Rockfish with Truffled Garden Carrot Coulis and Stone Fruit Salsa

Recipe by Fin + Forage Head Chef, Colin Moody, CEC, PCII

Yield: 4 Servings

During a video project with Valentine Thomas and Pescavore Seafood, our head chef was able to whip up some incredible dishes.

We started Mezcal-Spiked Grilled Citrus Ponzu (Recipe) Rockfish Sashimi followed by a Pescavore Panzanella Salad - Cali Style Salad (Recipe) and finished with this dish. This catch and cook meal, accompanied by fantastic Dawn’s Dream Wine pairing, was absolutely one for the books.

Great friends, great food, great memories!

Ingredients:

Stone Fruit Salsa

Valentine making quick work of a couple of blue rockfish.

• 1 Peach, diced 1/4”

• 1 Plum, diced 1/4”

• 1 Roma tomato, diced 1/4”

• 2 green onions, thinly sliced

• 1-2 serrano chili peppers, minced, (or jalapeño, Fresno or Anaheim chili)

• 2 fresh limes, juiced

• 1 Tbsp Preserved Lemon rind, minced (optional)

• 1/3 Cup Yellow Onion, finely diced

• 1 handful Cilantro, minced

• Sea Salt and White Pepper to Taste

Apparently, to be a world class chef, you need to be able to juggle your instruments.

Fillets

• 4 Rockfish fillets, skin-on and scaled

• 2 Tbl Rice Bran Oil (or Ghee)

• Sea Salt (learn to make your own here)

• Fresh Ground Pepper to Taste

Truffled Carrot Coulis

• 1 Cup Organic Garden Carrots, peeled and cut into 1 in pieces

• 2 Cups Vegetable Stock

• 2 Tbsp Local Honey

• Orange Zest to Taste

• Truffle Salt and White Pepper to Taste

Method

Catch and cook always has a beautiful background

Coulis:

In and appropriate size saucepan, place cut carrots and vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer for approximately 10-15 minutes, or until carrots are soft. Remove from heat. Let cool to room temperature. Puree in a blender until smooth. Add honey and season with orange zest, truffle salt and white pepper to taste. Reserve warm until plate up.

Stone Fruit Salsa:

Combine diced peaches, plums, diced tomatoes, yellow onion, green onions, serrano chili peppers, cilantro, and preserved lemon into a medium sized bowl. Gently stir ingredients. Add in lime juice and salt to taste and gently stir ingredients.

To Plate:

If you fry it at the right high-heat temperature, the scales add a great texture to a dish.

In a cast iron or heavy bottom pan over medium-high heat, place the 2 tablespoons of rice bran oil, or ghee. Lightly pat dry the rockfish fillets with a paper towel and season with sea salt and pepper. Gently lay each fillet in the pan, skin side down, making sure they are not too close to each other. Let them stay there for at least 2 minutes, so the skin gets nice and crispy. Depending on the thickness of the fillets, when the flesh on top gets opaque and changes color, flip the fillets over to finish (about 30 seconds or so), when the flesh has firmed up.

Remove from pan and lay on paper towel. On the plates, place a good amount of warmed carrot coulis (3 oz ish). Lay the cooked rockfish on top. Then place the same amount of stone fruit salsa on top. If you want to keep the skin crispy, simply lay the salsa next to the fish.

Enjoy!