Pan-Fried Rainbow Trout Filets

When Lovey and I moved back to Midland to take care of Papa my repetoir in the kitchen changed up a bit.  One of those changes was making pan-fried rainbow trout.... a lot.  Papa loved trout and wanted it all the time.  Luckily it's one a dishe that is simple, easy and can be made in a flash.




I make a simple dredge of corn meal, flour and garlic salt. Be sure to run your fingers over the filet and remove any bones

 Pat filets dry, sprinkle with salt and pepper then dredge



Once the butter/canola oil  combo becomes very hot place filets meat side down first for 4 minutes.  Carefully turn and finish cooking for 3 more minutes.

That's it.  Nothing else.  So simple and so good!! 


Pan-Fried Rainbow Trout Filets
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1/2 cup fine corn meal
1/4 cup alll-purpose flour
1 tsp. Lawry's Garlic Salt
4 rainbow trout filets
salt & pepper
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1/2 Tbsp. butter
lemon wedges

Method:
In a pie plate, combine corn meal, flour, and garlic salt. 

Remove any bones in filets and pat dry.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Dredge each filet in the cornmeal/flour mixture.  Melt oil and butter in large skillet.  When oil is very hot place 2 filets, skin side down, and cook for 4 minutes. Carefully turn each filet and cook for 3 more minutes.  Repeat with last 2 filets. Serve with a lemon wedge.

Baked Salmon Croquettes

Lovey and I have been long time fans of salmon croquettes (cakes, patties - whatever you grew up calling them).

I used to use canned salmon but I thought it might be fun to try them with fresh salmon.  And am I glad I did!

 
I started with making some poaching liquid of water, white wine, celery leaves, Italian parsley and black peppercorns



Once the poaching liquid comes to a boil it's lowered it to a simmer and the salmon is added. I prefer wild caught salmon. Poaching time is about 12 minutes; possibly shorter if you slice the salmon into smaller filets.

When the salmon has cooled enough to work with it it gets gently shredded; by hand or with a fork

Seasoned dried bread crumbs are tossed with the salmon.  I used crumbs from a stale French baguette.

The mayonnaise mixture is what will give these croquettes a creamy moist inside. I find it easier to use an 8 ounce jar of Hellmann's rather than measuring it out; I tend to use too much mayo if I measure it myself.

It will be evident that this is a wet mixture. I usually put the mixture in the refrigerator for awhile and let it firm up a little.



Just before you put them in the oven, form the croquettes and coat them in Panko crumbs. You can also form the patties and let them rest, on waxed paper, in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake (don't dredge in the Panko crumbs until you are ready to put in oven - the crumbs will get soggy if you do).




The cooking time is about 40 minutes because the croquettes are cold when placed into the oven .  Be sure to watch yours so they don't brown too much.  I found that by the time the exterior was browned to a nice golden color the croquettes were nice and hot in the middle.

Perfectly crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside.

Baked Salmon Croquettes

Yields 8 croquettes, serving 4

Adapted from Sheila Lukins' "U.S.A. Cookbook"

Ingredients:

For the Poaching Liquid

4 cups water

1 cup dry white wine

4 sprigs celery leaves

6 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tsp Kosher salt

6 black peppercorns

1 pound salmon fillet

For the Croquettes

1/4 cup dried bread crumbs

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried mustard

1 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise (an 8 ounce jar is easy)

1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion

1/2 cup finely diced celery

1 Tbsp drained tiny capers, coarsely chopped

1 Tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 egg, lightly beaten

 Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 cup Panko crumbs

Method:

Prepare the poaching liquid by combining all the ingredients, except the salmon, in a large saucepan.  Gently rub your fingers along the surface of the salmon filet and remove any bones that may have been left. Bring poaching liquid to a boil then reduce to a simmer. 

Add the salmon to the poaching liquid and simmer until it can be easily flaked with a fork, about 12 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon remove salmon from liquid to a dish and set aside to cool.  When the salmon is cooled enough to handle, remove any skin and bones and flake the fish into  large bowl.  Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl combine the 1/4 cups dried bread crumbs, the thyme, oregano, and mustard. Gently combine this with the cooled, shredded salmon.

