Thursday, April 14, 2011

Poached Sable Fish with Haddock Baccala

I am doing a food and wine event in about a month and this is the idea I have for my dish. I have been given two different types of fish to use, sable fish and haddock. For me simple will be the key for plating hundreds of these little bites and for tasting the pure flavors of the fish. Haddock is a type of fish similar to cod so my first thought was to treat it like salt cod. I am going to cure the fillets in kosher salt for about 24 hours then leech out the salt by soaking in multiple changes of fresh water. The next step is to poach the fish in milk which will give good flavor and richness, the cooked fish will be flaked and added to unsalted mashed russet potatoes. The result will be my version of the classic French Brandade or Italian Baccala. Creamy potatoes with good fish flavor. The next component is the sable fish (aka black cod, butter fish) I will cut the fillets in small 1 ounce pieces and gently poach them in garlic-infused extra virgin olive oil, served warm on top of a quenelle of the Baccala. A spoonful of a sliced cherry tomato, Meyer lemon segments and caper relish placed on top. The acid in the lemon segments will help cut the richness of the oily sable fish, and the potatoes give a boost of flavor to the mild fishes. One plate down, 399 more to plate.

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