Help cooking fish!

I love cooking, but I don't eat seafood so I have no idea how to cook it. The only seafood I've tried and tolerated was swordfish. I had it at a wedding with some sort of lemony sauce. And then I had it once more as a sample at Whole Foods.

I'm going to go buy some swordfish steaks, but I'm a bit clueless. All I know is that fish is usually cooked until opaque. Any recipes? Any tips? How do I clean or prepare it? I'm looking for some sort of sauce to go with it. And I'm basically working with the stovetop and oven. And what sort of side dishes go well?

 

I like to do my fish baked in foil; if you overcook it, it gets dry and kinda gross, and the foil helps steam it and keep it moist. Take your fish, set it on a piece of aluminum foil (shiny side up) and top it with sauce/veggies/etc., then fold the foil over into a little pouch. Bake it for about 20 min at 350 until it flakes.

The easiest way to do it is with a slice of lemon or two, a few sweet onion slices, maybe some garlic, black pepper, salt, and a drizzle of olive oil. If you like it spicy, you can go with pico de gallo and jalapenos and maybe a touch of tequila (I like that one with tilapia), or try a little bit sweet with cherry tomatoes, chopped mango, and mint. I'd also suggest checking out the bottled marinade section for ideas!

When you buy fish from the grocery, it's probably already cleaned. A steak is a cross-section of the fish with skin all the way around the diameter, and they've usually taken out the spine and ribs; the skin can stay on and be peeled off after cooking. A filet will be cut parallel to the spine with the skin on, so you'll cook it skin side down, and removing the skin before cooking is optional. In both cases, you'll want to watch out for pin-bones, which are about the size of bobby-pins or maybe a bit smaller. You can pick them out of the flesh with your fingernails or a small pair of pliers, but you'll want to keep an eye out for them as you eat. They're big, so you won't need to worry about chewing them up or swallowing them.

If you like swordfish, I'd suggest trying halibut-- it's similar, a very firm, meaty white fish that you can buy in thick steaks, and the flavor is a bit milder. I'm a big fan of salmon, but the flavor is stronger and the texture is softer. If in doubt, you can buy pre-seasoned frozen filets (look for the Gorton's kind in yellow boxes) and it's a really good way to try new kinds, especially when you can find them on sale!

 

Thank you for all the great info. I had no idea how long the property cooking time was. And no clue about the skin either.I think I'm going to takee your advice and check out the bottled marinades. Either that or do lemon and garlic. I live garlic! 

If i like this,  i think i will try the halibut too. I've tried salmon,  but you're right,  much stronger taste. I didn't like it at all. 

It's funny you mention it,  i have one of those boxes of fillets in my freezer! I got them when they were on sale. When i cooked it though,  There was some white stuff on top that squicked me out even though the box said it was normal. 

Thank you for your help! 

Glad to help! I grew up in the pacific northwest, so I'm a gal who knows her seafood! :)

The white stuff on the top is the fat rising out of the fish as it cooks. Because of the way the meat fibers are in fish, compared to beef or chicken, it flows up instead of dispersing, go figure. You can just pat it off with a towel. If you do any sort of a crust on your fish (a little bit of cornmeal mixed with spices works great and doesn't have enough carbs to cause problems), you won't see the fat because the crumbs soak it up; that might help with the squick factor. If you do a crust, you'll want to skip the foil, use a nonstick pan or spray some pam, and flip the fish halfway through.

Ooh a blackened sort of crust sounds delicious!  I will let you know how this turns out! 

I cook my fish in a pan with 1 tsp extra virgin coconut oil. I sprinkle some Creole spice on it..tastes great. 

The lemony sauce may be a combo of capers, lemons and butter...what I call a piccata sauce. Not sure if that's the right name though?  Here's a link to the sauce, note in the comment section that someone halved the butter and oil and still got the flavor they desired. This particular sauce doesn't have the white wine added in which also reduces calories.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/chick en-piccata-recipe2.html

Anything piccata is amazing. I recently had salmon piccata at a restaurant in Florida and it was to. die. for.

MAChick, you mentioned blackening...I made blackened salmon on a spinach salad with bleu cheese last night and it was tasty. I blacken anything using blackening spices and a cast iron frying pan on my grill to keep the smell out of the house. Drizzle whatever you're blackening with olive oil (just a bit) and coat with spices. Get the pan really REALLY hot and put on what you're cooking. A well-seasoned pan will allow you to flip it easily after cooking for a few minutes. The skin just lifted right off, so easily.

If you want ideas for spices, consider Penzey's spices. They have one called upward that we have in a low-salt variety that is really nicely spicy. We also have some from Whole Foods. One is a tequila lime rub and the other is a sesame-based one. Both are delicious.

Good luck!

Laurie

When I first started cooking fish, I started with Salmon & also, tilapia. I found these 2 were pretty easy to cook.

I bake my salmon. I put foil down on a large baking pan that has sides. I purchase 2-4 fresh salmon filets. On each filet, I put 1-2 teaspoons of honey mustard, then a light layer of bread crumbs and then, a small pat of margarine. I bake them at 375 degrees for approx. 15 minutes. This is delicious!

Tilapia--I spray a frying pan with Pam. Before I put the tilapia in there, I put a small amount of olive oil on top of the filet, then, a few shakes of oregano and basil and then, I cook them.

Approx. 5-6 minutes on each side, depending on how thick they are. Also, ask the person selling you the fish. They sometimes have really good ideas!

 

Helen

 

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/05/skillet-flounder-with-tomatoes-425.html

 

I made this the other night using salmon because that's what I had but you could use any fish or even chicken.   I used canned tomatoes and my own spices. If you check the reviews it'll give you the spice mix ingredients

I like fish best grilled outside, but this will work in the oven as well. We buy Cod, Halibut and Mahi Mahi.....in a dish, put extra virgin olive oil, about 1 - 1.5 TB of the crushed or minced garlic that comes in a jar, fresh ground, black pepper and we sprinkle in just a LITTLE of crushed red pepper (like you put on pizza) Spoon this over the top, turn it and spoon some more. We do this same 'mixture' on pork chops and also on steak. Delish!!!