"Full Blaze" - Bush Tucker Fish

Recipe (printable PDF)

Firehawks #2
EXCERPT:

“What is it with you?” Henderson sounded furious. Carly’s barramundi was six inches longer and several pounds heavier than Mark’s.

“Women rule,” was Carly’s response.

Emily laughed at her husband, which elicited a matching laugh from the toddler.

“C’mon, guys,” Henderson begged. “Give me a hand here.”

Steve shook his head.

Cal raised his hands, begging off. “Way outta my league, boss. Woman out fishes you, you’re on your own.”

“Crap!” Henderson knocked back a swallow of beer and glared down at the fish as if it was the barra’s fault.

Cal sat back to enjoy the show.

Once Henderson cleaned them, Jeannie wrapped one in soaked palm fronds she’d collected along with everything else. She’d dressed it with salt, pepper, and eucalyptus, then stuffed it into the fire’s coals as the sun set. The other one she laid on a rock she’d kept covered in coals for the previous half hour. That one was dressed with tiny bush tomatoes an inch across, pink, yellow, and green and shaped more like warped jellybeans than tomatoes. They’d found no yams, but she’d also tucked large pigweed in with the fish that she swore tasted like potatoes, as well as steamed parakeelya that she said went better with a salad dressing. Looked nasty to him, kinda like psychotic asparagus.

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NOTE: Not having either the Australian Outback or the knowledge of how to survive in it handy, I tried to think of how to adapt this passage to my current home on the North Shore of Massachusetts. And that would be my suggestion. Skip the grocery store. Go to the local farmer’s market and find something you’ve never cooked with before. Take it home and experiment. Almost anything can make a nice compliment to a good piece of fish. Good food doesn’t have to be complex, it can be simple, clean flavors. So, if you want a simple starting place, try this baked fish inspired by the above.

For a night-of shortcut, we keep frozen fish fillets and frozen lemon juice in the freezer. Simply thaw the fish in a lukewarm water bath until fully flexible and cook per below.

Active time: 10 minutes / Cook time: 20-25 minutes / Total time: 35 minutes / Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. cod or salmon, fillet
• 1 lemon, half sliced 1/8” thick, half juiced
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp. basil, dried or a goodly schmear (2-3 tsp.) of pesto
• Optionally add a selection of:

·     1-2 small new potatoes, 1/8” slices ·     1 tomato, sliced (or cherry tomatoes, halved) ·     1 small zucchini, cut in rounds ·     3 small radishes, shaved ·     12 baby asparagus spears (capers and lemon go well with asparagus) ·     1 med. shallot, sliced thin

·     1/4 red onion, sliced thin ·     2 cloves of garlic, pressed / minced ·     1 tsp. oregano, dried (instead of basil) ·     Jalapeño pepper, sliced thin ·     A drizzle of apple-cider vinegar if you don’t have a lemon or juice handy ·     Forget all the above and just cook the fish with a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes and a bit of parsley ·     Can serve over rice or let the “packet” be the complete meal

The Instructions

1.     Preheat the oven to 350°F. An outdoor grill works well too.

2.     Once at temperature, start the rice, if using as an accompaniment.

3.     Lay out a generous double layer of aluminum foil, crisscrossed.

4.     Layer with pats of butter, potatoes, and any other hard vegetables. On top of that, place the piece of fish, top with pesto or basil, thin slices of lemon and finally softer vegetables such as tomato, asparagus, etc. Finish with lemon juice.

5.     Fold foil packet closed and seal by rolling the seam together. You want to trap the steam in with the fish.

6.     Set on a cookie sheet in case of leaks and bake for 20 minutes. Add five minutes if you included vegetables, which slightly slows the cooking process. Also thin tail fillets will cook faster than thicker mid-fillets by a few minutes. You can slip an instant read thermometer in through the foil, the fish should be 130-145° F. (Many chefs say the lower temperature, USDA says the upper. We like the flakiness at the upper range.)

7.     Let sit for 5 minutes in foil packet. Serve with rice topped with a few spoons of the released juices, or just with the veggies.

Recipe (printable PDF)