Recipes As Requested (Don't you just love alliteration?) Part One

I'm sure you've realized by now that I exist in my own little Space/Time Continuum apart from the actual 24 hour day. It's embarrassing, but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

::insert smooth segue here::

Warning regarding recipes (especially for the fish): Quantities are approximate and to taste. Cuz that's how I roll in my 'hood. (aka my kitchen. Or, as we call it around my house, thanks to a 3 yr old H-bug, "chichen".)


Tarragon Orange Roughy
(This was inspired by combining a recipe for stir fry O.R. and a great scallop recipe that my mom gave me.)
Serves 3
3 fillets of Orange Roughy (or any other mild, white fish), cut into 8 pieces each
3 tbsp Oil of your choice (I used Enova©)
2 tbsp chopped shallots
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon (or 2 tsp dry)
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dry)
Kosher salt to taste

Evenly coat pieces of fish with 1 tbsp of oil. Toss with cornstarch, tarragon and parsley and a couple pinches of salt. Set aside.
Heat 2 tbsp of oil in skillet. Add shallots and saute until translucent. (this means you don't want the heat too high at this point) Add garlic and saute for another 30 seconds or so. You don't want the garlic to burn or it will be bitter. Add fish to pan. This is where it can get tricky. Cooking fish can be a bit intimidating. Cook it too long and it's chewy. Not long enough and it's slimy (and possibly dangerous). In this case, I dump the pieces into the pan and toss them around a bit with my spatula so that I can get them coated with the shallots and garlic. Then I make sure they are all lying flat and watch for them to turn from transluscent to opaque half way up. Because fillets aren't very thick, this doesn't take very long. Flip them all over (some might stick - that's ok) and keep a VERY close watch, because this time it really won't take very long. The oil will keep the fish looking glisteny (what? glisteny can too be a word), so make sure you don't mistake that for "slimy". You are looking to see that the fish is now opaque white. (Click on the above picture, then on "all sizes" to see it really big. That's what it should look like.) As soon as it looks done, remove it from the pan. Make sure to scrape up some of the crunchy bits or maybe think about trying to make a nice little sauce by deglazing the pan with bit of white wine (or chicken stock). I served it with white rice. But brown or wild or both would work. I just think it should be something that is subtle in flavor so that it doesn't clash with the fish. Tarragon has a licoricey flavor that mellows nicely when cooked. It also is delicious with scallops.

If there is something that doesn't make sense, email me and I will try to clarify. If any cooks out there find that I've made a mistake, also please email me so that I can fix it! Remember with the herbs and salt, it's all relative. If you haven't tried tarragon before and think that 2 tablespoons might be too much, start with 1 tablespoon and see how it looks. Keep in mind, my Tween Terriblé ate it all up.

Thursday: Pork Marsala!