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Recipe: Salsa-Simmered Fish — Recipe From The Kitchn

December 01, 2017

This dinner is a lesson in contrasting textures and flavors. Mild cod's flaky, fall-apart texture mingles with a bright and tangy tomato salsa's pleasing chunkiness in every bite. In just five minutes, the two join forces to create a simple, comforting dinner that is so much greater than the sum of its parts.

A 5-Minute Dinner You Can Make Your Own

A jar of salsa is more often thought of a snack with tortilla chips or a condiment for tacos than an ingredient in your kitchen. Let this recipe change that mentality. Here, salsa is used as both a flavorful poaching liquid and sauce for flaky white fish.

What's so great about this recipe is that it's really more of a template than a cut-and-dry formula. While tomato salsa is called for here, and I suggest you definitely try it first (a container of fresh salsa from the refrigerated section of your grocery store is particularly nice, but the jarred stuff won't fail you), you can then have fun experimenting with different types. Tomatillo salsa, chipotle salsa, or even mango or peach salsa would all work well. Pick your favorite and make this quick and easy recipe your own.

Salsa-Simmered Fish

Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 (1/2- to 3/4-inch thick) skinless cod fillets (6 ounces each)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
16 ounces tomato salsa (about 2 cups)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
Cooked rice, for serving (optional)

Heat the oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat until shimmering. Meanwhile, pat the fish dry with paper towels. Sprinkle evenly with the cumin, salt, and pepper on both sides. Place the fish in the pan and sear undisturbed for 1 minute. Carefully flip with a flat spatula and sear for 1 minute more. Transfer to a plate and set aside (the fish will not be cooked through at this point).

Add the garlic to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the vinegar and use a wooden spoon to scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the salsa.

Return the cod fillets and any accumulated juices to the pan. Simmer uncovered until the fish is opaque and just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes.

If using rice, place in 4 shallow bowls. Place a piece of fish in each bowl and spoon the salsa around it. Sprinkle with the oregano and serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

Fish substitutions: Any firm-fleshed white fish, like halibut, sea bass, or tilapia, can be used in this recipe.
Storage: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

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These Potato Skin Egg Boats Will Make You a Breakfast Hero — Delicious Links

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Special Sauce: Bill Yosses on White House Dirt and Fake News

December 01, 2017

20171108-Bill-Yosses-Mr.-Yoshi-Kametani.jpg

[Photograph: Mr. Yoshi Kametani. Apple pie photograph: Vicky Wasik]

If you interview someone like Bill Yosses, who was the White House pastry chef for George W. Bush and Barack Obama, you hope and pray that you can shake loose some dirt to titillate your listeners. But when you listen to part 2 of my interview with the ever thoughtful Bill, the only dirt he dishes is about actual dirt, as in the soil in the White House Garden.

Here's Bill on the cruel honeymoon that every garden has in its first year: "It [gardening] is addictive. You get your first year free. You go and you turn over the dirt, and you plant a bunch of things. They come up. It's beautiful. It's magic. But the reason is the pests haven't discovered you yet. The fungus, the bacteria, the pests, the nematodes, I don't know what they are, but they don't know you're there. They don't care. All that was there before was just dirt and grass. They're just trying to get you hooked on gardening. Then the next year, all chaos breaks out. There are monsters everywhere." It turns out that pests don't regard the White House lawn as off-limits, and even the Secret Service can't stop them from doing their thing.

Bill also lays to rest the rumor that he left his gig at the White House because of a disagreement with Michelle Obama. That turns out to be an actual example of fake news. "That whole thing came about because Marian Burros, a great writer, started her story out with a line, "Bill left the White House because of Mrs. Obama" in the Times. She announced that I was resigning. The next line was, "He was so inspired by her Let's Move initiative that he wanted to have greater impact outside the White House."

Bill returns to President Obama's fondness for pie for his next presidential dish on the podcast: "At the end of 100 days, there's a press conference. That is where all the press come in and they grill the President about, 'Well, this is the 100 day mark. Now, what have you accomplished?' One of the questions was, 'What was the most enchanting thing about your first 100 days at the White House?' I saw him later that day and he said, 'Bill, I swear to God. I was tempted to say the pastry chef.' But he said, 'I knew I'd have to call a second press conference if I said that.'"

I think we hit many a sweet spot with this episode, which is only fitting given the title of Bill's new book, The Sweet Spot: Dialing Back Sugar and Amping Up Flavor.

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