Week 9 - Fish

Objective

Successfully preparing fish dishes using different cooking methods, including poaching and pan-frying. Organization and preparation to be used to ensure a complete dish is ready to serve at once and no parts of the dish are left to sit before service.

Sanitation and Safety

When serving fish it is important to ensure you are purchasing it from an approved supplier. Fish can be infected with a parasite, and the supplier should be freezing the fish for an appropriate amount of time to remove any concerns regarding parasites.

When filleting fish, it is important to remove all of the pin bones, usually with fish pliers, to prevent a choking hazard.

Information

In week 9, our prepared dishes are:

• Salmon poached in court bouillon with bearnaise sauce, rice pilaf and summer squash noodles
• Red Snapper en papillote with crostini and potato aioli
• Fish bonne femme with buttered asparagus and pommes nature (parsley potatoes)
  
• Pan-fried Trout with capers and lemon with pommes chateau (sautéed potatoes) and cauliflower au gratin

The salmon fillets to be poached are fabricated and de-boned before cooking. To cut the fillet, the knife is placed just behind the gills and you cut down to the spine, then turning the knife towards the back of the fish and cutting along the spine, ensuring you stay on the bone without cutting through it. Once this piece is separated from the rest of the fish, you can trim out the surface of the rib cage, followed by trimming upper and lower fins. The skin is then removed by cutting with the blade nearly parallel to the skin, keeping as little meat left behind as possible. Once the skin is removed, the pin bones must be removed, generally with fish pliers. At this point the whole fillet can be cut down into portion sizes and is ready for cooking.

"En Papillote" is a cooking method where the ingredients are sealed in a parchment paper envelope and steam in their own juices in the oven. The whole envelope is then served as is, so the guest can experience the aromas of the dish as they open the paper. The envelope is formed by folding a sheet of parchment paper in half and cutting it to an appropriate size to contain the ingredients. The ingredients are placed inside, and the edges are dabbed with oil to help establish the seal. The sides are then pinched together and folded over to form a seal for the envelope. The whole item is then placed in the oven for cooking.

Fish bonne femme is prepared by shallow poaching, where the poaching liquid only comes partially up the side of the meat. We also cover the fish with buttered parchment paper to keep moisture in.

Practical

For the poached salmon dish, our order of preparation will be to start with the court bouillon itself, followed by the rice pilaf and prep on the summer squash noodles, with the béarnaise sauce being prepared while the salmon is poaching. We first prepare the court bouillon to be used in the poaching. This is a combination of water, white wine vinegar, lemon juice, mirepoix, aromatics and seasonings brought to a boil and then simmered for 30-45 minutes. Once completed, it is strained and used to poach the salmon, which is cooked submerged until slightly firm and flaky, but still moist. Bearnaise sauce is prepared the same as our previous hollandaise sauces, but tarragon is added during the preparation of the reduction, as well as chopped tarragon is mixed in to the sauce itself to give extra visual appeal and flavour.

Rice pilaf and summer squash noodles are prepared as per our previous menus.

As the red snapper en papillote will be cooking in the oven, it will take the longest to prepare in this dish. We julienne cut some leek, carrot, celery and red pepper and place it in the papillot envelope with some basil butter and the fish. The papillote is sealed and placed in the oven to cook. The classic aioli is prepared by mashing potatoes and then adding egg yolk and mixing together. Oil is then added to form a sauce. The aioli is seasoned and prepared for service. We prepare crostini by rubbing sliced baguette with garlic butter and topping with julienne red peppers and toasting in the oven. The aioli is used as a dip for the crostini on our plate.

The fish bonne femme is shallow poached on a bed of sautéed shallots, mushrooms and parsley, using white wine, lemon juice and fish stock as a liquid. The fish is shaped into rolles (paupiettes) and placed on the bed of ingredients. The liquid is brought to a simmer and the fish is covered with parchment paper. At this point the dish can be finished in either the oven or on the stovetop; we continue cooking on the stovetop. Once the fish is cooked, it is removed from the pan and kept warm while a sauce is prepared from the liquid remaining. The cuisson is reduced and a velouté is added. The sauce is finished with monté au beurre, at which point the dish is ready to serve (fish and sauce together).

The buttered asparagus and pommes nature (parsley potatoes) are prepared following our previous procedures.

For the pan-fried trout, we start by preparing a seasoned flour mixture with salt and pepper. Clarified butter is heated in a pan and the trout fillets are dredged in the flour, then excess is patted away. The fish is pan-fried on each side until done. The fish is set aside and kept warm while a sauce is prepared from the pan. Excess butter is poured off, then whole butter is added and browned in the pan. Lemon segments, capers, and parsley are stirred in and seasoning is adjusted. The sauce is then ready to serve with the fish.

The cauliflower au gratin and pommes chateau are prepared following our previous procedures.

Personal Observations

Coming in to this week I was concerned about my personal taste for fish and the fact that I generally don't enjoy it. That being said, my most recent experiences with fish have found me enjoying it, merely preferring meat dishes rather than disliking the fish itself. This weeks dishes may change my outlook on fish, especially if I'm the one preparing it. The salmon was very flavourful and tasty, and the béarnaise sauce went very well with it. "En papillote" was a new cooking method to me, which produced an incredible smelling dish only to be matched by the wonderful flavour. The fish bonne femme was also very good, with the mushroom sauce not overpowering the flavour of the fish but complimenting it well. The pan-fried trout was also very good. Overall, I really enjoyed the dishes this week.

Chef's Observations

For the most part our dishes this week were quite good in the flavour and presentation department. Our poached salmon was very good and our red snapper en papillote was good as well, although we slightly over-toasted our crostini. We caught it just before it became inedible, so it was extra crunchy, but not burdened by a burnt flavour.

Our fish bonne femme turned out well, although we added a bed of sautéed mushrooms to the dish which ended up leaving the plate overpowered by mushrooms. The fish and the sauce themselves were fine, along with the accompaniments, but our addition this week didn't work out well. The pan-fried trout was very good, while slightly light on capers, it otherwise didn't need much improvement.

Blog Notes

For those who are interested, I have managed to actually get a job in the industry! I'll be working at a new casino which is opening this month, so I'm pretty excited about that. It's going to be an interesting environment to work in, not a small kitchen or even large kitchen, but there are 4 restaurants in the casino, likely on top of regular cooking services! I'm not sure exactly where I'll be working, whether it's restaurant or in a back kitchen somewhere, so I'll provide more details as soon as I have them. Bon appétit!