Need fish cooking advice


(Todd Chester) #1

Hi All,

A customer gave me several salmon and halibut fillets, flash frozen on the fishing charter boat from his last fishing trip to Alaska.

Problems:

  1. I don’t know how to cook it. I only have access to a frying pan, so no bar-b-que and oven/broiler advice please. And I need your seasoning tips too. I have heard that you need to cook fish in a ton of butter too.

  2. my wife HATES the smell of fish WITH A PASSION. Last time I cooked fish, she complained of the smell for three weeks.

I have heard to boil cinnamon whilst your are cooking the stuff. I have also heard to soak them in milk first to get rid of the stench.

My wife loves me like crazy (as I do her) and she would suffer through it for me (but not in silence, she is a girl after all). And I would not want to make her miserable for my own selfish reasons.

Your word of wisdom please.
-T


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #2

Buy a sous vide cooker

a bucket. Actually buy two so you can nest one in the other which will help keep the correct water temp:

and combine:

Your wife will never know what you’re cooking in there until you take it out to eat. And for reference:


(Todd Chester) #3

Interesting. And I could cook it outside. Possible eat it outside too.


(Lazy, Dirty Keto 😝) #4

Since you only have access to a frying pan, assuming you don’t want to buy another cooking tool, I would just season with a little salt and pepper and pan fry with a lemon butter sauce. Easy peasy. Like this -


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #5

No need to cook outside unless you want to. There is zero aroma produced since the food is sealed in a plastic bag. The cooker devices vary muchly in price. I bought mine on sale so I could get a slightly more expensive model than otherwise. But prices on these things start at $50 and less. The cheaper ones lack some optional features, but they all have timers and temp controls. Maybe they fail sooner after a couple years rather than decades. What I like about sous vide most is I can cook pretty much anything I want to cook, just set the temp and time and forget about it until it’s done. No fussing and no mess.

I guess I should mention that if you use Ziplock heavy-duty freezer bags (or purpose-made bags) you can wash them and reuse them.


(Todd Chester) #6

Every time I have tried Lemon on fish, it tastes sour, just like lemon juice. Yuk! I even used Meyer lemons. Others do it and I have liked it, so it is me. What have I am I doing wrong?

Hmm. I also see garlic and parsley.


(Todd Chester) #7

Hmmmmm. The bags are vacuum sealed. But do sometimes have leaks. Can I double bag them with a freezer ziplock?


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #8

Short answer: yes.

Longer answer: I use a FoodSaver V2490 and Seal a Meal bags, which are cheaper than FoodSaver bags. I have never had a bag failure. But there’s no harm putting it in a Ziplock bag for further security as long as you get out all the air. I sometimes use a Ziplock bag by itself when I don’t feel like the extra work using the FoodSaver.

@FishChris is the Ziplock freezer bagman. He’s also a sous vide pro. :wink:


(Peter) #9

Place fish directly into a garbage can, saves you cooking it.


(Todd Chester) #10

Or bury them in the garden as fertilize and camp out with a gun to keep critters from smelling it and digging them up.

But I really like salmon and halibut (that other people cook).


(Peter) #11

Ah yes, we’re all crowded into apartments over here, so no gardens, so I didn’t think of that. Also, we don’t all own guns. But I do see the merits of your plan.


#12

Sauteeing salmon will smoke up the house. Poach it briefly. Afterwards chill then flake into a salad. Delicious with mayonnaise.
Not familiar with halibut but would guess it could be handled in a similar way.


(Todd Chester) #13

Follow up:

I shot the whole nine yards. I soaked the salmon in organic cow’s milk. I boiled two cinnamon sticks whilst cooking. Fried in an entire stick of organic butter. Seasoned with garlic, parsley, salt, black pepper.

I first had to first skin, de-bone (pliers), and cut out the blood lines from the fillets before soaking. Apparently, I have a different idea what filleting is than the guys on the charter fishing boat.

And, my long suffering wife who is allergic to Blue Green Algae (she is not being temperamental), raved about who wonderful the smell came out. (This is the woman who refused to eat anything, well except fish, that I don’t eat, so I will never be tempted to fall off the wagon. She is a trophy wife.) I am even able to reheat and eat the stuff in front of her. VICTORY!!!

Mistake I made: I did not dry off the fillets after soaking in milk. I wound up poaching the meat, rather than frying it. And the extra leftover milk also neutralized my garlic. And this garlic was home grown Bogatyr Garlic, which will take your head off your shoulders. No fooling! I LOVE GARLIC!

I was concerned about having a bunch of papers towels in the trash that smelled like fish. Next time I put the paper towels in a zip lock.

Next up: the halibut.

Thank you all for the tips and advice!

-T