The definitive cookbook about cooking fish

 

I love to cook. I might not qualify as a gourmet cook or chef, but I personally think I am good as a basic cook. Also, another fact about me is that I love fish and shellfish. This probably goes back to my childhood as a first generation American with eastern European parents.  Europeans LOVE fish.  I grew up on herring, sardines, smelt and other delicacies in the fish family and I eat seafood constantly.

 

But when it comes to cooking fish, well, even I am a little daunted. I am great with a can of tuna for tuna salad, tuna casserole and patty melts.  I can open a bag of imitation crab or shrimp and put it on a salad. But to actually prepare the fish dishes I love is something I seldom attempt and I just rather leave to the “professionals.”

 

But now, thanks to Chef Rick Moonen and writer-editor Roy Finamore, “Fish Without A Doubt” (Houghton Mifflin Company, $35.00, hardcover, with both black and white and full color photographs) is here and if you can use a stove and oven, you can follow this cookbook and make some amazing, healthy meals.  

 

Rick Moonen is best known as the chef-owner of RM Seafood in Las Vegas and in New York, RM Seafood, Oceana and Molyvos. Roy Finamore is a James Beard Award-winning author and editor and has been an editor for Martha Stewart, Ina Garten and Diane Kennedy. Chef Moonen and Finamore are both down-to-earth men and this book was written for the home cook. In fact, Moonen relates the story of how Finamore made him test the recipes in a small kitchen in New York City.  If the dish can be prepared in a kitchen where you can touch the walls with outstretched arms, it can be prepared by anyone in any kitchen.

 

It begins with "The Basics," including advice for buying seafood, how to store fish and shellfish, equipment and spices to keep on hand, with photos illustrating how to clean mussels, shuck clams, clean and skin fish, and how to cook fish in parchment paper that makes it as easy as wrapping food. There's the “Fish 101” on all the fish and shellfish in the book including what to expect in flavor, numerous buying tips and how to cook the fish and shellfish.

 

There are over 250 recipes, 40 full color photos, and over 90 black and white photos, all organized into 15 chapters with techniques and tips to make cooking fish one of the easiest tasks you will ever do. Here is a good example.  When sautéing a fillet, dust one side with flour, either with or without the skin depending on your preference and then season both sides.  Cook the floured side first on high heat in a little oil (about a tablespoon) for about three minutes, basting the fish with melted butter, and then turn it over.  Turn off the heat but let the fish sit in the pan for about 30 more seconds. It doesn’t get any easier than that and you can use this method in a number of recipes throughout the book. 

 

There are chapters on rice or pasta and fish, salsas and relishes to go on fish, sauces, vinaigrettes and spices to compliment fish, and side dishes to pair with fish.   There is even a chapter on what Chef Moonen and Finamore call “Some helpful techniques and building block recipes” to explain creating vegetable stock; cleaning leeks; peeling, mincing and grating ginger and using citrus.

 

If you are cooking in a galley kitchen (i.e. a small kitchen), the book includes a chapter on broiling, recipes for stovetop grilling, and advice for getting fish smells out of kitchens (or entire living spaces).  Every recipe includes "Accept Substitutions" which is a list of other fish or shellfish that can be used in case you either can't find or don't like that particular fish featured in the recipe.

 

I will give you two recipes so you can see what a great cookbook this is to change our lives by eating healthy and also honor the earth with sustainable food.

 

Since I mentioned my expertise with a can of tuna, Chef Moonen and Finamore show that they TOO cook with a can of tuna.  WOW. The wording in the recipe is from the book word for word.

 

Linguine with Tuna Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients

1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 anchovy fillets, chopped

1 (6-oz) can tuna packed in olive oil, drained

1 (28-oz) can plum tomatoes in juice, pureed in a blender or food processor

1/4 tsp cayenne or a pinch of crushed red pepper

Coarse salt

3/4 pound linguine

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, plus additional for garnish (optional)

 

Instructions

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 cup olive oil and the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the anchovies and cook, stirring, until they start to fall apart. This, too, will take just a minute or two. Add the tuna and cook, stirring to break up the tuna, for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cayenne or crushed red pepper and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat so the sauce is at an active simmer.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta until it's just shy of being al dente. Scoop out about 1 cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta and toss it with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Add the parsley and pasta to the sauce. Toss, still over the heat, for about 1 minute, adding some pasta water if the sauce is too tight.

Serve right away, with some chopped parsley on top if you'd like.

Variations

If you want to be bold, reconstitute some sun-dried tomatoes, chop them, and add with the tomato puree. Or add some drained capers along with the parsley. Or both.

Notes

I actually love this cold too, when the pasta has really absorbed the sauce. You might want to make the dish a day ahead, let it cool and refrigerate it, then serve it as a pasta salad. Just toss it well.

 

Fish Without a Doubt: The Cook's Essential Companion

First Edition

By Roy Finamore; Rick Moonen

ISBN-13/EAN: 9780618531196; $35.00

ISBN-10: 061853119X

Hardcover; 448 pages

Available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, and other major book stores. It is also a Gourmet Cook Book Club Selection

 

Photographs By Romulo Yanes