Whole fish with pesto

I made pesto several weeks ago and it continues to delight today. Look at this beautiful whole fresh fish we grilled with the pesto.

In our neighborhood we have an Asian market that I discovered one day completely by accident. I've only been living in the area for 8 years and never knew it was there. Ever since finding it I have made special trips there to walk around the isles and look at all the unusual ingredients. Unusual to me that is. I don't do much Asian style cooking so seeing isles of food items that I have never used is a new and exciting adventure. They have an entire isle of noodles!

They have a fresh fish section that was somewhat intimidating the first time I was there. All those fish heads. Yikes! I usually buy my fish filleted so seeing all the whole fish was somewhat startling....for a brief moment. The store has a long counter packed with ice and whole fresh fish. Then there are the tanks of crab and lobster and clams. Yum. And sushi type fish like salmon and tuna which is outstanding along with lots of other fishy things I have no idea what to do with. I'm not a sushi maker, seems like way to much trouble to me, when I can walk into a sushi bar and have it prepared right before my eyes. But the freshness of the fish and the quality is something you do not find every day. After many months of visiting this store I have learned how to maneuver and have purchased fresh fish several times each time enjoying it so much that I want to go back for more. I think its hard for most of us to get fish into our diets so when you find a market like this that is convenient and good it makes it that much easier.

For this recipe I buy the whole fresh fish cleaned by the fish monger. My husband is the grill master so he is in charge of preparing and cooking it. He brushed it with olive oil, squeezed on some lemon, brushed it inside and out with the pesto, then grilled it. When it came off the grill he brushed it with more pesto while still hot.

Sometimes he will stuff it with some lemon slices, garlic and rosemary. This imparts a wonderful flavor to the fish.

This is another example of the pleasure of making the pesto recipe and incorporating fresh fish into your diet.

Healthy eating!

Tomato caper sauce

My daughter is a health nut and she recently inspired me to try and make healthier meals for my husband and myself. I decided I would make a sauce, well not really a sauce, a compote maybe, but it had to have lots of flavor because I am trying to eat more fish. I love fish I just don't know how to cook it very well. And I get bored easily so I need different recipes. I can't make the same thing over and over. I need lots of variety.

This combination of flavors was perfect for us and with the fish it was deeelish!

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
White Onion
Garlic, minced
White wine
Tomatoes, grape in this case
Capers
Salt
Pepper


Have I mentioned that one of the things about me is that I really don't measure when I cook. I only measure when I bake, as it is critical then. But cooking everyday food for my husband, even friends, I just add stuff. I add what I think looks right. The proportions need to be right and when you have been cooking for some time you just know how much to put in. This irritates my friends to no end because if they ask me for a recipe I often cannot tell them, or have to guess, the amounts of each ingredient. This is one of those recipes. I guess maybe it really is not a recipe if I don't have exact amounts uh? Hey listen, cooking is not an exact science all the time.

Anyway.....here is what I did. I took a copper skillet, cause I like the heat, heated it slightly and added the olive oil, maybe a couple of tablespoons. To that I added one sliced white onion and I cooked it on a somewhat low heat because I wanted the onions to cook slightly but still retain they shape. I added a couple cloves of minced garlic and gave that only a few seconds so it would not burn. I then added some white wine, honestly, enough to kinda cover what is in the pan, and I allowed that to simmer until evaporated. Add grape tomatoes that have been cut in half and cook until they are soft but still hold together. Next comes and capers, salt and pepper. And it is done. If you wanted you could add some kalamata olives, but I love capers and wanted to keep it the way it was.

You could use this on many types of fish, swordfish, halibut, any firm white fish. My husband grilled two swordfish steak, simply brushed with olive oil. We spooned the sauce over top and we were very pleased. It was yummy. With the fish I made a couscous. While grilling the fish we threw on a red bell pepper. I chopped up the red pepper and added it to the couscous and that was served with the fish. A nice little healthy simple fast meal.

I think my daughter would be proud.

Pesto

Pesto is gorgeous! Its beautiful to look at and very flavorful.


Pesto is traditionally made with basil, nuts, cheese, and olive oil. But have you ever tried making pesto with something other than basil? Think about it. Using another type of fresh green such as chard, spinach, arugula, and of course other herbs, like parsley, can add a different flavor. It adds a healthy component to the dish. You get the added benefit of the ingredients and it is easy to prepare.


In addition you don't always have to use pine nuts in pesto. Try another type of nut. I used walnuts because they are my favorite for the omega 3 qualities.

Cheese....once again Parmesan, asigo or pecorino?

This is the recipe I ended up using:
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 garlic cloves
2 cups asigo cheese, grated
1 handful spinach
1 handful arugula
2 tbsp kosher salt

1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

1/2 to 1 cup olive oil

Everything goes into a food processor. Dump it in, pulse it until you get it to the consistency you want, add a little oil thru the feed tube, and you have pesto.

This recipe makes a lot of pesto. If you don't want to have that much left over I suggest cutting it in half.

Lets talk leftovers. We had meals centered around pesto for the next few days.

Panini sandwiches are great ways to use up leftover pesto. Spread it on the bread and then add your filling of choice, could be some sliced turkey and cheese or grilled vegies. The flavor of the pesto on a grilled panini sandwich is wonderful.

Tomato sandwiches.....multi grain bread, pesto, mayo and sliced tomato...a sprinkling of sea salt....open faced.....it's fantastic.

The next night we did a fresh whole fish brushed with the pesto, inside and out, and grilled.

How about using it on a pizza? The possibilities are endless.

But after a few days I got tired of it and decided to put the rest in the freezer. Someday I will be searching through the freezer looking for something quick and easy. I will run across it and think oh goody pesto!