Ok...So I am a food network fanatic. I watch just about every show with the exception of anything that has to do with cake making or cake-making challenges. I don't make cake, let alone eat it...I have a savory tongue rather than a sweet one....People, especially other women, think I am weird...One of the societal norms is to "turn to chocolate" for comfort....and I simply cannot conform to that cliche. For comfort, I turn to flaming hot Cheetos with cream cheese! Don't knock it til you try it. My only warning: it's not as good on the way out, if you know what I mean....hahah. Invest in some tums or a nice soothing cream! Anyhow, the food network is very inspiring for me because it provides great dinner ideas, which lead me to the succulent meal I prepared last night.
I watched the show "Secrets of a Restaurant Chef," last weekend and the chick with the hideous wild blond hair made a potato crusted halibut (look it up if you want the real recipe.) Ok...at first I thought that it looked easy enough to try out at home. So, yesterday my better half said he wanted fish for dinner. I figured this was the perfect opportunity to try out this recipe as he is my genii pig for all things food related...He really thinks I am good enough to be on the food network...HAHA Boy do I have him fooled! Actually I can cook really good and sometimes it scares me.
The chef used a mandolin to slice the potatoes superthin. I figured I could just use my sharpest knife to achieve the same effect. My other alternative was to go out and buy a mandolin, but really, I did not think it would matter.
I only had salmon at home so that's what I used. I went to the store and got 2 white potatoes and some asparagus. Because I could not find the dang recipe on www.foodnetwork.com, I had to improvise. This is how I did it:
For the Fish:
2 fillets of Salmon (use what you want or what YOU like)
2 White Potatoes thinly sliced (we will get to that later)
Garlic Olive Oil (Costco!)
dried herbs, salt and pepper (whatever you have in the "pantry" as the folks on food network say...hhahah that always kills me because what if people don't have a "pantry" stockpiled with basic ingredients. People who believe they cannot cook or do not want to learn, usually only have a few condiments in the fridge...put that mentality aside because if I can cook, you can cook!)
Parchment paper and a NON-stick pan also needed.
For the Asparagus:
1/2 bunch of Asparagus (use it all if there are more that two dining)
Pear Olive Oil (I got it at a specialty shop in Napa. As this site expands, I will add places we go to eat)
Salt, pepper and grill seasoning
Juice of 1/2 of an Orange
Ok...here is where the fun begins. Because I LOVE to cook, I tend to be more experimental than most folks. So I entered into this with an open mind. My first thought was I needed to sharpen the knife to achieve thin slices so I can get that perfect scaled look that I saw on TV. HAAAAHAHAHA I thought a sharp knife would be the exact thing as using a mandolin. W.R.O.N.G., wrong (you need to spell that out loud and then say "wrong" after-hhaa it is quite funny. A nightmare former boss of mine once said to me- "you are W.R.O.N.G., wrong!" I laughed my a** off-sorry to digress-for the record I was RIGHT!)
Where was I, ah yes...So I was having trouble controlling the knife to make paper-thin slices. The whole point of this dish was to crust the fish, hence potato-crusted fish. If the slices are too thick they won't be pliable enough to warp around the fish. The knife ordeal was NOT working. I started cussing the food network as to why in the hell they make it look so damn easy!!! I was starting to tell myself "I CAN'T DO IT..." all psychological b.s. of course.
That's when I brought out the old fashioned "knuckle grater." No, my grandmother did NOT give this to me, I bought it. I used the box grater to slice the potatoes. Use of mandolin=paper-thin perfectly round potato slices; Use of box grater=you get what you get. On tv, the slices were so prefect that once the dish was done, it looked like the fish had perfect potato scales.
I arranged the half-a**ed potato slices on a piece of parchment paper. (Just arrange the slices in uniform rows making sure to overlap each row slightly. You will end up with a canvas of potato slices (just big enough to surround the cut of fish you have.)
Then I drizzled the garlic olive oil over the slices and sprinkled salt, pepper and dried herbs to taste, so the fish would become seasoned once wrapped. (Use a good amount of the olive oil because that acts like the glue that will hopefully hold the potato wrap around the fish.)
I put the fish in the middle of the potato slices. I used the same technique to wrap the fish as seen on the food network.
Basically you take one end of the parchment and fold it over the fish tightly then take the other end and do the same. I cannot explain it any better so just research this episode to see how it is done....
I do not know if this next step will matter BUT the potatoes were not staying wrapped around the fish on their own...so I placed the tightly wrapped parchment paper with the fish into the freezer. I thought this would help it set-up and stay in place during the searing process. I think I left it in the freezer for around five minutes.
You have to use a nonstick pan for this. I got the pan HOT with some nonstick olive oil cooking spray. I placed the fish on the hot pan very gently so as to not disrupt the slices. A few will get out of place and that is unavoidable. Now here is where the "if I can cook, you can cook" theory comes into context. The trick to cooking is timing things, watching the food, being patient, etc.
I let the fish sear for 7-10 mins on each side so the potatoes got brown and crusty!!! DO NOT MOVE OR TOUCH anything or the crust will not develop. Just let it sit there.
Once I got a good crust on each side (I can't believe it actually came together!) I finished it in the oven at 375 for another ten minutes, along with the asparagus.
Now for the asparagus. If you ruin the asparagus please do not expect anyone to want to eat it. The trick to asparagus is not over cooking. When it is over cooked it becomes flaccid and olive-green colored. You want it to maintain its integrity throughout the cooking process. Vibrant green and a crisp in the center!
I tossed the asparagus with the pear olive oil, orange juice (I just squeezed it with my hands) and grill seasoning. I added a pinch of salt and pepper.
I put that in the oven with the fish for the ten minutes I mentioned above.
The photo on this site is the finished product. Ok, so I took the picture with my iphone. I guess I could have wiped the plate and fixed the one out-of-place asparagus but hey...I never said I had presentation skills or food photography experience...sheeeesh give me a break..this is only my first entry and I am not usually in the habit of capturing everything I plate :)
Well, the boy friend was thoroughly impressed as was I. At that point I became inspired to research food blogs and start my own. So here I am and I hope you enjoy...
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