Poached Whitefish with Tomatoes and Saffron

If you're looking for a quick, easy, and super delicious fish recipe, your search is over. This whitefish recipe (courtesy of Epicurious) is a big winner.

I don't believe I've ever seen cod in any of the stores here, but there is almost always a hefty supply of snook. I've used this firm fish in other recipes calling for cod or flounder with good results. This recipe was no exception.

Now let's talk about the quick and easy part of this dish. All you need to do is quickly saute some garlic and pepper flakes, then add some canned tomatoes, wine, bay leaves, saffron and water. Let all of that simmer for about six minutes. 

Season the fish with salt and pepper, pop it into the skillet containing the tomato mixture, throw a cover on it and let everything simmer for about five minutes.

I served the fish over Basmati rice and spooned the tomato mixture over everything. For such a simple dish, the taste is complex and full-bodied. This definitely a meal I will make again.

P.S. The recipe suggests Aleppo peppers, but crushed red peppers are perfectly fine. Also, I used diced tomatoes instead of whole ones. Again, no big issue with the overall taste/texture.

Whitefish with Citrus-Olive-Caper Sauce

In addition to eating lots and lots of chicken, we also dine on a fair amount of fish. Snook fillets make a regular appearance on our table, and I'm always looking for different ways to serve it.

So while this recipe (courtesy of epicurious) calls for using Sea Bass, I decided to work with our snook instead, knowing its firmness and texture could probably handle the sauce. Plus, with just a few ingredients and very little prep time, dinner could be on the table in no time flat.

I put a pan in the oven, as close to the broiler as possible, and pre-heated it for five minutes on high.

While the pre-heating was going on, I mixed together some lime slices, fresh oregano, lime juice, capers, chopped olives, olive oil, and some salt and pepper. Because I was feeling wild and crazy, I also chopped up some plum tomatoes and added those into the mix.

When the pan was ready, I took it out from under the broiler, coated the fillets with olive oil, salt, and pepper on both sides. The pan went back under the broiler for about four to five minutes.

Dinner awaits...

Overall, we enjoyed the flavors of the sauce with the fish. I should have chopped the olives a wee bit finer, as their taste would sometimes take over a bite of the fish/sauce combo. That being said, I would definitely make this again and think the citrus-olive-caper-tomato mix would be absolutely superb spooned on some crusty bread.

Tomato and Lime Shrimp

I love complicated recipes. You know, the ones where the ingredients list runs a full page and there are at least a couple of pages of instructions. 

But every so often, there will be a recipe that is short and simple that catches my eye, mostly due to the ingredients.

This recipe from Honest Cooking is one of those. Shrimp, lime juice, tomatoes? Sign me up.

I got started by giving the onion a rough chop. The recipe calls for a jalapeno, but none were to be found at the market. But never fear, I just upped the crushed red pepper flakes for some heat. 

The onions and crushed pepper got a good saute, until the onions had softened.

Next up were the tomatoes. I knew it would be impossible to use Campari tomatoes and, quite frankly, I'm not sure how available they are in the States.

Instead I drained two cans of diced tomatoes (reserving the liquid). The tomatoes were added to the onions, along with some, and everything simmered for a bit. As the tomatoes started to break down, I added a bit of the reserved liquid to keep everything from drying out.

The lime juice was then added and then the shrimp. As soon as the shrimp turned pink, the pan was taken off the heat.

Now the recipe recommends serving it with pieces of baguette. I decided to go in a different direction and plated it over rice, garnished with chopped cilantro.

It only took one bite to know this was a keeper. The taste of the tomatoes really comes through, the zip of the lime juice is just enough to make your taste buds sing, and the shrimp turned out juicy and delicious.

And while we ate all the shrimp, there was still a decent amount of sauce leftover. We plan on putting it on our next pizza for a real taste treat.

Sometimes simple is better.