Fish On The Run

We had great plans for our Local Catch Monterey Bay share this week, which consisted of rockfish, either vermilion or yellowtail, I'm not sure which--the fillets came in a plastic bag in an ice chest, and maybe I missed it, but I didn't really see a specific label. The fillets looked vaguely reddish as opposed to yellow, so we'll just say it was vermilion rockfish. Oh well.

In any case, we were going to cook it in a complicated fashion and serve with rice and a nice chardonnay that we got for free when Marina and her sister toured a winery recently as a potential wedding venue--who said that getting married didn't come with perks?

As it turned out, we served it as part of a scramble, by which I don't mean we mixed it in with eggs. Marina had been out of town on Tuesday, and I was working late Wednesday through Friday, so Saturday was our last option to eat the fish before Marina left town again, and we were having her family over for Thai food. We decided to saute the fish to share with Marina's sister and brother-in-law; Marina's mother had recently had an unfortunate fish encounter, so did not wish to partake.

Local Catch Monterey Bay provides great recipes; I had no time for recipes, as things happened rapidly, as they often do in our fast-paced, high-pressure, glamorous kitchen on Woodrow Avenue. As everyone savored spring rolls and beer, I squeezed two lemons freshly plucked from the backyard lemon tree, whacked at a clove of garlic until it was a collection of smaller bits of garlic, and tossed the garlic into a heated pan with olive oil, and then I tossed in the fillets. Well, I didn't so much toss as carefully place.



I poured half the lemon juice over the fish, added some salt, and let it fry for a few minutes. I wasn't sure how long to cook the fish, as I wanted to make sure that no one died on my (Seafood) Watch.

After a few minutes, I judged things were ready to flip, so I did.



I added the rest of the lemon juice, some more salt, and let it fry for a few more minutes. I was worried about overcooking, and I was worried about undercooking. In the end, I might have overcooked it a bit, as when I tested the fish to see if it was starting to flake, it kind of all dissolved into chunks.



Fortunately, even if it wasn't attractive, it still tasted okay, although not as flavorful as I would have liked. In retrospect, I should have sauteed the garlic a little longer, or added some more fennel or butter. Still, it wasn't bad for a last minute fish fry.

What secrets do you have for cooking fish and making it flavorful while retaining cohesion?