Savory Apples: a Fish and Apple Curry

I love Autumn and I love apples in Autumn. I grew up in New York State, a state with a lot of apple orchards - it's number #2 for apple-growing states (Washington is far and away the leader). Where I grew up, ancient orchards are interspersed with many a subdivision and the smell of ripe apples is everywhere. We would head to the local orchard for freshly pressed cider which was another treat of Fall.

After reading this article in The Atlantic, I started to wonder if my love affair with apples was shared widely. If you spent your life eating Red Delicious apples, probably not. I have shared your disillusionment with the apple - so many awful apples in box lunches, convenience stores, cafeterias. Please seek out some better apple varieties; I posted a list of common apple varieties and their seasons which can help you out. It's not complete. Apple breeders keep coming up with new varieties - thank goodness - because it would be a sad world with just the lame Red Delicious.

Most of us eat our apples in desserts. Here, it provides sweetness and texture to a fish curry. A tip when using curry powder: some of the spices in there have a bitter and raw undertone. To tone this down, it's important to cook the curry in fat for a minute.

Fish and Apple Curry
(serves 6)

2 Tablespoon oil or butter or a combination
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons mild curry powder
¼ cup raisins
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 Tablespoons chutney
salt and pepper
2 medium apples
2 zucchini, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 ½ pounds mild whitefish such as Pacific cod or catfish, cut into bite-sized pieces

Heat up the oil and/or butter in a dutch oven over medium-low heat. Cook the onions and garlic for 10 minutes until the onions are soft and turning golden. While the onions are cooking, peel, core, and dice the apples. Add the curry powder and cook for a minute. Add the raisins, crushed tomatoes, chutney, ½ teaspoon salt, and apples. Cook for 20 minutes on medium-low (to keep the tomatoes from scorching to the pan). Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper to season. Add the zucchini and fish. Cook for about 10 minutes until the zucchini is tender and the fish is cooked. Check for salt and pepper before serving.

This gets even better if you refrigerate it and reheat it. The sweetness of the apples mellows the curry making it even more delicious.

Mahi-mahi roasted with Tomatoes

Mexico is a country of rich coastal fisheries. There is a long Pacific coastline, the Bay of California, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. Therefore, it is no surprise that there is a lot of great fish cooking going on there. Fish is probably not what most people think about first for Mexican food. Yes, fish tacos have a gained a foothold in the US but these represent Ensenada, a single Pacific city's contribution to seafood cookery (and even that has been refracted through the lens of California cooking in the US). No denying the deliciousness of Baja fish tacos but there is much more swimming in from Mexico, a country with a rich and varied cuisine.

This is a simple yet impressive dish that uses the flavors of Mexico to great advantage. Though the recipe says mahi-mahi (called dorado in Spanish speaking countries), you could use fillets of rockfish, snapper, or corvina. Mahi-mahi is a delicious meaty fish. It's very common worldwide, so it is considered sustainable.

Mahi-Mahi Roasted with Tomatoes and Cilantro
(serves 4, costs $16 when mahi-mahi is $8/lb)

4 fillets of mahi-mahi, 5-6 oz. each, skin removed
salt and black pepper
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch of scallions, thinly sliced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 cup minced cilantro (or use parsley if you don't like cilantro)
4 large plum tomatoes, diced (or use 3 cups drained diced canned tomatoes)
¼ cup tequila mixed with ¼ cup water

Preheat oven to 450°F. Season mahi-mahi on both side with salt and pepper. Use 1 teaspoon of olive oil to grease a 9"x9" baking dish. Mix together the scallions, garlic, most of the cilantro (reserve about ¼ cup for garnish), tomatoes, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Place ½ of the tomato mixture in the baking dish and lay the fish on top. Top with the remaining tomatoes. Drizzle with the rest of the olive oil and pour the tequila-water mixture around the fish. Bake for 20 minutes. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the fish fillets; mahi-mahi is usually 1" thick. The fish is done when it's no longer translucent and flakes easily with a fork. Garnish with cilantro and serve. Good with rice with spaghetti or roasted potatoes.

Lox Sushi

Another nice piece of sushi rolling from one of my students

Last "recipe" from this week's class: hand rolls stuffed with smoked salmon, cream cheese, and typical bagel & lox condiments. We used capers but you could use thinly sliced red onions, strips of cucumber, diced tomatoes, or diced avocado. Use what you have, use what you like.

You can find instructions on how to make a hand roll in the tuna poke post. You can find instructions on making a sushi roll like the one in the photo all over youtube. I like this succinct video best but you don't need to wrap the roll in plastic to cut it. Make sure to dampen your sharp knife before each cut and wipe off the blade after each cut.

To make a lox roll, you'll need:

• thin strips of smoked salmon
• small sticks of cream cheese (see below on how to cut it) 
• sushi rice
• sheets of nori
• toasted sesame seeds

Beyond these, you will want one or more tasty accompaniments:

• capers
• thinly sliced strips of red onion
• strips of cucumbers (peeled if you like and seeded if not an English cucumber)
• diced avocado
• diced tomato
• strips of pickled jalapeño (not traditional but very tasty)

It can be hard to cut up cream cheese. It's very sticky. The trick is to slightly freeze it before trying to cut it. Put a chunk of cream cheese in the freezer for 20 minutes before you want to cut it. If it softens up while you are trying to cut it, stick it back in the freezer for a few minutes and try again. Also, don't try to use reduced-fat cream cheese; it's much too soft and sticky to cut. 

