Recently we had really good monkfish at Librije***. According to the recipe published by Jonnie Boer, the chef, it had been cooked sous-vide at 52C/125F for 12 minutes. This surprised me a little, since Joan Roca, Modernist Cuisine and Jason … Continue reading Monkfish sous-vide temperature experiment
This is another dish we had at the Ligurian coast that I recreated at home: sea bream roasted in the oven with vegetables. It is quite easy to do: you only have to find the freshest sea bream you can find and learn how to take the fish off the bone once it’s cooked. Use an instant-read digital thermometer with a probe to always cook the fish just right: tender and very juicy. Especially if it was very fresh (and not frozen). Fish should never be overcooked as it will be dry, but nobody likes undercooked fish either. Taggiasca olives … Continue reading Sea bream with vegetables (Orata al forno)
Sea bream cooked in a salt crust is a great way to prepare this lovely fish that is used all around the Mediterranean, including Spain, France and Italy. I had tried to make this once many years ago, but it got too salty. A few weeks ago I was telling my Italian friend about this experience while the waiter at the restaurant in Luguria where we were having dinner was filleting the orata al sale. He had overheard our conversation and said that I should try it again because it is very easy if you leave the scales on, dry the fish carefully, … Continue reading Sea bream in salt (Orata al sale)
Simple but delicious: monkfish wrapped in prosciutto di parma. Slightly crispy prosciutto on the outside, tender juicy fish on the inside. If you don’t have a sous-vide water bath, you can get a similar result (still great but not as juicy) with an oven and an instant-read meat thermometer. Ingredients For each serving 120 grams (4 oz) monkfish fillet (Dutch: zeeduivel; French: lotte; Italian: rana pescatrice, coda di rospo) 2 thin slices of prosciutto di parma salt Preparation Ask your fishmonger to remove the slimy skin. Rinse the monkfish under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Cut into … Continue reading Prosciutto-wrapped Monkfish sous-vide
When I started this blog, I wrote that I would “strive to share every single interesting experience with respect to food and wine”. This means sharing both the successes and the failures. Although the result of this experiment was certainly edible and not bad, it was not the “magical” result that I was hoping for. I’m going through “Modernist Cuisine”, the amazing set of books by Nathan Myhrvold et al. On pages 2-24 and 2-25 the “Girardet Method” for broiling fish is described. Fish is simultaneously broiled and poached in white wine. It didn’t look too hard to do and … Continue reading Experiment with the Girardet method for broiling fish
I saw reasonably priced very fresh turbot for sale and couldn’t resist. Even though asparagus are out of season and have to come from Peru, I decided to make a dish that I created last May for the Fish & Wine … Continue reading Turbot and white asparagus sous-vide with Hollandaise sauce
I have been trying to make the ‘perfect’ seabass with tender moist flesh and crispy skin for a long time, and now I’ve finally found the way to do it! When cooking the seabass in a hot non-stick frying pan, I ended up either with a crispy skin with flesh that was a bit overcooked and a bit dry (not terrible, but as always I am striving for perfection 🙂 or with tender moist flesh and flabby skin. Please note that the fish should be very fresh (‘sushi grade’) for this recipe. Continue reading “Perfect sous-vide seabass”
Last night after the delicious ravioli with gorgonzola and witlof we had this simple but good dish that went nicely with the same wine (Erbaluce di Caluso). This was my first attempt at sous-vide cod and it turned out perfectly cooked with a great texture. However cod is so flaky that it seems impossible to sear the fish after cooking sous-vide without breaking it apart. Perhaps I’ll try pre-searing next time. Ingredients For 2 servings: 250 grams (1/2 pound) cod fillet 125 ml (1/2 cup) white wine 125 ml (1/2 cup) home-made fish stock 1 fennel bulb 1 shallot 1/2 … Continue reading Sous-vide cod with braised fennel and white wine sauce
