Do you like white fish? I sure do. I like it because it's a blank canvas. Or rather, I like it because you can flavor it with all the colors of the rainbow.
In that spirit, I hit the fish market last Wednesday to see what was good. I wanted a whole fish, you know, to encrust in salt. No whole fish to be found, but the halibut, I could not resist. Hell, all the fish looked good at Breakwater Fish Market on Underpass Road in Brewster, and the place smelled good too (not like rotten fish), which is always a sign of quality.
Anyway, on the way back to the house, I ruminated on a course of action. I also started thinking about the way a proper hunter honors his prey. Then I wanted to write a poem, but that's neither here nor there. How would I honor this fish? And what is a good word that rhymes with sunset? I stepped out of the car
and there, staring right at me, was the giant sage plant that is slowly taking over the front path. What goes better with fish than butter, lemon and sage? Without thinking, I snipped a sprig and washed it of all that encrusted pollen from the oak trees.
Grill heating, cedar plank soaked in water, and fish salted and peppered, I prepared dinner. What is amazing about white fish, as I said earlier, is that it has a unique flare for taking on whatever flavor you give it. In this case -- the cedar plank I grilled it on. I used a combination of direct and indirect heat to prepare the fish. To accomplish this cooking method, get your coals hot and place them more or less on one side of the grill. Place some sprigs of sage, some lemon slices, and some butter on your fish. Place the fish on the plank and put that plank directly over the coal-filled side of the grill. Give the fish ten minutes. Flip it. Another ten minutes. By now the plank is smoldering. Move the whole thing to the cooler side of the grill. Ten minutes. Now, at this point in the process I realized how truly honkin big this piece of fish was, so i took it off the plank, oiled up the hot side of the grill, and put the fish back down, skin side up, over the fire. And in any case, those sexy grill marks are always a nice addition to the protein. After three minutes, I flipped the fish and grilled the skin side. Somehow, the fish was perfectly cooked.
To simplify -- if you do not have a fillet the size of a small gated community, I'd say seven minutes a side on the plank and then one to three minutes directly on an oiled grill to finish.
I polished off the fish dish with some crusty bread that my brother toasted earlier for pan con tomate, but that's another story. You can pair this fish with just about any side. I had a tomato compote flavored with lemon and shallot, but I think white beans would be pretty amazing too. When all was said and done, the fish had this amazing, deep, smokey undertone that wasn't over-powering but certainly asserted itself. The distinct yet fleeting cedar smokiness was the perfect accompanying note.
In that spirit, I hit the fish market last Wednesday to see what was good. I wanted a whole fish, you know, to encrust in salt. No whole fish to be found, but the halibut, I could not resist. Hell, all the fish looked good at Breakwater Fish Market on Underpass Road in Brewster, and the place smelled good too (not like rotten fish), which is always a sign of quality.
Anyway, on the way back to the house, I ruminated on a course of action. I also started thinking about the way a proper hunter honors his prey. Then I wanted to write a poem, but that's neither here nor there. How would I honor this fish? And what is a good word that rhymes with sunset? I stepped out of the car
and there, staring right at me, was the giant sage plant that is slowly taking over the front path. What goes better with fish than butter, lemon and sage? Without thinking, I snipped a sprig and washed it of all that encrusted pollen from the oak trees.Grill heating, cedar plank soaked in water, and fish salted and peppered, I prepared dinner. What is amazing about white fish, as I said earlier, is that it has a unique flare for taking on whatever flavor you give it. In this case -- the cedar plank I grilled it on. I used a combination of direct and indirect heat to prepare the fish. To accomplish this cooking method, get your coals hot and place them more or less on one side of the grill. Place some sprigs of sage, some lemon slices, and some butter on your fish. Place the fish on the plank and put that plank directly over the coal-filled side of the grill. Give the fish ten minutes. Flip it. Another ten minutes. By now the plank is smoldering. Move the whole thing to the cooler side of the grill. Ten minutes. Now, at this point in the process I realized how truly honkin big this piece of fish was, so i took it off the plank, oiled up the hot side of the grill, and put the fish back down, skin side up, over the fire. And in any case, those sexy grill marks are always a nice addition to the protein. After three minutes, I flipped the fish and grilled the skin side. Somehow, the fish was perfectly cooked.
To simplify -- if you do not have a fillet the size of a small gated community, I'd say seven minutes a side on the plank and then one to three minutes directly on an oiled grill to finish.
I polished off the fish dish with some crusty bread that my brother toasted earlier for pan con tomate, but that's another story. You can pair this fish with just about any side. I had a tomato compote flavored with lemon and shallot, but I think white beans would be pretty amazing too. When all was said and done, the fish had this amazing, deep, smokey undertone that wasn't over-powering but certainly asserted itself. The distinct yet fleeting cedar smokiness was the perfect accompanying note.
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