Restaurant Take-Home: Continental's Miso Glazed Chilean Sea Bass with Sweet Potato Mash

So here's another Continental favorite, I had to try again. One of the tastiest entree's at Stephen Starr's The Continental: The Miso Glazed Chilean Sea Bass.
Many recipes for the sea bass called for long marinating and Mirin rice wine...both of which were huge turn-offs for me...additionally, having never cooked sea bass, I figured I'd stick to a fish I'm assured one can never cook wrong: Salmon. Also, it's available everywhere.

Another shortcut, was using Trader Joe's instant miso soup mix instead of miso paste. I'm not sure that miso is that hard to find, but at least this way, without making this dish every single day (which after making it the one time, doesn't sound like too bad of an idea) you can still use the ingredient. Also, if Trader Joe's is your main grocery store, you'll have no problem whipping it together whenever.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons hot water
• 1/2 packet Trader Joe's instant miso soup
  
• 2 salmon fillets
  
• Cooking spray
• 1/2c chopped scallions

1. Preheat oven to 450.

2. Sift Trader Joe's instant soup (or at least try to get rid of the tofu bits and dried veggies)

3. Combine first 4 ingredients.

4. Arrange fish in a shallow baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle scallions on. Spoon 2/3 of miso mixture over top of fish.

5. Bake for 10 minutes, add more glaze over the top. Bake for an additional 5-10 min. Beware of burning (glaze may get hot and the sugar can burn) -- if this happens add a few tbs of water to the sauce around the fish -- NOT on top of the fish.

6. You should be able to smell the deliciousness of the fish when it's done. A well cooked fish will show bits of whiteness on the outside amid the pink and the glaze.

At Continental, the sea bass is served alongside a sweet and fluffy cloud of white sweet potato mash (and a fried sweet potato chip). I'd tasted a similar puree at Trader Joe's last year around Thanksgiving, so I headed to the store to pick up a can to serve alongside...alas, a conundrum when looking for white sweet potatoes: the contents of the can were slightly bitter, orange, yams. Still, to turn them around, I added a pinch of salt, a few tbs of butter and some brown sugar to taste (about 1/4c). All in all, not quite the same asian complement as starchy white sweet potatoes, but not a bad combination either.

Fried Fish

OK, not really, but alternatively it's a really cheap, fast, easy, and tasty dinner (all of my basic requirements) and on top of all that, it's pretty healthy too!

So first off, I'm in love with fish because it cooks in like 1/10th of the time as chicken (and unlike chicken, it's hard to overcook). While my top choice is a delicious salmon (see pan-seared salmon recipe...), the problem with having salmon (or most fish vs chicken, say) is that it's often pricey and hard to find fresh...this is why I sometimes prefer white fish. Catfish in my opinion tastes kind of like mud. Tilapia on the other hand, while flaky and deliciously tender, doesn't really have much taste at all. Bad if you're making Tilapia Steaks, but great if you're making practically anything else as you can flavor it yourself to fit about any dish. Also, it's dirt cheap and available in almost every grocery store. Score!

A really common way of cooking fish is to fry it, but as I am afraid of hot oil: a) because I think I could really hurt myself, b) because it's super messy and takes a lot of effort to work with, and c) because I don't really like to see how much fat goes into making a really tasty restaurant dish. So I LOVED this fast, easy, healthy alternative: Oven "Fried" Fish

Ingredients (per 80z fillet):
1 Tilapia Fillet (defrosted and cut into 2in 'chunks')
3 tbs milk
2 tbs cornmeal
1 tbs salt
1/2 tbs pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
(optional: hot sauce)

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
2. Prepare cookie sheet lined with parchment paper -- You can use a regular cookie sheet and just spray with cooking spray, but the parchment really helps the fish from sticking.
3. Pour milk into small bowl (add a few shakes of hot sauce if preferred).
4. In a plate, mix dry ingredients: cornmeal, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder
5. Dip fish chunks in milk mixture.
6. Dip fish in dry mixture, turning and sprinkling to ensure fish is evenly coated. Try to coat as much as possible, although it's ok if fish is a bit wet to touch.
7. Arrange fish on cookie sheet, bake for 10-15 minutes (turning once if desired) or until golden brown.

You can eat these "fish sticks"...plain with ketchup, hot sauce, tartar sauce, and/or lemon...in a sandwich...or you can use these as the basis for a crispy fish taco! For fish tacos, I would add some mexican hot sauce or jalapenos to the milk mixture and maybe some chili powder to the dry mix. For toppings, see my post on fish tacos!

Enjoy :)

Pan Seared Salmon w/ Sauteed Spinach & Smashed Potatoes

This meal is so easy and so delicious. It's super fast because you don't need to marinate the meat, which makes it a great last-minute choice. I could eat it everyday -- but the best part is it's elegant enough to serve to guests.

I love the simple salmon and garlicky spinach and potatoes, but it also works well with a creamy risotto instead of the potatoes, or broccoli florets instead of the spinach.

One thing to keep in mind is getting the timing right so everything is done at around the same time...so start the potatoes first. Then when they begin to boil do the spinach and the salmon last.

Pan-Seared Salmon
2 medium sized salmon fillets (I like to have 2 2" pieces for each person)
1 tbs olive oil
salt & pepper

Heat olive oil on medium hot heat, salt and pepper salmon generously on both sides, cook skin side down for 2-3 minutes to get a nice crispy crust, turn and cook flesh side down for 1-2 minutes or until light pink and medium well.

Smashed Potatoes
4-5 red skin or yukon gold potatoes (this is plenty for 2 people)
1/2-3/4 cup milk
4 tbs butter
1 tbs garlic powder
salt & pepper (to taste)
chopped herbs (if desired) -- chives, parsley, basil, etc.

Wash potatoes and chop into 1 inch cubes. Put in a pot and enough water to cover potatoes. Bring to a boil. Once cooking, cook for 20 minutes or until soft when you pierce them with a fork. Strain potatoes and put in large bowl. Mash with potato masher, flat spoon, or a fork until fluffy. Add milk and butter (cut into tbs) to make mashing easier. Add seasonings to taste.
Sauteed Spinach
1/2 - 1 head fresh spinach, or 1/2-1 bag spinach leaves
(fresh spinach is best...the flavor won't be the same with the frozen kind)
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs butter
salt (to taste)

Smash garlic with a knife to remove skin, then chop roughly. In a large skillet, heat olive oil and butter on medium heat. Saute garlic briefly. Add spinach by handful. The pan will be full, but will empty out as spinach wilts. Stir spinach so it is coated in oil and continue stirring occasionally until it wilts (you can cover with a lid to help wilting). Continue with all spinach. Add salt to taste. You can remove large garlic pieces or keep them (after cooking they will be very mild and sweet).