BusinessHABBlue Salt Fish Grill
Blue Salt Fish Grill: Fish is an extremely versatile food that can be prepared in a wide variety of tasty ways. Not only is fish extremely tasty, but it contains lots of nutritional protein and healthy fats, such as omega-3 acids. Any cook worth their salt will have to know how to prepare fish at some point in their lives, and this is as good a place as any to learn. So grab a fillet, a pan, your natural curiosity, and an appetite. Let’s cook!
Mastering the Cooking Basics
1. Source the freshest fish available. Of course, fresh ingredients are important anytime you’re cooking, but with fish, it’s especially important. You can disguise some three-day old chicken pretty easily, but it’s much tougher to disguise some cod that’s been sitting around for three days. In order to cook the best fish of your live, you’ll want to get cozy with your fishmonger.
- The best trick to getting the freshest fish available is to simply ask. Go up to the fishmonger manning the fish in your local grocery store and ask them what’s fresh today. This will sometimes require being flexible about the kind of fish you cook, but it’s for the better. Fresh fish almost invariably tastes better than old fish, whether it’s salmon, mackerel, tuna, or swordfish — the list goes on.
- The freshest fish will smell of the sea (briny) but not fishy; the gills should be bright and moist; the meat firm and springy; and the scales should not be dull or flake off easily.
Blue Salt Fish Grill
2. Get familiar with your thermometer. The secret to cooking fish is knowing the temperature at which they’re finished cooking. In order to do this, you’ll want to use a food thermometer until you get the hang of things and can tell whether your fish is done by touching or merely looking at it. Most fish are perfectly cooked when they reach an internal temperature of 120° – 145°F (~49° – 63°C).
3. Know that it’s okay to undercook most fish. Ever heard of sushi? Or how about ceviche? These are two fish dishes that are not cooked at all. Unlike undercooked poultry, which carries the risk of salmonella, fish are okay to eat undercooked or even raw.
- Some fish are better raw (or undercooked)! Fish like tuna are often given a light sear on both sides before removing from the heat and serving. Tuna tartar, famously, isn’t cooked at all.
- Understand that there is always a small risk when eating raw and undercooked fish. Microbes and parasites can cause food poisoning or infection.
Blue Salt Fish Grill
4. Know the three basic kinds of fish. Fish come in three basic varieties, each of which tends to be cooked in a different way and contains different nutritional properties. Knowing your way around the basic varieties will help you become a better cook:
- White fish — cod, plaice, sole, hake and haddock, among others. These fish have translucent skin that turns an opalescent white when being cooked. Usually battered and deep fried, they form the basis of the classic English fish and chips.
- Oily fish — salmon, trout, kipper and sardines, among others. Oily fish are oilier than other varieties, but contain good oils (omega 3 fatty acids). They are often grilled, baked, or steamed.
- Shellfish — shrimp, scallops, mussels, and oysters, among others. Shellfish are categorized either as “crustaceans” (shrimp) or “mollusks” (oysters). Commonly bottom feeders, shellfish are harder to digest than either white or oily fish.
6. Cook with your fish as dry as possible. Dry off your fish before cooking, whatever method of cooking you decide to use. Especially important for frying or pan-frying, excess moisture will cool down hot oil. Try to pat down fish fillets or steaks with a dry paper towel before cooking for best results.
Blue Salt Fish Grill
7. Thaw your fish before cooking. For best results, of course, you’ll want to use fresh fish. But let’s face it — fresh fish is expensive, a luxury that not all of us can afford. Frozen fish is a nice alternative, but you’ll want to thaw your fish for a day in the refrigerator before cooking for best results. Oh, and remember to pat it down to remove excess moisture before cooking!
- You can bake frozen fish, for example, but you’ll want to double the normal cooking time from your recipe. Cooking frozen fish is very tricky, however, and shouldn’t be done as a rule of thumb if you can afford it.
Cooking Blue Salt Fish Grill
8. Try grilling fish. Perfect for summer months, grilling fish is both easy and enjoyable. With your coals or gas grill, you’ll want to try to make a hot pile and a cold pile, so that you can cook the fish over low heat for the majority of the time, and then give it some color by finishing the cooking over high heat at the very end. Be sure to use the thermometer to get the temperature correct, and remember that fish cooks extremely quickly!
- When grilling fish, be sure to oil the grill and the fish generously before cooking. A well-oiled fish and grill will keep the fish from sticking to the grate when you choose to flip it. If you want to, you can also use an aluminum foil pouch to keep the fish in as it cooks; this saves cleanup time and cooks the fish very nicely.
- Remember to choose the right kind of fish for grilling. Meaty, hearty fish like salmon, halibut, and swordfish work best on the grill, especially if you can get them cut into steaks. Delicate white fish like cod, flounder, or sole tend to fall apart easier on the grill, making for a less than ideal marriage between grill and fish.
Blue Salt Fish Grill Specific Recipes
9. Make almond crusted salmon. The crisp nuttiness of almonds marries perfectly with the rich, unctuousness of the salmon. A no-nonsense alternative to breaded salmon!
10. Grill up a whole sea bass. That’s right, a whole fish. In many cultures the eyes and cheeks of a fish are considered a delicacy. Stuffed with some fruits, veggies, or herbs, this makes a truly transcendent dish.
11. Try fennel topped trout. This recipe involves fennel, which doesn’t overpower the delicate trout. Add in ginger, shallot, and lemon peel, and you’ve got a nice little slaw to go over your trout.
Blue Salt Fish Grill
12. Make some lemon-baked cod. Cod can be baked to perfection with just a little bit of butter, lemon, and onion. Delicious!
13. Fry up some flounder. This bottom-feeding fish with two eyes on one side of its face is surprisingly delicate, seeing as it doesn’t move around very much and thus has a high-fat content. For a quick but tasty morsel.
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