Chatty's perfect 30-minute spring dinner
Chatty has eaten some fabulous food over the past few days, and borrowing a bit from several wonderful meals, she has decided upon the perfect spring dinner: broiled orange roughy, asparagus, potatoes, and strawberry salad.
In addition to tasting wonderful, this meal can be brought together in about 30 minutes - and both strawberries and asparagus are on sale, at least here in Arizona.
Chatty loves to cook, and has been told she is a good cook. Heck, her web site (still a work in progress) is "chattycraftycook.com"! However, Chatty has always had bad luck with fish. Seafood? No problem. But fish? Big problem. Chatty HATES under-done fish. Unfortunately, this means that Chatty has always overcooked it, resulting in a mushy consistency - or undercooked it, realized it was undercooked - then overcompensated and ended up with overcooked again. *sigh* So, aside from the occasional halibut steak that The Wiz barbecues to perfection on the grill, Chatty has eaten her fish at restaurants or in other people's homes.
Until now!
Last weekend, her cousin showed Chatty how to broil fish. She put a nifty topping on the filets (a bit of mayonnaise, margarine, parmesan cheese, lemon juice and minced onion), put them in a cold oven about 4 inches from the heat source, turned on the broiler and 12 minutes later - perfect orange roughy! Chatty couldn't believe it. Apparently Chatty may have been overthinking this whole fish thing...
However, for the moment Chatty is sticking with orange roughy instead of branching out - just to be on the safe side. She made some on Monday night, and it was ALMOST as good as her cousin's. Chatty says "almost" because to her, food always tastes better when someone else cooks it - assuming the "someone else" knows how to cook! So, Chatty definitely declares this recipe an unqualified success - and The Wiz agrees. Once she has a few of these successes with orange roughy under her culinary belt, she may get crazy and try sole. Chatty lives for adventure (and The Wiz can always head to Jack in the Box if all else fails...)
Also, it must be noted that environmentalists are worried that orange roughy is being over-fished, and care must be taken not to destroy this "delicacy of the deep". So Chatty will be on the look-out for more types of fish that taste as good and broil as easily (suggestions welcome - except for salmon. Chatty is apparently the ONLY PERSON ON THE PLANET who likes fish but doesn't like salmon. Imagine Chatty hanging her head in shame and sorrow here, please - but don't even bother trying to convince her tastebuds otherwise). However, at the moment orange roughy from New Zealand is available and not expensive, because $5.99 a pound for this finned "gold" is a real bargain, and it freezes beautifully!
Chatty is quite good with vegetables, because she never met one she didn't like, and cooks them all regularly. Asparagus is easy as long as - you guessed it - you don't overcook it! Snap off the tough ends, then put the asparagus in boiling water to cover. Simmer for 5-7 minutes - when the asparagus has turned BRIGHT green, it's done. Drain it well, then toss it with some vinaigrette. Eat it hot, or at room temperature. Chopped hard-boiled egg makes a nice addition - sprinkle it on just before serving, along with some fresh cracked pepper. Use only chopped egg whites if you want to save calories or are watching your cholesterol. Chatty also loves roasted asparagus, by the way, but it takes longer. If you haven't tried roasting, give it a shot...
Most people serve rice with fish. Chatty isn't quite sure when or why this became the norm, and although rice is delicious with fish, Chatty now prefers boiled potatoes. She first tried this combination at her favorite fish restaurant, and has never looked back. The restaurant serves them absolutely plain, except for a bit of parsley. Chatty likes to use a little vinegar. Now, before you say "eewwwww!" remember that English fish and chips are liberally doused with malt vinegar, and that salt and vinegar potato chips fly off the grocery shelves. Any vinegar will do - as long as the potatoes are nice and hot when you sprinkle it on - but Chatty prefers malt, cider, rice or white balsamic. Adding a bit of vinegar to hot potatoes before you cool them to make potato salad is one of the tricks to a fabulous potato salad, too. If you don't like vinegar, just toss the boiled potatoes with a bit of butter and parsley - that's tasty also.
The strawberry salad is a breeze to make. For each person, use at least one cup of greens (romaine and baby lettuces/mesclun are particularly nice) a couple of strawberries, sliced, a few toasted walnut halves (or pecans), and some crumbled feta cheese (any hard white Mexican cheese is also wonderful, and blue cheese works beautifully if you like a stronger flavor). Make your own raspberry vinaigrette with oil, vinegar, a touch of dijon mustard and a splash of raspberry syrup (Torani sugar free syrups are great) OR, make it even easier on yourself by using a commercial light raspberry vinaigrette. In Chatty's opinion, you can't go wrong with Ken's Steakhouse Fat Free Raspberry Pecan Vinaigrette - but you probably have your own favorite! Toss just before serving, or serve the dressing on the side.
If you have any strawberries left over, strawberry shortcake is a light dessert - or you could just toss them with a bit of red balsamic vinaigrette and a touch of sugar. Sounds weird. Tastes great. A sweet dessert wine or ruby port also works - just omit the sugar.
