Spoonful I
Patrick Day
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La Belle Cuisine - More Fish Recipes

Fine Cuisine with Art Infusion

"To cook is to create. And to create well...is an act of integrity, and faith."

Roast Fish with Crisp Potatoes, Olives,
and Bay Leaves

"Fish, to taste right, must swim three times - in water, in butter, and in wine."
- Polish Proverb

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Fish
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Friday, November 10, 2006

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Don't forget the candlelight!

Roast Fish with Crisp Potatoes, Olives,
and Bay Leaves


Minimalist Cooks Dinner: More than 100 Recipes for Fast Weeknight Meals and Casual Entertaining
by Mark Bittman, 2001, Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

Time: 40 to 50 minutes

Makes: 4 servings

“Aside from the fish, you probably have everything you need to make the dish, which begins with cooking thin-sliced potatoes in good olive oil. Add a handful of bay leaves, fillets of sturdy white fish, and a lot of black olives. The result is crisp potatoes and tender fish with luxuriously juicy olives.”

2 large baking potatoes (about 1 pound)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
15 bay leaves
1 cup black olives
1 1/2 pounds monkfish or other fillets

1.  Preheat the oven to 400°F. Peel and thinly slice the potatoes (use a mandoline if you have one). Oil the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with 1/4 cup oil; top with a single layer of the potatoes (it’s okay if they overlap a little). Season with salt and pepper and top with the bay leaves and the remaining 1/4 cup oil.
2.  Roast for 10 minutes. Check and turn the pan back to front, shaking it a little to bathe the potatoes in oil. Roast for 10 minutes more. At this point the potatoes should be browning; if not, roast for 5 minutes more.
3.  Top the potatoes with the olives and the fish; sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper. Roast for 10 minutes more, or until the fish is tender, but not overcooked. Serve immediately.

Keys to Success

The combination of high-heat roasting and plenty of olive oil is the easiest and most foolproof method for getting crisp potatoes. The quantity of potatoes must necessarily be limited or they will not brown properly.
Although any black olives will work, the best to use here are good-quality oil-cured olives, the small, shriveled kind. They soften and plump up a bit, and their bitterness is greatly tamed by cooking.
The sturdy texture of monkfish is ideal for roasting, but certain other fillets will give similar results: red snapper, sea bass, Pollock, wolfish, even catfish. And even more delicate fillets, from cod to bluefish are suitable.
It’s best to remove the thin membrane clinging to the monkfish before cooking. Just pull and tug on it while cutting through it with a paring knife and it will come off; you don’t have to be too compulsive about this task, but try to get most of it off.
Large pieces of monkfish – those weighing more than a pound – should be split down the middle lengthwise to make two fillets before cooking.
Finally, unlike most white-fleshed fish, monkfish requires thorough cooking, to the point where it is opaque and tender throughout. You’ll know it’s done when a thin-bladed knife inserted into the thickest part meets little resistance.

With minimal Effort

You can mix sliced onions or other root vegetables in with the potatoes, and the results will be delicious, but the juices of the vegetables will reduce the potatoes’ browning; it’s a trade-off and there’s nothing to be done about it.
Substitute about 10 sprigs of thyme for the bay leaves; or use about 2 teaspoons fresh (or 1 teaspoon dried) rosemary.
Other possibilities: 1 tablespoon ground cumin or cumin seeds, 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, 3 teaspoons curry powder (sprinkle 1 teaspoon on the fish itself), a few threads of saffron, or 1 tablespoon good, medium-hot paprika.

     Featured Archive Recipe:
Mario Batali's Monkfish Scaloppine with Shiitakes, Chianti and Sage