Special guest recipe from my brother Steve…
Okay, this is essentially a 5-part recipe: the fish, the sauce, the capers, the vegetables, and the rice. I am going to list them in the order in which they should be prepared based on how long each takes; in other words, they are listed in the order of longest to shortest preparation + cooking time (the time indicated is for both).
1) Vegetables (about 50 minutes)
Preheat over to 400 degrees. Get one of those glass cake dishes that measure about 8” by 15” and grease it up with a little Pam. Get some of your favorite (raw) vegetables. I love to put in the following: brussel sprouts (cut in half), carrots (cut into about 1” pieces), onion (either ½ or a whole red, yellow, or white), bell pepper (usually 1), broccoli, cauliflower, garlic, and asparagus. Obviously, you don’t have to do this much. What I love to do is go to Trader Joe’s and get those bags of vegetables: there’s one with brussel sprouts, one with broccoli, and many others.
Season the vegetables with some salt, pepper, and any other herbs you want. Drizzle some olive oil over it. I also like to drizzle a light Italian dressing over it.
Cook for about 40-45 minutes (maybe less on your guys’ ovens). About 2/3 of the way through, mix it up and check to see if it’s seasoned enough, adding more dressing or spices if necessary.
2) Rice (about 25 minutes – on the stove)
I like white, but I bet wild would be awesome.
3) Sauce (about 20 minutes)
This is a great non-dairy picata cream sauce that I’m still perfecting, though it’s getting there. In a big sauce pan, start melting some butter (I like using Smart Balance), and add about a clove of minced garlic. Meanwhile, soften (nearly melt) some butter in a bowl, and mix it very well with about a table spoon of flour. You want it mixed really well and pretty fluid when you add it to the sauce pan so that lumps don’t form. Next, add about 2-3 tablespoons of both lemon juice and white wine (note: if you ever have white wine that’s gone bad, keep it in the fridge, because you can still use it for something like this… I think the heat evaporates whatever’s gone “bad” and the flavor is still there). Keep stirring this so that it doesn’t crust over. Add a little non-dairy (or dairy) milk (soy, rice, Lactaid, or regular). Note: the flour is meant to provide the thickening that heavy cream usually takes care of, so, if you want to use that, you can by-pass the flour. Throw in some salt and dill and add lemon juice and wine to taste (or butter if it needs to be thicker). But, keep in mind that a thin sauce is still good; I just like it thick. Cook this slowly on low heat. Keep it on the lowest setting, checking it every once in awhile. But in the meantime, turn to the capers and fish…
4) Capers (10 minutes)
These are what inspired the recipe in the first place. I went to a restaurant (Max’s, down by Union Square) and got Petrale Sole and they served it with these fried capers that were just incredible. I haven’t completely perfected them, but just a few pointers…
Use extra big capers and rinse them off before you use them (otherwise they will be too salty): soak them for awhile and/or put them in a colander and run cold water through them.
Heat a good amount of olive oil in a pan. Here’s the scary part: it needs to be pretty hot, but not TOO hot. The last time I put them in there was a mini explosion of oil. It’s mainly just a pain in the ass to clean up. So, heat the only on medium-high or so, and make sure it’s not smoking. Gently dump the rinsed capers in while keeping your face (and any clothing that you value) out of harm’s way. Good luck!
They’re gonna cook fast – maybe 3 minutes. You want them pretty crispy, though definitely not burned. When they’re done, remove from heat and dump them back in the colander (probably should use a mettle one), and leave them in the sink to drain.
5) The Sole (10 minutes)
You kinda do this and the capers concurrently. I recommend the sole you can get frozen from TJ’s – only about $5 for about 7-8 fillets! Defrost it: leave it in the fridge for about a day, or leave it on the counter for about 6 hours. Remove and place on some paper towels so as to dry off the thawed fish water (eeeewe). Season both sides: you can just do salt and pepper, but I like doing pepper, dill, and a LITTLE bit of celery seed (not too much as this is a bitter spice, but it adds a nice complexity to the flavor).
Heat some olive oil on medium to medium-high heat (keep in mind that I have an electric stove – lame). After the oil heats up, gently place the fillets in. You want them to just get slightly golden on each side – usually about 3 minutes per side (a little shorter for the second side). It sticks very easily to the pan, and is an extremely fragile fish, so use your best non-stick pan. But, even if it breaks, it still tastes the same – it’s just a little less cool looking.
When the fish is done, place a couple fillets on a plate. Throw some capers on top. Dish out some rice and vegetables next to it, and pour some sauce over the fish and rice (if you want). Enjoy!!
This is basically good on everything you might grill or put in the oven. You can just dust it on and cook right away, but the longer you let the rub “marinate” the meat before you cook it, the better:
I typically buy all the ingredients for this pizza from Trader Joe’s so I’ll list the specific products I buy there, but just about everything is substitutable if desired.
