RECIPE #5: New Zealand Broiled Orange Roughy
Kee-rist, I barely had time to sneak this one in. I literally had to schedule this evening to make recipe numero cinco, today being the last day of May. Social butterfly, hell; I feel more like a big fat hairy hummingbird. Seriously, for the past few weeks, it has been go, go, go, every day from morning until night. It's good that gas prices are going down a little. I really need to invite people over more, or to start making fakey excuses, or something. Not that I haven't enjoyed most of my free time, but I can barely remember what it was like to stay in for the evening (or afternoon). I didn't even have time to post this thing I wrote about "Spider-Man 4" back when "Spider-Man 3" opened. How am I supposed to relax when I'm constantly hopping off to this or that?
Yet, conversely, if I was sitting on my curiously flat rump at home, I wouldn't have had the chance to experience "Brand Upon the Brain!" with the astounding live soundtrack, or to take in Emperor's first Chicago show since 1999, or to enjoy the most action-packed and freaking amazing Memorial Day weekend I've had in years. I even managed to finish "The Dark Tower" the other day. I'm busy as shit, but things are very good. As the great Kool Keith once put it, "How you gonna flex with Domino's Pizza in your living room?" And speaking of dining at home...
Thinking ahead, I bought a buncha orange roughy a while ago, simply because I remembered grilling it once and enjoying it immensely. Not owning a grill, I needed a recipe that worked in my kitchen. A lot of those that I found online sounded pretty gross - especially those involving dousing the suckers with canned soup - or went the rote "soak them in lemon butter" route. I wanted something cooler than that, but being short on time, I couldn't do something too elaborate. So, I decided on this one, which at least required several phases of preparation, looked tasty and vaguely healthy to boot. Since I was only cooking for myself this time, I halved the recipe and still had leftovers. I'm not too big on leftover fish, but I'll suck it up. As for whether the recipe is authentically Kiwi of origin or whether the recipe's title simply points out that orange roughy is often identified with New Zealand, I'm sure only Zoë Bell knows for sure.
I technically began yesterday by sticking three roughy filets in the fridge to defrost before I rolled out to meet Ephemera Jones for the Emperor show. Today, I moved the fishies to a glass baking dish. For the marinade, I combined a tablespoon of filtered water, 1/2 teaspoon of peeled and minced ginger, 1/4 teaspoon of store brand soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice and what I estimated to be 1/8 teaspoon of crushed red pepper that I had left over from a pizza order - I had to eyeball half of a 1/4 teaspoon, since that's the smallest measuring spoon I own. I also had to do without the blender the instructions call for, since such a device is not in my arsenal yet. Instead, the wire whisk gave the yellowish mixture a good thrashing. The marinade went over the roughy filets, I covered them and stuck them in the fridge for two hours.
While the fish soaked up the juice, I did some dishes, burned some white sage, finished listening to the fantastic Anathema bootleg I started yesterday and bopped along with The Pipettes' awesome We Are The Pipettes, drank some water and worked on this post. The recipe called for sesame seeds that were toasted but did not specify how to make them so. Do they sell pre-toasted sesame seeds? I decided to spread a tablespoon of the little bastards evenly over the surface of a broiler pan and subject them to the broiler's fiery wrath for a few minutes. As soon as they started to sizzle, I yanked the pan out and gave it a good shake before sticking it back in for another minute or so. This improvisation worked like magic, and I imagine I'll be toasting sesame seeds for things all the time now.
Anyway, next I sprinkled the toasted seeds over the marinated seafood. The fish went into the broiler pan (now doused with Pam), then right under the broiler. "Don't overcook!" emphasizes the recipe, so I watched them shits obsessively. The specified cooking time of 6 to 8 minutes worked fine for the thinnest filet, but the other two were thicker and needed to go back under the broiler for another couple of minutes before they were firm enough to eat. At first, I didn't taste the marinade at all, just the fish and the sesame. I wondered if I had made a mistake in halving the marinade ingredients. After several bites, however, the light aroma of citrus and ginger kicked in, as did the red pepper. It's a very pleasant flavor, and I got a little warm after eating due to the slight spiciness of the dish. The sesame seeds give it a nice bit of crunch. Served with some (microwaved) broccoli, this was a fine meal.
