This recipe has nothing to do with:
1. Booze
2. Drugs
3. Mean-spirited people
The cook stereotype makes me believe that many cooks out there will be upset about that as they enjoy the former two and are the latter…so if that’s you, I’m sorry to disappoint.
BUT! If you stick it out to the end of the recipe, you’ll at least have a delicious meal! There’s always an upside, right? Fast-cooked, spiced, succulent fish on a bed of sweet and warm comfort. BYO-anything else.
This is from my most recent cookbook discovery that I’m reviewing for CKUT 90.3FM radio in Montreal. It’s called “Good Fish” and after having read the introduction and worked my way through the recipes with post-its, marking all the ones I want to try, I already LOVE this book. It’s ALL sustainable seafood recipes! So it’s like the Oceanwise cookbook (which I don’t have a copy of) but I love the personal writing style of the author, Becky Selengut, who turns a murky subject (buying sustainable fish) into something do-able, with wit to spare. She also breaks the book down by type of fish or seafood, so there will be five recipes for scallops, 5 for wild salmon, 5 for rainbow trout, squid, mussels, clams, etc. Each chapter has an explanation of why it’s sustainable, which types are sustainable and which aren’t (fishing methods, etc), the latin name so you can identify it at the grocery store, when it’s in season, and buying tips. And that’s all well and good, but the real attraction to this book is the recipes. Each fish or seafood type gets two simple recipes, one or two so-so difficulty recipes, and one or two chef-quality ones. And the chef-y ones aren’t even HARd, per se, just time-consuming or requiring hard-to-find ingredients. So the wild salmon chapter (no Atlantic since it’s HORRIBLY unsustainable and the book is based out of the west coast) goes from pretty simple salmon chowder with roasted tomatoes to salmon with morels and pinot noir sauce. Shrimp goes from “weeknight linguine with spot prawns and basil” (simple pasta, sounds lovely) to shrimp with tangerine powder and smoked chili aioli. Chef-y indeed.
I’ll be honest, this jerk fish with pot liquor recipe comes from the harder section of the wild salmon chapter (though I made it with mackerel and it worked just fine. I also turned it into almond pot liquor instead of coconut, but using coconut milk would be MUCH better!), and it really wasn’t that hard. The jerk seasoning is dumb-ed down to a 6-ingredient spice rub (including salt and pepper) and doesn’t call for anything out of the ordinary or anything hard to find. I even already had a bunch of blanched greens, which made it really simple. The only trick is you really need to grind the spices fresh instead of using pre-ground spices if possible. The allspice berries and cinnamon and cumin come to life. Not that it will be bad without, but if you’re going to buy good fish you might as well let it live up to its potential.
Jerk Mackerel with Almond Pot Liquor
1/4 tsp black peppercorns
1 1-inch piece cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp salt (kosher or sea salt)
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp allspice berries
1/4 – 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (depending on your heat preference. You can also use chili powder or ground chilies)
1 lb mackerel fillets, skin on, cut into 4 equal portions (or sustainable coho salmon fillets or steaks. I bought a whole mackerel and filleted it myself! Decently! Amazing! The book also instructs on that but there are plenty of youtube videos. I also didn’t cut it into four equal pieces. It doesn’t make a difference. Takes an extra 30 seconds to cook maybe, and you risk overcooking the edges)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 bunch kale or swiss chard or collard greens, stems removed, chopped into bite-sized pieces (about 4 cups. I went with about 8 or 10 cups because I like leftovers of delicious greens, and you can’t really have too much. This would traditionally be with collard greens in the Caribbean but kale cooks faster and is the recipe book’s green of choice)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked black beans (or 1 can, drained and rinsed. I used kidney beans. So sue me. Not traditional, but worked just fine. Gave it that wonderful starchy texture)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (more if you up the greens)
1 cup almond milk (more if you up the greens. You can also start with 2 cups and cook it down to one cup for a creamier result, more like coconut milk. Or just use a 250 mL can of coconut milk)
1 tbsp vegetable oil (not olive. Olive will burn. Vegetable will not. You’ll thank me when you don’t have a bill from the fire department)
1-2 limes, cut into wedges (or squeeze some juice right over the greens)
Directions:
This is fun. If you don’t have a cast-iron pan, that’s okay, but you’re missing out on a world of adventure. Instead use a baking dish plus a frying pan, and leave the baking dish in the oven to pre-heat.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees! Woo! This goes fast!
Grind the spices (down to the chili flakes) in a coffee or spice grinder or mortar and pestle (or in a plastic bag with a big mallet…I have one of those now. It’s pretty exciting).
If you feel like roasting some potatoes on the side (sweet potatoes or regulars) reserve a teaspoon or so of the spice mix to toss with the potatoes chunks or fries with a tablespoon of oil. Otherwise, sprinkle the spices over both sides of the mackerel and place on a plate in the fridge for half an hour.
Get the potatoes started now if you want them to be ready. Just put them with the oil and spice reserved above in a baking dish and stick them in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. You’ll probably want to turn them halfway and make sure they’re not burning). Just make sure there’s enough space in the oven for your fish.
Blanch the kale or swiss chard or collard greens in boiling water for 1 minute. Just stick them in there, stir them around, and then drain the pot, and rinse the greens with cold water. Let them drain as much as possible. Then heat a frying pan (not your cast-iron skillet) over medium-high heat. Add 1 tbsp olive oil. When hot add the greens, 1/8 tsp salt (or more if you used more greens), and the 1/4 tsp pepper. Sauté for about 2 minutes, or and then add the cooked beans, apple cider vinegar, and almond milk (or coconut milk). Let it cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until the greens are done. Collards will take a good 15-20 minutes longer. Or even longer if they’re really tough. Taste and add more salt or vinegar or pepper as desired.
Now break out the cast-iron skillet (or other skillet or frying pan – make sure you’ve got that baking sheet preheating in the oven with a swipe of oil on it, to transfer the fish into soon). Heat it oven high heat. Yes! High heat! Becky Selengut kind of chastises scared fish cookers on this point. It needs to be HOT! Or the fish won’t blacken.
Then add the vegetable oil. When the oil is hot (about 30 seconds) add the fish skin side up. It’ll splatter so be careful not to burn yourself. Stupid suggestion, really. It’s not like you’re TRYING to burn yourself or anything. But what else can you say?
Cook 2 minutes or until the fish is browned on the bottom, then flip the fillets over in the skillet and transfer the cast-iron skillet directly to the oven. Or transfer the fish to the preheated, oiled baking dish. Roast in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through. Selengut goes through a whole picture-aided demonstration of what properly cooked fish is, and it’s great, and a little wry. Just make sure the fish is tender and not translucent anymore, and not rubber. Good luck.
Then put a heap of the greens/beans mix on a plate and top with the fish. If you’ve got those roasted potatoes, they go on the side. you can get fancy and ladle some of the almond or coconut “pot liquor” around the side of the dish, not over the fish! Garnish with lime slices, or sprinkle the juice on the greens, as you wish.
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