Fish in Scallion and Ginger Sauce

We have been trying to "clean up our diet" this last week, and with good results.  It is not that difficult once you set your mind to it.  Tonight we had a fish dish that we first ate in 2004 when we went on the South Beach Diet.  We loved it then and still love it.  Tonight it was exceptional and did I say, "easy"?

This  fish was easy to prepare and absolutely delicious.  Tonight we selected Turbot which we have never had before.  It is similar to Flounder, a fish without scales.  This is not the last time we will buy Turbot.   Along side, I sauteed a sliced onion, sliced peppers and a fennel bulb with garlic.  I have always loved the slight licorice flavor of fennel.  It is a must try.  I sauteed them in olive oil just a little, leaving them with quite a bit of crunch.

This recipe for the fish actually was out of The South Beach Diet cookbook.  I doubt it will disappoint.

Fish in Scallion and Ginger Sauce

1/3 cup dry sherry or vermouth
3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
About 1 pound of fish fillets  (orange roughy, cod, sole or flounder)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Mix the sherry or vermouth, soy sauce, sesame oil, onion,  ginger and garlic in a small bowl.

Place the fish fillets in an ovenproof casserole dish.  Drizzle the marinade over the fish and bake for 12 minutes or until the fish flakes easily.

Serves 2

Yes, that is all there is to it.  It will make you a fish lover all over again.

Red Snapper with Mango Shrimp Salsa

On our third fish/seafood for the week, we finally picked up some red snapper.  We have avoided this fish because we just did not know what to do with it.  But we were lucky as we found a recipe in our file dating back to 1997 from Two Hot Tamales.  


Do you remember when cooking shows first started on television?  These two ladies, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger introduced us all to slightly different cooking.  We really wanted to cook a whole red snapper, but they were out at the fish market and so we got two beautiful fillets.  It worked out great for us.

We do think the Mango Shrimp Salsa that topped this fish is what made the dish.  A lot of chopping and dicing, but it came together quickly and we enjoyed it a lot.  And no, we did not add the 3 serrano chilies as the recipe called for.  First of all, we couldn't find any this week, so we substituted 1 red jalapeno and it was just enough heat.  It was also our first time using tomatillos.  We have seen them a lot, but again, did not know what to do with them.  We asked for 3 at the local market and unbeknown to us, when we arrived home we had at least a dozen.  Also asked for 1 jalapeno and came home with at least a dozen.  Will have to figure out what to do with the rest.

Red Snapper with Mango Shrimp Salsa
  from M.S.  Milliken and S. Feniger

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup diced raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Juice from 1/2 lime
Juice from 1/2 orange
3 serrano chilies, seeded and diced
3 Italian Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
3 tomatillos, husks removed, seeded and diced
1 small mango, peeled and cubed
1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 red snapper filets, about 6-8 ounces each
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

Prepare the grill to make a hot fire.

To prepare the salsa, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium skillet, over medium heat.  Add the shallots and garlic.  Saute 2 to 3 minutes, then add the shrimp.  Saute 2 to 3 minutes more, or until the shrimp turns pink.

Add the fruit juices, chilies, tomatoes and tomatillos.  Cook just long enough to warm the tomatoes and combine ingredients.  Remove from heat and gently stir in mango and cilantro.  Season with salt and pepper.  Set aside

Coat the fish with oil on both sides.  Season with salt and pepper.  Grill the fish on one side 5 minutes or less.  Carefully turn and grill about 3 minutes or less.

Spoon the warm salsa over the grilled fish and garnish with springs of cilantro.

Very nice salsa, but we really enjoyed the flavor of the snapper.  Odd that we have never tried it before.

Fish and Shrimp....everyone is happy!

I have a new blog to which I have become addicted.  I found Chef Dennis some weeks ago.  Actually, he found me.  I received an email from him asking permission to use one of my photos.  I had no problem with his request and got very interested in what his blog looked like. 

Chef Dennis is the Chef director of dining services at Mount Saint Joseph Academy in Pennsylvania.  He cooks for 560 girls every day, and I think he is amazing.  I have emailed him with questions about blogging, specifically photos, and have always gotten an immediate response.  He is definitely worth reading.  Please go to   More Than a Mountful and check out his great food blog.

This evening we deviated from one of his recipes slightly, but still found it delightful.  A change because monk fish is impossible to find around here, we substituted cod.  Instead of broccolini, we switched to spinach.  This dish is very, very nice, and I know we will make it often.  Thanks, Chef!!

Monk Fish Scampi

12-14 ounces of cleaned monk fish
6 Jumbo shrimp, cleaned and deveined
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
splash of white wine
2 oz. chicken stock
1/2 cup canned plum tomatoes, chopped
1 cup broccolini cooked and chopped
1/4 cup cooked linguine
2 tbsp Romano cheese
1 tbsp butter

Cook monk fish with olive oil and sea salt and black pepper to taste.  Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 18 minutes, depending upon thickness of fillet.  In a saucepan, add olive oil, chopped garlic and gently saute garlic and then add shrimp and plum tomatoes.

Saute shrimp until almost done, remove from pan.  Add splash of white wine to stop cooking and deglaze pan.  Add chicken stock and Romano cheese.  Remove 1/3 of sauce from pan and add to shrimp on the side.

Now add chopped broccolini to the pan and continue to saute.  Then add cooked linguine and toss to mix and remove from heat.

In another pan reheat the shrimp and sauce as soon as the monk fish is done.  Add one tablespoon butter to the scampi sauce while reheating and top sauce with shrimp over the monk fish.  Serve with the pasta.

In addition to switching to cod and spinach, we also used Parmesan instead of Romano.  Next time I would add red pepper flakes for an extra kick. 

Salmon Burgers with Cilantro Mayo

We have tried different recipes for Salmon Burgers in the past, but when I read "Annie's Eats" this morning, I knew we would have these for dinner tonight.

Salmon Burgers with Cilantro Mayo
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
6 tbsp. panko bread crumbs
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 lb. salmon fillets, skinned, boned and finely chopped
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
We did add 2 chopped scallions

For the cilantro mayo:
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup cilantro
Dash of cayenne pepper (we used a dash of hot sauce)
Squeeze of lemon juice

In a medium bowl, combine the diced bell pepper, panko, garlic and salmon. In a small bowl combine the egg white, soy sauce, lemon juice and salt. Add the liquid mixture to the bowl with the salmon and toss gently until well incorporated. Form the mixture into four equal patties. We found that taking an empty tuna can and oiling it, will make nicely formed patties when the salmon mixture is packed into it and then tapped out.

Make the cilantro mayo, combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Process until well combined and smooth.

Lightly coat a grill pan or skillet with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Heat over medium-high heat until hot. Cook the patties about 5 minutes per side, until cooked through.

Instead of putting these burgers on buns, we had loose leaf lettuce with a vinaigrette and placed the burgers on top. It was excellent and will certainly be added to our favorite recipe box.