Trout with Whole Wheat Couscous

This is just a very fast post - home from a week in Austin going to doctor appointments (not the most fun of trips).  First meal I've cooked in about 10 days!!!

I sauteed some of the bay trout Ian and Jay caught in June.  Quick prep in EVOO, butter, and a couple of garlic cloves pushed through a garlic press...and juice from one half of a lemon.  Salt and pepper after flipped.  Perfect and fast.  Literally took 6 minutes.

For the couscous - I bought a box of Near East Whole Wheat Couscous when I restocked my kitchen this afternoon.  I put 1/2 of a large diced yellow onion and 2 garlic cloves (also pressed) into a sauce pan with 1/2 stick butter and 1/4 cup EVOO over medium high heat.  I salt and peppered lightly.  Once the onions were soft but not fully translucent, I added 1 1/2 cups water and brought to a boil.  Added box of couscous, stirred,  covered and removed from heat.  Five minutes later (while I cooked the fish and steamed some broccoli for a side vegetable), I removed the lid, fluffed the couscous with a fork and added a small amount of chiffonade of basil and some thinly sliced green onion (whites and green parts).

I poured all of the seasoned couscous on a platter and laid out the fish, pouring all of the cooking liquid from the fish pan over the fish.  Sprinkled with a bit more of the fresh basil from the lovely plants on my deck and more sliced green onion.  Lemons served on the side for squeezing.

Fresh basil from plants purchased at Veranda's in Port Isabel!

Bread of the day was two pieces of whole wheat Naan, gently sprinkled with olive oil and placed directly on the oven racks in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 3 minutes.

Store-bought Naan - it was incredibly delicious!  Soft and chewy.
Ian wrapped his couscous and fish up and ate like a tribal teen-ager.
He loved the couscous AND the naan!  Yay for new things!!!

The entire dinner was ready in under 30 minutes including prep time and everyone walked away stuffed to the gills!  Minimal photos because I was on a roll - we were late eating and I needed to get dinner on the table PDQ!  Best "fast food" we've had in weeks :-)

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Shared With:

Bay Trout en Papillote

Bay Trout and Gulf Shrimp en Papillote over Orzo Pilaf

We finally got the last of our children graduated from high school...hallelujah!  It has been a week-end filled with family, food, and activities.  One of the activities was a bay fishing excursion for the teen with his big brother, Jay, and Captain Jack Barton, their favorite charter captain in the Lower Laguna Madre.  They caught their limit of bay trout as well as a bunch of catch and release.  This was Jay's graduation gift to Ian.  It's not often he gets a private charter and it's a big deal when he does!  Jay's a good big brother.

Our Saturday night dinner being proudly displayed by two of my boys.
They are the fishermen in the family!

A double-spotted Red Fish (Red Drum) was just under the size requirement for keeping so that one was gently returned to the bay by my oldest son.  It was his first Red so I asked if he got a photo...he said, no, this was Ian's day.  (I love my Jay - what a big heart)

A trophy-sized trout was the teen's excitement of the day.  It, too, was catch and release because they already had their limit in the ice chest.  They were fishing for the pure joy of the catch...and the satisfaction of release.  That big trout will live to breed and make more fish for us to catch and eat!  Hello big beautiful fish!  I'm sure he's thinking "put me the heck BACK in the water Mister!"  Photos and a quick return to the bay resulted in a wonderful moment on the graduation fishing trip.  I told him he would likely not remember all the money he's getting for graduation (although he's HAPPY to be getting it!) but he will never forget the trophy trout he caught the morning after he graduated from high school.  The teen said "it's the memories that will count". That's right, boo... you've got it!  Two big life events within two days!

My Mom is here with us and she is not a big fish fan and she hates shrimp - she asked "do they smell fishy?" when I was sorting out the 20 pieces of trout filet.  I told her "no, not at all - smells like the ocean" and took the plate over to her to sniff.  She was shocked that there was zero odor of fish.  Yep - when they have been swimming around a couple of hours ago, there isn't anything much better or fresher tasting!

