One Fish, Two Fish

It's safe to say that we have red fish and blue fish on day 2 of fish. Blue? Fine, maybe not literally blue, but it is called Blue Fin Tuna. Whatever. Also, white fish.

On day 1, Chef did a demo of a salt crusted sea bass. I can't imagine anyone actually makes this at home, but it is a great technique and a really great table side presentation.

First, we toasted crushed black peppercorns and coriander seeds. Then, we coated the inside of the (whole) striped bass with the spice mixture. We then placed sliced lemons and fennel inside the fish cavity.

Here comes the good party. We mixed an ENTIRE box of kosher salt (read: an entire box of kosher salt) with a couple of egg whites to help hold the mixture together, and lined the pan with some salt. We placed the fish on top of the salt and then completely smothered the fish with the salt mixture.

When the fish is cooking in the oven, it's not baking. It's steaming. The salt creates a seal and ends up steaming the fish inside. After it's out of the oven, you peel off the salt and take out the fennel and lemon, and serve the fish that's been steamed. And, spoiler alert: The fish is not at all salty.

Another dish we did on Friday (delayed post) was a Vera Cruz. This was one of the (many) times that Chef has given all of us an entree to make and told us that we have to have a complete dish by the end of the day. So, on top of a new recipe we're making, we need two other dishes to worry about as well.

One of the hardest things to do in the kitchen (according to Chef) is to grill a fillet of fish. So, he gave us the option to saute the fish or bake it, but you know me, I needed to tackle the grill. I wanted to get the grill marks to come through on the dish. Also, I wanted to try the challenge of grilling a very delicate piece of fish. Game on.

So, I dredged the fish in flour, shook off the excess, and then dipped it in a bit of high temperature oil. Then, my heart started pounding and my hands started shaking. Keep the fish on for 2 seconds too long, and it'll fall apart on grill, Chef said. With his voice echoing in my head, I put the fish on the grill and counted to twenty, gently picked it up with tongs and cross hatched it for another twenty, quickly took it off the grill, onto a sizzle plate, and into the oven.

We started the sauce which has a tomato base, some cinnamon sticks, olives, and capers. It had some interesting mixture, to say the least. We got the sauce going in a pan, and once it was boiling, took the fish out of the oven and sent it for one final swim.

My finished plate looked like this:

Notice the grill marks, please. I worked very hard on them. For a full forty seconds. Also pictured: celery root and potato mash with chives and sesame oiled sugar snap peas.

Tip of the day: When grilling fish. Don't mess up. Work quickly and gently. You only have to grill one side (the presentation side). When putting the fish on the grill, make sure to put it presentation side down. This means that the skin side will be on top. Always season your flour before breading any protein. Salt, pepper, and an herb should do the trick.