pounds of mussels. Each crate was lined with hot seafood and contained five pounds of boiled mixed baby potatoes, eight pieces of roasted corn on the cob, eight legs of snow crab, and sixteen quahog clams, as well as a bucket containing eight whole lobsters. Quite a big feast if you ask me!

Deep Sea Fishing

Yesterday I went deep sea fishing for the first time. It was a beautiful, calm, sunny morning. The ride out on the small boat was smooth and relaxing. Then we stopped to fish some mackerel to use as bait for the cod we would fish when we went deeper. I caught two mackerel. Then I began fishing for cod. I did not catch any though, as soon after the rocking of the boat became too much for me, and I was very seasick. I spent the rest of the three four experience huddled on the bench on the deck, trying to fixate my eyes on one point on the horizon, when I wasn't leaning into a bag. It would have been a nice experience if I had a stronger stomach. But I don't think I will be doing it again anytime soon.

Skills - Secondary Cooking Seafood Chowder

Group One, day two - appetizer: seafood chowder. It is amazing how many different variations can be taken on the same chowder recipe - different presentations, garnishes, etc.

Baked Fish in Béchamel Sauce

Here is a little something different. I love fish, and most types of fish are fairly versatile in their preparation technique - baked, boiled, grilled, fried, deep-fried, poached, broiled, etc. Each method has it advantages and disadvantages, but when done right, each method will result in moist, tasty fish. I have done some baked fish before, simple baked salmon, salmon en papillote, and breaded baked fish cutlets. This time I was preparing tilipia fillets. Tilipia tend to be fairly mild, so I knew I had to do something to keep it moist while giving it some flavor. I won't give an exact recipe, since amounts will vary greatly depending on how much fish is used. I must have used around 30 small fillets. 

Pat the fillets to ensure they are very dry. Arrange a single layer in a rectangular baking pan. Season with salt and pepper. Slice two onions and two peppers (any color) and scatter over the fish. Prepare a béchamel sauce, but instead of the basic recipe, use white roux, cream, salt, pepper, and garlic and pour over the fish. Cover and bake at your preferred temperature until tender. With the thick, rich sauce this recipe is more forgiving than most fish recipes would be. It can be baked low and slow, or quickly at a higher temperature. It can also be cooked slightly longer than it needs to be, and the fish will not become rubbery. This recipe holds and keeps well too.