I got busy in the kitchen - I made a cake for our dessert, prepped veggies, and got everything organized.  Then I made eight "packets" of trout on a bed of Orzo Pilaf and topped with a few pieces of large Gulf Shrimp (also right off the boat that I saw had been docked between the time we went out to breakfast and the time we returned).

Here's how I put it together:

Bay Trout en Papillote

Prepare Orzo Pilaf by slightly under cooking Orzo pasta (rice shaped pasta) per package directions - just under cook by about 2 or 3 minutes because it will cook again in the packets.  Strain and return to pan.  Add butter, chopped scallions, and pressed garlic cloves to cooked pasta.  (I used about 1/4 cup butter, 5 small cloves pressed garlic, and 4 scallions) Add some salt, pepper, and onion powder to taste and a squeeze of lemon juice.  Stir, cover and set aside.

Peel and devein enough shrimp for 3 or 4 pieces per packet and keep chilled.  Clean trout, ensuring no bones are in the filets.  Mine were bone-free!

Prep thin slices of lemon (about 3 per packet), several sliced scallions (I prepped about 4 or 5 white and green parts), and torn basil leaves.  Set out some pre-softened butter, lemon pepper, and Pinot Grigio.  Have large squares of parchment paper ready.  Have a stapler or metal paper clips on hand as well as large baking sheet(s).

Fold the parchment over to form a triangle and run your finger over the base of the triangle to form a crisp fold.  Open the triangle with the top point towards you.  That portion will be the base of the packet and you will build the ingredients on that surface.  Spoon 2 scoops of orzo pilaf against the center of the folded edge of the parchment - level it (don't pack) with the back of the spoon.  Lay a piece of trout filet on top of the orzo.  Place 3 or 4 pieces of shrimp on top of the trout.  Sprinkle with thinly sliced scallion and some torn basil.  Top with three very thin slices of lemon.  Sprinkle with lemon pepper.  Add a dollop of butter (I used about 1 Tablespoon) and sprinkle about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons Pinot Grigio wine over the top of everything.  (I used flipflop Pinot Grigio)

This one was made for my Mom without shrimp - she doesn't like it.
Who doesn't like shrimp?

Seal the packet by bringing the top of the triangle down over the ingredients.  Start at one end of the bottom of the triangle and start rolling the paper tightly inward.  When you get to the edge of the ingredients, turn and continue on around the entire packet.  I like to staple or clip the ends because I have had one unroll on me before.  This is what it looks like.

Position both oven racks near center - but leave one "level" between so that the packets don't touch the rack above when they puff up with steam. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place 4 packets per baking sheet into oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

I watch to see when the shrimp turns pink.  If you are uncertain about doneness, you can poke an instant read thermometer into the fish through the paper to be certain.

The cooked fish is served "en papillote" - in parchment - on a plate.  Each person gets to cut into their packet (warn them of steam if they are piping hot) and peel it back and eat it.  It's almost fun to watch the different ways people work into their packet.  I cut mine down the center with a knife.  Other people unfold the packet, some try to tear it open, and some "fork it" and tear it with the fork.  I always find it a fun meal to serve.

You can really put any kind of fish into these wonderful packets.  I use the Orzo Pilaf as a base because the teen does not like rice but loves pasta and the orzo looks enough like rice to work really well in the packets.  Simple loaves of toasty french bread, steamed broccoli and steamed squash were all that was needed to make a complete meal.  We all inhaled our meal, except my middle son, Will.  He very meticulously made his appreciative way through the packet!  We toasted the graduate with a nice bottle of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio and thanked the fishermen who caught our meal.

We finished the meal with the less-than-gorgeous cake I made.  I made a first attempt at doing a frozen buttercream transfer...and it was too big for the cake and I had to cut it down...and then I had too much frosting (it was over an inch thick on top) and as the buttercream heated under the lights it started drifting down the sides. I also learned I can't write backwards easily!  I watched many different YouTube tutorials and I now see why certain things needed to be done a certain way!  Oh well, lesson learned - I will try it again - I have lots to learn about the technique and it's kind of cool.  Everyone enjoyed the Milk Chocolate cake on the inside and declared the frosting delicious.  My tongue was a very unattractive blue all the rest of the night.  That's the problem with dense colors...but I wanted it to be the colors of the Fighting Tarpons of Port Isabel High School!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Scarlet Snapper for Two!