Quick Fish

Here's a big-flavored sauce for a mild piece of white fish. You can use catfish, tilapia, cod, or any other fillets of white flaky fish. The recipe is for a single serving because most fish doesn't reheat particularly well. You can precook extra potatoes and carrots, assemble them with the sauce and fish when you are ready to eat and it will be done in under 10 minutes. Not bad!

Don't try to cook more than 4 servings at once because the fish will cook unevenly - some parts underdone, some parts overcooked.

Fish with Mustard-Caper Sauce
(serves 1, cost varies depending on fish used, $2.80 at $4.99/lb fish)

1 small potato, washed and cut into chunks
1 carrot, scrubbed and cut into chunks
1 ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 ½ teaspoon chopped capers
1 Tablespoon olive oil
6 ounce fillet mild white fish such as cod, tilapia, catfish
salt and pepper

Cover the potato and carrots with water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for 15-20 minutes until they are tender but not falling apart. Drain and put into a microwaveable dish. Season lightly with salt and pepper. The capers and mustard are salty so you don't need much salt. In a small bowl, combine the mustard, capers, and olive oil. The mustard and oil will separate; that's OK. Drizzle half of this mixture over carrots and potatoes. Lay the fish fillet on top and spread on remaining mustard-caper mixture. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, leaving one corner open a little bit to allow steam to escape. Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the fillet. You'll know it's done when the thickest part flakes easily. Let sit for 2 minutes to finish cooking.

Cooking Times for Multiple Servings - unlike conventional ovens, you need to adjust the cooking time as you add more food. Remember that the time will depend on the thickness of the fillet. Thin fillets cook much faster than thick ones.

2 servings: 4-7 minutes
3 servings: 6-8 minutes
4 servings: 7-10 minutes

Sunday Night Dinner: Salmon with a Potato Topping

Looking for something a little special for Sunday night dinner? Here's a delicious idea. The salmon is covered with some mashed potatoes and baked. There are a few steps, but it's all easy. It's also a foolproof way of cooking an expensive piece of fish.

These days, you usually get salmon fillets with the skin still on. Get the person at the fish counter to remove it for you. This will save you a bit of trouble when you get home.

Baked Salmon with Scallion-Potato Topping
(serves 4, costs $15, highly variable depending in the cost of salmon)

¾ pound russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 bunch of scallions, chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
¼ cup milk
½ Tablespoon butter
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
non-stick cooking spray or vegetable oil for greasing baking dish
1 ¼ pounds salmon fillet
salt and pepper for seasoning salmon
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Boil the potatoes in enough water to cover them until they are soft, about 20 minutes. While the potatoes are cooking, heat the vegetable oil in a small skillet and saute the scallions and garlic until the scallions are wilted. Set aside.

Heat oven to 425 F°.

Drain the potatoes and mash with a fork. Add in milk, butter, ¼ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon pepper, and scallion-garlic mixture. Mash to combine.

Oil an 8x8" baking dish. Place the salmon fillet in the dish and season with salt and pepper. Evenly spread the mashed potatoes oven the salmon fillet. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.

Bake the fish for 18-20 minutes. Cut into 4 pieces and serve.

Adapted from Jane Brody's Good Seafood Book, W.W. Norton & Company, 1994.

Fish Fillets with Pecans

There are many recipes for fish with pecan sauce. Most of them are fairly sweet. This one is different. The only sweetness comes from the pecans. It is intensely savory. The pecans and the mild white fish are perfect together and no added sugar is needed whatsoever. I think the secret is the Worcestershire. It's also very simple and quick. Serve with rice or a baked sweet potato.

Fish Fillets with Pecans
(serves 2; total cost using catfish is $5.60)

2 6-ounce fish fillets such as catfish or snapper
1 cup milk
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
a dash of cayenne
¼ cup flour
1 Tablespoon oil
2 Tablespoons butter
¼ cup chopped pecans
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
juice of ½ a lemon

Preheat oven to 200° F.

Place the fish fillets in a zip-top bag. Pour in the milk. Marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Remove fish from bag; discard milk. Dry fillets. Combine salt, pepper, and cayenne. Sprinkle on both sides of fish fillets. Sprinkle both sides of fish with flour.

Heat oil and 1 Tablespoon of butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. A nonstick skillet is helpful but not absolutely necessary. When oil is hot - it will shimmer in the pan - add the fish gently. Let it cook without trying to move it. When it is nicely browned, turn it over and brown on the other side. The average catfish fillet will take about 5 minutes on the first side, about 3 minutes on the second side. Remove fish to a plate and place in the oven to keep warm.

Reduce heat to low. Add pecans and 1 tablespoon of butter. Stir until pecans turn golden-brown. Add Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice, Stir to combine. Pour over fish and serve.