It’s Lent, and the former altar boy in me is craving fish. Specifically – fried fish. More exactly – Filet-O-Fish. Since there aren’t really any gluten-free options at the golden arches, I adapted this Sandra Lee recipe to try and scratch my itch.

1/3 cup gluten-free flour
1 tablespoon Chesapeake Bay seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds firm white fish fillets
2-3 tablespoons peanut oil

In a shallow baking dish (a 9×13 pan works great for this) combine flour, seasoning, salt and pepper. Pat the fish dry, add to the pan, and coat each side with the seasoned flour.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in small batches, shake any excess flour off of the filets and arrange them in the skillet. Brown the filets on both sides, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Add more oil if needed in between batches.

Serve with this killer tarter sauce from Kitchen Konfidence and some creamy coleslaw.

The Verdict:
Definitely not McFishparts and it took care of my craving. I used tilapia and thought it was a little muddy tasting. I’d use cod next time.

The Nutrition:
A 4-ounce serving is 5 Weight Watchers points and 125 calories. Take it easy on the tarter sauce and it’s pretty healthy.

One year ago – Sweet Chili Barbecued Pork
Two years ago – Reuben Dip

Scallops, bacon, capers, lemon juice, bacon grease, and butter – how can you go wrong with that?

1 pound sea scallops
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 slice bacon
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons capers, drained

Pat scallops dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat, fry bacon until crisp. Remove bacon and set aside to cool.

Drain off all but a teaspoon of the bacon grease and add olive oil. Heat until the oil begins to ripple, but not smoke. Turn pan to coat evenly. Add scallops and sear about 2 minutes on each side. Don’t overcook. The scallops should have a nice crust on each side while still being translucent in the center. Move scallops to serving plate and keep warm.

Reduce heat to medium and melt the butter in the same pan you cooked the scallops in. Crumble the bacon, add it to the butter, and cook until the butter stops foaming. Add the garlic and continue cooking until the garlic and the butter just begin to brown, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and capers.

Spoon sauce over scallops and serve.

The Verdict:
This dish keeps your tongue dancing – between the smokiness of the bacon, the salty tang of the lemon and capers, and the sweetness of the scallops. It could be a little overwhelming, but the nutty brown butter makes it all work together nicely.

Due to some bad cooking instruction from the original recipe (that I am still just a little ticked off about), I did not get as good a sear on my scallops as I would have liked. I have adjusted this recipe so that your oil doesn’t burn before the scallops are done (grrrrrrrrr…).

The Nutrition:
Scallops are only 1 point and 30 calories per ounce, butter on the other hand… If you split this recipe between 2 people, each serving is 415 calories and 10 points per serving. Not bad if you serve it over some mixed greens or my rocking beet salad (recipe coming). But if you want to put it over pasta, I’d add some peas and divide it over 4 servings.

ONE YEAR AGO – Badly Bungled Black ‘n’ Bleu Bon Voyage

TWO YEARS AGO – Italian Beef

The Alaskan salmon season has begun and wild salmon are finally hitting our seafood cases! For those of you who don’t live for this springtime treat, these babies are the crème de la crème of salmon. Because some of these salmon swim 300 miles upstream to spawn (up the Copper River, in this case), these guys really chow down before the trip, packing on lots of fat in preparation. Since fat = flavor, pre-spawn salmon are very tasty – with a juicy, rich, almost nutty-tasting flesh that demands a pretty simple cooking technique.

I almost always go the traditional route and cook salmon on a wooden plank. Planking lets the smoke from the wood deepen the flavor while letting me use higher temperatures to seal and crisp the salmon.

For this monster fillet, I used two food-grade maple planks from Superior Planks. These planks are nice and thick and cut from sustainably harvested trees, so win-win.

I set up the Big Green Egg for a direct cook at medium-high heat (about 400°F). To prep the filet, I lightly oiled the skin side and seasoned both sides with a little ground sea salt. I topped the filet with some thinly sliced lemon, but I didn’t want to do much futzing that might hide the salmon’s flavor.

I would normally put the plank on the grill by itself for about 5 minutes, or until wisps of smoke start coming from the board, then flip the plank over and put the salmon on skin side down on the warmed side. But with having to use two planks. I just set everything up on a cookie sheet and slid the whole works onto the grill grate.