The teen has been begging for some snapper so we ducked into Quik Stop in Port Isabel and picked up a lovely piece of Scarlet Snapper that I thought was just right to feed two people...two normal people. 

I cooked it up with some orzo for dinner tonight...I took 1/3, gave him 2/3...and still he asks "is there more snapper?"

O.M.G.

A nice piece of fish, delicious orzo, a salad, garlic toast, fresh blackberries and whipped cream for dessert...I was beyond full.  Oh yeah, the teen won't eat salad ...oh well...what's a mom to do?  I just shrugged and offered him my fish skin...he loves it, me not so much.  He smiled.

Scarlet Snapper with Orzo

Ingredients:

1-2 quarts water
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup whole wheat orzo pasta
2 tablespoons diced onion
Kosher Salt
2 tablespoons butter (or olive oil if prefer)

2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup EVOO
1/2 white onion, diced
2-3 tablespoons chiffonade of fresh basil
1-2 green onions, split and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic - through a garlic press
1 filet of Scarlet Snapper - skin on
Lemon Pepper to Taste
1/2 lemon thinly sliced
1/2 lemon reserved

Method:

Bring water and chicken broth to boil in a 3 qt saucepan.  Add salt, chopped onion, and orzo pasta.  Bring back to boil, reduce heat to medium and boil for 8 minutes.  Drain, add 2 tablespoons of butter, and stir.

While orzo is cooking, add butter and EVOO to large skillet over medium high heat.  Add diced onion, 1/2 of the basil, 1/2 of the green onion and garlic to pan, cook for 2-3 minutes.   Push veg to the side and add the Scarlet Snapper filet to the pan, skin side down.  Place lemon slices on top of fish.  Cover pan with lid.  Cook until lower half of fish is turning white.  Move lemon slices off to the side and flip fish, scooting it to the side of the pan. 

Add orzo to pan and stir in the the rest of the onion and basil.  Lemon pepper the fish and return the lemon slices to the top of the skin side of the fish, return the lid to the pan and cook until fish is done (the entire fish cooking time took about 10-12 minutes for a .80 pound piece of fish).

Plate the orzo and place the fish on top of the orzo.  Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the fish and serve.

Awesomely delicious!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

SHARED WITH:

SESAME CATFISH

It's another Saturday night dinner...the hubby was back home and I always like to make something "memorable" when that is the case :-)  Saturday's recipe was another from the Eastside's Inside Secrets cookbook.  It is described as "catfish fillet breaded with sesame seeds, parsley, and bread crumbs.  Grilled in butter and served with aioli".  You might recall my post about Eastside Cafe in Austin... they were the source of those fabulous jalapeno cheddar corn muffins I blogged about previously.  My side dishes were my homemade potato salad and some fresh green beans.  Yum.  I finally used the Basa fillets I purchased at the Delicious Seafood Market in Port Isabel back in January.  They'd been in the freezer patiently awaiting my use. 

So, here's the recipe to get started:

SESAME CATFISH
from Eastside Cafe, Austin, Texas
Eastside's Inside Secrets

CATFISH BREADING

1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
2 cups plain bread crumbs (I used Ian's Brand whole wheat panko)
1 cup sesame seeds
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.  Yield:  3 cups

The Catfish Breading includes fresh parsley!

AIOLI

1/2 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Creole mustard

Place all ingredients in a small mixing bowl and combine with a wire whip.  Yield 1 1/4 cup

ASSEMBLY

4 eggs
2 cups flour
1 recipe Catfish Breading
3 pounds catfish fillets (8 medium fillets)
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1 recipe Aioli

Set up the dipping stations for easy assembly

Beat eggs in a medium mixing bowl.  Place flour in a second medium mixing bowl.  Place Catfish Breading in a third medium mixing bowl.  One fillet at a time, dredge catfish in flour, then egg.  Make sure that the whole fillet has a coating of egg on it.  Hold fillet over egg wash for a moment until excess egg has dripped off.  Place the fillet in Catfish Breading until it is lightly covered.  Pat breading gently until the coating adheres well to catfish.  Set breaded fillet aside and repeat process until all catfish is breaded. 

