Fish

I told a friend I was planning on writing a post on fish cakes. Her response? “Ew. Fish cakes? Ew. That just sounds so wrong.”

Point granted. Admittedly you don’t often hear the words ‘fish’ and ‘cake’ put together. But crab cakes are amazing, how could fish cakes sound so wrong? We’re talking about crispy, brown, fish patties flecked with onion, celery and herbs topped with creamy tartar sauce.

“I don’t know. The dish sounds good,” she said, “but that name needs some serious help.”

“How about New England Fish Cakes?” I asked.

“Oh yeah!” she said, “That sounds wonderful!”

Problem solved. Everything fish-related sounds a little better with ‘New England’ tagged on to it. It conjures up visions of craggy faced fishermen in bulky sweaters and yellow rubber boots haggling over prices for their day’s catch at the wharf.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

My dear friend’s reaction notwithstanding I am 100% head-over-heels for these fish cakes, er, New England Style Fish Cakes. They have that satisfying crunchy brown outside that can only come from time spent with a hot skillet and sizzling oil. Laced with tiny bits of scallion, parsley, celery and other herbs and spices, the inside is everything fish should be; flavorful, light textured, and moist.

Fish, while fantastic for your health*, is not something that dings everyone’s chimes. I was so confident in the flavor and texture of these that I served one to a confirmed fish-hating friend. With a little cajoling she ate a bite. Then she finished her portion. Then she asked for a second helping. The next week, she made them for her family. She’s been making them regularly ever since. And she still swears she hates fish!

*According to the American Heart Association, “Fish is a good source of protein and, unlike fatty meat products, it’s not high in saturated fat. Fish is also a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids benefit the heart of healthy people, and those at high risk of — or who have — cardiovascular disease. Research has shown that omega-3 fatty acids decrease risk of arrhythmias (abnormal heartbeats), which can lead to sudden death. Omega-3 fatty acids also decrease triglyceride levels, slow growth rate of atherosclerotic plaque, and lower blood pressure (slightly).” For more details on what fish can do for you, visit the American Heart Association’s page on fish!

For a printer-friendly, photo-free version of this recipe, click here!

New England Style Fish Cakes

Ingredients:

2 pounds firm fleshed boneless and skinless white fish fillets such as cod, blue hake, or haddock
2 cups of freshly made medium fine breadcrumbs. This is roughly equivalent to 6 slices of bread.
3 medium stalks of celery, finely diced
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced then chopped again until finely minced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
3 large eggs
1 Tablespoon dried basil
1 ½ teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning or other seafood seasoning blend
salt and pepper to taste
neutral oil, such as canola, for pan-frying

Line up your fish fillets on a clean cutting board. And don’t walk away from the cutting board to answer the phone or people (and by people I mean my children) are bound to mess with your ingredients. See what I mean?

"Ground control to Major Tom..."

Remove the Lego David Bowie from your cutting board and roughly cut the fish fillets into two-inch chunks.

Place the pieces into the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade. You are going to puree your fish. I’m aware that sounds revolting, but keep on keeping on, please. The end result is more worth it than I can possibly express. Pulse several times until the fish is broken down into a puree that still contains some pieces. No pieces should be larger than pebble-size. It should look like this. It only gets better from here!

Add the processed fish and the remaining ingredients to a large bowl and mix until uniform.

Place a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add a thin coating of oil to the pan; a tablespoon should be sufficient. Swirl the oil to coat the pan.

Don’t pre-form all your fish cakes, because the patties tend to fall apart if left to rest on a plate It’s best just to form right before adding them to the pan. To do this most easily, rapidly form ½-cup of the fish mixture into a thin patty. Don’t squash them mercilessly! That light end texture relies on a gentle hand.

Quickly and carefully place the patty into the oiled pan.

Using a 12-inch pan should allow you to cook four patties at a time. Once all four patties are in the pan, raise the heat to high and cook for five minutes. After five minutes, use a wide spatula and an additional rubber spatula, if needed, to flip the patties one at a time. Take care to control how your flip them so you’re not splattered with any hot oil in the pan. The first side should be a beautiful brown when they’re turned. This first side looks like perfection.

Fry the second side for five minutes and transfer the fish cakes to a plate lined with a paper towel. Repeat with the remaining fish mixture, adding a little oil to the pan as necessary.

