Z.A.
We're very nearly pescatarians (although not quite!), and there's just sooooooooo many things you can do with seafood.
One of the nice things we've found is that alothough we may easily eat 3lbs of chicken in one meal, about a 1/2 to 1 pound of seafood proteins fill us up. So even though it's more expensive, we eat so much less of it, we actually save money.
DO make sure to buy the freshest you can find. Whole Foods, Central Market, Mutual Fish, Valarmos Bros., and Pike Place are all great places to buy very fresh fish. Avoid Albertsons like the plague. Avoid ANYWHERE that SMELLS "fishy". Fish SHOULD NOT smell fishy.
Here are just a few ideas of what to do with fish:
Number 2 (yup, I'm actually ordering it this way on purpose), is to pick up some Italian, Spanish, Mediterranean, Japanese, Indian cookbooks. The first four are obvious (with Indian, any dish can be made with fish or shellfish...just substitute the protien). I'd check the library, camp out with a pile of them in Barnes&Nobel, and poke around online. That way you get lots of general ideas as to things that sound yummy before you start buying.
Number 1 is the old standby: Olive oil, salt, & pepper.
- SKIN the fish (or even easier have your store do it for you), unless you're grilling it. If you're grilling it, just place skin side down over the coals.
- cut out the bloodvein (the dark stripe that runs down the middle of a fillet...and hence the fish. It's where all the wastes the fish is sending to it's liver and intestines and out collects and travels on it's way to the liver and etc. It also smells/tastes fishy and disgusting) OR wait until you've cooked it and scrape it off with a spoon).
- Coat lightly to medium heavy with olive oil.
- Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper
- Broil for a few minutes, or sautee a few minutes.
- Done
This method is super super simple and lets you taste the fish with no barriers. It also lends itself toward experimentation. Try using multiple source pepper (like Pepperman). Try tossing on small handfulls of dired or fresh herbs, some different spices, kick the heat up with some red pepper flakes. Go asian by adding some soy sauce, a few drops of sesame oil, ginger & garlic.
Pair it with pasta, potatoes, vegetables, mushrooms, salad, what-have-you. Another great trick is to drizzle olive oil and salt and pepper over your vegetables, or on the gill side of your mushrooms, and toss them in the oven a few minutes before the fish. (Fish should only be broiled for a VERY short time...If it's in the oven longer then 10 minutes it's probably overcooked. Most fillets can be in and out in less then 5. I say this, because my mother literally cooks fish for half an hour to an hour. Yuck. Love her, but YUCK. It's along the same heretical concept as baking a steak.)
3) If you're feeling like something creamy and delicious (if not necessarily super healthy) try an infused butter cream sauce. Nearly anything will work that has aromatic oils. One of my favorites is ginger garlic cream sauce, with or without cilantro and onion.
- Melt a stick of butter in a saute pan or sauce dish
- Put roughly chopped "x" in it...for example; medium ginger root and half a head of peeled garlic cloves. Cook on Medium / medium Low for 15 or 20 minutes (high enough to cook the oils out of "x" and into the butter, low enough not to brown the butter).
- Strain out the ginger and garlic & toss them saving the butter.
- Heat up a pint of cream
- Whisk butter into warming cream
- Reduce essentailly by half
- Either saute the fish IN the cream sauce OR pour cream sauce over cooked fish.
- Serve and ignore the calories
4) Try cooking with acid. AKA Ceviche or Poke.
4.5) Try NOT cooking with acid : AKA no lemon on fish!!! It's fine if you're trying to disguise fish that's starting to turn, but do you REALLY want to be eating fish that's starting to turn? Avoid recipes that call for lemon wedges & slices, or try omitting them, unless your cooking the fish with the acid instead of heat. If you love them, try putting a bowl on the table with some to do a fresh squeeze. But be careful. Lemon (or lime, or orange, or etc.) acid cooks fish. Heat + acid most frequently results in overcooked, strong tasting fish.
5) Turn off your smoke detector and try searing shrimp or scallops. Butter or olive oil for shrimp (plus gah-lic), olive oil + seasonings/herbs only (butter makes the sweat) for scallops.
6) Butter + White Wine + Garlic + Parsley + Shellfish of your choice
7) Creole & Cajun ... Jambalaya & Gumbo
8) Fish (or shellfish) tacos. Try both traditional and whatever sounds good. For example; aioli or teriyaki instead of pico de gallo.
9) Salmon or Halibut burgers. Chop fine and mix in fun stuff. Peppers, pineapple, bbq sauce, teriyaki sauc. Serve with aioli or wasabi mayo or...or....or....
10) Deep Fry : Fish n Chips, tempura, cuban....
11) Sauce night : Fish or shrimp to be dipped in various sauces, from curries to tartars to orange honey to tzatzki.
12) Sear and salad.
13) Chowders & Soups
Hmmmm...well I could keep going, but this is a good list of basics. Dive into some cookbooks though, and have fun!
