Justified!
This weekend was ridiculously lazy.
I mean, we're usually pretty lazy, but we really outdid ourselves this weekend. I should schedule a very busy weekend soon so that I can look back on this one and think "Hey remember those three days when we didn't get up before noon?" wistfully. I managed to get to the store twice, but other than that spent my time around the house.
That said we got a few wee chores done and I got some cooking done. I made some Thai Noodles with pork and grated vegetables, that was pretty good. And I made some Guinness stew and that was pretty good. See, stew and sauteed parsnips with a pastry hat on.
But then I made some salt-baked trout and it was fantastic.
So I took a small trout (12oz) rubbed it down with olive oil and stuffed it with some slices of lemon, a sliced clove of garlic and - most importantly - four sprigs from our rosemary bush. Then you mix egg whites (2) with some cups of coarse salt (3) and (1/2 a cup of) water to make the salt mix. You lay the fish out on the salt and then cover it with the rest, patting it down firm, so that you have about 1/4 inch of salt surrounding the fish (that's why it is fish shaped... kinda).
Bake at 400f for 15 minutes, test with a thermometer for insides at 135-140f. Let it sit for 10 more minutes, then tap off the salt with a spoon and gently pull the skin away. Slide the first fillet off with a spoon, then lift the spine off, clear away the lemon/rosemary and garlic and get at the other fillet.
I had it with noodles (tossed with butter and the yolks that I didn't use from earlier) and prosciutto wrapped asparagus.
This is one of those meals that worked right away; it went so well that I'm almost reluctant to make it again. The fish was phenomenally good. Really tender, not at all salty and it took on the flavour of the fresh rosemary really well. The fillet stayed together really well, which I wouldn't expect with completely cooked fish, but it did. Carol was quite taken with it, especially since she never had to see the head or bones of the fish.
I thought that perhaps my cats would appreciate a fish carcass because I don't think the cartoons of the mid-20th century could possibly be wrong vis-a-vis feline culinary habits. Turns out the cats hadn't a clue what to do with it. I assume that knowing what to do with fish carcasses kicks in somewhere along the hungry cat continuum between "trying to look adorable for food" and "eating my dead owners eyeballs."
I mean, we're usually pretty lazy, but we really outdid ourselves this weekend. I should schedule a very busy weekend soon so that I can look back on this one and think "Hey remember those three days when we didn't get up before noon?" wistfully. I managed to get to the store twice, but other than that spent my time around the house.
That said we got a few wee chores done and I got some cooking done. I made some Thai Noodles with pork and grated vegetables, that was pretty good. And I made some Guinness stew and that was pretty good. See, stew and sauteed parsnips with a pastry hat on.
But then I made some salt-baked trout and it was fantastic.
So I took a small trout (12oz) rubbed it down with olive oil and stuffed it with some slices of lemon, a sliced clove of garlic and - most importantly - four sprigs from our rosemary bush. Then you mix egg whites (2) with some cups of coarse salt (3) and (1/2 a cup of) water to make the salt mix. You lay the fish out on the salt and then cover it with the rest, patting it down firm, so that you have about 1/4 inch of salt surrounding the fish (that's why it is fish shaped... kinda).
Bake at 400f for 15 minutes, test with a thermometer for insides at 135-140f. Let it sit for 10 more minutes, then tap off the salt with a spoon and gently pull the skin away. Slide the first fillet off with a spoon, then lift the spine off, clear away the lemon/rosemary and garlic and get at the other fillet.
I had it with noodles (tossed with butter and the yolks that I didn't use from earlier) and prosciutto wrapped asparagus.
This is one of those meals that worked right away; it went so well that I'm almost reluctant to make it again. The fish was phenomenally good. Really tender, not at all salty and it took on the flavour of the fresh rosemary really well. The fillet stayed together really well, which I wouldn't expect with completely cooked fish, but it did. Carol was quite taken with it, especially since she never had to see the head or bones of the fish.
I thought that perhaps my cats would appreciate a fish carcass because I don't think the cartoons of the mid-20th century could possibly be wrong vis-a-vis feline culinary habits. Turns out the cats hadn't a clue what to do with it. I assume that knowing what to do with fish carcasses kicks in somewhere along the hungry cat continuum between "trying to look adorable for food" and "eating my dead owners eyeballs."