Serve immediately, either plain or with tartar sauce. They definitely have enough flavor to be served alone…

If you serve with tartar sauce, make it a good one. These New England Style Fish Cakes deserve the best!

For my money, this tartar sauce recipe is the best you can possibly make. It is the massively down-sized recipe that The Evil Genius learned to make when he worked at a very popular South Florida restaurant. He recalls making multiple twenty-five gallon batches for daily lunch and dinner services. We’re talking about one seriously road-tested and approved tartar sauce recipe.

This addictive tartar sauce is much more flavor-packed than most alternatives. Oh yes, put it on fish, but don’t stop there. It’s an explosive change to the usual mayonnaise on a hamburger. French fries take on a whole new dimension when dipped into Tart-er Tartar Sauce. Once you’ve tried it, you’ll plan meals around it!

Tart-er Tartar Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup Greek yogurt
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup minced scallions
2 Tablespoons minced cabbage
1 Tablespoon minced green pepper
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons dill pickle relish
½ teaspoon dried dill weed
¼ teaspoon celery seed

Stir all ingredients together in a bowl, cover tightly and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

My Dad called me up the other day and gave me a piece of his mind. “Where are the healthy recipes for folks with dietary restrictions like me? Your stuff looks great, but there’s a lot there I can’t eat. People need healthier recipes, too.” “Sure, Dad,” said I. I offered to get to it after Christmas and New Year’s Day. He kindly suggested that dietary restrictions didn’t take a holiday and that some people might really enjoy a lighter food break occasionally even if it was Christmas…

After a week of my kids climbing the walls, bouncing off the ceiling, and being on each other like ugly on apes, it occured to me that perhaps the steady diet of Christmas treats might be affecting them adversely. My Dad had been right. Of course I realized this at about 5:30p.m. and had nothing remotely healthy on the radar for dinner that evening. I stuffed the block of cheese and the ground beef back in the fridge, took a minute to reconsider my plans and stuck a pot of rice in the rice cooker. I rifled through the freezer and dug out a pound and a half of individually frozen blue hake fillets. Surely I could do something with that!

Twenty five minutes later I had thrown together what is a new favorite in our house; Provençal style fish en cocotte with a garlicky tomato sauce. Don’t let the name fool you. We’ve done cocotte here and here before and it was super simple and quick. Cocotte is the French word for casserole. We all know casserole=easy. This fish dinner comes together in a flash and is done to garlicky perfection in 20 minutes flat. Give your body a break this holiday season. Try the fish on for size and see if it doesn’t improve your outlook a bit.

Provençal Fish en Cocotte with Garlicky Tomato Sauce

The “Provençal” in this dish comes from the lovely Herbes de Provençe in the tomato sauce. If you can’t lay your hands on Herbes de Provençe don’t sweat it. *You can substitute a sprig each of fresh rosemary, thyme, oregano and parsley or a half teaspoon each of the dried varieties of those herbs. It’ll be just as good!

And don’t worry about the amount of extra virgin olive oil in this, for Pete’s sake. It’s good for you and the fish itself is an extremely lean and low-fat protein. And it’s mercifully light on the wallet, too.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds firm, white fleshed fish fillets, such as hake or cod, fresh or individually frozen
1 large onion, minced
3 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1/2 cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigio, but feel free to use what you prefer just so long as it isn’t cooking wine. Blech. There oughta be a law.)
1 can, 14.5 ounces, diced tomatoes in their juices
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon dried Herbes de Provençe (*see note above for substitutions)
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Hot, cooked rice, for serving

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Place a pan that has a tight fitting lid (and is also oven safe) over medium heat. Add olive oil and heat briefly before adding the onions and garlic. Throw a pinch of salt in the pan and stir well. Soften the onions and garlic, lowering the heat if needed to keep from browning. When onions are mostly translucent and soft, pour in the white wine and the diced tomatoes with their juices. Stir well, increase heat to medium high and add herbs. Bring to a boil and carefully arrange the fish fillets on top of the tomatoes and onions. Put the lid on the pan and place in the oven.

Bake for 8-10 minutes for fresh fillets or 13-16 minutes for frozen fillets, depending on the thickness. When fish flakes easily with a fork, remove pan from oven. Serve immediately over hot rice with a generous amount of the pan juices and tomatoes spooned on top. You could do worse than throwing a nice fresh wedge of garlic and rosemary foccacia on the side to soak up that lovely garlic tomato sauce. To your health!