If anyone thinks this 30-minute meal (or even a part of it) sounds as good as Chatty knows it tastes, but needs more specific directions - drop a comment and Chatty will go into more detail.
Meanwhile, Chatty thinks she's figured out what to have for dinner tonight!
UPDATE: The Wiz has recently read this post, and would like it pointed out that our cousin served the orange roughy and boiled potatoes with stewed tomatoes instead of asparagus, and that the stewed tomatoes were delicious. Chatty agrees wholeheartedly. Stewed tomatoes are a highly undervalued addition to many meals, and they melded wonderfully with the fish and the potatoes. It's just that fresh asparagus is in season, and stewed tomatoes are available year-round. Hence Chatty's suggestion to serve asparagus as long as it is fresh and on sale!
In addition to tasting wonderful, this meal can be brought together in about 30 minutes - and both strawberries and asparagus are on sale, at least here in Arizona.
Chatty loves to cook, and has been told she is a good cook. Heck, her web site (still a work in progress) is "chattycraftycook.com"! However, Chatty has always had bad luck with fish. Seafood? No problem. But fish? Big problem. Chatty HATES under-done fish. Unfortunately, this means that Chatty has always overcooked it, resulting in a mushy consistency - or undercooked it, realized it was undercooked - then overcompensated and ended up with overcooked again. *sigh* So, aside from the occasional halibut steak that The Wiz barbecues to perfection on the grill, Chatty has eaten her fish at restaurants or in other people's homes.
Until now!
Last weekend, her cousin showed Chatty how to broil fish. She put a nifty topping on the filets (a bit of mayonnaise, margarine, parmesan cheese, lemon juice and minced onion), put them in a cold oven about 4 inches from the heat source, turned on the broiler and 12 minutes later - perfect orange roughy! Chatty couldn't believe it. Apparently Chatty may have been overthinking this whole fish thing...
However, for the moment Chatty is sticking with orange roughy instead of branching out - just to be on the safe side. She made some on Monday night, and it was ALMOST as good as her cousin's. Chatty says "almost" because to her, food always tastes better when someone else cooks it - assuming the "someone else" knows how to cook! So, Chatty definitely declares this recipe an unqualified success - and The Wiz agrees. Once she has a few of these successes with orange roughy under her culinary belt, she may get crazy and try sole. Chatty lives for adventure (and The Wiz can always head to Jack in the Box if all else fails...)
Also, it must be noted that environmentalists are worried that orange roughy is being over-fished, and care must be taken not to destroy this "delicacy of the deep". So Chatty will be on the look-out for more types of fish that taste as good and broil as easily (suggestions welcome - except for salmon. Chatty is apparently the ONLY PERSON ON THE PLANET who likes fish but doesn't like salmon. Imagine Chatty hanging her head in shame and sorrow here, please - but don't even bother trying to convince her tastebuds otherwise). However, at the moment orange roughy from New Zealand is available and not expensive, because $5.99 a pound for this finned "gold" is a real bargain, and it freezes beautifully!
Chatty is quite good with vegetables, because she never met one she didn't like, and cooks them all regularly. Asparagus is easy as long as - you guessed it - you don't overcook it! Snap off the tough ends, then put the asparagus in boiling water to cover. Simmer for 5-7 minutes - when the asparagus has turned BRIGHT green, it's done. Drain it well, then toss it with some vinaigrette. Eat it hot, or at room temperature. Chopped hard-boiled egg makes a nice addition - sprinkle it on just before serving, along with some fresh cracked pepper. Use only chopped egg whites if you want to save calories or are watching your cholesterol. Chatty also loves roasted asparagus, by the way, but it takes longer. If you haven't tried roasting, give it a shot...
Most people serve rice with fish. Chatty isn't quite sure when or why this became the norm, and although rice is delicious with fish, Chatty now prefers boiled potatoes. She first tried this combination at her favorite fish restaurant, and has never looked back. The restaurant serves them absolutely plain, except for a bit of parsley. Chatty likes to use a little vinegar. Now, before you say "eewwwww!" remember that English fish and chips are liberally doused with malt vinegar, and that salt and vinegar potato chips fly off the grocery shelves. Any vinegar will do - as long as the potatoes are nice and hot when you sprinkle it on - but Chatty prefers malt, cider, rice or white balsamic. Adding a bit of vinegar to hot potatoes before you cool them to make potato salad is one of the tricks to a fabulous potato salad, too. If you don't like vinegar, just toss the boiled potatoes with a bit of butter and parsley - that's tasty also.
The strawberry salad is a breeze to make. For each person, use at least one cup of greens (romaine and baby lettuces/mesclun are particularly nice) a couple of strawberries, sliced, a few toasted walnut halves (or pecans), and some crumbled feta cheese (any hard white Mexican cheese is also wonderful, and blue cheese works beautifully if you like a stronger flavor). Make your own raspberry vinaigrette with oil, vinegar, a touch of dijon mustard and a splash of raspberry syrup (Torani sugar free syrups are great) OR, make it even easier on yourself by using a commercial light raspberry vinaigrette. In Chatty's opinion, you can't go wrong with Ken's Steakhouse Fat Free Raspberry Pecan Vinaigrette - but you probably have your own favorite! Toss just before serving, or serve the dressing on the side.
