Parmesan Crumbed Trevally
I like to experiment with the flavors and techniques of different cuisines. It's during these experiments that I come up with dishes like this. I struggle to really put my finger on where this is meant to come from. Perhaps the lightest touch of a frying pan and sashimi-like nature of the fish, or the cous cous in a fritter, which feels like a mix of something very Kiwi, with something Moroccan, or the salad, which has hints of Japanese, with a nudge of the Caribbean. It's hard to define where a lot of this sits. But that's what I love about cooking: the collection and amalgamation of ideas.
Tools
Frying Pan
Cast Iron Pan
Mixing Bowl x3
Cling Film
Sharp Knife
Microplane
Oven
Grater
Kettle
Wax Paper
Master List of Ingredients
1 Cup of Cous Cous
Water
Olive Oil
1 Fresh Beetroot, Peeled and Grated.
2 Eggs
3 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1 Apple - juilenned
3 Radishes - juilenned
3 Stalks of Fresh Coriander - minced
A small bunch of Italian Parsley - minced with the coriander
2 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp Lime Juice
2 Fillets of Trevally - room temp - keep this covered an out of the
1 Cup Bread Crumbs
50 grams Microplaned Parmesan
2 tsp Smoked Paprika
Flour
1 Egg
Milk
4 Mushrooms
Salt
Pepper
Butter
For todays recipe, I'm going to break it up into components, in the order in which they should be made.
For the Fritter you'll need...
1 Cup of Cous Cous
Water
Olive Oil
1 Fresh Beetroot, Peeled and Grated.
2 Eggs
3 Garlic Cloves, Minced
Salt
Pepper
Butter
Preheat your oven to 190 C.
Pour the cous cous into a bowl. Add a lug of oil and a teaspoon of salt. Stir it in a little bit.
Boil water in the kettle. Add 1 cup of boiling water to the cous cous, cover with cling film and set aside for 3-4 minutes.
After this time has elapsed, remove cling film and fluff it up with a fork.
Let it cool for a couple more minutes. Add pepper, eggs and garlic, and mix thoroughly.
Add the grated beetroot to this mixture. Mix it in and it'll turn bright red.
Usually at this point, I taste it. It might need a whack of salt or pepper. But you should have a punch of garlic and a sweet touch of beetroot.
Turn a cast iron frying pan to medium heat. When it is at temperature, butter it generously and scrape the mixture in. With a wooden spoon or other similar instrument, form the mixture into a loaf, and make sure it's compact.
Crisp up the bottom for five minutes on medium heat, then put it in the oven.
Moving onto the salad:
For the Salad you'll need..
1 Apple - juilenned
3 Radishes - juilenned
3 Stalks of Fresh Coriander - minced
A small bunch of Italian Parsley - minced with the coriander
2 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp Lime Juice
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Mix all of the vegetables together, then add the vinegar and lime juice. Salt and Pepper, drizzle with olive oil. Set aside for serving.
Finally, onto the fish:
For the Fish you'll need...
2 Fillets of Trevally - room temp - keep this covered an out of the
1 Cup Bread Crumbs
50 grams Microplaned Parmesan
2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp cracked Black Pepper
Flour
1 Egg
Milk
4 Mushrooms
Butter
Wash the fish and make sure there are no stray scales.
In a bowl, whisk the egg and a splash of milk until well combined.
In a separate bowl, mix the crumbs, parmesan, paprika, salt and black pepper.
Spread a 1/4 cup of flour across the wax paper.
Roll the fish in the flour. Move it from the flour to the egg and make sure it's well covered. Let it drip off a bit before coating it in the parmesan crumb. Press the crumb in - really make sure you've got as much as you can get on there on there! Do this with both fillets.
Heat the frying pan up till it's hot. Like, HOT. Throw the mushroom in, and dollop half a teaspoon of butter in the pan. If adequately hot, it'll quickly melt and bubble. Before the butter starts to brown, put your fish fillet in and sear it for thirty seconds, each side. Add Half the amount of butter for the other side, and sear for thirty seconds as well. It will go golden. Take it out, an set aside.
To Serve, take the baked cous cous from the the oven. Remove from the pan and slice into wedges. Serve with an heap of salad and slices of fish and mushrooms. Add a dollop of creme fraiche on top to calm down the acids and tie everything in.
Enjoy!
