Hook Em and Cook Em April Submissions

[dmrides]

Like most any fish, if properly taken care of after the catch rockfish is delicious; it is delicate and soaks up flavors really well. I treat my rockfish just like I treat a prize yellowtail. I bleed them immediately, keep them out of the sun and ice them for at least 24 hours before I filet them. You might think this is overkill for rockfish, but trust me if you give it a try, you will be surprised by the results. Plus you get cleaner filets with no blood.

Anyway, this load of reds and flag fish was winched up during the Rockfish Derby. My on the water shot is not very good, but since it is required for the submission, here it is…





For the most part, fishing was slow but eventually I found the right honey hole and limited out with some decent sized fish. Enough to donate some for the fish fry and still take home enough for 3 good meals with family and friends.

First was baked filets topped with avocado and tomatoes with a side of Mexican green beans.
*Sprinkle some good sea salt, fresh ground pepper and chili powder on the filets. I put the filets on a grilling rack on a cookie sheet and bake it at 450 for about 10 minutes.
*For the tomatoes, slice up some grape tomatoes, cilantro, sweet onion, jalapenos and squeeze in some lime juice. Add seasoning to taste and mix.
*Cut the green beans into 1.5� segments and sauté with diced onions, and garlic. Remove from pan and combine with cilantro, sea salt and lime juice.
*Lay the baked filets on a plate, top with sliced avocado and tomatoes, toss some green beans next to the fish, some rice if you want and there you have it!





Second was grilled filets topped with lemon, rosemary and shallots with broccoli and rice.
*Lay the filets out on tin foil (if you left the skin on, you don’t need the tin foil), sprinkle with some good sea salt, fresh ground pepper, then add thinly sliced shallots, lemons and rosemary. Get the grill really hot and place the fish off the flames and cook using indirect heat.
*Get some nice broccoli florets from the farmers market and sauté with shallots.
* I like to remove the lemons and rosemary that was on the grill before I serve it.





And finally, the grilled whole flag fish; no matter how you prepare it, this is so damn good it is not even funny. If you have never grilled whole rockfish, you have to give it a try, especially the flag fish.
*Melt butter and stir in fresh chopped parsley, lemon zest and salt.
*Heat the grill up really hot.
*Score the fish, scale it if you want and then spread butter mixture inside the fish and put olive oil on the skin so it doesn’t stick to the grill. I like to add salt and pepper to the skin as well.
*Cook fish on indirect heat, turning once. It takes about 15-25 minutes depending on the size of the fish.
*If by chance you have some Hamachi Kama lying around, you can prepare it the same way.
*I like to grill some garlic bread to go along with this as well.





Well, that's it, the fish is gone. Rockfish three ways and no tacos!

[StinkyMatt]

Rockfish look good........the presentation IS important...nice job DM.

[William Novotny]

Being blessed with an abundance of quality rockfish this season, I've had my fill of tacos. Time to think outside the box and get a little creative.

First the on the water shot.......

this is from a few months back but it will come into play today as well.......

My recipe is an Apple smoked rockfish bisque.

Let's start this recipe off chronologically with the stock. This was made by boiling down the remains along with some vegetables, after a delicious lobster dinner.

Ok, freeze that stock in a freezer bag and jump to today. Actually last night. The first step to a good smoked fish is a good brine. For mine I used a quart of apple juice, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup seasalt, pressed garlic, Black pepper, crush red pepper, paprika and a dash of worchestershire sauce.


Mix all ingredients in a Tupper ware and completely submerge your filet over night. About 12 hours tops. Remove from brine and pat dry with a paper towel. Hang filets on smoking racks and let dry at room temp for 1 hour till tacky to the touch.

I like smoking fish with applewood. I like a more mild sweeter flavor but feel free to use whatever flavor fuel you prefer. For this recipe I soaked my applewood for a half hour in apple juice.


I use an electric smoker and like to preheat and get the smoke going about a half hour before adding the fish.

fast forward 2 hours......Delicious, smokey goodness.

Now for the bisque. This is a basic recipe I've been using that is very easy to make and remember.

Ingredients:
NT1/4 cup butter
(1/2 stick)
1 cups thinly sliced leeks
1/2 chopped yellow onion
1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
1 Tbsp minced garlic
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 quart lobster stock
1 pound smoked rockfish
2 cups stewed tomatoes
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 cup cream
1 cup milk
Pinch black pepper
Pinch crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning (optional)
Salt to taste


melt butter in medium stock pot on medium heat then add your leaks, onion and mushrooms. Simmer till onions turn clear.

Add tomatoes, herbs, fish, lobster stock and seasonings. Reduce heat and simmer on low to evenly heat all ingredients.


In a separate bowl mix your flour, milk and cream.

Wisk until evenly mixed. Add flour mixture to stock pot.

Simmer for another 5 minutes then kill the heat. A good immersion blender is handy to puree your bisque but I used the good old stand up blender.

Return the bisque to the stock pot on low heat to keep warm while prepping your bowl and garnish.


Dress it up with a few crumbles of smoked rockfish, a sprig of dill, some black pepper and voilÃX! Your favorite chardonnay and you're good to go.

sorry for the long winded post. Hope you enjoyed it!


Note: if you want some texture and are into more of a chowder, you can reserve a portion of it before blending then add it back in, or skip the blending all together.

[octico]

Damn that looks good Will. Gonna give that a try next time out.

[jsunmkly]

Awesome recipe! Thanks, William!

[WCW Moderator]

ust have 1 photo showing what you harvested, also must show at least a part of your kayak.

Sorry but............There are 2 DQ, unless you can fix em. ChristLike and Road X

[roadx]

Originally Posted by WCW Moderator

Sorry but............There are 2 DQ, unless you can fix em. ChristLike and Road X

rules are rules! maybe next time I'll have a picture including the kayak.
some good entry's to compete with. good luck