In a skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat.  Cook 4 fillets for 5 minutes on each side until lightly browned.  Remove and hold cooked fillets in a 200 degree oven.  Repeat with remaining butter and catfish.  Serve with Aioli.  Serves 4.

Use a large skillet to ensure even browning.  Keep a close watch - the 5
minutes per side is just perfect if the pan is not over-crowded

OK - so I only had one pound of fish... which is generally adequate for the 3 of us.  The teen could eat a pound by himself - but that is not necessarily the healthy thing to do.  So - one pound it was.  I basically made 1 third of the recipe and cut my two extremely large fillets into 2 pieces each which worked perfectly...allowing the teen and his Dad to half the extra piece between them if they desired - which they didn't - because the one piece was large enough.  We decided not to make the aioli but instead served it with a side of Dijonnaise...which is similar minus the garlic.
What a great dinner.  The Basa was very mild yet tasty, the recipe was different than our traditional cornbread crusted fried catfish...I think everyone enjoyed it.  I think the teen prefers the plain crust we usually have - but he did eat his entire serving.  Both of the adults loved it.  A very unusual crust - really delicious.  You should try it!

As mentioned above, our dinner tonight included fresh green beans, homemade potato salad, and some deliciously different yeast rolls...you'll see posts on the potato salad and rolls over the next couple of days.  Keep an eye out for them!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Delicious Seafood Market, Inc. in Port Isabel

On Friday I stopped by the Delicious Seafood, Inc. market next to Dirty Al's at Pelican Station.  Last time I was at Dirty Al's, I wanted to buy some of their "Dirty Al's Sauce" to take to my son - and they told me it was only sold in the market next door.  It was closed at the time and I never made my way back during open hours.  With some spare time on my hands Friday, and a desire to check out the seafood market, I stopped in.

First problem was "no, they sell the sauce at the restaurant" in response to my inquiry.  The sell the Dirty Al's fried shrimp breading, the Dirty Al's french fry seasoning, the Dirty Al's fish blackening seasoning, a multitude of Dirty Al's tees...but no sauce.  OK - I'll go there next.

It's a nice little market - has beef steaks (reportedly Choice grade), jalapeno sausage, pork ribs and baby back ribs, fajita meat, and seafood...lots of the seasonings and sauces you might need to cook such things as well.

We chatted quite a while - he (the clerk) pointing out the freezer section with shrink-wrapped tuna steaks, flounder, scallops, and a big selection of other items.  I was more interested in the market case...shrimp, snapper, flounder...that sort of stuff.  He reported that the shrimp was fresh - they had some muy grande shrimp 10-12's and some 16-20's...of which I bought a pound.  They looked really good.

I was looking at the Scarlet Snapper and the flounder fillets (snapper was not frozen, but had been frozen he said) and the flounder was still frozen.  If my fish is frozen, I prefer to buy it that way and thaw it myself.  I'm fine with frozen fish - I just don't want to have had it thawed by the store and then I have to re-freeze it...because most of the time, it goes straight from the store into the freezer at my house.  He pointed out the Basa fillets in front - and said they were really good if I liked a mild white fish.  I had never heard of this fish...it was frozen...and I asked if it all of these were local fish?  Yes, he said, nodding his head vigorously.  He said all the fish were frozen because they were just too delicate not to do so.  I know that is, indeed, the way things are...most fish is frozen, so I shrugged to myself and thought, "okay".  I asked if the Basa was similar to Tilapia- he kind of turned up his nose and said "oh no, much better".  I told him, great, I would try it and took two large fillets which weighed in at a pound total.

