Best Restaurant Fish Recipe

I heard this on NPR and finally made it. I apologize that I cannot remember the name of the chefs being interviewed but there were more than one – and they all shared the same best method for cooking a simple piece of fish. One added an ingredient I had never heard of before, but it was easily found and now I use it often!

 

Restaurant Halibut RecipeMake sure the grill or pan is well oiled and really hot before you put the fish on it.

 

Let the fish form a nice crust before you flip it over to cook the other side (about 3-4 minutes depending upon the thickness of the fish).

 

Then, top simply with:

 

  • a drizzle of a nice green fruity olive oil
  • a splash of some type of fresh citrus juice (like lemon, grapefruit or lime).
  • salt and pepper  
  • a sprinkling of fennel pollen (available at food specialty stores or online).

 

I purchased a tin of fennel pollen online. (I also add it to my spaghetti sauce now instead of having to grind up my fennel seeds to add a touch of licorice flavor.) I like to serve fish with the Muhammara Dip I recently discovered on the side. Enjoy!

Deconstructed One-Pot Roasted Chicken with Vegetables

I just discovered that I prefer to roast a chicken after it’s been cut up by someone else other than me. Why? It’s just easier. Roast the vegetables together with the chicken.

Roast Fryer with Vegetables in one pan.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Fryer
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Brussel Sprouts
  • Carrots, cleaned and sliced in half
  • Potatoes, rinsed and sliced into large chunks
  • Fennel, cut into chunks
  • Garlic Cloves, peeled and left whole

 

Put all in a roasting pan or a paella dish. Brush or rub with oil (I used coconut oil) , salt and pepper and herbs.

 

Roast at 400 for 65-80 minutes depending upon how crispy and done you prefer your chicken and vegetables. This is now a go-to, one-pot dish in the Gibbs household. So easy and delicious. 

No need to roast a chicken whole.

No need to roast a chicken whole.

 

Madame Wong’s Chinese Lemon Chicken – my easy healthier recipe

Lemony, tangy, & sweet Chinese Lemon Chicken Recipe.

Lemony, tangy, & sweet Chinese Lemon Chicken Recipe.

My daughter loves Chinese Food that’s a little sweet like Orange Chicken, Lemon Chicken and the sweet Walnut Shrimp at Panda Express (I think I might be able to eat an entire bucket of those). This is my version of Madame Wong’s traditional Lemon Chicken but instead of using a flour batter and frying the chicken, I bread it in rice flour ( so it’s gluten free ) and then I bake it in the oven drizzled with a little coconut oil. I use this method to bake chicken now all the time – even when I’m not smothering it with a delicious, lemony, sweet and tangy sauce. This lemon sauce recipe is amazingly easy to make and you could also use it on pork or even on vegetables if you’re a vegetarian. 

 

Ingredients:

 

  • 2 to 4 Boneless, Skinless, Chicken Breasts, cut into scallops at an angle
  • Sweet Rice Flour (you can buy at any Asian market)
  • Coconut Oil (or any other type of cooking oil)

 

Slice the chicken into thinner, smaller pieces by cutting the breasts on a diagonal. ( Or, you could pound if you’d like. )

 

Drizzle oil on top before baking the rice flour covered chicken.

Drizzle oil on top before baking the rice flour covered chicken.

Place in a casserole dish and add enough rice flour (and a little salt and pepper) to cover the pieces entirely. Use your hands to move the chicken pieces around until they are covered completely with the rice flour. Shake the remaining flour out of the dish if there’s too much remaining. Drizzle the oil on top of the chicken and turn it over and drizzle it again so it’s mostly covered. 

 

 

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes or until the chicken is slightly brown and cooked through. Meanwhile, make the sauce. 

 

Lemon Juice, Zest, Sugar.

Lemon Juice, Zest, Sugar.

 

 

Sauce Ingredients:

 

  • Grated lemon rind from 1-2 Lemons (always grate when lemons are dry).
  • 3/4 – 1 Cup Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice 
  • 1/2 Cup Sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch mixed in 1 Tablespoon of Water
  • 1 Egg Yolk (alternatively, you can increase the cornstarch in the recipe, but the egg makes a lovely sheen in the sauce).

 

Place the lemon zest, juice and sugar in a pan and heat on low until sugar melts.

 

Add the cornstarch and egg mixture to thicken.

Add the cornstarch and egg mixture to thicken.

Add the egg to the cornstach and whisk together, then whisk the mixture into the lemon sauce slowly. The mixture will thicken. Strain (if you have to still remove the lemon seeds). Pour over the chicken.