If you have any strawberries left over, strawberry shortcake is a light dessert - or you could just toss them with a bit of red balsamic vinaigrette and a touch of sugar. Sounds weird. Tastes great. A sweet dessert wine or ruby port also works - just omit the sugar.
If anyone thinks this 30-minute meal (or even a part of it) sounds as good as Chatty knows it tastes, but needs more specific directions - drop a comment and Chatty will go into more detail.
Meanwhile, Chatty thinks she's figured out what to have for dinner tonight!
UPDATE: The Wiz has recently read this post, and would like it pointed out that our cousin served the orange roughy and boiled potatoes with stewed tomatoes instead of asparagus, and that the stewed tomatoes were delicious. Chatty agrees wholeheartedly. Stewed tomatoes are a highly undervalued addition to many meals, and they melded wonderfully with the fish and the potatoes. It's just that fresh asparagus is in season, and stewed tomatoes are available year-round. Hence Chatty's suggestion to serve asparagus as long as it is fresh and on sale!
OK Chatty try garyrith at gmail dot com
I don't understand about the other! It is a little scary when emails don't come through....
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Sounds very yummy!! Too bad Arizona is so far away from Iowa, or I'd be over for dinner!!
We LOVE asparagus around our house too! Even my youngest son, who is very picky about his veggies, eats up the asparagus. I drain mine and put a little butter and lemon juice over the top. Gives it a good tang! Have you tried fixing Pollock yet? Very easy to fix flaky white fish. I spray a non-stick cooking spray in the bottom of a glass baking dish, place the polluck in, top with lemon pepper seasoning, or fresh lemon juice and ground pepper, cover with foil and bake in the top half of the oven for about 35 minutes at 300. Turns out perfect everytime. A little butter over the top after it's done and you have what my Mom calls a "poor man's lobster." It does have a lobster type taste fixed that way. (Or maybe it's just the wonderful buttery taste that makes it seem that way!) Yummo!!!
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Hi Chatty! Great recipe! Unfortunately, with exception to the fish -- I'm the only one who would eat the rest of it. Awful, huh.
Oh, and my son actually does NOT like fish? How can that be? We are catholic and have to give up meat during lent...oh, well. Peanut butter sandwhiches and cheese pizza for him.
Mmmmm. Asparagus. I love every veggie except for "Egg plant." No one will ever get me to like egg plant.
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Sounds like we like the same kind of food. I make my strawberry salad with fresh spinach. Delish!
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Oh yes, spinach is wonderful - but The Wiz doesn't like it *sigh* I like spinach salad with mandarin oranges when there are no fresh strawberries.
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Hey - I think pollock is the stuff they use to make the "imitation crab" that I love so much. So, this looks GREAT - and so easy. I love that I can put it in the oven and forget about it for 30 minutes while I make salad and whatever. And the mention of "poor man's lobster" has me hooked - I just adore lobster but refuse to pay for it more than once or twice a year! I've heard monkfish being called lobster-like, but it's expensive and hard to get here. If you know of any other mild white flaky fish - pass them along, and thanks, Heather - I've already saved your recipe as "Heather's Pollock aka "Poor Man's Lobster" and will be making it as soon as I can find some pollock!
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I found you through The Quinn Report - that comment you left about the demon cat had me howling (and notatall looking in the direction of Her Royal Catness, aka the Psycho Cat from Hell).
The trick with fish is to wait until it flakes and then give it a minute more. Well, in my kitchen anyway. I also never liked salmon, until I discovered two things: 1) squeeze a lime (or two) over it and let it sit for 5 minutes or so - takes the edge off the extreme fishiness/strong salmon flavour; and 2) chop up equal amounts of garlic and fresh ginger, brown it in butter (on high), put the salmon on top, turn when the bottom is browned to your taste, add chopped green onions and a squeeze of half a lime to the yummy gunk in the bottom of the pan and you'll be very, very happy. Grilled salmon is good, too - again, takes the edge off the intensity.
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Hi! Thanks for stopping by - don't you just LOVE Quinn? I can't wait until her book comes out. As to the demon cat - there's more to that story. If you want to read all the sordid details, it's in my post called "I Lost on Jeopardy". Thanks for the fish tips. And *sigh* your salmon recipe sounds so good I may have to try fooling the old tastebuds YET AGAIN. You are exactly right - it's the intensity that bugs me. It seems to come through no matter how much citrus I pour on it. I have a friend who thinks canned white tuna packed in water tastes fishier than plain broiled salmon - can you believe that? And, I'm not sure it's possible to find a salmon filet without skin on one side, and I don't like eating skin of anything. I also don't like dealing with raw fish in order to try to wrestle the skin off. This keeps me from buying trout, too. And salmon steaks are so thick...did you use the steaks? Hmmmm. I'm going to have to think about this - because I just love all the ingredients you mentioned! I have just become gun-shy about ruining fish! But, your recipe is encouragingly simple, if not easy. Simple and easy are often two completely different things, as we've all discovered!
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