I closed the lid on the grill and let it cook for 10 minutes. I then checked it every 5 minutes until the flesh started to flake, but was still slightly translucent red inside. Remember that the fish will continue to cook a little once it’s off the heat, so you want it to be slightly underdone when you take it off. The total cooking time on this filet ended up being 20 minutes.

I let it rest 5 minutes and served it with a nutty quinoa salad (recipe coming soon).

The Verdict:
I LOVE salmon like this. It’s hard to go wrong with fresh, high-quality ingredients prepared simply. The lemon baked into the fish and left a nice fresh tang. The only thing I’d change is  slicing the lemon even thinner.

The Nutrition:
A 6-ounce cooked filet is 270 calories and 7 Weight Watchers points, but salmon is a superfood, loaded with healthy fats, so pair it with something green and you’re in business.

ONE YEAR AGO -  Cherry-Glazed Pork Chops

TWO YEARS AGO - No Fuss Ribs

I have to confess, cooking has been such a pain lately that I was going to call this dish “Angry Shrimp.” But it’s not all that hot, and besides, I’m really feeling more stressed out and annoyed rather than out-right angry. It seems like I’ve suddenly lost my knife skills, am getting way better at spilling than stirring, my temperature control is iffy, and I can never find the ingredient I need when I need it. Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

But since this blog is called “Food & Fire” not “Food & Therapy” let’s get on with the cooking…

This recipe started out as Weight Watchers Sesame Noodles with Chicken, but I switched to shrimp, bumped up the veggies and heat, and stir-fried the whole works.

6 ounces gluten-free spaghetti
1/2 cup uncooked scallion, green parts only, chopped
1 pound raw large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 cups broccoli, chopped
1 cup carrots, shredded
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 gluten-free soy sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce (get the real stuff made with plums if you can)
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon chili sauce with garlic
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 teaspoon sea or kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper or Szechuan peppercorns
2 tsp sesame seeds

Arrive home with barely enough time to make dinner before heading out to yoga class. Change clothes and head to the kitchen to discover that your dear wife has the veggies chopped and the water boiling.

Thank dear wife.

Realize that the peeled and deveined shrimp aren’t. Prep shrimp, season with salt and pepper, and stash in the fridge.

Snap spaghetti in half, sending broken bits flying across stove top. Cook noodles according to package directions. Hunt for colander with one hand while trying to hold sauce pan full of boiling water in the other hand. Drain, rinse, and set aside.

Combine the vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, chili sauce, honey, and corn starch. Find out that you don’t have enough rice vinegar. Call to dear wife to see if there is any more. No. Curse. Make do. Whisk to combine, making sure to break up and corn starch lumps that just don’t seem to want to break up.

Heat oil in a wok or large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Dump in the still wet broccoli and bob and weave to avoid the splattering oil. Curse. Dig for the slotted wok spoon and stir to coat with oil. Sauté for about a minute. Add the carrots and sauté for another minute.

Add the soy sauce mixture to the pan. Bring to a simmer and add the shrimp. Simmer for another 2 or 3 minutes, or until the shrimp is pink and just cooked through.

Remove pan from heat and add the noodles, which have congealed into a stringy lump. Try to break pasta apart with tongs – no go. Look in three different places for pasta scoop. Break up noodles, add scallions and mix well to combine. Serve with more sesame seeds and some Sriracha hot sauce.

Pause, breathe, enjoy the meal, smile at dear wife, and then run off to class.

The Verdict:
This is a very tasty dish that even shone through despite the rushed and disorganized cooking process. Love the sweet and tangy sauce that has just enough heat to make it interesting. For the next version I’m going to try grilling the meat and making the pasta and veggies as a side dish.

However, I was not at all happy with the whole prep and cooking process – too much stress and mess, not enough fun. It’s my hope that a combination of better menu planning, sharing some of the sous chef duties, taking some more yoga, and making a big effort on my part to get my cooking act together (the French call this mise en place, look for a post about this soon) will make it fun again.

The Nutrition:
Makes about 4, 1 1/2 cup servings at 10 Weight Watchers points per serving. I think you could easily add more veggies to this dish to make it even healthier.

ONE YEAR AGO -  Chicken Thighs & Alabama White Barbecue Sauce

TWO YEARS AGO - Pulled Pork – Hot & Fast Butts