Mondays. Sigh. The start to the week, the official end to the weekend. When the days turn balmy, I find myself feeling ever so slightly lazy and in search of simple fresh food in the kitchen. Though tempted to melt in the heat and get take out, I persevered with the planned menu for the evening, turned again to Bill Granger in “Bill’s Open Kitchen”, and quickly sorted out a pretty, fresh, and delicious dinner. A perfectly light follow up to last nights delicious but heavy parpadelle with spicy Italian sausage pasta dinner (a future story unto itself for a cooler day), which was the prelude to kicking off another season of Bill Compton and Sookie Stackhouse with Cream and my main squeeze.
Simple pan fried fish, in this case a basa fillet, paired with a tangy lemon potato salad. The lightness of the lemon dressing paired with the crisp diced peppers, hints of chili, fresh mint, and cracked pepper, make this a salad that works with anything. The fish is beyond simple, but still something I find is often poorly executed. I nearly always follow the same formula for pan fried fish, prawns, or scallops, with excellent results. There is nothing I dislike more than a soggy piece of fish that’s been soaking up oil in a frying pan. Here are my simple tips for perfectly seared fish or seafood.
1. Pat fish/seafood dry with a paper towel.
2. Drizzle with olive oil to ensure all surfaces are lightly coated. Coating the fish with oil rather than throwing it into an oil filled pan is a great way to get a nice crisp salt and pepper sear while keeping it soft and tender on the inside.
3. Sprinkle generously with coarse sea salt and fresh cracked pepper on both sides.
4. Heat your pan on high…get it good and hot so you get a nice sear when it hits the pan. The goal is a nice golden brown on each side.
5. Don’t over cook it! Fish, prawns and scallops cook quickly. A few minutes on each side (or less depending on the fish) will do the job.
This is a great base for making any seafood taste great with a drizzle of lemon when it comes out of the pan, or tossed with fresh made pesto, spiced up with a few dried chillies, or hit with the freshness of parsley and cilantro.
Tonight’s version from the pan will be on heavy rotation this summer.
Pan Fried Fish with Lemon Potato Salad
For the fish:
olive oil
basa fillets or other firm white fish fillet, skin removed
coarse sea salt
fresh cracked pepper
lemon wedges
Follow steps one through five above for perfectly pan fried fish.
For the lemon potato salad:
one pound bag of baby potatoes cut in half
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 fresh squeezed lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper
1 yellow pepper, finely diced
2 red chilies, seeded and finely diced
1/4 cup fresh chopped mint
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
6 green onions, finely sliced
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add potatoes, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 8-10 minutes until potatoes are tender. Remember not to overcook them as they will continue to cook when removed from the water.
Mix olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a bowl and stir to combine. Pour half of the dressing over the hot potatoes and stir gently. Leave the potatoes to cool. Once cooled, add yellow pepper, chili, mint, parsley, green onion, and remaining dressing and stir gently.
A nice ending to another manic Monday. I wish it were Sunday, cause that’s my fun day…