Seriously, I might be sick of hearing about them in a few months, but right now this album by The Pipettes is kicking my ass. If you like girl group oldies and can imagine how cool they would sound if delivered by cute young British indie chicks, this is totally for you. The whole damn thing is currently streaming at their site, so click that link and rock out, sucka. If you don't have a spare 33 minutes to listen, at least watch this video for "Pull Shapes," especially if you're a Russ Meyer fan:
Yet, conversely, if I was sitting on my curiously flat rump at home, I wouldn't have had the chance to experience "Brand Upon the Brain!" with the astounding live soundtrack, or to take in Emperor's first Chicago show since 1999, or to enjoy the most action-packed and freaking amazing Memorial Day weekend I've had in years. I even managed to finish "The Dark Tower" the other day. I'm busy as shit, but things are very good. As the great Kool Keith once put it, "How you gonna flex with Domino's Pizza in your living room?" And speaking of dining at home...
Thinking ahead, I bought a buncha orange roughy a while ago, simply because I remembered grilling it once and enjoying it immensely. Not owning a grill, I needed a recipe that worked in my kitchen. A lot of those that I found online sounded pretty gross - especially those involving dousing the suckers with canned soup - or went the rote "soak them in lemon butter" route. I wanted something cooler than that, but being short on time, I couldn't do something too elaborate. So, I decided on this one, which at least required several phases of preparation, looked tasty and vaguely healthy to boot. Since I was only cooking for myself this time, I halved the recipe and still had leftovers. I'm not too big on leftover fish, but I'll suck it up. As for whether the recipe is authentically Kiwi of origin or whether the recipe's title simply points out that orange roughy is often identified with New Zealand, I'm sure only Zoë Bell knows for sure.I technically began yesterday by sticking three roughy filets in the fridge to defrost before I rolled out to meet Ephemera Jones for the Emperor show. Today, I moved the fishies to a glass baking dish. For the marinade, I combined a tablespoon of filtered water, 1/2 teaspoon of peeled and minced ginger, 1/4 teaspoon of store brand soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice and what I estimated to be 1/8 teaspoon of crushed red pepper that I had left over from a pizza order - I had to eyeball half of a 1/4 teaspoon, since that's the smallest measuring spoon I own. I also had to do without the blender the instructions call for, since such a device is not in my arsenal yet. Instead, the wire whisk gave the yellowish mixture a good thrashing. The marinade went over the roughy filets, I covered them and stuck them in the fridge for two hours.
While the fish soaked up the juice, I did some dishes, burned some white sage, finished listening to the fantastic Anathema bootleg I started yesterday and bopped along with The Pipettes' awesome We Are The Pipettes, drank some water and worked on this post. The recipe called for sesame seeds that were toasted but did not specify how to make them so. Do they sell pre-toasted sesame seeds? I decided to spread a tablespoon of the little bastards evenly over the surface of a broiler pan and subject them to the broiler's fiery wrath for a few minutes. As soon as they started to sizzle, I yanked the pan out and gave it a good shake before sticking it back in for another minute or so. This improvisation worked like magic, and I imagine I'll be toasting sesame seeds for things all the time now.Anyway, next I sprinkled the toasted seeds over the marinated seafood. The fish went into the broiler pan (now doused with Pam), then right under the broiler. "Don't overcook!" emphasizes the recipe, so I watched them shits obsessively. The specified cooking time of 6 to 8 minutes worked fine for the thinnest filet, but the other two were thicker and needed to go back under the broiler for another couple of minutes before they were firm enough to eat. At first, I didn't taste the marinade at all, just the fish and the sesame. I wondered if I had made a mistake in halving the marinade ingredients. After several bites, however, the light aroma of citrus and ginger kicked in, as did the red pepper. It's a very pleasant flavor, and I got a little warm after eating due to the slight spiciness of the dish. The sesame seeds give it a nice bit of crunch. Served with some (microwaved) broccoli, this was a fine meal.
Seriously, I might be sick of hearing about them in a few months, but right now this album by The Pipettes is kicking my ass. If you like girl group oldies and can imagine how cool they would sound if delivered by cute young British indie chicks, this is totally for you. The whole damn thing is currently streaming at their site, so click that link and rock out, sucka. If you don't have a spare 33 minutes to listen, at least watch this video for "Pull Shapes," especially if you're a Russ Meyer fan:
posted by SoulReaper at 11:30 PM
2 comments
