“Faux-Smoked” Wild Red Rock Cod – More delicious culinary cheating!

This is another of those older clips some of you may have already seen from my old blog, but as I stated before, I do eventually want to have all my clips over here. Besides, I just got in from Vegas! So pardon the re-run if you've seen it, and if you're new to the site this is a great trick. One last note; I had a few emails after the Sole "Dore" clip saying that I should have done "egg then flour." That is one way, but there are many ways. That "Dore"method uses flour first then egg to achieve more of an egg batter. Egg and then flour (the more common method) gives you more of a starchy coating. The point is they are both delicious and you should use both methods. Here I use the "flour then egg" method. This method, I believe, keeps the fish moister and is safer for the novice cook worried about their fish drying out. OK, enough with the preface, here's the real post...

One problem with cooking thinner, flakier types of fish is that you are basically limited to sautéing, poaching, or baking. It is almost impossible to grill these thin fillets over coals since they tend to fall apart quickly. I guess you could try one of those cage-type fish holders, but I've never had too much luck with those.

So I came up with this idea. I used the same "Dore" technique you saw in our Sole Dore clip, but I added some Spanish smoked paprika which gave the fish a wonderful, yet subtle, char-grilled smoked accent.

Many people don't realize how many types of paprika are available. I always stock four types in my pantry; Hot Paprika, Bittersweet Paprika, Sweet Paprika, and Smoked Paprika. You'll find these at you local gourmet store, as the supermarket will probably only have the regular Sweet Paprika. You can also check online of course.

As I usually say, any white flaky fresh fish fillets will work. By the way, what is sold as "Red Snapper" in most stores is actually Rock Cod. True Red Snapper is not as common. I topped the fish with a nice, homemade Remoulade sauce (AKA tartar sauce) which I'll demo also.

Ingredients:

4 fillet of rock cod (red snapper or similar fish)

spice mix (1 tbl black pepper, 1 tbl salt, 2 tbl smoked paprika)

2 tbl olive oil

2 tbl butter

3 eggs

ap flour, as needed