Fish and Fruit? You Whack?!

Really now, the meal was much more appetizing than this picture would suggest. Remember the poor zested grapefruit from that tasty yogurt cake? I couldn't leave the poor thing in its zest-less misery, so I had to run its skin through a mandoline until thinly sliced and then proceed to eat its flesh. It's just that I am George and the poor fruit is Lennie; it was better that way for everyone.

And what else can one do with thinly sliced citrus skin but candy it up? My original plan was to make risotto with it, but we had just finished a rather heavy risotto dinner made with the fat skimmed off of a very beef-heavey pot of chili. I wanted something lighter that would compliment the citrus flavor. Fish came to mind, particularly the fish fillets that I spotted in the freezer.

I am a huge seafood lover and eat it as often as I can afford to. The fish I ate growing up and later learned to prepare for myself were mostly whole steamed fish and I've never so much as entertain the idea of purchasing frozen fish fillets. The whole concept is foreign to me and the first time I ever cooked with it was probably the aforementioned fish candy. But I can never say no to free food, and we are left with a bountiful amount of frozen and canned food from the owner of the house.

Actually, the fish was delicious. I was a little skeptical of the recipe when I first conceived of it, but it definitely turned out better than I though it would. The key is to really slice that grapefruit skin thin and the triple blanching to get rid of the bitterness. More fresh parsley leaves wouldn't hurt either. The grapefruit and parsley flavor blended surprisingly well together and is very refreshing. We ate it with William's infamous mashed potatoes (which has more of whatever he can get his hands on than potatoes) and it was delicious. Next time I will bake it with a layer of homemade breadcrumbs on top for a crispy contrast to the texture of the fish.

BAKED FISH WITH PARSLEY AND CANDIED GRAPEFRUIT SKIN

• 1 lb. frozen Pollock fillets, thawed (I imagine other white fish fillets will also work)
• 1/2 cup Italian parsley leaves, packed (or about 1 cup loose leaves)
  
• 2 large cloves of garlic (or to taste)
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• olive oil
• peel of 1 medium grapefruit, thinly sliced
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar, packed

Using a mandoline or really fine knife skills, trim the peel off the grapefruit and slice as thinly as possible. I used a mandoline and sliced the whole grapefruit on all four sides until all of the skin is off, with some of the flesh still attached, which is alright.

Blanche the grapefruit skin three times by bring to boil about 3 cups of water, dropping the skin in, and drain when mixture reaches boiling again. Repeat 2 more times. (This gets rid of the bitterness, as you can verify through taste test after each blanching.

After grapefruit skin has cooled, transfer to a bowl and mix in 4 tablespoons of packed brown sugar. Leave out overnight.

Combine parsley leaves, garlic cloves, about 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and salt and freshly ground pepper (1 teaspoon each or to taste) in a food processor and chop until well blended into a paste, adding more oil as necessary. (You can also do this in a mortar and pestle or hand chop it finely)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease a baking dish large enough to hold all the fish fillets in one layer.

In the meantime, squeeze out the excess water in the fish, one piece at a time and arrange on the greased baking dish, take care to not over crowd.

Spread the parsley paste evenly over the fish fillets. Top off with the candied grapefruit peel. Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes.

Cilantro Pancakes

I think the fact that I know I can't get good Chinese food here has made me crave it more. I love me scallion pancakes but when confronted with a wilting bunch of cilantro and no scallions in sight, well, cilantro pancakes it turned into. Do not be put off by the 10 step process, it's really easier than it seems and this recipe is very flexible. I imagine you can substitute with other fragrant leafy greens and the flour to water ratio is simply 2 to 1.

The dipping sauce we made is a simple mixture of fish sauce, lime juice, some sugar, crushed garlic cloves and crushed red pepper flakes, but we got a little fancier than needed. Some soy sauce with crushed red pepper will also be delicious with it.

CILANTRO PANCAKES
(makes 6 pancakes)

• 2 cups cilantro leaves and stems, chopped as finely as you have the patience for
• 1 tablespoon oil (I used sesame, but olive and vegetable oil will also work)
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
  
• 3/4 cup hot, almost boiling water
• oil for pancake assembly and frying

1. Start with a mountain of chopped cilantro

2. Mix flour with salt and tablespoon of oil. Stir in hot water and stir to mix thoroughly. The texture of the dough will resemble mochi, elastic and a little sticky.

3. Dust work surface with flour, form dough into a ball and knead for a couple minutes, dusting with flour as needed.

4. Roll dough into a log and cut into 6 pieces.

5. Take one piece of dough, flatten it with the palm of your hand and roll out as thinly as possible with a rolling pin (or an empty wine bottle). It doesn't have to be perfectly round.

6. Pour about 1/2 teaspoon of oil and brush it all around on top of the disc. Scatter chopped cilantro on top and roll into a cigar.

7. Pinch one end of the cigar close and curl the cigar into a snail.

8. Dust the work surface and the top of the snail with flour. Flatten the snail with the palm of your hand and roll it out again with a rolling pin.

9. Repeat the process for all pieces of cut dough.

10. Pan fry over medium high heat one pancake at a time, turning after about 3-4 minutes per side or until browned. Make sure to add more oil after each pancake to ensure that it doesn't stick to the pan.