On Sunday I thought I would have a few hours to follow this recipe to the letter, but obviously that was ambitious. I spent the day with my sister and in the afternoon we saw ‘Dior and I’ (part of the New Zealand International Film Festival) which was a wonderful movie – emotional for a fashion documentary, which I wasn’t expecting.
So, by the time that was finished, we looked in a few shops and I drove home and picked up some missing ingredients (forgetting the pine nuts) it was already close to dinner time. While Mum made the salad, I scrambled to get the fish cooked so it could rest with the marinade for at least a few minutes before we ate it.
Despite the rush, the fish was yum. But then, according to Dad, you can’t go wrong with egg and breadcrumbed fish, especially with a salad. I reckon that with this dish you could leave it to marinade if you had the time – it would be excellent if you had people over for dinner so you could cook it in advance. Otherwise you could just whip it up and eat it hot. Either way here is what I did/what I will do next time…
Venetian Fish
For the fish:
3 large fillets of tarakihi, or any white fish
1 egg
about 1/2 – 1 cup oats, whizzed up into a coarse flour
canola oil, for shallow frying
For the marinade:
1/4 cup raisins
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds/pine nuts
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
chopped parsley
Soak the raisins in boiling water.
Heat the olive oil over a medium heat and add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are soft. Drain the raisins and add to the onions along with the sunflower seeds or pine nuts and some freshly ground black pepper. Cook for a few minutes. Add in the vinegar and let bubble for a bit and then add in the water and a little salt. Leave it to cook over a medium-low heat while you prepare and cook the fish.
Wash the fish and dab dry with paper towels. Cut each fillet into three smaller pieces.
In one shallow dish beat the egg, while in another tip in the oat flour. Dunk each piece of the fish in the egg and then into the oat flour – make sure the fish is coated all over.
Heat the canola oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat so that when you put in a piece of fish it starts sizzling straight away. Place the fish pieces in the pan – I cooked the fish in two batches, so the pan wasn’t overcrowded. After a few minutes the oat coating should be starting to colour, if it is gently turn the fish over, otherwise check it in another minute. Fish doesn’t take long to cook, so you need to be careful to not overcook it. To tell whether the fish is cooked I press down on a piece of fish with my tongs and if it springs back it is cooked – like when you test whether your cake is cooked. Once cooked, place onto a serving dish. When all of the fish has cooked, stir the parsley through the marinade and pour this over the fish.
If you are serving the fish straight away, or you prefer it hot, I would recommend making the salad before you start preparing the fish. If not, leave the fish while you make the salad or for several hours and prepare the green salad later on.
Sunday's Musings 