Pescado con Rajas y Crema - A simply delicious Rick Bayless recipe

Even though I can't eat at his restaurants very often, Chef Rick Bayless is quickly becoming one of my favorite chefs.  It's enjoyable reading his tweets everyday and seeing him on various Food Network shows.  I also enjoy breaking out one of his cookbooks, and trying some of the incredible sounding and looking dishes which also allow me to try techniques and flavors that are definitely different than what I typically work with.  The only thing is that usually the recipes are pretty involved and take a while, well at least for the amateur cook.  When I made a mole for the first time (which turned out fantastic), it ended up taking me something like four hours.  So, I usually don't take on a Rick Bayless recipe during the week.  But, in flipping through the cookbook, I found something I figured I could pull off; Pescado con Rajas y Crema.  Not only does it feature halibut, which happens to be fresh and in season right now (one of the perks of living in Seattle), but it looked like it would only take me an hour and a half which just fits into my after work cooking schedule.

Pescado con Rajas y Crema is a pretty simple dish.  It features a quick fried fish with a poblano pepper cream sauce.  To start, I seasoned the halibut with a little bit of salt and the juice of one lime.  I left it to marinate for about an hour.  From there, I turned to the sauce.  Ok, I actually went and watched baseball for half an hour, then turned to the sauce.  I roasted the poblano to remove the skin and bring out a bit of flavor.  While it was roasting, I sliced some Vidalia onion using my new mandoline, which is far and away one of the greatest little tools that I never knew I needed!!  I put the onion in a small sauce pan with a little bit of olive oil, and cooked until it was lightly browned.  Then I added the poblano (after removing the skin and slicing thinly), and some garlic.  After a couple minutes, I poured in the heavy cream and brought it to a simmer to allow it to thicken.

While the sauce was thickening, I pulled the halibut back out, took it out of the lime juice marinade, and patted it dry.  Then I started getting some green beans ready as a nice side vegetable.  The thing is I wasn't paying that much attention to the sauce when I suddenly heard some sizzling coming from the stove.  I looked and it had boiled over.  So I quickly ran over, pulled it off the heat, cleaned it up and returned it to the heat.  This would be an ongoing battle for the next 10 minutes...

Finally, after conceding the battle to the sauce, and turning down the heat, I got the fish ready.  I added a little butter and oil to a skillet, and let that heat until the butter started to brown.  At that point, I quickly dredged the fish in flour, and put it in the oil/butter mixture.  After a minute and a half, I flipped it over, cooked for another minute and a half, then added the sauce.  The whole thing then simmered for a couple more minutes, before I took it off the heat and added it to a plate with some rice.  Then I added a bit of parmesan cheese (that was a total ad lib, but it seemed like it needed it) and some scallions, and it was ready to go!

The flavors were great.  It was a little mild which is what I usually like when cooking for the two of us (if it was just me, I might have gone for a bit spicier pepper like a jalepeno or serrano with some bell pepper).  The cream sauce was rich, but accompanied the fish very well.  I made quick work of mine, and had to fight to urge to polish off Jennifer's leftovers (one of the trick's to staying in shape while eating well is to stop eating).

I can't wait until my next trip to Chicago when I can hit up Topolobampo or Frontera Grill or Xoco, but in the meantime, I'll keep making the delicious dishes in Rick Bayless' cookbook, hoping to do them the justice that they deserve.

For the actual recipe, check out Rick Bayless' cookbook Authentic Mexican.

Deck on Quick Meals - Halibut Fishsticks

When I started this blog, I was thinking it would combine the joy of cooking with my dining out experiences, wrapped up as a love of food.  But, I'm realizing I forgot one aspect, cooking for busy professionals.  On days that I get home at 6:30 or 7:00, I can do a lot of different things, try making new dishes, things like that.  But on nights like tonight where I end up getting home around 8:30, it's a little more difficult to do a lot of cooking.  Instead, I have to come up with something quick, easy, and delicious.  It's just a different type of cooking.  And I realize, I've had a few of these posts pop up, so I should run with it.  Hence the new header "Deck on Quick Meals".

When I had gone shopping at Whole Foods, the first halibut of the season had come in, so I ended up buying a small filet.  Halibut is also one of those meats that I very rarely freeze because the flavor is just so fantastic when it's fresh (steak is the other...I never freeze steak).  So, I spent the day trying to figure out what I could make that would be quick and easy.  I should probably note that baking a halibut filet doesn't take that long, but I was considering different marinades and knew I wouldn't have time for those, and excuse after excuse.  

Anyway, I ended up deciding on halibut fish sticks.  They are easy and usually delicious.  You simply take a bunch of saltines, put them in a zip lock bag, and crumble them up into fine crumbs.  It's like a poor man's panko.  Then you take the halibut, dip in a little flour with a dash of seasoned salt, then egg wash, then cracker crumbs.  I ended up electing to heat some canola oil to cook the fish sticks in, rather than vegetable or EVOO (which is what I usually use, until I get a small fryer anyway).

To accompany the fish sticks, I made a little garlic/mayo sauce.  It was chopped fresh garlic that I ended up squishing into almost a paste form, chopped cilantro, fresh lemon juice, mayo, and some honey.  I meant to put in black pepper, but got distracted and forgot.  Then we had some sticky white rice which is an absolute staple in our household, and some green beans.

Overall, I think it turned out ok.  The sauce was good.  I'll definitely put the black pepper in next time, and maybe a little less honey.  The problem was the canola oil.  When the sauce was drizzled over the fish, I didn't notice as much, but it definitely left an unpleasant taste on the fish.  I'm not sure if it was because the canola oil is older, or because it's cheap canola oil.

The fish stick idea is still good for a quick, relatively healthy meal.  But it's important to take into consideration the flavor of the oil that you use to cook it in, and how the fish stick absorbs the oil.  I think that going forward, I will continue to use EVOO because even if some of the flavor is present, it is much more pleasing.   Then if I get a small fryer (it's on the registry!!!) I will probably use peanut or vegetable oil.  Of course, if I get a fryer, I can start experimenting with batters...Halibut fish and chips anyone?