Measure 1 cup of Hellmann's mayonnaise in a medium mixing bowl.  Finely dice onion and celery; add to mayonnaise.  Coarsely chop the capers and parsley; add to mayonnaise.  Measure the Worcestershire into the mixture and lastly add the lightly beaten egg.  Mix well.  Combine the bread crumb/salmon mixture with the mayonnaise mixture. Salt and pepper to taste

Place the mixture in the refrigerator to firm up a bit. Using a 1/4 cup scoop you should get around 8 patties. You can make smaller hors d'oeuvres - sized patties as well to serve as appetizers

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°.  Pull croquettes mixture out of refrigerator, form patties and gently roll both sides with plain Panko crumbs.  Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for about 40 minutes until the Panko begins turning  a golden brown.

 NOTES: 

These can easily be prepared to the shaping stage and covered with plastic wrap and cooled overnight, putting Panko on prior to putting in oven. 

A nice side salad of iceberg lettuce and marinated pear tomatoes would round out the meal.

Cod Baked in a Yogurt Sauce

It has taken me several weeks to get off high center about I Heart Cooking Clubs' selection for chef and cookbook author being highlighted for the next 6 months.  Quite frankly I am not a big fan of Indian cuisine.  Chalk that up to eating a lot of really bad Indian food in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  Some has been disgusting and other, though it may taste OK, has been extremely visually unappealing. 

But....if I really want to learn something about Indian cooking Madhur Jaffrey is the one person I would want to learn from; like gravitating to Marcella Hazan for Italian, Rick Bayless for Mexican or Julia Child for French.

So, off the couch I come to cook outside my normal realm of comfort.  This week's theme is yogurt and I selected a fish dish baked in a yogurt sauce; a recipe from Indian Cooking.

Everything was easily combined in a baking dish, covered and baked.

sliced onions

fish - I used cod instead of the suggested haddock.  Halibut was another suggestion that would work here.



Topped off with a yogurt sauce flavored with ginger, cumin and coriander.  The sauce was a little bland but only due to the fact that I left out the cayenne and garam masala (which is a blend of cardamom seeds, cinnamon stick, cumin seeds, cloves, peppercorns and nutmeg).

The fish turned out delightfully light and healthy.  We served it with brown rice and sliced tomatoes.  The recipe halved well and surprised me as being the first Indian food that I actually liked.  Lovey was too!  But I didn't tell him what I was making him until he ate it.
Let's go see what they have for us to do next week (now that I have my feet wet).


Cod Baked in a Yogurt Sauce or Dahi wali macchi
Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking (as Haddock Baked in a Yogurt Sauce)
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:
2 medium onion, peeled
2 pounds (900 g) 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick fresh cod fillets (or haddock or halibut)
2 cups (450 ml) plain yogurt
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
1-1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
2 Tbsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/2  to 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp peeled, finely grated fresh ginger
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 Tbsp unsalted cold butter, cut into pieces


Mise en place:

• rinse and dry fish fillets; cut the fillets into 3 inch (7.5 cm) pieces and set aside to dry
• slice onions 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick slices and line a large baking dish with them.
• place the dried, cut fillets onto the onions in a single layer
• pour yogurt into small mixing bowl
• squeeze lemon juice and grate the ginger and add to yogurt
• measure out the spices and add to yogurt
• measure vegetable oil and add to yogurt mixture
• cut cold butter in small pieces and hold in the refrigerator until ready to use

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350°F /190°C
With a whisk mix the yogurt mixture and pour over the fish, making sure some of the sauce goes under the pieces of fish.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the upper third of the oven for 30 minutes or until the fish is just done.

Remove fish to a plate and keep covered in warm oven.  Meanwhile, pour all of the liquids from the baking dish into a small saucepan.  It will seem very thin and separated.  Bring the sauce to a boil and boil rapidly until there is about 1-1/2 cups (350 ml) of the sauce left, about 5 minutes  Take the saucepan off the heat.  Put in the cold butter and beat in with a fork or small whisk.  As soon as it has melted, pour the sauce over the fish and serve.

NOTE:  you may also serve the dish cold, after it has been refrigerated overnight, with a green salad.

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