I picked up some boneless rib eyes as well...reportedly 8 oz. steaks - 3 in the package - $10.95/pound...totalled a little over $13 total...uh, that math don't add up bubba!  Oh well, we'll see how they are.  Obviously not too thick, 'cause those would be weighing in close to a pound each if so.  However,  $13+ for 3 steaks is great if they are tasty.  (I weighed them at home and they were 1.22 pounds total which could not, of course, be three 8 ounce steaks!)   Really, though,for a week-night dinner, a 6 oz. steak is just fine....my issue is with being told it is something that it is not.  Bad business.

He asked if I was going far - and I said not too far but I would like ice.  I paid - my 3 purchases slightly over $30...nice experience.

I got home and prepared to vacuum pack the shrimp and fish for freezing.  I opened up the bags and found the shrimp not "on ice" but "in the ice"...I had to hand pick out all of the pieces of shrimp.  Gotta say...that's never happened before!


I checked the fish fillets...sure enough...frozen fillets packed in melting ice...and guess what that means.  The ice was stuck to the fish. Boo hiss....

 I had to run the fish under water (which resulted in partial thawing) to release the ice cubes before I could vacuum pack them.  Nice guy, yes, but, someone needs to re-train him.

The good news is that I had to handle each and every piece of the shrimp, and after getting it all packaged up...my hands did not smell like shrimp!  That is a sign of really fresh seafood...it smelled like the ocean...not shrimpy at all.  I sniffed the fish before packaging and it smelled good too...i.e., it didn't smell fishy at all :-)  So, I'm thinking good quality!

Got everything put away and began to wonder about the Basa, since I'd never heard of it, nor seen it in QuikStop where I usually purchase my seafood.  So, I went to the Oracle in the Sky...Google...and entered "Basa Fish".  The first link was to the lay oracle, Wikipedia.  Wiki had interesting stuff to teach me...number one is that the Basa is NOT a local fish...it is a fresh water catfish farmed in Vietnam!  Unsubstantiated concerns about toxins have been primarily debunked in the UK...but it made me leery none the less.  Further info from WiseGeek and other sites indicate it is growing in use...and the controversy continues to "hang around" due to reports of icky farming conditions.  So, since it is mostly farmed in the Mekong Delta area of Vietnam, I checked info on that river...and several sites reported it as one of the least polluted large rivers in the world, primarily fed from mountain snow melt in Tibet.  That, however, is changing as the populace of Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam throws trash into the river as it moves towards the Mekong Delta.  Pollution is becoming an issue of great concern.

Food sourcing is of interest to me.  I don't pretend to know all that much about it, but I do know I'd rather eat local products whenever I can...and I'm not a huge fan of catfish in general, although I grew up eating a good amount of fried catfish as a child.  I much prefer trout, snapper, or cod (when I can get cod fresh in the northeast).  I'm sure I'll fry up the Basa...and save my steamed and saute fish recipes for the truly local fish - caught by my son or my generous neighbors.  I know EXACTLY where that fish comes from and the proof is in the delicious taste of Laguna Madre caught fish!

So, that's my shopping experience...and I'll let you know how the Basa tastes, how the steaks are, and if the shrimp is as good as it looks.  I'll hold off on rating this seafood market until I actually taste the goods!

UPDATE 1/12/2011
Used the steak for a week-night pan-seared steak on top of the stove.  The flavor was good but they were a little dry.  I really question whether or not they were indeed Choice Grade.  They were "okay" but $10.95/lb was too much for the thin steaks...and they performed like Select Grade.  I'll leave it at that.  I'll stick to buying my boneless ribeyes at Sam's Club in Brownsville.  They are awesome.

Used the shrimp while preparing Amy's Awesome Alfredo Sauce.  They were delicious.  The fresh smell maintained through the thawing and cleaning process.  Two thumbs up for freshness.  They were supposedly large - and I found about 4 or 5 "medium" sized shrimp in my 18 shrimp I got for a pound.  The size were not consistent.  You can see, in this photo of the shrimp I sauted, that a few of them are obviously smaller than the rest.  If I'm buying large shrimp...I want large shrimp.

The shrimp I purchased for $10.50 totalled 18 shrimp - not all large

I'll do another update when I prepare the Basa fish to let you know how it tastes.

UPDATE ON BASA

Here's a link to the post on the Basa preparation - Sesame Catfish